2 separate surveys on CEO and CFO priorities caught my eye this week.

Typically, such surveys tend to contradict, but this time there is some clear consensus.

IBM and EY have both focused on the barometer of C-Suite concerns.

It is never a bad idea to know what is top of mind for your boss, right?

Generative AI might be the hot topic of conversation, but short-term productivity and profitability is now the leading concern for both CEOs and CFOs.

Nearly half (48%) of the CEOs named productivity as their highest priority over the next three years, with tech modernisation in second place at 45% and customer experience at 44% – down from first place in 2022.

Meanwhile, 9 out of 10 CFOs plan to cut or pause spending in the next 12 months to meet short-term earnings targets.

50% of those CFOs plan to make these cuts or pauses in areas considered long-term priorities:

• Digital / Tech innovation
• ESG
• Supply Chains
• Talent

James Bennett of EY alerted me to the EY CFO survey which you can get here . . .

Eilis Cronin wrote a great piece introducing IBM Institute for Business Value’s recent survey of 3,000 CEOs. You can read her Management Today synopsis here . . .

And get the full IBM CEO Survey here . . . .

Images in this post courtesy of IBM and EY.

Thanks for reading!