REPORT: AI and Emerging Tech Drive Economic Optimism

Business leaders are confident in their ability to grow revenue in 2024 and enthusiastic about AI and other emerging technologies, according to HLB’s Survey of Business Leaders 2024.

Every year, HLB, a global advisory and accounting network, conducts its Survey of Business Leaders to gauge the outlook of senior executives across various industries. GHJ, a member firm of HLB, is proud to have participated in gathering data for this year’s report and is excited to share the final results.

“This survey provides businesses a tool to benchmark their own KPIs and metrics to companies across the globe,” said GHJ Managing Director and HLB USA Chairman Tom Barry. “These results provide key indicators of where to look for future growth.”

This year’s report showed that economic optimism has surged, with 85 percent of business leaders confident in their ability to grow revenue this year, which marks a 14-percentage point increase from the previous year. AI and other emerging technologies were shown to be driving this optimism with 65 percent of respondents identifying AI as the most important technology for their business in the next five years. Additionally, 44 percent of respondents are either already leveraging or eager to implement AI for a competitive edge.

“This year's uptick in economic optimism and the focus on AI underscore the dynamic nature of the business environment we navigate with our clients,” Barry expanded. “Our commitment at GHJ is not only to adapt to these changes but to lead our clients through them by harnessing innovative technologies to unlock new growth opportunities.”

GHJ is proud to collaborate with forward-thinking entrepreneurial businesses and nonprofit organizations — working as their business advocate, providing personalized services and building long-term relationships to help position them for long-term success.

“The insights from HLB’s Survey of Business Leaders reaffirm our belief in the transformative power of emerging technologies,” said GHJ Chief Strategy Officer and HLB Global Leader of Client Advisory Services Mari-Anne Kehler. “GHJ is committed to guiding and collaborating with our clients to navigate these exciting technological frontiers, ensuring they are well-equipped to capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead.”

To celebrate the launch of the report, HLB hosted a panel discussion on the application of AI in business. During this discussion, University of Cambridge Professor of Computational Social Science Dr. David Stillwell noted that AI adoption goes beyond a competitive advantage — it will become a part of daily life.

“The AI people I talk to, they say AI is going to be like electricity,” said Dr. Stillwell. “There are not any ‘electricity-enabled companies’ right now; there are just companies that use electricity, of course. AI will be the same. It would just become part of the fabric of life.”

To learn more about how businesses and nonprofits are leveraging data, AI and other emerging technologies, read GHJ’s latest insights. To learn more about the results of this survey and how your organization can extract value from this data, GHJ’s experts around the country are available to meet with clients and help them achieve their goals.