Our latest Azets Barometer shows international business leaders continue to report rising levels of economic optimism and performance despite the short-term market turmoil. Of course, challenges persist, and the day-to-day reality of keeping an SME running remains tough, especially for smaller firms still feeling the squeeze of rising costs (key stat: businesses with fewer than 100 employees scored just 6.1 out of 10 on economic outlook, compared to 7.7 for larger corporations). But what our Q3 data tells us is that rather than worrying about broad, unmanageable global tensions, savvy leaders are zeroing in on what they can control.
Focus Shifts Away From Geopolitics: Cyber Threats Take Centre Stage
If you want to know what is keeping your industry peers awake at night, the answer has fundamentally changed this quarter. Since 2023, geopolitical uncertainty has been the number-one worry for businesses. Not anymore.
Leaders are currently shifting their focus away from uncontrollable global forces and looking more at direct operational threats. Cybersecurity attacks have officially taken the top spot as the main concern for business leaders. Not just a small slip; geopolitical risk has dropped down to sixth place while 71% of leaders told us they are directly concerned about cyber attacks over the next 12 months, outranking inflation, talent shortages, and energy prices.
Why? Because unlike global supply chain shocks or international conflict, your digital perimeter is an area where you can take direct action and build defences. Our MD for Azets Sweden, Carolina Brandtman, is seeing this play out directly with her clients as they prioritise cybersecurity and digitalisation, even while staying selective about other spending:
“What stands out is that these investments are increasingly viewed as business-critical rather than optional.”
Owning Operations: Staying on Top of the Whole Business
- The SMEs thriving right now are the ones getting the basics right. The leaders we spoke to are clear that complacency isn't an option, and that the successful operators are those who stay close to all aspects of their business, staying agile and building resilience. An SVP in Finland summed up the reality of keeping all the plates spinning, noting that “successful companies adapt quickly to changes, invest in technology and personnel, make decisions based on data, and focus on customer needs.”
- Walking the floor: Leaders continue to talk about the importance of maintaining strong staff engagement and keeping excellent relations with suppliers and customers.
- Financial Headroom: Cultivating cash flow headroom is giving leaders options to face whatever is thrown at them with confidence. The data shows some are pulling back on risk and protecting cash flow as 44% of businesses have delayed planned capital expenditure or expansion, and 21% have actively exited a market or cut a product line entirely. As Donald Boyd, our Head of Growth & Sales in the UK, often tells his clients: having that great feeling of cash in the bank isn't just about battening down the hatches, it’s about having the headroom so that if a customer suddenly says, “Can you do 10 times more product this year for us if we give you all our business?”, you are actually ready to say yes.
- Prep your People: smart businesses are actively upskilling their staff rather than replacing them, confident that blending fresh tech skills with experienced human leadership can offer a competitive edge. There is so much noise right now about AI taking jobs, but our data paints a different picture. Only 27% of businesses have reduced headcount in specific roles due to AI. Instead, over half (55%) have focused on upskilling their existing staff, and 48% have actively hired new roles specifically for AI.
Planning for Uncertainty: SMEs Ready For Anything
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this quarter's report is that the best operators aren't trying to predict every single disruption anymore, they are just building agile businesses that can handle them.
- Pivoting Practice: 80% of leaders have accepted that unexpected change is the new normal and have fundamentally altered how they plan, make decisions, and operate.
- Tech Set Up For Agility: Over half (54%) of leaders say that technology and systems infrastructure would make the biggest difference in their ability to adapt quickly, closely followed by real-time financial forecasting tools (52%).
- Embedding AI: 81% of leaders expect their use of automation and AI tools to increase over the next year. AI is no longer a futuristic goal, it is being built into daily operations to absorb admin tasks and boost efficiency. Those hesitating on AI are encouraged to ‘just get going’. As Neil Hughes, CEO of Azets Ireland put it:
“Just because you don't understand it is not a reason for you to say, ‘oh, it's not going to affect me’. It's going to touch a huge number of businesses, so get yourself up the value chain on AI.”
One of the most interesting projections relates to how AI is gradually changing the daily grind. As AI takes on the more mundane tasks, will it also mean that the working day becomes filled with more high-level, difficult tasks? Will it mean that managing employee burnout and taking proper breaks is about to become more important than ever?
Confidence is Reaching New Highs (Less so for smaller players)
As leaders continue to focus attention on their operations, confidence remains on a high.
- The Big Picture: A majority 90% of surveyed leaders are optimistic about the economic outlook for the next 12 months, and 94% rate their own business’s financial performance as above average. Feeling most cheerful right now are Denmark and Sweden who are comfortably leading the pack with economic optimism scores of 7.8 and 7.7, respectively. While the UK is currently sitting at the bottom of the table at 6.4, it is finally showing signs of steadying out.
- The Size Divide: This optimism is not universal. The gap between large and small businesses continues to widen as smaller firms with fewer than 100 employees are carrying less of a financial buffer and are feeling squeezed by rising costs.
Why Read the Full Report?
When business is challenging, there is value in knowing how peers are getting on as they share their collective wisdom. The Q3 Azets Barometer is your strategic guide to how mid-market leaders are navigating the now and planning for tomorrow. Whether you want to benchmark your own financial performance, see how others are restructuring their business for increased agility, or figure out your next digital move, you’ll find actionable insights in the Barometer.
This blog is based on data from the Q3 2026 Azets Barometer.
Explore all the data online in the Q3 2026 Azets Barometer Dashboard.
To see the full story, including country-level breakdowns and sector insights, download the Q3 2026 Azets Barometer Report.
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