Confidence Rises: APAC CEOs Prioritise Regional Partnerships, Innovation, and AI as Engines for Growth

Launched at the Berlin Global Dialogue, the study surveyed 1,235 CEOs, including 132 leaders from the Asia-Pacific (APAC) — over half (53%) of whom are or have been a Group CEO, and finds that leaders are responding to relentless geopolitical upheaval with new levels of adaptability.

Globally, the study reveals that 92% of CEOs say they need to cultivate unprecedented levels of adaptability. While 72% see prospects for global prosperity declining or stagnating, they feel significantly better equipped to navigate this reality.

In APAC, leaders are tackling these shared challenges with a distinct and confident strategy. While sharing the top global challenge of economic uncertainty (43% in APAC vs. 44% globally), their focus is on their people and region.

Key Findings for APAC:

• A Confident Stride Forward: APAC leaders feel measurably more prepared than in the past. The percentage of leaders who feel moderately unprepared (rating preparedness at 7 on a 10-point scale) dropped significantly, from 24% in 2024 to 17% this year.
• A Strategic Focus on People: Leaders are more critically concerned with the human element of their business than their global peers, citing "Talent acquisition and development" (42% vs. 38% globally), "Health and safety of my workforce" (35% vs. 20% globally), and "Changing consumer behaviour" (36% vs. 25% globally) as top-tier challenges.
• Pivoting to Regional Partnerships: When asked where they see the most promise for new business partnerships, APAC leaders are turning to their neighbours. They overwhelmingly identify their own APAC region (51%) and India (50%) as the key hubs for investment and trade.
• Adaptable Leadership Style: This confidence is built on commitment to personal and team development, with a significantly stronger focus on adaptability (66% vs. 55% globally), listening (35% vs. 29% "extremely important"), and inclusion (27% vs. 19% "extremely important").
• A Stronger Mandate to Lead: APAC CEOs show a greater sense of personal responsibility, with 48% believing they must help shape global prosperity outside their business, compared to 40% of international peers.

"Faced with global headwinds, APAC leaders are not waiting for the world to stabilise; they are actively building a more resilient future from within the region," said Ang Wan May, Singapore Managing Partner, Egon Zehnder. "In fact, our data demonstrates that APAC leaders are taking global uncertainty in their stride, and their confidence has measurably increased. Their response is built on a clear strategy: strengthen regional alliances, invest in technology and AI, and ground it all in a deep personal commitment to adaptability for themselves and their teams."

"CEOs have shown an extraordinary ability to learn from and adapt amid uncertainty and global instability. Beyond managing crises and business upheavals, they are actively defining how to contribute to global prosperity, whether through their business practices or by engaging beyond the boundaries of their organisations," comments Michael Ensser, Global Chair of Egon Zehnder, on the study's findings. "Leadership today means forging new paths with strategic foresight, pragmatism, and collective intelligence. Many leaders have recently invested specifically in honing these skills. That investment is now paying off."

Rise in APAC Leaders' Confidence in Facing Complexity

This year's study shows a notable rise in confidence among APAC leaders. When asked how prepared their organisation is to face inherent complexity (on a 10-point scale where 10 is "not at all prepared"), the percentage of APAC CEOs who feel moderately unprepared (rating 7/10) dropped significantly, from 24% in 2024 to 17% this year.

This confidence is built on a deep, personal investment in a new, more human-centric leadership style. A striking 66% of APAC CEOs "Strongly Agree" they need to cultivate adaptability in themselves and their teams, significantly higher than the global average of 55%. This mindset is reflected in the skills they are prioritising, with APAC leaders placing a higher importance on honing their ability to listen (35% "extremely important" vs. 29% globally) and ensuring the inclusion of diverse and challenging views (27% vs. 19%).

Investing with a Regional Focus: The New Engines for Growth

Like their global peers, APAC leaders identify innovation (53%) as their top investment priority. However, their action plan is distinctly regional.

When asked where they see the most promise for new business partnerships, APAC leaders are turning to their neighbours. They overwhelmingly identify their own APAC region (51%) and India (50%) as the key hubs for investment and trade. This contrasts with U.S. CEOs who prioritise their own country (59%) for new investments. For European CEOs, Europe also ranks first (48%), while India (41%) is slightly ahead of the U.S. (38%) and Southeast Asia (38%).

To power this regional vision, APAC leaders are allocating resources to new strategic alliances and partnerships (46%) and investing in AI (45%).

A New Mandate: The Responsible and Resilient Leader

As global prospects dim, 97% of all CEOs still desire to contribute positively to global prosperity. The study reveals that APAC leaders feel a stronger mandate to act on this desire, with 48% believing they have a responsibility to engage outside their business, compared to 40% of their global counterparts.

The desire to contribute to global prosperity either within or outside of their organisations signals a profound expansion of leadership purpose. Globally, female CEOs (81%) in particular see this as a central part of their mandate when compared to their male counterparts (72%).

For more information and to access the full report, please visit: https://www.egonzehnder.com/the-ceo-response


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