Confidence in deliverability
While business leader confidence in ability to deliver projects successfully remained remarkably consistent throughout 2025, the start of 2026 saw a significant fall. The decline was not consistent across all sectors, however, with some industries seeing a dramatic drop while others had only marginal reductions.
Engineering saw the steepest decline, falling from 69% in 2024-25 to 51% in 2025-26. Construction and legal also dropped by 12 and 16 percentage points throughout the same period, respectively. While technology was still the most confident sector in 2025-26 at 75%, it still saw a decrease from 83% in 2024-25. Interestingly, Telecoms was the only industry sector to see an increase in confidence, rising from 61% to 70%.
The data suggest that this confidence loss isn’t just a dip, but a reaction to the wider economic downturn facing the UK in 2026. Throughout this period, the business environment has been characterised by constrained budgets, increased scrutiny on spending and pressure to demonstrate team value. This downward trend seems to be driven by a widening skills gap, with businesses not investing enough in the ongoing training/professional development of their project professionals. This increasing lack of internal development and skills has been exacerbated by resource constraints and inadequate funding for projects, which as Sebastian Jones notes, has resulted in businesses being “more deliberate” in how they approach projects and programmes. While larger organisations (over 500 employees) were the most confident at 65%, medium sized organisations (251-500 employees) saw the biggest drop in confidence throughout the same period, likely due to being more exposed to these resource and recruitment challenges than large organisations. The decrease in confidence by the technology sector also suggests that, as AI became more integrated into everyday workflows, it moved from hype to reality. This technology has been full of promise, but as it slowly becomes integrated into workflows, the actual impact of AI has not been as revolutionary as once thought.
“The dip in confidence at the start of 2026 mirrors what many of our clients are telling us: the operating environment has tightened, and businesses are having to be more deliberate about how they structure and resource major change programmes. From a legal perspective, we see the consequences when projects run into difficulty, whether that is contractual disputes arising from poorly scoped supplier agreements, employment issues as teams are restructured, or data and technology arrangements that were not adequately documented at the outset.”
Sebastian Jones, Partner at law firm Thomson Snell & Passmore.
[Table]
Over the last 12 months, we asked business leaders who are confident in their organisation’s ability to deliver projects successfully what the main reasons are for their confidence.
Most-chosen answers from survey respondents
[Table]
We also asked those who are not confident in their organisation’s ability to deliver projects successfully why they felt this way.
Most-chosen answers from survey respondents
[Table]
This data reveals a significant shift across the year. There has been a clear transition from a reliance on past experiences towards ability, recruitment and professional development. This transition suggests that, as the business landscape has changed, confidence became rooted in having trained professionals and continuous learning as opposed to relying on past capability, further highlighting how disruptive this period has been for organisations. This shift may have been brought about by technological disruptions, particularly AI integration, which has rendered past experiences less relevant than current ability and up-to-date training.
Interestingly, professional development (or a lack of it) was also cited as the main reason why people felt unconfident in their organisation’s ability to deliver projects successfully. This data was consistent throughout the whole period, suggesting that this is an ongoing need. By January 2026, professional development – either as a strength or a need – was identified as the defining reason why business leaders felt either confident and unconfident in their organisation’s ability to deliver projects successfully. This result offers an interesting theory: Confident leaders are hiring project professionals with recognised qualifications and certifications (October 2025) and developing them (January 2026), while unconfident leaders are focussed on the lack of investment and development of current project professionals. All this suggests that upskilling is becoming an increasingly important factor in an organisation’s ability to deliver a successful project.
How confident or unconfident are you in your organisation's ability to deliver projects successfully? (Net results)
Percentage of respondents by industry sector who say they are confident in their organisation's ability to deliver projects successfully
| Industry sector | Average across the year 2024-25 | Average across the year 2025-26 |
| Construction | 61% | 49% ↓ |
| Engineering | 69% | 51% ↓ |
| Financial services | 62% | 59% ↓ |
| Healthcare and pharmaceuticals | 67% | 60% ↓ |
| Legal | 69% | 53% ↓ |
| Technology | 83% | 75% ↓ |
| Telecoms | 61% | 70% ↑ |
| Transport and logistics | 75% | 70% ↓ |
*Sectors with a minimum of 20 survey respondents per quarter.
**Figures rounded to the nearest 1%
Percentage of respondents by organisation size who say they are confident in their organisation's ability to deliver projects successfully
| Industry size | Average across the year 2024-25 | Average across the year 2025-26 |
| Less than 50 | 64% | 60% ↓ |
| Between 50-100 | 63% | 58% ↓ |
| Between 101-250 | 68% | 63% ↓ |
| Between 251-500 | 67% | 58% ↓ |
| Over 500 | 70% | 65% ↓ |
Apr 25
Jul 25
Oct 25
Jan 26
Towards a More Dynamic Understanding of Project Value: The Perspective of Governance Boards
Authors: ● Sorin Piperca, Associate Professor, Birkbeck, University of London, UK ● Martina Huemann, Professor, UCL and WU Vienna ● Nathalie Drouin, Professor, UQAM ● Ossi Pesämaa, Associate Professor, Luleå University of Technology
Summary
Project value is dynamic, future-oriented, socially constructed and continually evolves over a long lifespan. This research explores how governance boards of major infrastructure projects address project value when disrupted by changing conditions. The study will explore project value across the UK, Sweden, Austria and Canada, with the aim of increasing our understanding of the role of governance boards in making strategic decisions, balancing stakeholder trade-offs and adapting value propositions under disruption.
Breakthrough Project Management Competencies for Effective Implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at the Project Level
Author: Udara Ranasinghe, University of South Australia, Australia
Summary
This research explores the breakthrough project management competencies needed to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the project level. It aims to identify skills gaps and practical tools using a mixed-methods approach. The objective of this study is to support project professionals with the capabilities to deliver SDG-aligned projects and influence future training, education and policy.
Over the last 12 months, we asked business leaders who are confident in their organisation’s ability to deliver projects successfully what the main reasons are for their confidence.
Most-chosen answers from survey respondents
|
Apr 25 |
Jul 25 |
Oct 25 |
Jan 26 |
|
Past experience – “My organisation has a proven track record of project success.” |
Past experience – “My organisation has a proven track record of project success.” |
Ability – “My organisation tends to recruit project professionals with recognised qualifications and/or certifications.” |
Professional development – “My organisation tends to invest in ongoing training/professional development of its project professionals.” |
We also asked those who are not confident in their organisation’s ability to deliver projects successfully why they felt this way.
Most-chosen answers from survey respondents
|
Apr 25 |
Jul 25 |
Oct 25 |
Jan 26 |
|
Professional development – “My organisation does not tend to invest in ongoing training/professional development of its project professionals.” |
Joint first · Ability – “My organisation does not tend to recruit project professionals with recognised qualifications and/or certifications.”
· Professional Development – “My organisation does not tend to invest in ongoing training/professional development of its project professionals.” |
Professional development – “My organisation does not tend to invest in ongoing training/professional development of its project professionals.” |
Professional development – “My organisation does not tend to invest in ongoing training/professional development of its project professionals.” |
This data reveals a significant shift across the year. There has been a clear transition from a reliance on past experiences towards ability, recruitment and professional development. This transition suggests that, as the business landscape has changed, confidence became rooted in having trained professionals and continuous learning as opposed to relying on past ability, further highlighting how disruptive this period has been for organisations. This shift may have been brought about by technological disruptions, particularly AI integration, which has rendered past experiences less relevant than current ability and up-to-date training.
Interestingly, professional development (or a lack of it) was also cited as the main reason why people felt unconfident in their organisation’s ability to deliver projects successfully. This data was consistent throughout the whole period, suggesting that this is an ongoing need. By January 2026, professional development – either as a strength or a need – was identified as the defining reason why business leaders felt either confident and unconfident in their organisation’s ability to deliver projects successfully.
This result offers an interesting theory: Confident leaders are hiring project professionals with recognised qualifications and certifications (October 2025) and developing them (January 2026), while unconfident leaders are focussed on the lack of investment and development of current project professionals. All this suggests that upskilling is becoming an increasingly important factor in an organisation’s ability to deliver a successful project.