CEO confidence increases

Chief Executives (CEOs) of the UK’s biggest businesses are feeling much more upbeat about the growth prospects for their businesses than in 2025, ranking joint third globally, according to KPMG’s 2026 Global CEO Outlook.

The findings of the annual KPMG survey represent the views of 1,400 CEOs, including 150 from some of the largest businesses in the UK. More than two-thirds of the UK chief executives surveyed run listed companies, and 71% have revenues of over $1billion. Globally, the CEOs are from the world’s biggest economies and key industries.

The data showed that majority of CEOs (86%) said they are confident in the future growth prospects of their companies over the next three years, up from 74% last year.

UK business leaders are also optimistic about growing their companies’ profits, with around 69% saying they expect these to increase by more than 2.5% over the next three years and 83% planning to make some acquisitions.

But macroeconomic factors mean CEOs feel less optimistic about broader UK economic growth, with confidence falling from 79% to 64%. This downward trend is replicated for the global economic outlook (70% in 2024, 65% in 2025, and 63% in 2026).

With global economic uncertainty named as the top threat to growth, 96% of UK chief executives said they had moved their organisation’s resilience planning from short to long-term, and 47% said greater agility and faster decision-making are now the top qualities required for the resilient CEO.

Jon Holt, Group Chief Executive KPMG UK and Switzerland and UK Senior Partner, said, “Our survey is a temperature check of the current UK business mood. The ‘bounce’ that follows a new government and AI-driven productivity gains have given CEOs of the UK’s biggest businesses a reason to start feeling optimistic about their plans to grow their companies here.

“But confidence alone is not enough. There needs to be a clear path for broader UK economic growth that converts this business confidence into investment and jobs.

“The UK is an attractive place to do business, from our capital markets and our skilled talent pool to our world-leading R&D institutions and universities. The ingredients are there: CEOs are now waiting on the Budget to provide much-needed policy certainty and for the Government to set out how it will create the right conditions for country-wide good growth.”

As in 2025, the top operational priority for UK CEOs looking to grow their businesses is advancing digitisation and connectivity across their businesses. To make this a success, 82% of chief executives in the UK said AI is a top investment priority over the next three years. The majority (87%) of UK chief executives also expect to see a return on that investment within three years. This is more optimistic than in 2024, when 83% said it would be at least three years before they achieved ROI.

With 89% of UK CEOs saying they are concerned about their organisation’s vulnerability to cyber-attacks, they also recognise that to gain the full benefits of AI and other technologies, they need robust foundations in place, agile platforms, data they can trust and secure connectivity. Almost half (49%) of UK CEOs are reacting to concerns around data sovereignty by increasing their focus on internal data governance and control.

UK CEOs have also become particularly tuned into the ethical considerations around AI, with 81% saying these are either very or mostly challenging.

The top five workforce challenges according to UK CEOs are the ongoing skills gap, followed by upskilling and training employees in AI systems, attracting and retaining talent, maintaining productivity and performance, and resistance to in-office working.

Over three-quarters of CEOs (77%) are hiring in new talent with AI and tech capabilities in response to AI. It was 58% just a year ago. And 85% of UK CEOs are redesigning roles, career paths and team structures to reflect human and AI collaboration, compared to 71% in 2025.

When it comes to the hybrid debate, a fifth of UK CEOs (21%) see resistance to returning to the office as one of the biggest workforce challenges.

Holt concluded, “UK CEOs are rightly prioritising AI investments and see it as one of the solutions to workforce productivity. Our findings show their focus is shifting from AI experimentation at speed to responsible integration. This means carefully thinking through what AI means for their people, their reputation and their resilience, and to build in appropriate governance and controls.

“Human judgement is fundamental to AI success, not just humans using AI, but being in the lead with this technology. A machine doesn’t have empathy, judgement or emotional intelligence. Today, those human skills are more important than ever as businesses understand, embed and capitalise on the opportunities AI brings.”