What executive teams are up against.

Doubts about keeping pace with technology

Executive teams wonder whether their organisation is changing fast enough, while most of their time goes on the short term. Dutch CEOs have these doubts more often than the global average.

• 57%of Dutch CEOs question whether their organisation is keeping pace with technology, against 42% globally.PwCNot yet checked
• 47%of CEOs' time goes on matters within a one-year horizon; 16% on decisions reaching beyond five years.PwCNot yet checked
• 26%of Dutch organisations have no clear goal on the horizon, only a broad direction.BerenschotNot yet checked

AI spending without a visible return

Spending on AI carries on, but most executive teams have yet to see a financial return. Fewer CEOs in the Netherlands report a pay-off than their peers globally.

• 56%of CEOs worldwide have yet to see a meaningful financial benefit from AI.PwCNot yet checked
• 15%of Dutch CEOs see revenue growth from AI, against 29% globally.PwCNot yet checked
• 25%of AI projects delivered the expected return; 16% have been rolled out across the whole organisation.IBM Institute for Business ValueNot yet checked

Staff shortages as the biggest brake on business

For years, a shortage of people has been the obstacle Dutch businesses cite most often. In SMEs it holds back growth, and large companies are mainly worried about AI talent.

• Almost 33%of Dutch businesses name the labour shortage as their main obstacle.CBSNot yet checked
• 40%of SME owners say staff shortages are holding back growth.New10 and MotivactionNot yet checked
• 70%of CEOs are worried about the competition for AI talent.KPMGNot yet checked

Reskilling lags behind changing work

Executive teams expect a large share of work to change and see reskilling as a bottleneck. The sources disagree on what this means for the number of jobs.

• 77%of CEOs say upskilling their employees is a challenge.KPMGNot yet checked
• 31%of employees will need reskilling within three years, according to CEOs.IBM Institute for Business ValueNot yet checked
• 1 in 4Dutch executives expect AI will certainly make jobs disappear.INGNot yet checked

A caveat. EY, by contrast, sees the share of CEOs expecting AI to shrink their workforce falling, from 46 to 24 per cent. Two news reports on the same ING survey give a different comparison figure.

Geopolitics, tariffs and cyber as business risks

Concern about cyberattacks and trade tariffs is growing. Dutch CEOs are markedly more worried about geopolitics than their peers elsewhere.

• 37%of Dutch CEOs are worried about geopolitical unrest, against 23% globally.PwCNot yet checked
• 47%of CEOs name cyberattacks as the biggest geopolitical threat for 2026.The Conference BoardNot yet checked
• 84%of Dutch executives see companies' position under pressure from protectionism.INGNot yet checked

Red tape and a full power grid hold back Dutch business

The bigger the company, the heavier the burden of regulation. On top of that, almost every large company in the Netherlands sees grid congestion as a brake.

• 52%of SME owners experience a heavy regulatory burden; among self-employed contractors it is 28%.KVKNot yet checked
• 86%of Dutch executives see grid congestion as a negative factor.INGNot yet checked
• 3 in 5business owners think the government does too little to cut red tape.KVKNot yet checked

Resistance to change within the organisation

Executive teams name resistance to change as the biggest brake on productivity. Employees are far less positive about the rollout of AI than senior leaders.

• 46%of Dutch CEOs name resistance to change as the biggest challenge in raising productivity.PwCNot yet checked
• 75%of senior executives consider the rollout of generative AI a success, against 45% of employees.Writer and Workplace IntelligenceNot yet checked
• 25%of frontline employees think managers give enough guidance on AI.BCGNot yet checked

A caveat. The Writer study was carried out by a supplier of AI software.

CEOs get less time to deliver results

CEOs are leaving more often and sooner, and boards step in faster when results fail to materialise. The successor is almost always a first-time CEO.

• 234CEOs of listed companies worldwide left in 2025, 16% more than a year earlier.Russell Reynolds AssociatesNot yet checked
• 86%of new CEOs in 2025 were first-time CEOs.Russell Reynolds AssociatesNot yet checked
• 37%of departing CEOs in the S&P 1500 left within five years.Spencer StuartNot yet checked

Succession in small firms often goes unplanned

A large share of small business owners want to stop or sell within a few years, but few have prepared for it. Often there is no successor in sight either.

• 35%of small business owners are considering a handover or sale within five years.Qredits, ONL and Hogeschool UtrechtNot yet checked
• 83%have made no preparations of any kind for a handover or sale.Qredits, ONL and Hogeschool UtrechtNot yet checked
• 22%of owners who want to stop within ten years have no firm succession plan yet.ABN AMRONot yet checked