This time, the conflict involving Iran loomed particularly large, disrupting businesses around the world and forcing organisations to reassess costs, forecasts and plans.

Yet the wider picture is more resilient. Global economic sentiment has continued to recover from the lows following the tariff shocks of early 2025, while confidence in businesses remains high. AI also retains its position at the centre of corporate priorities, although the pursuit of market share is beginning to regain ground.

For this edition, we also asked working FT readers directly about the impact of the Iran conflict on their organisations: where the effects are being felt, how businesses are responding and how long readers expect the disruption to last.

As always, we’ve pulled out the big themes, explored the nuances and brought the data to life.

The effects are particularly pronounced among respondents in CEMEA and APAC (39 per cent and 31 per cent respectively). This is also true of 34 per cent of C-suite readers, who were also more likely to report an impact on their organisation.

Businesses are responding, too. Only 17 per cent said their organisation had taken no action as a result of the conflict. The vast majority who have acted (83 per cent) chose from an array of measures. Two measures stand out: 33 per cent said their organisation had increased focus on managing costs and improving efficiency, while 32 per cent had reviewed or revised business forecasts and planning assumptions. Rather than prompting a single dramatic strategic shift, the conflict appears to be encouraging businesses to prepare for uncertainty. This appears to have entailed a tightening of operations while reconsidering the assumptions underpinning their plans.

Periods of political and economic instability have become a recurring feature of the business environment. Yet FT readers appear to view the current situation as a different order of volatility. Nearly six in ten (57 per cent) believe the crisis involving Iran is creating greater business uncertainty than previous waves of global turmoil. Respondents in the USA and Americas were particularly likely to feel this way. Few expect the effects to disappear quickly: 63 per cent believe the conflict will still be having a negative impact on their organisation six months from now.

Readers’ comments suggest the concern is not simply about the immediate effects of the conflict, but the difficulty of predicting what happens next – and what that uncertainty means for customers, investment and decision-making.

Despite another turbulent quarter, FT readers’ outlook on the global economy continues to improve. Even amid the Iran conflict, sentiment appears to be recovering from the dip following the Trump administration’s tariff announcements in early 2025.

The proportion expecting global economic conditions to improve over the next six months rose to 35 per cent – its highest level since Q3 2024 and a continued recovery from the sharp decline following tariff disruption in early 2025. Closer to home, the picture is more cautious. Expectations for local economic conditions softened, with 36 per cent now expecting a decline and 29 per cent anticipating an improvement.

AI remains the most important company goal for a second consecutive quarter. But after declining over the past year, improving market share has begun to regain momentum, rising from 32 per cent to 36 per cent. The shift is particularly pronounced in finance and energy, where improving market share has overtaken AI as the number one priority. Yet in technology and professional services (both 44 per cent), AI is the prime objective. Cost cutting, meanwhile, continues to gradually slide down the rankings, although it remains firmly among businesses’ top three priorities.

Nearly three quarters of working FT readers (72 per cent) remain confident in their organisation’s ability to successfully navigate the current economic and geopolitical climate, only slightly below the 74 per cent recorded last quarter. There is, however, a regional caveat: confidence among respondents in the USA and Americas has returned to around the levels seen through much of the past year. It briefly rose to 74 per cent in early 2026.

Taken together, the results reveal an interesting tension. FT readers are becoming more optimistic about the global economy and remain confident in their own businesses, even as the overwhelming majority experience some disruption from the Iran conflict. Resilience, it seems, increasingly means holding both ideas at once: confidence in the longer-term outlook, alongside preparation for continued disruption.