What does PwC’s 29th Global CEO Survey tell us about AI adoption?
On the 19th of this month, PwC published the results of its global CEO survey. The report entitled Leading through uncertainty in the age of AI, provides insight into how CEOs are thinking about and using the technology.
The survey interviews 4,454 CEOs in 95 countries and territories between the 30th of September and the 10th of November. And among them:
- 2% lead organisations with revenues of USD 25bn or more
- 4% lead organisations with revenues between USD 10bn and USD 25bn
- 22% lead organisations with revenues between USD 1bn and USD 10bn
- 35% lead organisations with revenues between USD 100mn and USD 1bn
- 30% lead organisations with revenues of up to USD 100mn
- 60% lead organisations that are privately owned
Overview
The report covers topics such as AI, innovation (excluding AI and technology ), entering new sectors in response to industry reconfiguration and tariffs. For the purpose of our piece, we will only focus on AI.
Tellingly, the report states that most CEOs say their companies aren’t yet seeking a financial return from their AI investments, with the majority 56% saying that they’ve realised neither revenue nor cost benefits. About one-third reported that their company has realised tangible results from AI adoption over the past twelve months. Regarding costs, 26% stated that costs have decreased due to AI, while 22% reported an increase. Only 12% of respondents stated that they had experienced higher revenue and lower costs. (see image below).
Are we transforming our business fast enough to keep up with technology, including AI?
- The above image represents percentage figures.
- The 30% response rate is additional revenues from AI over the past twelve months.
Demand Generation and Support Services are areas in which AI is being applied.
Being in the early stages of AI, means that a relatively small proportion of CEOs say they are applying it to a large or very large extent to areas such as demand generation (22%), support services (20%), company’s products, services and experiences (19%) direction setting (15%) and demand fulfilment (13%).
Breakdown
(%)
Next steps
For CEOs their next stage is to build AI foundations. PwC notes that in its work with clients, mounting evidence shows that isolated, tactical AI projects don’t deliver measurable value (not everyone agrees) and tangible returns come from enterprise-scale deployment consistent with business strategy. This, the survey says, demands strong foundations such as a technology environment that enables AI integration, a clearly defined roadmap for AI initiatives, formalised responsible AI and risk processes, and a culture that enables AI adoption.
You can read the entire report here.