Published on the 29/01/2026 | Written by Heather Wright

Investment grows but AI-driven revenue lacking…

Australian CEOs are entering 2026 with a powerful mix of confidence and anxiety: While economic optimism has surged, their biggest fear is that they’re not transforming fast enough to keep pace with technological change – especially AI.

Just 28 percent of the 108 Australian CEOs surveyed for PwC’s 29th Global CEO Survey believe their AI investment levels are sufficient and just 14 percent say they’re seeing AI-driven revenue so far.

“When a range of foundations for AI adoption are in place, genuine opportunity is created.”

Australian CEO confidence has rebounded sharply with 58 percent bullish about the domestic economic outlook for 2026, up from 35 percent last year and significantly higher than global CEO sentiment. Forty-nine percent of the Australian respondents see revenue growth ahead – a sentiment shared by just 30 percent of global respondents (a five -ear low for global respondents).

But the Australia cut of the survey also surfaces a core risk: transforming fast enough to keep up with technology is the number one concern among Australian CEOs, at 58 percent, versus the global 42 percent.

And while 67 percent plan to invest in emerging technology in the net 12 months, only 28 percent of Australian CEOs believe their current AI investment levels are sufficient to deliver their goals – well below the global average of 40 percent.

While the Kiwi results from the report have yet to be released – and PwC New Zealand failed to provide comment in time for this article – Datacom’s third annual Business Outlook survey released earlier this month, suggests the country is also experiencing an urgency paradox.

That survey shows similar optimism from New Zealand businesses, along with plans to reboot growth through increased tech investment. Just like Australia, however, many organisations are struggling to achieve the enterprise-wide impact they’re looking for when it comes to AI benefits.

The PwC report points to short-term pressures crowding out long-term reinvention for Australian leaders. More than half of their time is spent on short-term matters, with only one day every two weeks devoted to long-term issues, compared to one in six days for global peers. A lack of ‘innovation capability’ is also impeding progress with only a third of Australian CEOs believing their companies have adequate innovation capability for an uncertain future.

Talent shortages are also adding drag in both markets. In Australia, just 28 percent of CEOs say then can attract high-quality AI talent, versus 42 percent globally. That’s slowing delivering and increasing reliance on vendor capacity.

The PwC report calls on Australian companies to move away from ‘tried and tested methods’ for attracting and retaining talent – focusing on traditional IT roles and governance frameworks – saying transformation requires different thinking.

“The market demands bold moves and Australia’s businesses have an opportunity to accelerate capacity building, particularly around internal talent development, to close the gap between innovation and execution.”

Kevin Burrowes, PwC Australia CEO, says while the AI opportunity is ‘massive’, Australia risks falling behind on execution.

“Companies that made serious AI investments two years ago are now seeing outsized returns. Those waiting for perfect conditions risk being left behind by more decisive competitors.”

More importantly, he says, those who see AI as a growth engine can focus freed resources on revenue generating initiatives, such as innovation, customer relationships and strategic thinking, which in turn increase their competitive advantage.

New Zealand leaders, for their part, cited modernising legacy systems as a precondition for unlocking AI value at scale.

In good news, almost half of Australia’s surveyed CEOs have a clearly defined AI roadmap, and 63 percent say their technology environment enables integration.

“However, when we looked across foundational practices fewer than a fifth (18 percent) of local companies have built strong AI foundations; 82 percent of local companies and 79 percent of global companies have AI foundations in less than six areas; across AI tools, the tech environment or responsible AI and risk processes.”

Companies with stronger AI foundations are reporting better outcomes – 2.6x revenue increases and 2.5x cost decreases than those who haven’t established the foundations. “When a range of foundations for AI adoption are in place, genuine opportunity is created.”

Just 12 percent of CEOs surveyed in Australia say their companies are applying AI to a large or very large extent to products, services and experiences, compared to 19 percent globally. PwC says many organisations are aiming for moderate productivity gains of 10-20 percent through augmentation like chatbots, while those adopting AI-first design principles are seeing a much higher return on investment of around 200 to 400 percent.

“While the chatbot-led approach helps build corporate AI literacy, half-measures deliver limited value and can erode trust in AI’s potential,” PwC says.

The survey shows trust in AI is growing; 37 percent of Australia’s CEOs have a high degree of trust in AI (up from 31 percent last year). “This measured optimism shows how AI integration and trust concerns are evolving as organisations gain experience with the technology and strengthen their risk practices.”

But rising trust doesn’t eliminate risk – in fact, the growing reliance on AI is reshaping the risk landscape itself with the Allianz Risk Barometer shows that AI has ousted cyber as the leading business risk – up from number eight in 2025. (Changes in legislation and regulation ranked third for Australia, reflecting concerns over factors such as tariffs, the corporate insurer says.)

Andy Doran, Allianz Australia general manager underwriting, says the increased adoption of technology is having a significant impact on the risk landscape for businesses, with AI and cyber as the top two risks (global results are flipped with cyber number one and AI, second).

“Companies increasingly see AI not only as a powerful strategic opportunity, but also as a complex source of operational, legal and reputational risk,” says Allianz chief economist Ludovic Subran. “In many cases, adoption is moving faster than governance, regulation and workforce readiness can keep up, pushing AI into the top tier of global risks for the first time.”

And as AI rises up the corporate risk register, concerns about transparency and trust are echoing across the public sector too with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner releasing a report last week showing that only 17 percent of Australian government agencies disclosed their use of automated decision making (ADM) despite being legally required to publish this information. The OAIC warned most agencies are failing basic transparency tests and recommended clearer reporting, arguing that trust, accountability and integrity depend on it.

Against this backdrop of mounting transparency expectations, PwC argues that businesses can’t wait for certainty before acting.

“Investment and trust need to develop in parallel, not sequentially. Organisations that wait for complete confidence find themselves caught in a cycle: Without material investment, there’s limited proof of value and a lack of mature AI capability; without proof, there’s reticence to invest.

“Breaking the cycle requires committing to transformation timelines that result in AI adoption at scale. Action creates trust through demonstrated results and lessons learned and organisations that start moving now position themselves to capture advantages as capabilities mature.”