9 Out Of 10 Indian CEOs Confident About Economy, Plan To Increase Hiring, Reveals PwC Survey

Further, India remained among the top five territories, along with the US, the UK, Germany, and the Chinese Mainland in terms of investment plans of global CEOs.

The annual CEO Survey released by PwC at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting on Monday included a sample size of 4,700 CEOs across 109 countries.

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Indian CEOs remained confident about economic growth going forward and planned to recruit more employees, a recent survey revealed. The annual CEO Survey released by PwC at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting on Monday showed that India emerged among the top countries in terms of investment plans made by CEOs.

The survey showed that 9 out of 10 Indian CEOs remained confident about the country’s economic growth and planned to increase their headcount and continue their AI rollout, reported PTI. 

Investment Plans, AI, And Economic Growth

Further, India remained among the top five territories, along with the US, the UK, Germany, and the Chinese Mainland in terms of investment plans of global CEOs.

About 51 per cent of Indian executives expressed optimism about the impact of GenAI on profitability, and one-third of Indian CEOs said that revenue climbed due to climate-friendly investments over the last five years.

PwC noted, “For more than 40 per cent of Indian CEOs, product and service innovation is the most common reinvention action in the last 5 years.” The survey included a sample size of 4,700 CEOs across 109 countries, out of which over 75 were from India.

The findings revealed that 4 in 10 CEOs in India and across the world observed that their firms began to compete in at least one new sector/industry in the last five years. Globally, on an average, 57 per cent of executives remained confident about economic growth, while the statistic for Indian CEOs stood at 87 per cent in the criteria. 

“From a macro perspective, India’s robust economic growth, improved ease of doing business (EoDB), infrastructural developments, and its young and skilled workforce continue to attract investors,” PwC said.

Challenges Ahead

Identifying the challenges to growth, the study said that technological disruption remained the primary obstacle according to Indian CEOs, followed by macroeconomic volatility, inflation, and lack of skilled labour.

Sanjeev Krishan, Chairperson, PwC in India, said, “For CEOs today, the challenge is to envision the ecosystem in which their company will operate in the future. This includes thinking through the impacts of megatrends like climate change and AI, evolving customer needs, shifting value pools, and the roles that their company will play.”