India’s CEOs see inflation, cyber risks as top threats in next 12 months: Report

NEW DELHI —  India’s CEOs have flagged inflation, cyber risks, and health concerns as the biggest threats to their businesses in the next 12 months, a new report revealed on Tuesday.

According to global consultancy firm PwC, India’s annual retail inflation hit a 15-month high of 7.44 per cent in July last year but had cooled to around 5.5 per cent in November 2023.

The perceived risk from cyber threats saw a jump of 10 per cent from last year, with 28 per cent of India CEOs — as against 18 per cent last year — expecting high exposure to it.

Health risks rank highly on the list of concerns faced by CEOs in India, with 27 per cent indicating that they anticipate their companies to be extremely and highly exposed to these over the next 12 months, the report noted.

“While India CEOs will indeed play a big role in the country becoming a five-trillion-dollar economy, they will also need to reinvent their businesses and work culture to ensure long-term sustainable success,” said Sanjeev Krishan, Chairperson, PwC in India.

The report said that about 86 per cent of CEOs believe the Indian economy will improve over the next 12 months. About 62 per cent of India CEOs are confident about their company’s growth over the next 12 months, as against 37 per cent of global CEOs. About 70 per cent of India CEOs — as against 49 per cent of global CEOs — said they were confident of their company’s prospects for revenue growth over the next three years.

Further, the report mentioned that around 71 per cent of India CEOs expected GenAI to increase employee efficiency over the next 12 months, while 70 per cent believed it would improve their own performance.

They also believe GenAI is likely to increase revenue (48 per cent) and profitability (46 per cent).

On the impact of the growing use of GenAI, around 30 per cent of India CEOs felt it would lead to the shrinking of jobs.