The survey by the professional services giant also shows that for all the upbeat attitudes towards technology, the broader economic environment is seen as being challenging in 2026.

A PwC survey of 1,074 investment professionals across 26 countries finds that technology is expected to be two to three times as likely to attract the most investment than the next three sectors. 

Asset and wealth management came in next at 25 per cent, followed by power and utilities (24 per cent) and banking and capital markets (19 per cent), the survey found.

The findings appear in the 2025 Global Investor Survey.

Investors want to see the companies they invest in keep up with the pace of change. Some 92 per cent call for more capital allocation to technological transformation. Over the past year, in the companies they invest in, investors report AI-driven improvements in productivity (86 per cent), profitability (71 per cent) and revenue gains (66 per cent).

“Investors are beginning to see tangible evidence of operational and financial gains from AI. While investors understand that AI returns require upfront capital, they expect discipline: decision-useful metrics, credible governance, and evidence that AI reshapes cost curves, productivity, and revenue safely and repeatably,” Kazi Islam, global assurance strategy and growth leader, PwC US, said.

However, while there is optimism about tech in general, expectations of global growth are subdued because of what the report said is a “challenging macroeconomic environment.” Only 28 per cent expect moderate to significant improvement in global growth over the next year.

The survey was carried out between 1 September and 6 October. Investment professionals surveyed are at investment firms, banks, private equity and venture capital groups, hedge funds, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and other financial institutions. Over half of respondents’ organisations manage more than $50 billion in assets.

Recent weeks have been busy at PwC in generating reports about sectors of interest to wealth managers. For example, PwC’s 2025 Global Asset & Wealth Management Report, based on a survey of 300 asset managers, institutional investors and distributors from 19 countries and 10 territories, also said that global assets under management (AuM) are projected to rise to $200 trillion by the end of the decade. It stood at $139 trillion in 2024. That equates to a compound annual growth rate of 6.2 per cent; total investable wealth worldwide.