CEO Agenda
So much to do this year and so little time. While the industry moves at warp-speed 9, our annual survey of industry CEOs points to major challenges and exciting opportunities ranked here.
As an Outsell colleague once said ’two hands on the steering wheel, hair blown back.’ Indeed, 2026 promises to be that kind of year; Join us for the Outsell CEO Network meetings in NY, London, and at RevvedUP 2026 in Florida to tackle the year.
Since Covid the CEO agenda has become increasingly complex. It used to be that if you meet shareholder demands, keep the team happy, and delivered results you had it nailed. Now it’s always on at a frenetic pace and more CEOs are opting out or being opted out.
Leadership teams are changing, PE demands are through the roof, cost-pressures on the business and delivering ROI for customers equally high. Throw in geopolitics, inflation and interest rates, Gen AI, and it’s a perfect storm as they face growth mandates that outperform competition and force a look at operating performance at norms or better.
To keep a bead on all this, we run regular CEO sentiment studies on top of our daily dialog with leaders and use that to drive the research agenda and P2P network meetings for them around their hot button issues. This year the general ’threats and opportunities’ sentiment revolves around five main themes that cut across strategy, execution, and organizational readiness. These are culled from the entire study:
1. AI as the Core Engine of Advantage
Many CEOs simply answered “AI.” They see it as the primary driver of product differentiation, operational scale, and decision velocity — confirming the broader shift from experimentation to AI as a direct value engine.
2. M&A for Capabilities, Not Scale
“Successful M&A” emerges as a clear priority. Leaders increasingly view acquisitions as the fastest way to secure data assets, AI capabilities, and workflow technologies that cannot be built internally at the required pace.
3. Talent as the Strategic Multiplier
Comments referencing “our amazing employees” underline that competitive advantage still rests on people. Talent with AI fluency and cross-functional adaptability remains essential to turning strategy into execution.
4. Tighter Investment Discipline
CEOs emphasize “prioritized investment,” reflecting a sharper ROI mindset. They are concentrating capital where evidence of value is strongest and pulling back from diffuse or exploratory spending.
5. Business Model Transformation
Several highlight “business model transformation” as critical to restoring margins and unlocking new growth. AI and automation are seen not just as tools, but as catalysts for redesigning how value is created.
But take a look more deeply at biggest concerns and the ranking is clear:
And their biggest opportunities? The first four says it all.
Initiatives underway almost always underpin the sentiment in these two charts and when we deduce it to their core — growth and risk. And that’s why we have the Outsell CEO Network — to support decisions CEOs and their teams and organizations’ owners navigate the lifecycle of their business in an AI-driven, complicated world. So much to do, so little time. We’re here to supercharge your efforts so you can meet your new year goals. Contact us.