Disruption Risk Puts AI at the Top of C-Suite Agenda, According to Bloomberg Intelligence Survey

New cross-industry survey reveals heightened awareness of AI disruption risk, with software and media companies leading adoption while telecom and industrials lag behind

Most executives expect AI to unlock sales growth not just cut costs, averaging 7% sales growth over the next three years

All industries cite a shortage of AI infrastructure as a roadblock, dispelling fears of excessive data-center buildout and an AI bubble

NEW YORK, December 10, 2025 - An inaugural survey from Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) finds that executives across nine major industries are acutely aware of AI's disruptive potential, with all sectors rating AI disruption risk to their industry as either high or very high, with most assessing a bigger threat to their industry (80%) than their own organization (69%). Protecting market position rather than promised growth is the primary motivation behind current AI investments, with 36% making AI their top priority and another 47% listing it as a top three priority.

In the comprehensive cross-industry study, Bloomberg Intelligence surveyed 604 C-suite executives across Software & IT Services, Financial Services, Consumer Goods & Retail, Pharmaceuticals, Hospitals, Industrials, Media & Cable, Automotive and Telecommunications. Survey respondents ranked the importance of various objectives of their AI strategy including improving operational efficiency (47%), boosting revenue generation (21%) and reducing headcount (13%).

The research reveals a complex picture: companies across a wide range of industries are prioritizing the development and implementation of effective AI strategies to boost medium-term sales and profit growth, yet the pace of near-term AI-budget expansion - 14% on average in 2026 - feels muted vs. the scale of capacity investments being made by hyperscalers and model-providers, such as OpenAI.

"The survey clearly demonstrates the deep concerns executives have about AI disruption and are less focused on headcount reduction," said Anurag Rana, equity analyst for Technology at Bloomberg Intelligence. "This suggests that most industries are looking at AI technology as an opportunity to improve productivity rather than cut costs. The real winners will be those that can embed AI across the majority of their operations driving higher sales-per-employee, which will likely be the single most important metric by which successful companies will be measured."

The majority of respondents to BI's survey don't just view AI as an opportunity to cut costs and boost productivity; they believe the technology can also help to expand their top line. More than 90% of the C-suite expect AI to unlock sales growth, averaging 7% over the next three years, and a similar proportion anticipating a 7% profit gain over the same period.

A surprising result from the survey is the C-suite's conviction that AI will have a net positive impact on headcount on a three-year view. More than 60% of respondents expect their organization's headcount to increase over that time as a result of AI, with an average gain of 4%. Even though a majority of respondents anticipate a medium-term boost to headcount levels, 66% said they have made job cuts over the past 12 months as a result of AI deployment, reflecting resource reallocation rather than net reduction.

A critical survey finding challenges fears of an AI infrastructure bubble, as AI infrastructure availability ranks among the top three concerns across industries, contrary to narratives of data center overbuilding. Other major roadblocks include clean data availability, cybersecurity risks and data privacy issues, all pointing to continued healthy demand for infrastructure software, hardware and semiconductor vendors.

Key sector findings from the report include:

• Consumer Goods & Retail: AI is reshaping, not reducing, jobs as focus is on personalization and customer experience rather than headcount reduction; AI is expected to boost sales by mid-single digits; 92% of companies increasing AI spending
• Pharmaceuticals: Drug development is ripe for disruption;10-30% of preclinical work may shift to AI; drug development costs expected to decrease by an average of 16%; time to market for novel drugs could decrease by 6-18 months
• Media: Greatest AI benefit is expected to be lower content costs; Gen AI to transform production, distribution and monetization; 52% expect headcount to decline over next three years
• Software & IT Services: Earliest to embrace AI tools at scale; 66% rate AI disruption risk as "very high" (vs. 38% across all sectors); 50% expect workforce reduction over three years; 30% anticipate over 50% of new code will be written by AI within three years
• Financial Services: Winners will be determined by data readiness, not AI models; high adoption expected in underwriting, fraud detection and back-office automation; respondents expect a 7% weighted-average increase in sales and 8% profit gain from AI initiatives
• Industrials: AI to reduce sales cyclicality and boost margins; 80% of executives expect AI to drive meaningful increase in recurring revenues; 30% reduction in product-development cycle times anticipated
• Hospitals: Major disruption expected in clinical decision support, diagnostics and billing; minimal impact anticipated on patient engagement; 56% of respondents anticipate boost in departmental productivity
• Automotive: AI expected to lift sales and profit by a weighted-average of 9% over next two to three years; increased focus on design optimization, predictive maintenance and connected-car analytics
• Telecommunications: Executives expect greater profit lift from AI than sales; most telecom executives expect AI to generate a need for more - not fewer - workers; with an average 8% rise in headcount expected over the next three years - the biggest jump of any industry surveyed

The Bloomberg Intelligence C-Suite AI Survey 2025 was conducted between Sept. 10 and Oct. 8, 2025, sampling 604 senior executives at companies employing at least 5,000 staff. The survey covered nine major sectors: Software & IT Services, Financial Services (including banking, insurance, asset management and payments), Consumer Goods & Retail, Pharmaceuticals, Hospitals, Industrials, Media & Cable, Automotive and Telecommunications. Geographically, 50% of the respondents are in North America, 36% in Europe and 14% in APAC (excluding China). All respondents were screened for insights on the current status of AI deployments, future strategy and their focus on cost savings and productivity gains. The survey was executed for Bloomberg Intelligence by a third-party partner using an online questionnaire.

The full Bloomberg Intelligence C-Suite AI Survey 2025 report is available to Bloomberg Terminal subscribers who can access the research via {BI SURV}.

Contact
Alaina Hay
Bloomberg Intelligence
[email protected]

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