Global CEOs say cyber, data security tops growth risks over next three years – study

Global CEOs say cybersecurity and data security are now the leading threats to business growth as the broader risk environment shifts, according to a KPMG report.

The KPMG 2026 Global CEO Outlook found that 31% of CEOs believe cyber and data security will be the biggest growth risk over the next three years, followed by global economic uncertainty (28%) and regulatory pressures and geopolitical instability (both 26%). KPMG noted that CEOs are preparing for several sources of disruption rather than organising their response around one overriding concern.

To address that anticipated disruption, cyber and digital-risk resilience was the area where CEOs have increased investment most to mitigate risk (45%), followed by regulatory compliance and reporting (36%) and integrating AI into operations and workflows (32%).

AI investment more broadly is a top priority over the next year three years, flagged by 79% of CEOs – up from 71% in 2025. Almost three-quarters of CEOs (72%) said they expect to spend more than 10% of their budgets on AI over the next 12 months.

Given that scale of investment, 59% of CEOs said AI and data sovereignty are increasing their focus on internal data governance and controls. Another 66% said they expect the pace of AI regulation to hamper organisational success.

And despite that heavy investment in AI, 89% of CEOs believe their organisation’s overall headcount will expand over the next three years. That growth will likely be modest, however – 62% said their headcount increase will be under 5%. Rising headcounts are partly because of skills gaps, a challenge flagged by 56% of CEOs.

Geopolitical strains and internal pressures are also refocusing attention on sustainability and its impact on business strategy. Almost two-thirds of CEOs (63%) said they have been embedding sustainability more deeply into strategy over the past year.

Sustainability is also impacting capital allocation, with 70% of CEOs saying they consider costs and potential returns of sustainability initiatives in at least some of their investment decisions, with 29% saying they do so in every major investment decision.

And while 95% of CEOs say they have some concern about the impact of increased AI use on the broader environment, 82% believe AI could play a role in helping reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency. Meanwhile, 81% believe AI could help enhance climate risk modelling and scenario planning, the same number who think it will improve sustainability-related data quality and reporting.