In our post-election Fortune / Deloitte CEO Survey, based on responses from more than 140 CEOs of the world’s largest and most influential companies, 84% expressed optimism about their company’s performance in the next year. Nearly half are optimistic about the global economy, up from 7% a year ago, and two-thirds see opportunity in AI. Click here for more survey data.
Jason Girzadas, CEO of Deloitte US, which sponsors the survey and this newsletter, said “optimism indexed is as high as we’ve seen” in the 14 editions of the survey, citing tax policy, deregulation, and technological transformation as key drivers. “This transformation theme has begun to emerge as a prominent priority.”
Several CEOs also joined us yesterday for a virtual roundtable to discuss the survey and their outlook. Some edited highlights:
There is positivity out there. People are traveling. We need to provide an excellent customer experience. How do you marry employees and technology to create loyalty? Clear, consistent communication about change. – Chrissy Taylor, Enterprise Mobility.
It’s cautious optimism. Potential tariffs or immigration policies could be constraining. We import a lot. If you’re talking about mass roundups of immigrants, agriculture will unravel. — Scott Boatwright, Chipotle Mexican Grill.
CEOs may be drawn into policy issues in ways they’d prefer to stay out. I rarely meet a CEO who wakes up in the morning and thinks about how they can insert themselves into the news. Things happen where we don’t have a choice but to weigh in. — David Meadvin, One Strategy Group.
Communications that I’ve been doing for 10 years is now done by an agent. We are developing models that understand the world much better than humans do. We’ll need to learn new tasks, new skills, and we will need to find places for people who will be replaced by technology. — Alex Zhavoronkov, Insilico Medicine.
What we’re watching very carefully is currency as we have a lot of business in Europe and Japan. And federal spending, as we also have business with the federal government. The cost of deploying AI is reaching a commodity level in terms of cost. — Milan Shetti, Rocket Software.
I think the economy in Canada has been stabilizing when it comes to inflation. The Bank of Canada announced another rate cut of 50 basis points … People started traveling and going out more. A lot of the discretional spend started going from shopping into other categories. — Sebastian Picardo, Holt Renfrew.
Workers want to come back and engage in experiences. They’re saying, ‘I don’t care about flexibility. I want experience. I don’t just want a participation trophy. I want to be on a winning team.’ — Christina Kosmowski, LogicMonitor.
More news below.
Diane Brady
diane.brady@fortune.com
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More on how CEOs are feeling about the economy
42% of CEOs are either “optimistic” or “very optimistic” about the global economy over the next 12 months, according to a new survey of executives from Fortune 500 companies and others conducted by Fortune and Deloitte. That’s up from 29% over the summer, though 73% of those polled described Trump’s proposed trade and tariff policies as a risk.
“Wanted” posters target health care executives
“Wanted” signs featuring the executives of health care companies started appearing around New York City on Tuesday, prompting warnings over C-Suite safety. The posters included the terms “deny,” “defend,” and “depose,” which were found on the shell casings of the bullets used in the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week.
UK billionaire thinks CEOs are underpaid
British billionaire financier Lord Michael Spencer told the Financial Times that he believes CEOs in the country should be paid as much as the U.K.’s top soccer stars. Spencer also compared compensation to that in the U.S., a place he says “want their chief executives to be paid like football stars.”
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
Mastercard exec wants companies to reskill workers before AI comes for their jobs by Jenn Brice
We just got closer to 24-hour stock trading. Is that a good thing? By Greg McKenna
Return-to-office mandates are associated with an exodus of high performers, research finds by Sasha Rogelberg
Macy’s employee responsible for a $151 million accounting scandal made one mistake that snowballed into an intentional coverup by Sydney Lake
Here’s what AI CEOs are thinking about when it comes to building AI businesses by Alena Botros
This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Joey Abrams.
