CEO insights – What do CEOs talk about?

Welcome to CEO insights! Every quarter, we dissect earnings calls to uncover what top CEOs are discussing and presenting.

Step into the minds of global industry leaders and understand which tech topics are trending and what macro themes are seen as headwinds and tailwinds. Top level insights are available as part of our blog. For details, take a look at the in-depth report.

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Latest CEO analyses

What CEOs talked about in Q2 2025: Tariffs, possibility of recession, and agentic AI

What CEOs talked about in Q2 2025: Tariffs, possibility of recession, and agentic AI

In short According to IoT Analytics’ latest What CEOs Talked About report, 3 themes stood out in CEOs’ minds in Q1 2025: Tariffs, the possibility of recession, and agentic AI. Discussions about tariffs reached consecutive record highs in Q2 2025 as the US continued its trade wars with most of the world. Discussions around sustainability continued to decline, and general topics around AI...

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How CEOs are reacting to tariffs: Pricing, financial guidance, and operational footprints

How CEOs are reacting to tariffs: Pricing, financial guidance, and operational footprints

In short Many CEOs are making key decisions due to recent tariffs, according to IoT Analytics’ latest research note, The Evolving Tariff Landscape: Impact on the Economy and Businesses, which is based on an analysis of over 1,500 recent corporate earnings calls. Notably, 25% of companies updated their financial guidance due to tariffs, 19% announced price increases, and 18% are changing their...

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What CEOs talked about in Q1 2025: Tariffs, rising uncertainty, and agentic AI

What CEOs talked about in Q1 2025: Tariffs, rising uncertainty, and agentic AI

In short According to the latest What CEOs Talked About report, three themes stood out in CEOs’ minds in Q1 2025: Tariffs, uncertainty, and AI (with agentic AI seeing the most gains). Discussions about recruiting dropped as mentions of hiring freezes spiked. Why it matters The prioritization of specific topics by CEOs may influence investment in these areas. The big picture New administration’s...

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What CEOs talked about in Q4 2024: Tariffs, reshoring, and agentic AI

What CEOs talked about in Q4 2024: Tariffs, reshoring, and agentic AI

In short According to the latest “What CEOs talked about” report, three themes gained noticeable traction in Q4 2024: 1) tariffs, 2) reshoring, and 3) agentic AI. Discussions regarding AI continued to decline; however, agentic AI significantly climbed in mentions. Despite recent catastrophic hurricanes, flooding, and winter storm events, sustainability-related topics declined in mentions...

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What CEOs talked about in Q3 2024: Practical AI applications, renewable energy sources, and unpredictable IT outages

What CEOs talked about in Q3 2024: Practical AI applications, renewable energy sources, and unpredictable IT outages

In short According to the latest “What CEOs talked about” report, four themes gained noticeable traction in Q3 2024: 1) practical AI applications, 2) renewable energy sources, 3) unpredictable IT outages, and 4) election-related topics. Discussions regarding AI slightly declined; however, there is a noticeable shift toward discussions about specific AI applications, such as process automation,...

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What CEOs talked about in Q2 2024: AI, data centers, and up-and-coming LLMs

What CEOs talked about in Q2 2024: AI, data centers, and up-and-coming LLMs

In short According to the latest “What CEOs talked about” report, three themes gained noticeable traction in Q2 2024: 1) AI, 2) data center, and 3) specific up-and-coming LLMs AI is inching closer to overtaking inflation as the leading topic in boardroom discussions. OpenAI and other generally known LLM vendors and models decline in mentions as Llama, Cohere, and Mistral see significant climbs...

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Our Expert

Philipp Wegner

Philipp Wegner

Principal Analyst

Philipp is a principal analyst in our Hamburg, Germany office. He leads the data team, focusing on quantitive analyses, most notably surveys, market models, and analyses. His team also leads the Generative AI research.

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