As many as 86% of Polish entrepreneurs are concerned about the future of their businesses, while 36% believe their companies will not survive another decade, according to CRIF’s report, Banking on Banks 2026: Financial Services in Times of Uncertainty.
The report’s authors noted that the most frequently cited concerns among Polish businesses included rising costs, particularly operating expenses, mentioned by 39% of respondents, and business insurance costs, cited by 23%. Another 20% feared declining profits, while 19% were concerned about losing financial liquidity.
In addition, 64% of the entrepreneurs surveyed consider cybercrime one of the main threats to their businesses. Fraud was cited by 53%, while 60% regularly encounter attempted fraud and 53% have observed an increase in its frequency over the past year.
“These microeconomic concerns are compounded by developments and fears on a macroeconomic scale. According to our survey, 58% of Polish entrepreneurs believe that, in terms of economic and geopolitical conditions, these are the most difficult times for doing business that they can remember,”
said Kamil Gosławski, an expert at CRIF Poland, as quoted in the report.
He added that 62% of Polish entrepreneurs believe the global economic slowdown is having a direct impact on their businesses overall, while 76% say the international situation makes long-term planning more difficult.
“Moreover, 65% said that global tensions were making them hesitate over whether to invest in expanding their businesses. This shows that Polish companies are taking a mature approach to assessing their business environment,”
Gosławski said.
When asked how they were responding to the changing business environment, respondents most frequently said they were revising their growth plans and putting some investments on hold, an answer given by 36%. Another 32% were prioritising cost efficiency over other measures, while 25% were incorporating AI and new technologies into their operations to reduce costs.
“The survey shows that 75% of Polish entrepreneurs either already use artificial intelligence in running their businesses or plan to do so in the near future. This is a global trend that Polish companies are also embracing. However, it is worth noting that they do not intend to place ‘blind’ trust in technology. As many as 82% of entrepreneurs believe that AI-generated results and decisions require constant human oversight,”
Gosławski added.
Almost half of the Polish companies surveyed, 47%, use AI to handle administrative tasks. A further 45% see it as a tool for maintaining their competitiveness, 42% use it to automate various day-to-day operations, and 41% use artificial intelligence to personalise products and services for individual customers. Meanwhile, 37% also use AI as a risk-management tool and as an additional safeguard against fraud.
The survey was conducted on behalf of CRIF by Opinium Research among 5,000 consumers in five European countries, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom, between 20 March and 9 April 2026. Opinium Research also surveyed 500 business decision-makers in the same five countries between 20 March and 7 April 2026.
In Poland, the consumer survey covered 1,000 people, while the business survey included 100 decision-makers.