The Global and Hungarian CEO Outlook study conducted by IESF and Prime by JobGroup is based on the insights of nearly 1,000 senior executives globally and more than 100 CEOs in Hungary, offering a comprehensive perspective on leadership priorities at both global and local levels.
Executive thinking, up to date — from both global and Hungarian perspectives
For the second consecutive year, we have been working in partnership with the International Executive Search Federation (IESF), a global executive search organisation, to provide a comprehensive view of how business leaders think and make decisions in an ever‑changing economic environment. Each year, IESF conducts nearly 1,000 CEO interviews across 23 countries to produce the Global CEO Outlook, offering insight into the most important business lessons and leadership priorities for the year ahead. As the exclusive Hungarian partner of IESF, Prime by JobGroup contributes to the global findings with more than 100 structured CEO interviews annually and delivers the Hungarian chapter of the research.
What makes a company truly competitive in 2026?
Not new strategies — but the ability to execute what leaders already know they need to do.
Through structured interviews with more than 100 CEOs in Hungary, we explored how business leaders are preparing for a persistently uncertain economic environment. These real‑world leadership dilemmas and decision‑making situations form the basis of the Hungary CEO Outlook 2026, the Hungarian chapter of the IESF global research.
The picture is clear:
The Hungarian findings closely align with the international trends of the Global CEO Outlook 2026: worldwide, consolidation, execution and leadership maturity are shaping CEO thinking.
Both the Global and Hungarian CEO Outlook 2026 are available as detailed white papers and can be downloaded by clicking here.
In 2025, in collaboration with IESF, we published the Hungarian insights of the Global CEO Outlook Study for the first time. Already then, it was clear that CEOs were operating in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing environment. The defining characteristics of a successful CEO were agility, forward‑thinking leadership, and the ability to adapt to global change.
The detailed analyses of both the Global and Hungarian CEO Outlook 2025 are available as white papers and can be downloaded by clicking here.
You can watch the video of our exclusive, invitation‑only business event here.
Nearly 80 CEOs from multinational corporations, diplomatic circles and the executive search community attended the event to gain first‑hand insight into the key business takeaways of the CEO Outlook 2026 research.
The professional highlight of the event was a senior executive panel discussion featuring Péter Oszkó (O3 Partners), Orsolya Hartyányi (Wolt Hungary) and Gábor Sztaniszláv (Ipsen Poland). The panellists emphasised that executive thinking in 2026 is defined by three core principles: clarity, adaptability and the ability to collaborate — without which a stable operating model can no longer be built.
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