Concerns about the global outlook have eased, with net optimism in the global economy up 24 percentage points since May, to -3% today. Yet this has not translated into higher business optimism, which has remained broadly stable at 39%, supported by the resilient underlying outlook for revenue and profits. This suggests that CFOs are now looking beyond short-term economic volatility when assessing the outlook for their businesses.

Nearly two-thirds of CFOs (63%) expect revenue to grow over the next 12 months, up from 60% in May, while 56% anticipate higher profits, compared with 52% previously, pointing to continued confidence in business performance.

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. This has led CFOs to refocus their attention to a more balanced set of growth drivers, with a greater priority on the application of technology (38%) and innovation and new products (37%).

The critical role of AI is clear, both in terms of opportunities and risks. Yet there was a similar increase in the share saying that AI and technology-led disruption was one of the top risks facing their organisation.

Across the region, fewer CFOs report that the impact of their AI investments is unclear (23%) or have had no impact (9%). The share reporting value from AI investments has increased from 60% to 68%, although outcomes continue to diverge across organisations. More than one-quarter (28%) report that the value delivered by AI investments is falling short of expectations, while the share of CFOs reporting value exceeding expectations has increased from 5% to 9%.

While AI may not be the sole driver, these results suggest that those seeing greater value from their AI spending tend to be more upbeat about the outlook for their bottom line.

Nearly half of CFOs (46%) say resilience has become more important over the last 12 months as external uncertainty remains a persistent disruptor. Increasingly, resilience is not simply about withstanding disruption, but about adapting and sustaining performance through uncertainty while remaining positioned to capture future opportunities.

The growing emphasis on resilience is reflected in capital allocation. CFOs who view it as more important are willing to allow associated investments to proceed when the financial returns are significantly lower than others (21%) or unclear (25%).