PwC: 2025 Global CEO Survey Report

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)’s 28th annual Global CEO Survey interviewed 4,701 CEOs from all regions around the world.

Some CEOs are moving quickly to seize the growth and value creation potential inherent in the defining forces of our time. They are investing in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), addressing the opportunities and threats of climate change, and redesigning their operations and business models to create value in new ways. Many other CEOs are moving slowly, constrained by leadership mindsets and processes that lead to inertia.

The latter have two choices: either accelerate their reinvention efforts or hope that by making some minor tweaks to existing operations and business models, these models will continue to deliver results even as AI and the transition to a low-carbon economy drive value flows across the economy.

Key findings:

Expectations for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) remain high: one-third of CEOs say GenAI has increased revenue and profitability in the past year, and half expect their investments in the technology to increase profits in the next year. Trust remains a barrier to adoption.

Climate action and sustainability investments are paying off: One-third of CEOs report that environmental investments made over the past five years have resulted in higher revenues, while two-thirds say these investments have either reduced costs or had no significant cost impact.

Industry boundaries are blurring: Nearly 40% of CEOs say their companies have begun competing in new industries in the past five years. Consistent with last year’s survey, 4 in 10 CEOs believe their companies will no longer be viable in 10 years if they continue on their current path.

The pace of reinvention is slow: On average, only 7% of revenues over the past five years came from unique new businesses that the company added during that period. Barriers to reinvention include weak decision-making processes, low levels of year-to-year reallocation of resources, and a mismatch between the short-term tenure expectations of many CEOs and powerful long-term forces or megatrends.

The tension between time spans

CEOs are optimistic about the short-term outlook, even as they worry about their companies’ long-term viability. Nearly 60% of CEOs expect global economic growth to accelerate over the next 12 months, up from 38% in last year’s survey and 18% two years ago. CEOs expect to increase rather than decrease headcount over the next year by a margin of more than 2:1 (42% vs. 17%).

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