Six out of 10 global companies are already adopting generative AI for business automation.

80% of global CEOs expect their companies to grow positively this year, and 46% plan to launch new services and products within a year.

It is necessary to establish a thorough response strategy that accurately reflects external threats such as geopolitical instability and global regulations.

Deloitte Korea Group has announced the "Global CEO Survey" conducted jointly by Deloitte Global and Fortune. This survey is based on a questionnaire and in-depth interviews conducted in February this year with 107 global CEOs representing more than 20 industries.

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According to the report, 58% of CEOs have adopted generative AI in the area of ​​business automation, and 48% have plans to adopt generative AI outside the automated area. In addition, 8 out of 10 global company CEOs expressed a positive outlook for their industry. This is an increase of about 11%p from 69% last year. 65% of CEOs cited geopolitical conflict as the biggest issue facing them today, and 76% believe that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the third quarter of this year.

The purpose of adopting generative AI by global companies is to improve efficiency and productivity, and reduce costs.

The adoption of generative AI is accelerating. 56% of CEOs expect generative AI adoption to improve operational efficiency and productivity, and reduce costs. They also cited the actual adoption and operation of AI, and risk management associated with AI adoption, as the most significant factors that will affect their companies over the next 12 months.

Among CEOs who have already built and implemented generative AI in their companies, 58% are using AI for business automation, 56% for improving efficiency, and 50% for automating content creation. Among CEOs who plan to build generative AI, 28% plan to build generative AI for business automation, 36% for efficiency improvement, and 35% for content creation automation.

CEOs' top priorities for achieving success through generative AI adoption were improvement in efficiency and productivity and cost reduction (56%), followed by improvement of existing products and services (22%). Jason Girzadas, US CEO of Deloitte, said, "Generative AI adoption is still in its early stages, but it is considered a major opportunity to enhance business efficiency, optimize costs, and drive innovation. CEOs are cautiously optimistic about a global economic recovery, which is a reason for their positive outlook on the growth of their organizations and industries."

27% of CEOs are "optimistic" about the global economy this year, and 48% predict that the Fed will cut interest rates in the third quarter.

27% of CEOs have a very optimistic outlook on the global economy this year, a significant increase of 20%p compared to 7% last year. Pessimistic responses accounted for 24% this year, down 24%p from 48% last year. Also, 53% of CEOs are optimistic about the industry they are in this year, an increase of 13%p from 40% last year. Only 8% of respondents were pessimistic.

Confidence is also high. 80% of CEOs who are optimistic about their company's growth outlook, an 11%p increase from 69% last year. Only 1% of respondents were pessimistic about their company's growth. 22% of CEOs are confident in their company's growth, and 46% have also stated that they will launch new services and products within 12 months. Regarding the possibility of the US Federal Reserve lowering interest rates, nearly half (48%) said it would be in the third quarter. However, 10% of CEOs said that there would be no interest rate cuts this year, indicating that one in 10 CEOs are skeptical about interest rate cuts this year. Furthermore, CEOs said that their top business plans and priorities were "actively applying new businesses to business models" (57%).

Meanwhile, 65% of CEOs cited geopolitical instability as the biggest external threat to business operations going forward, up 14%p from the previous year. Concerns about inflation were the same as geopolitical instability at 51% last year, but this year, concerns about financial and market instability increased, dropping to 27%. Global regulation scored 36%, confirming that it remains a major concern for CEOs, while concerns about securing talent and lack of technology decreased by nearly half from last year to 25%. This was followed by trust crises (25%), ideological polarization (18%), and others.

Meanwhile, most CEOs chose the keywords "Challenging" and "Volatile" to describe the current business environment. They cited "AI" as the factor that could have the greatest impact on their business (Next big thing).

Succession, most global CEOs participate... 28% of CEOs say there is no strong candidate pool

Most of the global CEOs who participated in the survey said they were involved in all aspects of succession, including the selection of candidates and the succession plan, especially when it comes to determining the next CEO. Responses that current CEOs themselves are involved in candidate identification and development were 82% and 91%, respectively, while responses that all board members are involved were 73% and 42%, respectively. Also, 56% of CEOs said they have a strong pool of candidates for CEO succession planning and preparation and successor criteria, but 28% said they don't.

Son Jae-ho, head of Deloitte Korea Group's Growth Strategy Division, said, "The report shows that global CEOs are looking at this year's business environment as challenging but are optimistic about the growth of businesses and industries. They are also focusing on optimizing business operating costs and continuing their efforts to integrate new technologies such as generative AI into their business models. In the midst of all this, companies need to be aware of external threats such as geopolitical instability and global regulation and develop careful response strategies. We hope the insights from the report will help companies seize business opportunities and develop strategies amid an uncertain outlook."

Meanwhile, the full report of the "Global CEO Survey" is available on the Deloitte website (Link).

Website: https://www2.deloitte.com/kr

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Deloitte Korea Group Public Relations Agency
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Shin Da-jeong
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