The 2022 CEO Outlook draws on the perspectives of 1,325 global CEOs across 11 markets to provide insight into their 3-year outlook on the business and economic landscapes. The survey also reveals shifts in strategy and viewpoints from the KPMG CEO Outlook Pulse Survey, conducted ahead of the Russian government's invasion of Ukraine.

Tested by enormous challenges in quick succession — a global pandemic, inflationary pressures and geopolitical tensions — it’s encouraging that CEOs, surveyed in our 2022 CEO Outlook, were confident in their companies’ resilience and relatively optimistic in their own growth prospects.

​​​​​​​While it’s unsurprising the economic climate is now a top concern for business leaders, over these past few years, they’ve learned to navigate the unpredictable, realigning their workforces, untangling supply chain disruptions, and adapting to geopolitical and economic impacts As the possibility of recession looms, many are already prepared with a deep focus on planning and agility. And some see opportunities through this fog of uncertainty brought on by the promise of technology, talent and ESG.

These themes that emerged were reiterated in our Senior Partner, Anthony Sarpong’s interview with Joy FM.  The first theme was the Economic Outlook  - CEOs are ready and prepared to weather the current geopolitical and economic challenges while still anticipating long-term global growth i.e. optimism about growth persists. The second theme was Technology - CEOs are directing digital investment to areas of their business that drive growth, with an emphasis on partnerships and preparedness. Disruptive technology has emerged as the number one risk to organizational growth. The cyber environment is evolving quickly — and 77 percent see information security as a strategic function and a potential source of competitive advantage.  The third theme was Talent - CEOs are changing how they support and attract talent, and their efforts are buoyed by a focus on their people and experimenting with ways of working. Talent a top operational priority - In the long term, the employee value proposition to attract and retain the necessary talent is tied as the top operational priority to achieving a 3-year growth objective. The final theme was ESG - CEOs are balancing the need to build resilient and transparent ESG  plans with the possibility of having to pause or reconsider their approaches. In addition, CEOs increasingly agree that ESG programs improve financial performance, sitting at 45 percent, up from 37 percent 1 year ago.