StrategicGears-KSA CEO展望2025：驾驭人工智能和经济不确定性（英）

KSA CEO OUTLOOK 2025:NAVIGATING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCEAND ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTYJULY 2025CONTENTSThe Key TakeawaysIntroductionContextThemes in focusMethodologyEconomic uncertaintyConfidence climbs closer to homeCEO trinity: Growth, discipline, and innovationBusiness functions CEOs aim to future-proofArtificial intelligenceBarriers to AI adoptionHow to build absorptive capacityAnnex 1: CEO sentiment on key sectors in Saudi Arabia next 3-5 yearsReferences0306070809111213151718202122STRATEGIC GEARS | KSA CEO OUTLOOK 2025 | 02THE KEY TAKEAWAYSSTRATEGIC GEARS | KSA CEO OUTLOOK 2025 | 03THE KEY TAKEAWAYSThe 2025 Strategic Gears CEO Outlook offers a pulse reading on how business leaders in Saudi Arabia are navigating the twin cross-cuting forces shaping the business environment: economic uncertainty and artificial intelligence (AI). Based on a survey with 300 CEOs across sectors and firm sizes, this year’s edition uncovers how the twin forces are influencing consequential decisions and priorities for Saudi leaders on operational discipline, strategic investment, and innovation. Here are the key takeaways:Growth, innovation, and discipline make up CEOs’ strategic “trinity”CEOs are converging around three priorities when making decisions: an offensive side in business development, a defensive side in operational and financial efficiency, and a two-way enabler in digital transformation. However, the weight each sector assigns to these priorities varies. Manufacturing and professional services lead on market expansion and tech adoption, while transportation takes a more defensive cost discipline stance.STRATEGIC GEARS | KSA CEO OUTLOOK 2025 | 04Confidence strengthens closer to homeWhile less than half of Saudi CEOs are comfortable with the global economic trajectory, optimism rises as the lens narrows to the Saudi economy and peaks at the firm level. When asked to assess their outlook across the global economy, Saudi economy, their sector, and their firm, CEOs followed a clear gradient: confidence in the Saudi economy is stronger than in the global one, and confidence in their firm’s performance is greater than in their sector.Functional agendas mirror sector direction of the next five yearsOperations is the most uniformly prioritized internal function, more so in asset-heavy and supply-chain dependent industries like manufacturing. Meanwhile, research and development and tech integration dominate in knowledge-intensive sectors. Client-facing sectors such as tourism and accommodation give the nod to marketing and talent more than other sectors, as branding and experiences remain their revenue lynchpins.CEOs think their firms stand out within their sectorSurvey responses show signs of comparative optimism bias when CEOs were asked about the trajectories of their firms and sectors over the next 12 months. Impressions seem to converge on a principle that the closer leaders are to their levers of operational control, the higher their opti