27th Annual Global CEO Survey - Asia Pacific

Leading through accelerated reinvention

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  • Insight
  • 5 minute read
  • January 15, 2024

63% of Asia Pacific CEOs are not confident about their company’s long-term viability, despite most of them (97%) having taken steps towards business reinvention.

Twelve months ago, we reported that 53% of Asia Pacific CEOs believed their companies would no longer be viable in ten years’ time if they continued on their current path. This highlighted a dual imperative for CEOs: the need to focus on the profitability challenges of the ‘here and now’ while simultaneously reinventing their business to ensure future viability.

In this year’s CEO Survey, conducted with 1,774 CEOs in the region, we continue seeing unease among business leaders. The path ahead remains unclear. Their views on the global economy are divergent: 45% expect the global economy to decline, while 40% expect it to improve in 2024.



Facing an uphill battle, the vast majority of companies (97%) in Asia Pacific are taking at least some steps toward reinvention. But is it enough? The survey suggests not. 63% of CEOs remain uncertain about their company's viability —10% higher than the previous year and 18% above the average for global CEOs.



Curiously, CEOs also report feeling less exposed to threats over the near term: inflation (down 21%), macroeconomic volatility (down 9%) and geopolitical conflict (down 12%). How can the two sentiments co-exist? It's possible that CEOs are focusing more on addressing the short-term risks — and having some success — rather than the wider long-term sustainability of their business. 



This level of future uncertainty has been compounded by a year of persistent economic challenges, high inflation and geopolitical conflicts re-defining risk and limiting growth. 

CEOs are also confronting generational crises and opportunities in climate and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). All things considered, there’s a compelling argument for the need to accelerate business reinvention.

Other key findings
  • Both internal and external pressures drive barriers to reinvention.

    • The top three external barriers to reinvention are regulatory environment, a shortage of workforce skills and supply chain instability.

    • From an internal perspective, CEOs may have not done enough resource allocation (i.e. financial and human) which is fundamental to reinvention. Two-thirds of Asia Pacific CEOs reported only 20% or less resource reallocation from year to year. 

  • Asia Pacific CEOs still consider the US and China as critical to their growth prospects. Their investment focus remains steady or increases in several other Asia Pacific territories.

  • Most progress on climate action has been made in decarbonisation. However, about one in five are not currently pursuing other types of action related to climate adaptation, the ‘just transition’ or nature-based solutions.

  • 41% of Asia Pacific CEOs report that they have not yet adopted GenAI across their companies in the last 12 months even though they anticipate GenAI to significantly impact their companies, workforce and markets within the next three years. 26% predict a reduction in headcount due to GenAI.

Download our report

Explore several steps that Asia Pacific companies can take to accelerate and de-risk their reinvention to boost success

Contact us

Sridharan Nair

PwC Asia Pacific Vice Chairman, Markets, PwC Malaysia

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Lead Authors

Neel Bhattacharjee

Strategy &, Asia Asia Pacific Operations, Director, PwC Singapore

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Mai Chu

Manager, Asia Pacific Markets, PwC Singapore

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Joseph Chou

Chairman and CEO, Taipei, PwC Taiwan

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Roderick Danao

Vice Chairman and Assurance Partner Chairman, Makati, PwC Philippines

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Soo Hoo Khoon Yean

Managing Partner, PwC Malaysia

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Marcus Lam

Executive Chairman, PwC Singapore

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Elaine Ng

Partner, Assurance, Risk Services, PwC Malaysia

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Eddy Rintis

Senior Partner, PwC Indonesia

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Patrick Tuan

Markets Leader, Taipei, PwC Taiwan

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Masataka Kubota

Territory Senior Partner, PwC Japan Group

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Yukinori Morishita

Markets Leader, PwC Japan

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Akane Yoshida

PwC Japan Group Vice Chair, PwC Japan Group

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Carl Blanchard

Chief Markets Officer and Infrastructure Leader, Auckland, PwC New Zealand

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Kevin Burrowes

Chief Executive Officer, Sydney, PwC Australia

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Tom Gunson

Clients & Markets Leader, Melbourne, PwC Australia

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Andrew Holmes

CEO and Senior Partner, PwC New Zealand

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Sanjeev Krishan

Chairman, Gurgaon 10C, PwC India

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Ay-Tjhing Phan

Markets Leader, Jakarta, PwC Indonesia

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Vivek Prasad

Markets Leader, PwC India

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Mary Jade Roxas

Markets Leader, PwC Philippines

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Kok Weng Sam

Markets Leader, PwC Singapore

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Sinsiri Thangsombat

Assurance Lead Partner, Thailand, PwC Thailand

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Pisit Thangtanagul

Chief Executive Officer, PwC Thailand

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Luong Thi Anh Tuyet

Partner, Assurance Services, HCMC Office, Ho Chi Minh City, PwC Vietnam

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Mai Viet Hung Tran

General Director, PwC Vietnam

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Geoffrey Wang

Markets Leader, PwC China

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Patrick Yeo

Partner, Asset and Wealth Management and Venture Hub, PwC Singapore

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Sang-Soo Yoo

Deals Leader, PwC South Korea

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Hoonsoo Yoon

Chief Executive Officer, Seoul, PwC South Korea

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