Odland: "Uncertainty" is the watchword for CEOs and company leaders in 2026

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 16, 2026 at 12:46  |  4:04  |  CNBC
Speakers
Steve Odland — President & CEO, The Conference Board

Summary

Steve Odland of The Conference Board discusses the group's annual C-suite survey, saying uncertainty is the watchword for 2026. He highlights AI and cybersecurity as top geopolitical concerns and says CEOs are increasingly focused on measuring returns from AI spending. The conversation also covers mental health as a workforce priority and broad risks from tariffs, trade, and geopolitics.

  • The Conference Board survey covers more than 1,700 executives, including 770 CEOs, in its 27th year.
  • Uncertainty is the top concern for 2026, driven by regulation, geopolitics, tariffs, and trade.
  • AI and cybersecurity rank as leading geopolitical concerns, with cyber threats shifting toward state-level actors.
  • U.S. CEOs are focused on measuring AI ROI after a prior emphasis on spending quickly.
  • Mental health is a rising workforce issue for CEOs and CHROs.
  • Executives are monitoring exogenous risks including tariffs, trade, and state-level geopolitics.
Ideas
Steve Odland President & CEO, The Conference Board 1:03
Cybersecurity risk elevated by state actors.
Cybersecurity has become a top geopolitical concern for CEOs going into 2026 because attacks have moved from criminals to state-level actors such as Russia and China. This keeps cyber risk and security attention elevated, making the cybersecurity theme a decision-useful area to monitor even without a specific directional trade call.
CIBR MED
Steve Odland President & CEO, The Conference Board 1:28
AI spending faces growing ROI scrutiny.
The top AI priority for CEOs has shifted from spending quickly to measuring return on AI investment, with 46% of U.S. CEOs focused on ROI. Because companies are spending billions, they are now looking at how AI drives growth and innovation and how it takes costs out of the business, so investors should monitor which AI deployments show measurable returns.
AI-SECTOR HIGH
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This CNBC video, published January 16, 2026, features Steve Odland discussing CIBR, AI-SECTOR. 2 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Steve Odland  · Tickers: CIBR, AI-SECTOR