Business leaders entered mid-2026 with a clear signal: uncertainty is not a phase to wait out, but a condition to plan around. Only 30% of CEOs are confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months, according to PwC's 29th Global CEO Survey of 4,454 CEOs across 95 countries. That is down from 38% in 2025 and 56% in 2022, pointing to a climate shaped by pressure and fast action.
"AI is moving so quickly, and the impact is so dramatic, that many people are reacting with panic," said Yan Anthea Zhang, Rice University Business School's Fayez Sarofim Vanguard Chair Professor of Strategic Management. "Those concerns are real, but the right response is not panic. It's adaptation."
Zhang sees two forces dominating the strategic picture this year: AI and geopolitics. The divide, she said, is between companies that merely test AI and those that redesign workflows around it.
AI moves from experimentation to operations
Deloitte's 2026 State of AI in the Enterprise report framed this year as a move from ambition to activation, with firms racing to turn AI spend into measurable impact. Yet Stanford HAI's 2026 AI Index warns that capabilities are advancing faster than the systems built to govern, evaluate, and manage them. That gap is exactly the space where adaptation will decide winners.
"There are concerns about job displacement, changing skill requirements, and the future of entry-level jobs," Zhang said. Those concerns are real, she added, but they are a reason to adapt, not to freeze. As AI moves into operations, the divide between companies that merely test AI and those that redesign workflows around it becomes stark, a challenge that falls squarely on AI for Executives & Strategy.
Trade policy adds uncertainty to planning
The United States declined to renew the US-Mexico-Canada trade pact by the July 1 deadline, raising questions about the future of the deal. John Beckham, managing director of the North American Development Bank, said the review is front of mind for investors. "The review of the USMCA is clearly on the agenda, and private investors are watching it closely because it provides certainty around the trade relationship," he said. "We are optimistic, but until it is resolved, it remains an issue on the minds of investors and businesses as they make decisions."
Alejandro Coss, president and CEO of the Latin American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia, pointed to the automotive sector as a clear example of regional integration. Automakers and parts suppliers have built production systems across all three countries, with components crossing borders constantly and investment decisions tied to regional efficiency. "Given the scale of investment in this industry, in the billions of dollars, making abrupt changes is neither practical nor realistic," Coss said.
Capital weighs risk amid shifting confidence
Global investment appetite is pulling in different directions. Kearney's 2026 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index found that the United States ranked first for the 14th consecutive year, evidence of enduring pull from its market size, talent, energy position, and innovation base. Yet interviews with regional leaders over the first half of 2026 show that investors are becoming more selective, weighing resilience, policy stability, energy access, and workforce depth before committing.
Zhang said many companies have already redrawn their maps. "Companies used to concentrate supply chains in one region for efficiency, but many now realize they need alternatives and redundancy because the global environment has become more dynamic," she said. "That has implications for strategy, investment, sourcing, and risk management."
Why this matters for executives and strategy
The second half of 2026 will test whether leaders can build enough flexibility to keep investing while conditions remain unsettled. The companies moving with confidence are not waiting for calmer conditions-they are monitoring risk while constructing plans that absorb it. For executives, the imperative is to move AI from pilot programs into core operations and to treat trade uncertainty not as a temporary disruption but as a permanent factor in supply chain and investment decisions.
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