Resilient CEOs are betting big on talent and AI

It’s exciting to realize that we’re already welcoming the month of October. 2024 has been an incredibly engaging year, and there is so much more to look forward to before the year is out! From influential elections to significant climate summits, I anticipate key moments that could positively shape the perspectives, ambitions, and concerns of the CEOs.

Regardless of whether you are a decision maker in the business world, I’m a firm believer that knowing what’s keeping CEOs awake at night is important for every single one of us. In that spirit, we’ve just launched the tenth anniversary edition of the KPMG CEO Outlook. Every year, we speak to more than 1,300 executives running some of the world’s most impactful companies to give us a detailed sense of what they think the big opportunities and challenges are over the next three years.

This year’s report is extremely comprehensive! CEOs have told us they’re more resilient than ever before and they’re betting big on AI and talent, this is all the more impressive as they skillfully steer their organizations through a complex landscape of economic and geopolitical challenges.

I was delighted to catch-up again with France 24’s Yuka Royer to share some of my thoughts on what the report might mean for the broader global economy.

It’s hard to believe that it was almost a year ago when I last spoke to Yuka at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Back then, we chatted in-depth about the economic uncertainty dominating the minds of leaders. This factor persists, but what has changed dramatically is the race to embrace AI and invest in the future. We’ve spoken for some time about the ‘industrialization’ of AI, but even its biggest proponents may be surprised at how big a role it’s playing in today’s corporate world. KPMG’s Global CEO and Chairman, Bill Thomas, chatted with Forbes recently about the potential risks and rewards of AI for CEOs and about our reassuring findings on hiring and headcount.

I’m proud to have played a part in shaping the KPMG CEO Outlook over the last decade and would urge you to take some time out of your busy day to really study the findings and share your thoughts with us on the insights from this year’s survey.

Aside from talking to other CEOs in September, I was delighted to spend some time with 500 colleagues at KPMG’s International Partner’s Conference. Mirroring the views of the CEOs we chatted to for KPMG’s CEO Outlook, there was a mood of resilience and positive energy among our leaders. We’re more focused than ever on ensuring we prioritize our people across the world and foster a caring, inclusive, purpose-led, and values-driven culture, reinforcing our belief that our strength at KPMG lies in the collective potential of our dedicated professionals.

At this year’s conference, I paused and reflected on several occasions when I saw our values ‘Together, for Better’ communicated. It means more now than I think it ever has. Regardless of where you are in the world or your role, we’re in a period of great uncertainty and change. As this year’s CEO Outlook findings tell us, there IS consensus that we can return to greater stability and growth if we retain our resilience and work together for shared success.