More CEOs see need to change business model - PwC Romania

As many as 80% of respondents in the PwC CEO Survey 2024 listed new technologies as a key driver of change for Romanian companies, followed closely by changes in consumer behaviour (78%) and government regulation (68%), PwC Romania said in a press release on Wednesday.

"More and more CEOs are aware of the need for change and are already taking steps in this direction by developing new products and services, adopting new technologies and entering strategic partnerships to improve capabilities," said Dinu Bumbacea, Country Managing Partner at PwC Romania.

Sixty-nine percent of Romanian CEOs cited the regulatory environment as an obstacle to business model reinvention, 58% listed a lack of skills in their organisation's workforce as an issue, while 53% pointed to a lack of technology and 49% to supply chain instability.

As per the 2024 survey, 53% of respondents said they reallocated over 10% of their financial and human resources from one year to the next.

The percentage of Romanian CEOs expecting the economy to grow this year increased to 37% from 27% in 2023. However, the percentage of respondents very or extremely confident about their company's revenue and growth prospects over the next 12 months declined to 37% from 52% last year. Their main concerns for the year ahead are inflation, macroeconomic volatility, and geopolitical conflicts. Forty-one percent of respondents said they plan to make at least one purchase in the next three years.

As many as 61% of Romanian CEO's said that technological innovation will transform their business model to a great or very great degree in the next three years, with 53% naming generative artificial intelligence as a key driver of change.

Almost two thirds of respondents declared that their organisation is working towards improving energy efficiency.

Last week, PwC said that Romania's M&A market shrank by 20% in 2023.