UBS Global Entrepreneur Report
By UBS
The UBS Global Entrepreneur Report 2025 is UBS’s first global study dedicated to capturing the perspectives of entrepreneurs within its client base and Industry Leader Network. Drawing on survey responses and in‑depth interviews with 156 entrepreneurs across the Americas, Europe, Switzerland and Asia‑Pacific, the report provides a timely snapshot of how business owners are thinking about growth, technology, risk and wealth in an increasingly complex global environment.
Collectively, the entrepreneurs surveyed represent businesses generating more than USD 19 billion in annual revenue, offering a view shaped by lived experience at the intersection of operating, investing and long‑term decision‑making.
Why this report matters
The 2025 report arrives at a moment of heightened uncertainty. Entrepreneurs are navigating geopolitical tension, political instability, changing regulation and the rapid acceleration of digital technologies—all while positioning their businesses and personal wealth for the decade ahead.
What makes the report distinctive is its balance. While it highlights optimism about growth and innovation, particularly over the medium term, it also surfaces the risks and gaps that many entrepreneurs recognise but have not yet fully addressed—from succession planning to private wealth management. For investors, founders and executives alike, it offers insight into how those closest to economic change are preparing for what comes next.
What’s inside
The report explores five core areas shaping entrepreneurial decision‑making today:
Business outlook: Around six in ten entrepreneurs report being optimistic about the prospects for their industries over the next 12 months. Expectations of increased investment rise significantly when looking ahead five years, despite ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical concerns.
Investment priorities: Entrepreneurs expect investment to focus primarily on people and strategic acquisitions or partnerships over the coming year. Hiring, training and retaining talent remains a priority, alongside targeted investment in technology and digital transformation.
Technology and AI: Artificial intelligence is identified as the technology offering the greatest commercial opportunity, with most entrepreneurs expecting it to improve productivity, customer experience and operational efficiency over the next five years. Notably, AI is viewed as augmenting, rather than replacing, the workforce.
Risk, governance and succession: While most entrepreneurs say they would seek external advice when selling or exiting a business, fewer report having formal succession plans or independent governance structures in place, revealing a gap between intention and preparedness.
Private wealth and investing: A significant proportion of entrepreneurs acknowledge that they have not built private wealth outside their business as much as they could have. Many recognise that managing investments requires a different skill set to building a business and place high value on expert guidance.
Key insights for WIN members
Measured optimism: Entrepreneurs remain positive about long‑term growth, but are clear‑eyed about risks, with political instability, higher taxes and regulatory change ranking among their top concerns.
People still matter: Even as AI and automation accelerate, investment in people—not just technology—remains central to growth strategies.
AI as an enabler: Artificial intelligence is seen as a productivity and scaling tool, supporting human capability rather than displacing it.
Preparation gaps: Succession planning, governance and exit readiness remain underdeveloped for many businesses, despite high awareness of their importance.
The wealth management disconnect: Many entrepreneurs separate business risk from personal investment risk, often maintaining more conservative investment approaches for their private wealth and relying on external expertise.
The UBS Global Entrepreneur Report 2025 is essential reading for anyone interested in how entrepreneurs are navigating uncertainty, deploying capital and thinking about wealth beyond their businesses. For WIN members, it provides considered insight into the mindset of those operating at the frontline of growth—and prompts reflection on how those perspectives intersect with our own approaches to investing, risk and long‑term financial security.
Karli Boss
Client Advisor, Director | Global Wealth Management & Private Office
UBS AG, Australia Branch