How Top CEOs Are Navigating 2025’s Perfect Storm of Uncertainty

According to Gartner’s 1H25 CEO survey, 47% of CEOs now cite financial volatility among their top 3 business concerns — a 17% jump from the previous quarter. This is driving a wave of operational changes across the C-suite.

The top 5 actions CEOs are taking to safeguard organizational performance are:

• Pursuing cost-efficiency measures (77%)

• Adjusting pricing strategies (51%)

• Deploying fully automated, robotic and AI systems (48%)

• Improving value communication to customers and stakeholders (48%)

• Increasing product and service volumes (42%)

For CFOs, COOs and CIOs, this translates to a dual mandate: Drive growth, but do it with relentless attention to cost, automation and operational agility. 

AI is at the top of CEOs’ agendas — 79% believe it will have the greatest impact of any technology on their industry in the next three years. Yet, somewhat paradoxically, 18% of CEOs plan to decrease investment in people and culture development, and 31% are reducing hiring.

This creates a real tension. How can organizations deliver on the promise of AI-driven transformation with diminished investment in talent and training? The challenge is to reframe workforce development as a business enabler, not just a cost center, and to ensure that productivity gains from AI are reinvested into building top talent’s future-ready skills.

Half of CEOs plan to reduce their risk appetite for 2025 and 2026, thanks in large part to geopolitical risks and uncertain U.S. tariffs. This shift is prompting more incremental, lower-risk moves — such as supply chain redesign and selective market entry — over bold, capital-intensive bets.

For C-suite leaders, this means scenario planning and dynamic strategy cycles are more important than ever. Decentralized decision making, agile planning and close monitoring of geopolitical signals are becoming core competencies for every executive team.

Nearly half (43%) of CEOs plan to raise prices in response to tariffs and cost pressures, but customers are more price-sensitive than ever. This requires a compelling value proposition that goes beyond price alone.

To meet the moment, leading organizations are investing in dynamic pricing, value communication and developing a deep understanding of the voice of the customer. It’s not just about justifying price increases — it’s about delivering and demonstrating value that customers feel.

When strategic planning assumptions can change overnight, the real differentiator is the ability to challenge conventional wisdom and adapt with speed. Organizations that succeed in the near term won’t necessarily be the biggest or boldest, but rather those most prepared to turn volatility into opportunity by staying vigilant, regularly updating strategies and building operational resilience.