Almost 60% of CEOs around the world (and in Belgium) expect global economic growth to increase over the next 12 months, according to PwC’s 28th Annual Global CEO Survey. Belgian CEOs are less optimistic about the economic growth for Belgium as only 34% expect the Belgian economic growth to increase over the next 12 months.
The report, which surveyed 4,701 CEOs across 109 countries and territories, also finds that 34% of Belgian CEOs expect to increase headcount by 5% or more in the next 12 months – more than double the proportion who expect headcount decreases (13%), and up from 32% last year.
Global CEOs are reporting tangible impact from GenAI. More than half (56%) report seeing efficiency gains in their employees’ time over the last 12 months, and one-third saw revenue (32%) increases.
Trust in AI remains a hurdle to more widespread adoption. 28% of Belgian CEOs said they have a high degree of trust in embedding the technology into key processes in their company.
Roughly half (53%) expect to integrate AI (including GenAI) into their technology platforms over the next three years, 41% plan to integrate it into core business processes and 28% have plans for new products and service development.
As the climate transition continues to impact businesses, CEOs continue to take action. When we asked global CEOs to take stock of the financial impact of climate related investments over the last five years, we found that these moves were six times more likely to have resulted in increased revenue (33%) than decreased revenue (5%). In addition, nearly two-thirds of CEOs reported that climate related investments had either reduced costs or had no significant impact on costs.
While CEOs are optimistic about the global economy, macroeconomic volatility (44%) and inflation (38%) nevertheless remain the top risks for the year ahead cited by Belgian CEOs.
53% of Belgian CEOs believe their company will not be viable beyond the next decade if it continues on its current path.
But CEOs are taking action to change how their company creates, delivers, and captures value in the last five years. Belgian CEOs say their company has acted to a large extent by developing innovative products and services (47%), implementing new pricing models (44%) and targeting a new customer base (31%).
As companies look to reinvent their business models, almost half of Belgian CEOs (50%) say they have begun competing in at least one new sector in the last five years.
Survey results indicate that investing in the two current major trends - AI and climate - is certainly worthwhile. Anglo-Saxon countries already have a significant lead in the field of AI and it would be unfortunate if the CEOs in our country hesitate too long to join this movement. Investing in upskilling the Belgian workforce is crucial. As it stands, we risk collectively missing this opportunity.
Patrick BooneChairman and Territory Senior Partner