AI, tech keeping executives up at night, KPMG finds

KPMG Australia’s annual Keeping us up at Night survey found that technological disruption and AI were top concerns for business leaders going into 2026.

Over half (63 per cent) of the 274 executives surveyed by KPMG said new technologies such as AI were their chief concern going into 2026, with business leaders most concerned about use cases for new technologies and ethical issues surrounding implementation.

“Australian businesses are now more aware than ever of the challenges and opportunities of new technologies, both in the short term and beyond. It’s significant that leaders ranked AI-related issues as their top concern for the first time – not just for 2026, but for the next 3-5 years,” KPMG Australia chief executive Andrew Yates said.

“This is clear recognition that AI is here for the long haul and businesses that get ahead of the game and embed it into their overall strategy now will be well ahead of those that don’t.”

Looking to the medium term, executives’ top concerns over the next 3 to 5 years included new technologies (61 per cent), digital transformation (47 per cent) and the need for greater organisational agility and flexibility to meet evolving challenges and opportunities (43 per cent).

For the year ahead, executives were concerned about digital transformation (54 per cent), cyber risks (42 per cent), evolving regulation (37 per cent) and productivity growth (35 per cent).

“More than a third of leaders identified driving productivity as a key challenge for them for the year ahead,” KPMG Australia chief economist Dr Brendan Rynne noted.

“Unfortunately, we’ve been witnessing sliding productivity for several years now and seeing the weight put on this challenge by our respondents only reinforces the legitimacy of this issue in 2026.”

Compared to the year prior, executives were less concerned about inflation and more worried about productivity growth and technological disruption. Leaders were also more focused on flexibility and adaptability coming into the new year, KPMG found.

Zooming out to broader societal issues, executives’ top concerns going into 2026 included the social impact of new and disruptive technologies (59 per cent), housing affordability (52 per cent) and preparing for future skills gaps, including in healthcare and technology (49 per cent).

At the same time, executives appeared less concerned about supply chains, geopolitical tensions and inflation going into 2026 compared to recent years.