For the previous two-and-a-half a long time, the mandate for international enterprise leaders was comparatively simple: develop the present enterprise, allocate capital effectively, and implement expertise to drive productiveness. However Mohamed Kande, international chairman of PwC, chatting with Fortune in Davos, Switzerland, forward of the World Financial Discussion board’s annual assembly, insisted that period is over. Kande argued that the CEO job has modified extra up to now yr than something he’s seen during the last quarter-century.
“This is one of the most testing moments for leaders,” Kande informed Fortune‘s Diane Brady, describing a new “tri-modal” mandate that requires executives to simultaneously run their current business, transform it in real time, and also build entirely new business models for the future. “I’ve not seen that in 25 years,” he stated.
Regardless of this stress, Kande’s message to the worldwide enterprise group is rooted in historic optimism. “Do not fear the future. It is unsettling. It is true. Every day something changes, but do not fear it,” he stated, noting that every one the uncertainty so disturbing to executives has occurred earlier than, from tariffs, roughly 100 years in the past, to the economic revolution, even additional again. “Eventually, something good will happen.” Kande allowed that he’s an optimist by nature, however he insisted that high leaders can regulate to this enterprise local weather.
The AI Execution Hole
After all, a major driver of this unsettling change is the speedy adoption of synthetic intelligence (AI), as revealed in PwC’s twenty ninth international CEO survey, “Leading Through Uncertainty in the Age of AI,” launched on the onset of the annual assembly in Davos. Based mostly on responses from 4,454 CEOs throughout 95 nations and territories, the survey reveals a stark disconnect between ambition and actuality. Kande stated the enterprise group made large strides from 2024 to 2025, going from asking themselves whether or not they can or ought to undertake AI to a degree the place “nobody is asking that question anymore. Everybody’s going for it.”
PwC’s survey finds, nonetheless, that solely 10% to 12% of firms report seeing advantages on the income or price aspect, whereas a staggering 56% say they’re getting “nothing out of it.” This echoes the MIT research that shook markets in August with the discovering that 95% of generative AI pilots had been failing throughout the company sector.
Kande attributed this stress to not the expertise itself, however to an absence of foundational rigor. “Somehow AI moves so fast … that people forgot that the adoption of technology, you have to go to the basics,” he defined, citing the necessity for clear information, strong enterprise processes, and governance. PwC is discovering that the businesses which might be seeing advantages from AI are “putting the foundations in place.” It’s about execution, not expertise, he argued, and that comes all the way down to good administration and management.
The Confidence Paradox and U.S. Dominance
The unsure atmosphere has additionally created a paradox in enterprise sentiment, Kande informed Fortune. Whereas CEOs categorical confidence within the international economic system, solely 30% trust that they’ll develop their very own companies. Kande questioned whether or not this hesitation stems from geopolitics, tariffs, expertise, or an absence of management agility. The final 15 years, he famous, have been ones of strong progress and steady enterprise fashions, making this time an actual take a look at for the C-suite. “This is one of the most testing moment for leaders, what we have today,” he stated, as a result of it requires the flexibility to vary quick and adapt rapidly with out getting slowed down in day-to-day, tactical fight.
Solely three in 10 CEOs had been assured in PwC’s twenty ninth survey about income progress over the subsequent 12 months, down from 38% in 2025 and 56% in 2022, marking a five-year low in CEO confidence in their very own income outlook. One other survey query could also be extra revealing, about CEO confidence of their firm’s 12‑month income progress: this has fallen sharply over latest years, at the same time as many leaders proceed to pursue multiyear alternatives to reinvent their companies by AI, innovation, and cross-sector enlargement.
The transformation of the CEO function is trickling all the way down to the workforce, necessitating a reimagining of profession paths. Kande warned that the normal “apprenticeship model”—the place entry-level staff study by doing primary duties—is being disrupted by AI. That traditional profession ladder, beginning on the entry stage, taught a number of experience by hands-on studying, however this should be redesigned, going ahead, to show “system thinking” quite than job execution, as AI more and more handles the latter.
In the end, Kande urges executives to have a look at the final 50 to 100 years quite than the final 5 to know the present second. Citing the infrastructure booms of the railroad period and the early web, he stated he believes the present wave of funding will delivery the subsequent age of innovation. The CEO survey’s framing of a coming “decade of innovation and industry reconfiguration” helps this long-term view, highlighting that firms producing extra income from new sectors are likely to take pleasure in greater revenue margins and better CEO confidence in future progress.
“I’m an optimist,” Kande concluded. Quite than being afraid of the entire modifications which might be taking place now, he urged leaders to keep in mind that individuals concern what they don’t perceive, and the perfect treatment for that’s to hunt understanding. “That’s why I spend so much time learning now and traveling a lot, just to understand what’s happening and thinking about what can be done differently. That’s why I don’t fear AI.”
“I’ve seen change,” Kande stated. “You’ve got to embrace it.”
