The survey, conducted among 4,454 CEOs across 95 countries and territories, found that 56% of business leaders reported neither revenue growth nor cost reductions from AI over the past 12 months, calling into question the speed at which pilot projects are translating into real returns on investment.
Only 12% of CEOs said their organizations had achieved both revenue growth and cost savings thanks to AI deployments. Another 30% reported revenue growth alone, while 26% pointed only to cost reductions. The remaining companies not only failed to see benefits, but 22% actually experienced higher operating costs, which PwC links to the expenses of implementing new tools and the immaturity of many AI strategies.
PwC notes that the key factor separating companies that are realizing financial gains from those that are not is the depth of AI integration across the organization and the strength of their technological foundations. CEOs whose companies have robust data systems, responsible AI governance frameworks, and AI embedded in core business processes are two to three times more likely to report tangible benefits. By contrast, many firms are still limited to isolated projects or narrowly focused experiments.
The survey also points to a decline in overall confidence among business leaders regarding revenue growth. Only about 30% of CEOs say they are very or extremely confident about revenue increases over the next 12 months — the lowest level of confidence in five years. While technologies such as AI are widely seen as critical to future competitiveness, many leaders fear their organizations are not transforming fast enough to fully capture their potential.
The findings further show that companies already seeing benefits from AI are more likely to deploy it broadly across products, services, and customer experiences, rather than confining it to pilot programs. This highlights a widening gap between early adopters and the rest of the market, suggesting that the economic gains from AI may become increasingly concentrated among a relatively small group of organizations capable of scaling the technology strategically.
Overall, PwC’s report suggests that AI is moving beyond hype into a phase of hard-nosed business evaluation: many companies are investing heavily, but still lack the structure, data, and strategic coherence needed to generate measurable financial returns, while the pace of technological change itself is becoming a major source of concern for corporate leadership worldwide.
