Why CEOs are losing trust when it matters most

PEOPLE are trusting leaders less, and artificial intelligence (AI) is making it harder to tell what is real.

The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer found that 68 per cent of people believe business leaders purposely mislead them. Now, people expect dishonesty instead of just being sceptical. For chief executive officers, this lack of trust is a serious risk. If people think leaders are dishonest, it is much harder to attract talent and manage crises.

​We can see the effects of lost trust in real-life examples. In aerospace, Boeing’s problems show how a gap between what leaders say and what actually happens can damage years of goodwill. In the tech industry, trust has plummeted as CEOs announce layoffs and changes to AI using automated messages that care more about efficiency than people. These examples show that many leaders focus on how things look instead of building real trust.