2026 Global CEO Outlook (Dutch edition) (KPMG Switzerland)

Summary

• Confidence in three-year growth prospects increased from 79 percent in 2025 to 84 percent.p.2
• Confidence in the global economy fell from 68 percent to 65 percent, the lowest since 2021.p.2
• 68 percent anticipate annual growth of at least 2.5 percent, compared with 61 percent in 2025.p.2
• Cybersecurity and data security is the most common threat to growth, cited by 31 percent.p.5
• 72 percent of CEOs expect to spend more than 10 percent of their budget on AI over the next year.p.7
• Ethical challenges are most frequently rated very or mostly challenging for AI, at 57 percent.p.7

Key insights

1. 63 percent of CEOs describe their primary sustainability response as embedding it more deeply, and 70 percent weigh its costs and returns in at least some decisions.p.2
2. Cybersecurity and digital-risk resilience is the area where most CEOs increased investment, cited by 45 percent.p.5
3. Most CEOs, 61 percent, maintain their existing appetite for risk.p.5
4. Sixty-six percent expect the pace of AI regulation to present a barrier to organizational success.p.7
5. Cybersecurity follows ethics as an AI challenge at 52 percent, with cost at 51 percent and data-sovereignty requirements at 50 percent.p.7