Tech and creative company 9H, in partnership with Malta Chamber of SMEs has launched CEO State of Play 2026, a three minute pulse check on where leadership teams are getting stuck.

The survey asks CEOs and business leaders to name the single biggest constraint on their business, pinpoint where momentum is lost between a decision and its execution, say how far they have progressed with AI and automation, and identify the kind of outside support that would make a genuine difference. 9H frames the exercise as an attempt to understand why so much stalls between a boardroom decision and the work actually getting done, at a time when firms are being asked to grow faster, run leaner and adopt AI all at once.

Through the partnership, the survey reaches the Chamber’s full membership, which 9H says will give a clearer picture of the pressures facing businesses of every size in 2026.

9H, which works with clients in Malta and the Middle East, said responses will be reviewed in aggregate, with anonymised findings feeding into a CEO breakfast at its offices, where one live business problem will be unpacked with the group. The survey takes about three minutes to complete and can be accessed through 9H’s website.