New Deloitte Report: Asia Pacific CFOs look beyond volatility as AI and resilience drive growth agenda

Hong Kong, 15 October 2026 — Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) across Asia Pacific are less pessimistic about the economic outlook than six months ago, while continuing to prioritise technology, innovation and organisational resilience, according to Deloitte’s Asia Pacific's CFO Pulse Survey "Separating the signal from the noise".

Net optimism about the Asia Pacific economy rose 21 percentage points to 26% since Deloitte’s CFO Pulse Survey in May 20261 while net optimism about the global economy rose 24 percentage points, from -27% to -3%, still in negative territory. Meanwhile, 68% of respondents reported tangible value from their Artificial Intelligence (AI) investments. The survey draws upon responses from 363 CFOs across 14 Asia Pacific markets. 

Confidence in CFOs’ own organisations remained broadly stable at 39%, suggesting that, even as macroeconomic sentiment improves, company-specific opportunities, risks and execution priorities remain the most important considerations for finance leaders.

Despite persistent geopolitical and economic uncertainty, expectations for key business indicators improved modestly. Sixty-three per cent of CFOs expect revenue growth over the next 12 months, up from 60% in May, while 56% anticipate higher profits, compared with 52% previously.

 “CFOs are becoming more confident in the regional and global economic outlook, but they are not losing sight of the risks affecting their own organisations. The findings point to a pragmatic shift: finance leaders are looking beyond short-term market noise and investing in the technology, resilience and agility needed to act when opportunities emerge,” said Kok Yong Ho, Deloitte Asia Pacific's CFO Program Leader.

Additional findings:

1. Geopolitical instability remains a key risk:  More than half of CFOs (57%) identify geopolitical instability as one of the biggest potential disruptors to their business over the next 12 months, although this is down significantly from May as the external environment has stabilised.
2. CFOs playing less defensively: While geopolitical risks remain, CFOs are increasingly focused on a more balanced set of growth drivers, with application of technology (38%) and innovation and new products (37%) emerging as leading priorities.
3. Finance function key to agility goals: One of the main benefits sought from resilience investments is agility, and the finance function is central to achieving it through its role in supporting financial flexibility, cost control, and forecasting. 
4. Artificial Intelligence value gains momentum: The opportunities and risks of AI are increasingly front of mind. More CFOs (68%) are reporting tangible value from AI, with those reporting the strongest impact also more optimistic about future profitability.

“AI, data and automation-enabled capabilities, such as advanced scenario models, can help organisations prepare for critical events. But better information alone is not enough. Organisations also need the agility to respond quickly, turning insight into action rapidly when conditions change,” Kok Yong Ho added.

Resilience shifts from risk management to investment priority

Nearly half of CFOs (46%) say resilience has become more important over the last 12 months as external uncertainty continues to disrupt business. This trend is particularly evident in smaller economies, where exposure to global trade dynamics and supply-chain disruption can be greater.

The heightened focus is influencing capital-allocation decisions. CFOs who consider resilience more important are willing to support related investments even when expected financial returns are significantly lower than for other projects, cited by 21% of respondents, or even where the returns are unclear, cited by a further 25%.

Technology-enabled resilience was the leading capability organisations want to strengthen, selected by 42% of CFOs. Finance data, analytics and insights, together with liquidity and cash management, follow at 31% each. 

During periods of disruption, CFOs believe finance can add the greatest value through liquidity and financial flexibility, cited by 45% of respondents, cost control, cited by 41%, and forecasting and scenario analysis, identified by a further 39%. 

Regional momentum diverges

Strong exports and AI-infrastructure investment continue to support Asia Pacific overall growth outlook. However, momentum varies considerably across markets. 

Business optimism in Mainland China and Japan moderated amid domestic economic transition but remained positive. In other Asia Pacific markets, easing inflation and AI-related investment supported more resilient sentiment.

Across Asia Pacific, CFOs remain alert to geopolitical instability, energy-price pressures, changing trade conditions, tighter global financial conditions and supply-chain disruption over the coming year.

“While AI investment has supported strong growth in Asia Pacific, economic headwinds are building. Inflation, financial-market and trade risks could all jeopardise the region’s momentum,” said David Rumbens, Partner, Deloitte Access Economics, Deloitte Australia.

To access the full report and learn more about the findings, please visit https://www.deloitte.com/ap/en/our-thinking/asia-pacific-cfo-pulse.html.

Survey Methodology

Deloitte’s Asia Pacific CFO Pulse Survey explores the sentiments and key issues facing CFOs across the region. 

In this October 2026 edition, 363 CFOs were surveyed to better understand their challenges, priorities, and the ways they are navigating the future. The survey explored 10 questions covering CFOs’ views on sentiment, performance, and resilience, together with qualitative insight into issues shaping their priorities. The survey was open from 18 August to 7 September 2026.

Survey responses were received from: Australia, China Mainland, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan (China), Thailand and Vietnam. Some markets with smaller samples have been grouped regionally in this report. Respondents can contact their local CFO Program market lead for further detail on the survey findings. 

CFOs from companies with revenue of more than US$500 million constituted 41% of the sample.

Respondents came from the following industries: consumer; energy, resources and industrials; life sciences and healthcare; financial services; technology, media, entertainment and telecommunications; government and the public sector.