A positive, but challenging, growth outlook: C-suite barometer 2025

As in last year’s survey, C-suite executives still have a positive outlook when it comes to growth (93%). This is built on the successes achieved in quite a volatile environment over the past two years, and shows the resilience that many leaders and their businesses have established over time – a vital strength for 2025 and beyond as the challenge of increasing competition emerges as a key issue in many markets.

This year, revenues remain robust with 85% of leaders worldwide expecting growth in activity. However, we are seeing a slight reduction in the number of businesses expecting strong growth, which suggests that respondents are anticipating some slowing of markets during the year – especially those in Europe and Asia-Pacific, and from the real estate and automotive sectors globally.

Achieving growth in 2025 will mean navigating a number of key uncertainties. Executives have identified economic uncertainty as still widespread, and note continued scarcity of talent and increasing regulatory complexity as significant in their planning for the year. Business leaders are also focused on a number of geopolitical tensions around the world and looking to strategies that insulate their businesses from the attendant risks.

The most apparent, and potentially underrated, change from C-suite respondents is the mounting impact of increased competition. More leaders have identified this factor in three critical areas of our questions on business planning: it’s a top factor most likely to suppress growth, it’s the highest rising trend expected to have the biggest impact on business, and it’s the area we see one of the biggest drops in confidence among leaders in managing or preparing for, alongside the challenges posed by new or higher regulation.

This rising trend of increasing competition is driven predominantly by activity in CEE and Latin America where it’s viewed as the topmost important factor holding back growth. In North America it’s the second-most important external trend impacting businesses, driven by the US where it has jumped from the tenth most important trend in 2024 to the second this year.

The connection between the two trends of geopolitics and competition will be clearer and inevitably have greater implications for organisations with interests in these areas of the world. Changes to many governments have resulted in new sanctions and tariffs, and the prospect of trade wars that should force leaders to reassess their strategies and plans.

Our data shows this view of increased competition is also growing in importance across specific industries. It is the number one factor Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences organisations expect to hold back growth as well as those in the Energy & Infrastructure sector. C-suite leaders in the TMT sector recognise it having the biggest impact on their business – having risen from ninth place (20% in 2024) to second (38%) in 2025.

As a result, confidence among executives in managing or preparing for this heightened competition sees the second largest fall from 48% to 36%. Leadership will also need support in adjusting to new and more complex regulations – especially where these relate to their expansion into new geographies – which four in five intend to do. This is where we see the biggest drop in confidence that businesses and their executives can manage (from 52% to 33%)The chief beneficiaries of geographical investments will likely be the US, Germany, China and the UK. Leaders expect to be challenged by adjustment to local regulations, sourcing local talent and diversifying their products and services to deliver successfully in these new markets.   

The continuing central importance of technology couldn’t be clearer. It remains the dominant strategic priority for most C-suite leaders and nearly half now believe that generative AI will have a major impact on their business. In the past few years we have seen a range of organisations being quick to adopt this new technology for fear of missing out on the latest trend. Now, we see that an increasing number of organisations are already using generative AI, mainly for internal processes to date. Leaders are working closely with their teams and specialists to ensure real return on the investment and we see that many are now readying themselves to scale transformation strategies. 

Finding, recruiting and retaining the best talent continues to be a key strategic priority for leaders. There has been a concern for a number of years now in respect of talent shortages in most parts of the world. Almost half (43%) of organisations say they struggle to hire, primarily at the early stage and mid-levels. We are starting to see leaders respond and begin to embrace new strategies to tackle this problem, beyond hybrid and remote working. Again, we also see the inevitable impact of technology, but not to replace talent that’s already scarce. There’s now a clear focus on balancing the need to maximise the value from people with the efficiencies that technology brings in terms of productivity.  

Despite articulating some concerns about business conditions, as we have already noted our data shows strong positivity from executives, with continued growth expected and investment planned in 2025. Two-thirds report that they plan to continue to increase investment, with the most important investments dedicated to outward-looking business objectives such as acquiring customers, developing new products, services and markets and sourcing new talent. The overarching challenge of 2025 will be maintaining these strategic priorities and a clear vision amid new market entrants, continuing technological disruption and potential market turbulence. The key message; C-suite leaders should be looking for new ways to adapt, to cut through the competition, ensuring that they lead their business to success in 2025.