Senior executives are increasingly viewing artificial intelligence as more than a tool; they consider it central to business strategy, competitive advantage, and long-term growth. A substantial majority believe AI will significantly influence productivity, global competitiveness, and economic outcomes.
As reported by WSJ on December 9th, 2025 by Steven Rosenbush.
CEOs Are All-In on AI
Chief executives are bullish on the broad economic impact of artificial intelligence, but do expect it to weaken the job market, according to a new survey.
Despite investor concerns that AI spending is becoming overdone, 85% of chief executives believe the technology is entering a healthy growth phase rather than a bubble, according to research from global marketing network Stagwell. The poll asked respondents to select statements closest to their own views.
“What I saw in this poll…is unbridled enthusiasm for AI,” said Stagwell Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Penn, a former Microsoft chief strategist and presidential pollster and strategist. Ninety-five percent of CEO respondents said AI would be transformative, while 5% viewed it as overhyped.
Business-to-business CEOs were somewhat more optimistic than the leaders of business-to-consumer companies, with a positive outlook of 89% compared with 79%.
The study included 100 CEOs of U.S.-based companies with 10,000 or more employees.
“What do they think is going to happen with AI? They think it is going to add to productivity, help the economy, improve the global economy, improve competitiveness, but it will weaken the employment market,” Penn said Tuesday at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit in Washington.
Given the looming impact on the jobs market, it probably isn’t surprising that the broader population has more anxiety about AI than CEOs. For now, the public is more concerned about inflation than the job market, according to Penn. But over the long run, consumer sensitivities could have an impact on CEOs and their companies.
“So you are eventually going to get to consumer concern,” Penn said. “AI promises growth and potential efficiencies. But at what cost will it have on the labor market? And will CEOs like or dislike that cost and what will it do to demand? Those are a lot of questions I think they are not ready to answer,” he said.
National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, the leading candidate to be the next Federal Reserve chairman, struck a hopeful tone on AI’s potential impact on jobs.
“I don’t anticipate mass job losses,” Hassett said during the CEO summit. “Of course technological change can be uncertain and unsettling. But…the history of it is that electricity turned out to be a good thing. The internal combustion engine turned out to be a good thing. The computer turned out to be a good thing and I think AI will as well.”
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