PwC Cyprus’ 14th CEO Survey highlights rising confidence amidst emerging challenges

PwC Cyprus presented the findings of its 14th Annual CEO Survey at a dedicated event held at the PwC Experience Center.

This survey is part of PwC’s Global CEO Survey, which was unveiled last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The results highlight the resilience of Cypriot businesses and the strategic approaches their leaders are adopting in a rapidly evolving global landscape.

While optimism about the economy is evident, the survey also underscores significant concerns regarding the long-term economic viability of businesses under their current business models, the low availability of workers with essential skills, and the challenges of technological disruption.

Optimism and Investments in Artificial Intelligence

Business leaders in Cyprus are optimistic about the country's economic growth prospects, with 69% expressing confidence—marking a notable increase from 43% the previous year.

Meanwhile, 58% of CEOs believe that Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) will increase the efficiencies in their employee's time at work, while 27% anticipate that it will increase their companies' profitability over the next year. While 41% of CEOs recognize AI integration into their technology platforms as a priority for the next three years, only 29% plan to incorporate it into their human resources strategy—highlighting the need for further skill development.

What Are CEOs Concerned About?

CEOs in Cyprus are less worried about macroeconomic volatility and more concerned about geopolitical conflicts (36%), the lower availability of workers with key skills (26%), and technological disruption (24%). Notably, cyber risks, which ranked among the top three concerns in last year's survey, are not featuring as a primary concern for the next 12 months.

Reinvention and Sustainability

Survey participants acknowledge the need to reinvent their business models. Half of Cyprus-based CEOs (50%) believe their company will only remain economically viable for less than ten years if it continues running on its current path— last year’s results were 43%.

Respectively, CEOs in Eurozone (48%) and CEOs in Global (43%) are aligned with the CEOs in Cyprus that their companies will only remain economically viable for less than a decade if they continue running on their current path. Last year, this percentage was a bit lower for CEOs in the Eurozone at 42%, and somewhat higher for CEOs globally at 45%.

Regarding climate adaptation, most of the CEOs (64%) state that climate friendly investments made over the past five years have had little to no impact to the revenues from products/services sales, while this percentage was 60% for the Eurozone and 56% for Global.

Commenting on the survey results, Philippos Soseilos, CEO of PwC Cyprus (pictured above), stated,"Business leaders in Cyprus face a volatile and complex landscape that requires continuous adaptation, focus in maintaining a state of readiness able to absorb the impact of inevitable surprises and strategic thinking to make the most of the opportunities. Optimism for further growth is strong, yet the need for optimal utilisation of AI and rapid workforce upskilling remains critical. The businesses that will thrive are those that will successfully combine innovation, agility and strategic decision-making. The pace of reinvention must be accelerated".

To view the full survey results, click here.