CEOs live their everyday lives in a state of redesign

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 01. 22. 12:48

The world’s CEOs are reimagining their daily lives: 63% have taken at least one major action in the past five years to transform the way their companies create value. Nearly 60% of CEOs expect global economic growth to accelerate in the next 12 months, and 42% expect their workforce to grow by 5%. 4,701 CEOs from 109 countries participated in PwC’s 28th Global CEO Survey, the results of which were released yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Key findings of the survey:

CEO optimism regarding the short-term outlook for the global economy is significantly higher (60%) than last year’s 38% and two years ago’s 18%.
Despite the optimism, risks remain with them: macroeconomic volatility (29%) and inflation (27%) are cited most frequently worldwide, followed by cyber risks (24%) and skills shortages (23%).
42% of CEOs plan to add staff in the next 12 months – with the highest rates in technology (61%), real estate (61%), private equity (52%), and pharmaceuticals and life sciences (51%) – while less than half (17%) plan to cut staff.
There is no evidence yet that GenAI will lead to widespread job losses in the global economy.
17% believe that GenAI has led to more job losses than gains.
As in the past two years, four in ten CEOs (42%) believe their company will not be viable in a decade if it continues on its current path, primarily due to changes in the regulatory environment.
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of leaders have taken at least one major action in the past five years to transform the way their company creates value.
However, the pace of innovation is slow, with about half of those surveyed redeploying no more than 10% of their financial and human resources annually, and more than two-thirds redeploying less than 20%.
56% of CEOs have seen increased efficiency, a third have seen increased profitability (34%) and revenue (32%) as a result of implementing GenAI.
47% expect to integrate AI into their technology platforms in the next three years, 41% plan to use it in core business processes, and 30% plan to use it to develop new products and services.
Climate investments over the past five years were six times more likely to result in revenue growth (33%) than revenue loss (5%).
The top barrier to such investments is regulatory complexity (24%), and less likely to be lower returns (18%) or lack of leadership support (6%).
“While CEOs around the world are optimistic about the year ahead, they also know that value creation cannot happen without innovation. Emerging technologies such as GenAI, geopolitical shifts and climate change are creating new business ecosystems that are also creating new competitive situations. Those who are willing to make bold decisions about their strategy – from employees to their ecological footprint and supply chain to rethinking their business model – will succeed,” said Mohamed Kande, global leader at PwC.

Szabolcs Mezei, Partner at PwC Hungary, highlighted: “This year’s survey shows a more mature picture of the use of generative artificial intelligence within the company. CEOs are convinced that GenAI can create new perspectives, but at the same time they are more aware of the challenges they need to overcome to realize these opportunities.”