Everyone wants to know when AI investments will pay off.
Most CEOs say they’re still waiting, according to PwC’s latest Global CEO survey, released on Monday to coincide with the start of Davos.
The consulting giant questioned 4,454 chief executives across 95 countries and territories about their strategic priorities and outlook in the year up to November 2025.
More than half of the CEOs surveyed, 56%, said AI hasn’t produced revenue or cost benefits for their businesses to date.
Some reported benefits for either revenue or costs: around a third said their revenue was up in the last year, and 26% said they were seeing lower costs from AI.
But only 12% said they had both decreased costs and increased revenue using AI in the last 12 months.
Recent Morgan Stanley data on S&P 500 companies showed that certain sectors are seeing higher, measurable AI-driven returns than others. Technology, communication services, and financials topped the list, while energy companies were rising fast up the list.
“A small group of companies are already turning AI into measurable financial returns, while many others are still struggling to move beyond pilots,” said Mohamed Kande, PwC’s global chairman, in a press release.
“That gap is starting to show up in confidence and competitiveness—and it will widen quickly for those that don’t act.”
The right AI strategy
Ensuring maximum returns from AI requires a balance of business strategy, strong underlying data architecture, and the right talent strategy. No matter how excited CEOs are about AI, they also have to get employees on board to see returns.
A recent EY survey on how AI is being used at work found that companies are missing out on 40% of the AI productivity gains they could achieve with the right strategy.
PwC found that the 12% of CEOs reporting both cost and revenue gains were two to three times more likely to have also built a strong AI foundation, meaning they have embedded AI extensively across products and services, demand generation, and strategic decision-making.
As they grapple with AI uncertainty and geopolitical volatility, CEOs told PwC they are less confident about their short-term growth outlook than they were last year.
Only 30% of those surveyed said they are very or extremely confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months, down from 38% in last year’s report and a peak of 56% in 2022.
The strongest approach to dealing with future uncertainty was embracing reinvention, including through dealmaking and venturing into new sectors, PwC found.
The consulting giant found there was a “strong association among a higher percentage of revenue coming from new sectors, bigger profit margins, and greater CEO confidence in company growth prospects.”
“The companies that succeed will be those willing to make bold decisions and invest with conviction in the capabilities that matter most,” said Kande.
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