As business executives struggle with unequal returns from artificial intelligence, growing geopolitical risk, and escalating cyber threats, CEO confidence in their company’s revenue prospects has dropped to its lowest in five years.
Just three out of ten CEOs (30%) believe they are confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months, down from 38% in 2025 and 56% in 2022, according to PwC’s 29th Global CEO Survey.
The results imply that many businesses have struggled to convert investment into steady financial profits as CEOs negotiate a difficult operating environment driven by quick technological development, geopolitical unpredictability, and economic pressure.
4,454 CEOs from 95 nations and territories participated in the poll. CEOs’ main concern is whether they are evolving quickly enough to keep up with AI and other technology advancements. This is the biggest issue for 42% of respondents, far more than concerns regarding medium-to long-term viability or innovation capability (both 29%).
Even with extensive testing, only 12% of CEOs claim AI has reduced costs and increased revenue. Overall, 56% of respondents claim they have not yet seen any appreciable financial benefit, while 33% cite increases in either cost or revenue.
According to the report, there is a widening gap between businesses who are testing AI and those that are implementing it widely. CEOs that report both cost and revenue gains are two to three times more likely to claim to have deeply integrated AI into demand generation, strategic decision-making, and products and services.
Scale is important, but so are foundations. CEOs are three times more likely to report significant financial gains when their companies have solid AI foundations, such as responsible AI frameworks and technological environments that allow enterprise-wide integration.
According to a different PwC analysis, businesses that extensively integrated AI into their goods, services, and customer interactions saw profit margins that were almost four percentage points better than those of firms who did not.
Mohamed Kande, PwC Global Chairman, said,
“2026 is shaping up as a decisive year for AI. A small group of companies are already turning AI into measurable financial returns, while many others are still struggling to move beyond pilots. That gap is starting to show up in confidence and competitiveness—and it will widen quickly for those that don’t act.”
