Trade and technology are the top priorities of consumer markets executives, according to PwC's April 2026 survey, "
However, 52% also cite AI regulation as one of the three leading factors impacting their company's short-term strategy, and 76% say they're still at least 12 months from seeing AI returns beyond cost savings. Seventy percent of financial-institution executives are either increasing or maintaining their AI and technology investment spending, while just 25% are starting new in that area.
According to executives' responses, technology is key for future viability; the top growth-enabling factors are the pace of AI's return on investment and the speed of technology adoption and scaling —each at 60%. PwC finds that among institutions that took actions such as modifying underwriting standards, 70% reported improvements in innovation speed and effectiveness. Such firms were also much more likely to report improvement in cost or margin performance.
