Canadian CEOs are significantly more pessimistic than their global counterparts, according to PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey released on Tuesday.
The survey found that 55% of Canadian CEOs expect domestic economic growth will decline this year, still relatively pessimistic when compared to 37% of global CEOs who expect economic growth in their country to decline.
The survey, which interviewed 4,702 CEOs across 105 countries and territories including 114 in Canada, explored the growing need for CEOs to reinvent their organizations and the results reveal opportunities to accelerate the pace of reinvention, leverage generative AI, and overcome barriers to change.
Nicolas Marcoux
“We are operating in a continued poly-crisis environment, further complicated by tough economic headwinds. Therefore, it is not surprising that Canadian CEOs are more pessimistic than their global counterparts, when it comes to their outlook on economic growth,” said Nicolas Marcoux, CEO, PwC Canada. “While a soft recessionary landing maybe anticipated, CEOs find themselves under increasing pressure to reinvent their organizations.”
The report found that more Canadian CEOs than global CEOs have already started adopting Generative AI technology – 36% in Canada vs 32% globally. Significantly, for employees in Canada who are eyeing the technology with some trepidation, only 14% of Canadian CEOs believe it will decrease their headcount in the next 12 months – considerably lower than global respondents, at 25%.
Canadian CEOs say they expect to see quick adoption of Generative AI given the improvements it can make to an organization. Nearly 60% believe it will significantly change the way their company creates, delivers, and captures value in the years to come and 29% of Canadian CEOs believe it will increase revenue in the next 12 months. However, Canadian CEOs also believe that AI will increase risk within their business related to cybersecurity (66%), misinformation (52%), legal liabilities and reputational risks (47%), and more than half (55%) agree that AI will require significant upskilling of their workforce in the next three years, said the report.
“It is clear that Canadian CEOs are embracing new technologies such as generative AI and see real potential in terms of supporting their workforce and growing revenue. However, it will be important to close the skills gap so that companies can leverage AI to its fullest potential, while ensuring that employees do their part in mitigating the increased risks,” said Marcoux.
Mario Toneguzzi
Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list
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