CEO Macro Briefing Book Insight on AI

19 August 2026 Chief Investment Office GWM Investment research

The CEO Macro Briefing Book Insights on AI

Paul Hsiao, Senior Asset Allocation Strategist

This report has been prepared by UBS Financial Services Inc. Please see important disclaimers and disclosures at the end of this document.

The CEO Macro Briefing Book—Insight on AI is a special edition of our CEO Macro Briefing Book series. As AI drives more conversations in the boardroom, we harness the UBS CIO research value chain to answer ten of the most common questions that are top of mind for our clients.

Several insights we’ve observed:

AI optimism high but realized gains still in early days. AI has a significant and widening footprint in financial markets, real economic growth, and earnings transcripts. The optimism from C-suite is there, but measured revenue outcomes and quantifiable productivity enhancements are still fuzzy.

AI spend is real and increasing. Surveys from different sources all point toward broadening AI usage for American firms and spend increasing despite a recent decline in the price of tokens. As a result, firms are increasingly looking to adopt more cost-effective foreign models for some tasks.

Public AI gloominess may pave the way for regulation. Americans increasingly report anxiety over AI despite broadening usage. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have introduced some federal guidelines, but states are leading the way on regulating various aspects of the AI economy.