Diversification is now the critical condition for growth – mid-year C-suite insights 2026

Drawing on the firm’s latest global survey, the C-suite mid-year insights reveal that across all sectors and regions, diversification is the defining approach leaders are now taking against the current backdrop – from their operations, businesses models and expansion plans, to future funding and their products/services. Results also discover organisations diversifying resources in response to world events, reallocating boosts to investment and redirecting target trade destinations.

Capturing views from over 1,000 executives across 18 countries and territories, the big shifts uncover:

• The global paradox has sharpened: growth ambitions remain steady at 92% and market conditions remain favourable, yet confidence has weakened markedly as rising energy costs, supply risks and geopolitical instability make the operating environment harder to control.
• Trends having the biggest impact on businesses shift: Economic factors (40%, up two points) is now the top trend, edging artificial intelligence (37%, down three points) off the top spot. Energy prices/shortages jumps 12 points into the top three (37%) – now outweighing increased competition (26%, down five points).
• Capital and investment is on the move: The number of businesses boosting investment is still high, but with a slight dip across every operation. Capital is being redirected and redistributed from previous priorities like upskilling or sourcing new talent, and new products and services. Supply chain management is the only area of investment that has gone up in terms of priority.
• Operations and trading relationships remap expansion plans: C‑suite leaders are remapping expansion plans to support operations and increase trading relationships. Greater China, Latin America and Australia/Asia Pacific come out on top.
• AI enters its returns era – from intent to impact: Businesses are now confirming concrete returns on AI investments, the specific extent of those returns and the measures against priority gains. Over 60% of businesses are now typically seeing returns of up to 10% from their AI investments, with roughly a fifth seeing higher gains of more than 20%.

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Mark Kennedy, Partner and Chief Clients & Markets Officer at Forvis Mazars Group, comments: “Diversification is moving from the margins of strategy to its centre. The challenge for C-suite executives is not whether to diversify, but how to do it with intent across markets, supply chains, capital and technology – building resilience without creating unmanageable complexity. Of course, this will depend on the size of organisation, the sector and its target audience. The leaders who succeed will be those who balance ambition with flexibility and speed with control, particularly as AI becomes both a source of productivity and thee competitive fault line against which returns, productivity, efficiency and growth is measured. Against the current backdrop, resilience comes from building flexibility into strategy, as diversification shifts from a choice to a critical condition of growth.”

The data shows optimism for future growth remains high with 92% of executives since the start of the year and maintaining the level seen in 2025. Three quarters of leaders also still rate market conditions for growth favourably – both locally in their own countries (78%) and internationally (73%). However, global uncertainty and disruption have resulted in a drastic decline in the confidence of leaders when it comes to managing external trends having the biggest impact on their businesses (35% compared to 43% six months earlier – the lowest levels since the peak of the pandemic in 2021).

In six months, economic factors, including inflation, has moved back up to the top trend impacting businesses (40%), overshadowing now artificial intelligence as it moves into second position (37%), and energy prices and/or shortages has jumped into the top three after a 12-month reprieve (37%). Supply chain challenges has also appeared in the top five for the first time with 27% of leaders.

Capital and investment are on the move to avoid economic aftershocks

There’s still a healthy number of businesses boosting investment, but it’s being redirected from long-term foundations such as talent, sustainability and brand, towards supply chain management. The same pragmatism is evident in growth strategies of C-suite executives. Strategic alliances and joint ventures (50%) have just edged out private equity (44%) as the preferred route to scale and funding, but the clear appetite for both reflects the need for flexibility, shared risk and access to capabilities compared with the traditional balance-sheet expansion approach alone. Notably, over half of leaders across every region have diversified resources in the past six months in response to geopolitical developments, compared with around a quarter that have adopted or accelerated friendshoring, offshoring or near‑shoring plans. Meanwhile cost pressures are increasingly being passed through to customers (54% of organisations) compared with those absorbing some or all costs (46%), testing pricing power and loyalty. 

Remapping operations, trade relationships and expansion plans for favourable market conditions 

C-suite leaders are remapping operational plans and trading relationships. Increased activity in this area reinforces the expansion plans identified at the beginning of the year, but with greater emphasis on diversifying targeted destinations. Businesses are focusing expansion closer to home – both domestically and in neighbouring markets. At the same time, Greater China, Latin America and Australia/Asia Pacific are the top destinations planned for increased trade. Central and Eastern Europe also stands out as the only market attracting interest from all neighbouring and distant regions. 

AI enters its returns era revealing a variance from initial intent to impact 

Over 60% of businesses are now typically realising returns of up to 10% from their AI investments, with roughly a fifth seeing higher productivity gains of more than 20%. Overall, this is positive against the current backdrop as leaders start to sharpen how they measure transformation success and their use cases – from initial intent to valuable impact. They’re now placing greater emphasis on the external gains of productivity and customer satisfaction, paying less attention to internal adoption initiatives that were in focus six months earlier. 

Mark Kennedy concludes: “Growth has not become harder to achieve; it remains within reach. It has simply become more conditional on managing it in a challenging environment. C-suite leaders still want better decisions and a competitive edge, but they’re no longer relying on a single route to get there – gone are the homogenous approaches to strategic growth plans. What we have now is this heterogeneous approach of deliberate diversification and a further evolution of adapting in uncertainty.”

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About the study     

The C-suite barometer 2026 mid-year survey takes the pulse of C-suite leaders worldwide, examining the shift in market conditions, and the trends and priorities shaping strategies for business growth. This independent research was conducted in April/May 2026 and captures the views of over 1,000 C-suite leaders at for-profit organisations with annual revenues of over $1 million across 18 countries.   

Press contacts  

Heather McMaster, Group Head of PR and Content  
Heather.McMaster@mazars.co.uk  / +44 (0) 20 7063 4165 

Rosa Mejia Banks, Group PR and Content Officer  
Rosa.Mejia-Banks@mazars.co.uk / +44 (0) 20 7063 4934