Turning pressure into progress​

In 2026, resilience is no longer a defensive posture; it is a competitive requirement. ​ ​

PwC’s 29th Global CEO survey incorporates insights from 4,454 chief executives, including 1,766 from Asia Pacific and 37 from Malaysia, highlighting a significant shift in executive sentiment as leaders look ahead to a year of reinvention. ​ ​

Confidence in revenue growth is eroding as global and local economic optimism fades, while mounting concerns over talent shortages, cyber risks, and tech disruption dominate the risk landscape. The survey results reveal an “AI divide”, where the gap between experimentation and real-world performance widens due to uneven foundational readiness. ​ ​

For Malaysian leaders, success now requires a delicate balancing act—protecting near-term resilience while building the capability and partnerships needed to capture emerging value pools. For those who can successfully pivot, the stakes are immense: PwC’s Value in Motion research points to US$49.99 trillion of potential value projected across Asia Pacific through to 2035.

CEOs in Malaysia pivot towards capturing long-term value pools amid eroding revenue confidence​

Uncertainty is reshaping the Malaysian business landscape as shifting economic expectations test leaders’ confidence in operational reality.​ ​

Despite Malaysia’s strong 2025 growth projections, business sentiment is softening. Confidence on local economic growth has fallen to 65% (a decline from 87% last year), while global optimism has plummeted to 49%, compared to 68% previously. ​ ​

This cautiousness is stifling short-term revenue expectations; today, only a third of Malaysian CEOs remain very or extremely confident in their company’s prospects over the next 12 months—a double-digit decline from last year. ​ ​

The three-year outlook remains slightly more robust at 37%, hinting at a strategic bet on the future. This medium-term resilience likely stems from an anticipation of normalised trade conditions and the expectation that current investments in AI, digital maturity, and supply-chain agility will begin to yield tangible returns.​

CEOs’ confidence in revenue growth has weakened alongside a weaker confidence in economic growth globally and locally ​

Q. [Left and middle] How do you believe economic growth will change, if at all over the next 12 months globally / in your territory? [Right] How confident are you about your company’s prospect for revenue growth over the next 12 months and the next three years?​

Businesses under siege: Skills gaps, cyber risks, and technological disruption​

Why is executive confidence retreating? CEOs are increasingly preoccupied with a "polycrisis" of geopolitical tension, economic volatility, and cyber risk. Notably, climate concern has almost doubled following the catastrophic late-November floods in Southeast Asia, which underscored a systemic lack of climate resilience in the region.​ ​

Despite these external pressures, the internal "talent gap" remains the primary obstacle. A significant 35% of CEOs in Malaysia now report high exposure to persistent skills shortages. This has created a dangerous disconnect as businesses aggressively pursue automation and cost efficiencies while workforce capabilities fail to evolve at the same pace, according to employees in our last Workforce Hopes and Fears survey. ​ ​

Cyber risk remains a critical concern, with 39% of CEOs in Malaysia reporting high or extreme exposure in 2026. This heightened vigilance follows a 43% surge in cybersecurity incidents recorded by the National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA) in 2024. Consequently, our Digital Trust Insights Survey 2026 reveals that 67% of business and technology leaders in Malaysia now rank cyber risk investment among their top three strategic priorities for the year ahead.​ ​

Today’s cyber threats are shaped as much by geopolitical shifts as by technological advancements. Upended alliances, trade disputes, weakened international institutions and other destabilising trends are reshaping both the threat landscape and traditional business models. Reflecting this complexity, 82% of CEOs in Malaysia plan to strengthen enterprise-wide cybersecurity in response to geopolitical risks, underscoring the deeply interconnected nature of these challenges.​

Bridging the gap from proof of concept to proof of value​

Measurable financial returns from AI adoption remain elusive for most. Less than a quarter of CEOs in Malaysia (23%) report that AI adoption has generated additional revenue over  the past 12 months. The impact on margins is equally nuanced: while 17% of CEOs have achieved cost reductions, 26% report that AI has actually increased their cost base. Consequently, the majority of leaders find that AI has yet to deliver a material shift in their overall financial performance.​ ​

This value gap reflects an emphasis on “bottom-up” experimentation. To date, many organisations have focused on building foundational confidence, expanding user access, and lifting everyday individual productivity. While these efforts have delivered early productivity gains, they have not yet scaled into the consistent, enterprise-wide impact required to redefine the bottom line.​

Enterprise-wide AI adoption remains significantly shallow. Less than a fifth of CEOs report that AI has been applied to a large or very large extent in core functions, including demand generation (19%), support services (8%), and direction setting (8%). Even in the development of products and services, where AI's impact is often touted most highly, adoption stands at a mere 8%.​ ​

This executive-level data aligns with a visible "usage gap" on the ground. In PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2025, only 19% of employees in Malaysia reported using GenAI on a daily basis. Together, these findings underscore that while AI awareness is high, deep operational integration remains the exception rather than the rule.​ ​

The strategic focus is now shifting from proof of concept to proof of value. This transition marks a move away from experimentation towards business-led, top-down integration tied directly to growth. It indicates a fundamental shift from simply ‘doing things differently’ to doing entirely different things—including the wholesale rethinking business models. While this transition is underway, for the majority of Malaysian businesses, the financial returns remain in an emergent phase rather than being fully realised. ​

The CEO’s paradox: Urgency vs capacity​

What keeps Malaysian CEOs up at night? The concern is two-fold: just like their global counterparts, 70% of Malaysian CEOs worry their transformation is being outpaced by technological change, while 41% question if they are doing enough to safeguard their company’s medium- to long-term viability.​ ​

However, a critical tension exists between these ambitions and daily reality. While leaders recognise the need for reinvention, their calendars tell a different story: 89% of CEO schedules are consumed by short- to medium-term priorities (0-5 years). This leaves a narrow window of capacity for the long-term transformation that they themselves acknowledge is a prerequisite for future business competitiveness. ​

The good news is that intent is shifting—CEOs in Malaysia are bucking global trends and making bold moves to reinvent. Despite a cautious global M&A outlook, CEOs in Malaysia remain more inclined than their peers in pursuing major deals: 51% plan at least one significant acquisition in the next three years, outpacing both the Asia Pacific average (28%) and the global benchmark (45%).​ ​

This appetite for expansion is already transforming the corporate landscape. Over the past five years, the number of Malaysian companies entering entirely new sectors has surged to 76%—a significant leap from 42% in 2025. This move into uncharted territory far exceeds the global (42%) and Asia Pacific (29%) averages, signalling that Malaysian leaders are leading the charge in blurring industry borders to capture new value.​ ​

84% CEOs in Malaysia plan to expand beyond their traditional industry boundaries over the next three years targeting adjacent and fast-moving sectors

Our global sample of over 4,500 CEOs reveals a powerful correlation: companies that draw a higher percentage of revenue from new sectors consistently report higher profit margins and greater leadership confidence in future growth. Playing an active role in industry reconfiguration is not just a strategic choice—it is demonstrably paying off.​ ​

The implication for leadership is clear: Value is still in motion. While high volatility and shifting rules require a focus on immediate resilience, the most successful CEOs are simultaneously preparing to pivot toward these emerging sources of value.​

The future of your business won't be defined by the crises you manage today, but by the reinvention you prioritise now to capture the new sources of value that are already in motion. To move from reactive defence to proactive outperformance, Malaysian CEOs must execute on three strategic fronts:​