Beyond the hype:Realizingvalue indisruption Contents Our findings in brief Executive summary The C-suite response:Fear, hope, and action Artificial intelligence:Moving from promise to performance Beyond AI:Energy as the new technological bottleneck Rewiring the global economy:FDI, trade, tariffs, and disruption Organization and customer of the future:Rewriting the playbook Known unknowns:Emerging risks 09Toward continuous adaptation:Action items for 2026 Our findings in brief AI, automation, androbotics are largestopportunities of executives are optimisticabout the impact of AI ontheir business80% are primarily focused onusing AI to drive revenuegrowth (with 35% primarilyfocused on cost reduction)65% of CEOs envisioning thedeployment of humanoidrobots at scale within thenext five years77% of CEOs expect AI to lead tolayoffs at their organizationwithin the next 5 years,includingalmost half (44%)who expect AI to lead10%or greater reductionsin their workforce95% A vast divide: CEOs experiencedisruption much more acutely thantheir direct reports Productivity pressure ison — and AI adoption isaccelerating Productivity is the#1workforce issue CEOs report high levelsof disruption70% Automation and AI are the#1areas for growth investment CEOs expect55%of jobfunctions at their organizationto be fully integrated with AIin 5 years Customer service and operationsare top focus for AI investments The CEO hot seat keepsgetting hotter Fastest growing companies areleaning into disruption Chapter 02 Executivesummary We live in a world in which disruption is constant. Geopoliticaltensions reshape supply chains and market access.Workforce constraints persist as demographics shift andskill requirements evolve. Cybersecurity threats multiply.And technological change—led by artificial intelligence (AI)—accelerates at an unprecedented pace. Yet something fundamental is shifting in how businessleaders experience and respond to this reality. The 2026 AlixPartners Disruption Index—our seventhannual—based on responses from over 3,200 seniorexecutives across 11 countries and 10 industries, revealsa complex picture of moderating disruption across mostindustries and geographies, alongside emerging pocketsof confidence and capability. The Disruption Index scoreis a number derived by analyzing the number and severityof disruptive forces. It is a function of how many forcesexecutives say are disrupting their business, combined withhow powerful they say those forces are. This year, the overall Disruption Index declined by 3 pointsfrom 73 in 2025 to 70 in 2026, reflecting the fact thatexecutives feel less pressure from the disruptive impactof new technologies, tariffs, inflation, regulation, and otherdisruptive forces than last year. Indeed, the number ofexecutives who report feeling highly disrupted dropped 9percentage points to 48%. Normalization ofuncertainty anddisruption Disruption hasn’t decreased—supply chainpressures, geopolitical tensions, andtechnology-driven change remain intense.Instead, companies are responding to itbetter. Persistent disruption is becomingnormalized, particularly at the best-performing companies. What once feltextraordinary now feels routine. Organizationsare building muscle memory for change. Thirty-seven percent of executivessay they are less anxious thanthey were a year ago—a dramaticchange from last year’s 14%.At the same time, however, 24%say they are more anxious, a bigjump from just 17% last year. The striking bifurcation in executive anxiety is more thanstatistical noise—it is a reflection of the rapidly divergingexperiences within leadership teams as companies adaptto disruption at different speeds. Those who report greateranxiety are overwhelmingly concentrated among the mostactive leaders—the ones on the front lines of digital and,especially, AI transformation. These high performers’ anxietyis a byproduct of success. As leaders in AI adoption and rapidbusiness growth, they see firsthand how quickly the goalpostsmove and just how much is at stake. The rewards fromleaning into change are considerable, but so is the burden—therealization that staying ahead requires continuous reinvention,ever-greater agility, and the courage to make bold choiceswhile the terrain keeps shifting beneath their feet. In this new reality, leaders must own their unease. Only thosewilling to tune into this tension, rather than escape it, will bepositioned to continuously adapt, shape outcomes, and thriveamid ongoing disruption. The CEO And then there are the CEOs. As in previous years, they are the onesexperiencing disruption most acutely. CEOs are truly in the hot seat, sayingthat their organization has been more disrupted and worrying that they are notmoving fast enough to respond. They are also the ones most likely to say thatthey are personally falling behind in terms of knowledge and skills, and needmore support. As we discuss in part 3 of this report, the gulf between CEOs andtheir di