The UK’s top business leaders are feeling the chill of economic uncertainty, with CEO confidence sliding to its lowest level in two years, according to the latest EY CEO Outlook Global Report.
Yet amid the gloom, they’re not retreating; they’re accelerating bets on AI and strategic deals to engineer their own path to growth.
The EY-Parthenon survey, conducted between November and December 2025 among 1,200 CEOs worldwide (including a significant UK contingent), reveals a noticeable dip in overall sentiment.
The global CEO Confidence Index fell from 83.0 in Q3 2025 to 78.5 in Q4 2025, marking a clear softening driven by concerns over sluggish global growth, geopolitical tensions, supply chain shifts, and persistent cost pressures.
While the report doesn’t isolate a UK-specific index, British CEOs mirror this broader trend against a backdrop of uneven economic momentum and expectations of slower GDP expansion (from 3.3% in 2025 to 3.1% in 2026 globally).
UK CEOs are upbeat on AI
Despite the headwinds, UK bosses remain strikingly upbeat about their own organisations’ prospects. Around nine in ten CEOs across the survey anticipate revenue growth, improved profitability, and productivity gains in 2026 – even as 61% brace for higher operating costs from labour, energy, tech, regulation, and financing.
The message from chief executives is clear: external conditions may be tough, but internal transformation can still deliver results.
Nowhere is this proactive stance more evident than in AI adoption. Far from scaling back, leaders are shifting AI from experimental pilots to enterprise-wide integration.
A remarkable 96% of UK CEOs plan to invest in emerging technologies over the next 12 months, with AI singled out as critical for adapting to geopolitical and economic flux. Globally, 54% view generative AI as the most transformative technology, followed closely by machine learning and agentic AI. Most initiatives have already met or exceeded expectations, fuelling productivity, efficiency, and even revenue uplift.
43% of CEOs rank optimising operations and productivity, powered by AI and digitalisation, as their top priority for navigating uncertainty.
Mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances
Mergers, acquisitions, and strategic alliances form the other pillar of this growth playbook. More than half (53%) intend to pursue acquisitions in the coming year, seeing deals as a faster route to technology, talent, and market access than pure organic expansion.
Joint ventures and alliances are also surging in popularity (79% planning them in 2026, up sharply from 62% the prior year). The UK remains an attractive investment destination in CEOs’ eyes, ranking high alongside the US, Canada, Germany, and India.
Leaders express resilience in talent attraction and retention (around 80% optimistic), while sharpening cost discipline through AI-driven efficiencies and precise pricing.
Workforce strategies increasingly focus on skills for an AI-augmented future, with hybrid models and employee value propositions helping to navigate volatility.
Even as global outlooks temper, executives say they are confident in their power to transform at speed and build lasting advantage.
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