The Associated Press reports on a PwC survey of more than 4,700 global CEOs – conducted as the World Economic Forum commences its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland – in which considerable concern is expressed about the coming decade.
It’s not the economy that they’re worried about – the AP says that more executives “are feeling better about the global economy.”
Rather, “a growing number don’t think their companies will survive the coming decade without a major overhaul because of pressure from climate change and technology like artificial intelligence.” The executives “felt worse about the prospects for their companies’ ability to weather big changes. The survey shows 45% of the respondents were worried that their businesses wouldn’t be viable in a decade without reinvention, up from 39% last year.
“The CEOs say they’re trying to make changes, but they are running up against regulation, a lack of skills among workers and more.”
The AP writes: “Artificial intelligence was seen as both a way to streamline business operations and a weakness. Nearly three-quarters of the executives said ‘it will significantly change the way their company creates, delivers and captures value in the next three years,’ PwC said.
“More than half the CEOs said AI will make their products or services better, but 69% noted that their workers needed training to gain skills to use the developing technology. They also were concerned about how AI would increase cybersecurity risks and misinformation.”
And: “Similar to AI, the PwC survey shows that the climate transition is both an opportunity and a risk. An increasing number of CEOs – nearly a third – say climate change was expected to shift how they do things over the next three years.
“More than three-quarters of the executives said they have begun or completed changes to increase energy efficiency, but only 45% noted that they have made progress on taking the climate risks into account in financial planning.”
KC’s View:
It strikes me that these concerns are warranted, in part because climate change and AI evolution seem likely to take us in unexpected directions, creating changes for which we as a planet are wholly unprepared. The irony, of course, is that our lack of preparation is almost entirely a self-inflicted problem; it isn’t that long ago that elected officials were holding up snowballs in winter to prove that global warming was not real.
I actually think the exercise is a good one. Every CEO should ask herself or himself: What are the issues and challenges that could threaten my company’s existence and vitality a decade from now? And, What do I need to do today to address these issues?
And if a CEO thinks that there is nothing that could threaten the company’s existence a decade from now, well, I think it is time to step down and let someone else run the place. Because there is no such think as the unassailable advantage.
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