C-suite barometer: outlook 2026 - Australian insights

Despite challenges such as shifting global trade dynamics and increased tariffs, Australia’s C-suite remains confident in their ability to overcome obstacles and drive growth. Our findings highlight how leaders are adapting business models, diversifying resources, and actively pursuing new markets, all while embracing transformative technologies like artificial intelligence to streamline operations and secure their competitive edge.

98% C-suite leaders in Australia have a positive growth outlook for the year ahead, despite ongoing economic uncertainty and political instability.

Leaders in Australia are feeling the impact of global trade and increased tariffs, but are confident in their ability to mitigate them. They are tackling them in various ways:

• Adapting business models and strategies due to competition and tariffs is among the top three strategic priorities
• 58% are diversifying their resources
• 46% of leaders have plans to enter new markets
• 38% are developing new offerings for new markets. Executives are clearly wary of becoming over reliant on investments in any one place.  

As we see elsewhere, the major opportunity in front of Australia firms is the AI revolution. Uptake is high across a broad range of business functions, most notably creative outputs and cybersecurity. Leaders’ key rationale for investment is streamlining their operations.  

In response, four in five are planning to boost financial investment across business areas.  

The C-suite agenda: a buoyant Australia C-suite leadership is very optimistic about future growth, despite economic uncertainty, political instability and climate change 

• A majority of C-suite executives in Australia are optimistic about next year’s growth, with half reporting they’re “very positive”. Nine in ten report an increase in annual revenue this year.  
• Executives confirm that economic trends, including inflation/cost of living (46%), as the trend that will have the biggest impact on their business – followed by AI (42%) and new or higher regulatory requirements (36%).  
• Leaders cite economic uncertainty (58%), political instability and climate change (both 34%) as the main factors most likely to hold back growth for their business this year.  
• To tackle these external trends, their top strategic priorities are transformation through company IT and technology (42%), restructuring/cost reductions (32%) and adapting their business model or strategy due to competition and tariffs (30%).   
• Confidence from leaders in their ability to keep on top of the key trends is strong, with our Confidence Index (average percent “very confident” in tackling trends relevant to them) at 51%.  
• Over three quarters (77%) of C-suite leaders in Australia are also boosting investment. In fact, our Investment Index (average percent boosting investment across business areas) shows that leaders in Australia are boosting investment more than those in any other singular country in the APAC region. AI implementation and acquiring new customers (both 88%) are leaders’ top areas for increased financial investment. 

Transformation through technology: The top strategic priority for leaders in Australia, with data security and revenue growth shaping transformation plans alongside artificial intelligence 

• 96% of businesses report now having a technology transformation strategy or its currently in planning.  
• Leaders say that AI (62%) will have the biggest impact on the success of their transformation strategy, followed by data infrastructure and security (51%) and client experience (36%).  
• Consequently, they name AI as their top investment priority for tech transformation (56%), ahead of revenue growth (41%).  
• Across a range of potential digital transformation investments, they’re most confident in the ROI on AI (52%) and data connectivity/analytics (50%). More than half expect their technology transformation investments to “significantly” or “somewhat” increase profits within the next 12 months; 80% expect this within two years, and 96% within five years.

Recalibrating with AI: AI is having a major impact on businesses in Australia – creating new jobs and optimising operations 

• Seven in ten leaders in Australia confirm that AI is having a major impact on their company. Three-quarters of business leaders have already restructured their teams to implement AI.
• On a positive note, AI is driving workforce change and creating employment overall, with 79% say it’s already created new roles in their business or will this year.  
• Adoption of AI across all many areas within businesses is high and, as a result, it’s reshaping businesses’ operations and strategy. In Australia, uptake is at its highest for improving creativity (76%) and in cyber security (74%). The main motivation of leaders for using AI is operational optimisation (52%). 
• Almost a quarter of companies in Australia currently invest more than a fifth of their budget in AI - eight points higher than the global average. Nearly half (44%) spend less than 10% (vs 35% globally).  

Adapting to competition and tariffs: Despite global trade and tariff changes, nine in ten are confident they can manage by leveraging new markets for expansion 

• Nine in ten leaders in Australia are confident their companies can manage tariff-driven costs.  
• However, tariff changes have forced businesses here to alter how they operate. The most widespread changes adopted are adapting expansion plans to consider new markets (46%) and developing new offerings for new markets (38%).  
• Diversifying resources (58%) is the key operational shift in reaction to global trade disruption. Two-thirds are also pursuing some services consolidation.  

Revising international expansion plans: despite geopolitical instability and trade tariff friction, leaders in Australia are still planning to expand internationally – they’re just diversifying their approach and their top destinations planned.  

• Three-quarters of businesses in Australia plan to expand to at least one new country in the next five years. For those planning expansion, Canada, France and China are the top destinations.  
• Rather than cancel plans entirely, a majority of C-suite leaders in Australia are diversifying their expansion plans despite uncertainty. Almost half of companies (48%) have added extra target countries over the past year and 46% have changed the destinations they’re targeting for expansion. Geopolitical instability/social unrest is the primary driver of change, ahead of tariffs. 
• The main challenge for businesses setting up operations in new countries is now extra costs/operational issues due to trade tariff changes (43%) as opposed to regulatory challenges we’ve seen come through in previous years.