Respondents were nevertheless wary of global climate mandates and risks, and predicted an era where planetary preservation outweighed corporate growth plans
Through a November 2023 survey of 2,000 respondents (director level and above) from firms with more than US$1bn in annual revenue across 10 industries and 15 countries* on their organizations’ investment plans and priorities across all functional areas, the following trends were reported.
First, digital tools and technologies were the key focus of investment, starting with AI. Some 88% of the respondents cited plans to focus on that technology. Many expected that critical decision-making will be assisted by AI five years from 2023. However, a majority also emphasized that human judgment is more critical than ever in an AI-driven world. Amid the focus on tech, 61% of respondents also considered cybersecurity threats a leading risk to business growth in 2024 (compared to 39% for 2023).
Second, as the business case for climate action and eco sustainability rises to the fore, most respondents’ organizations were planning to increase investments to address the existential threat. Nearly half expected climate change to be the biggest driver of operational disruption over the next decade, with lagging sustainable practices and processes posing a long-term existential risk for their organizations. Also, 57% cited that they intended to increase their investment in clean tech in the US over the next two to three years due to the Inflation Reduction Act. The same proportion planned to increase their investment in EU clean tech as a direct result of the Green Deal Industrial Plan. Finally, two-thirds of respondents had cited the relentless pursuit of growth as incompatible with addressing the climate and ecological crisis. On a more macroeconomic level, 38% of them had acknowledged that humans are likely to be entering an era where there will be no growth due to the need for humanity to stay within planetary boundaries.
Other findings
The third trend was, respondents had learned from the COVID-19 lockdowns and were increasing nearshoring and ‘friend-shoring’ to address supply chains vulnerabilities. About 45% of them cited that a significant proportion of their procurement will be friend-shored in the future, and 49% stated that they planned to invest in other emerging economies to reduce reliance on China.
The fourth trend among respondents was that talent and workplace issues remained a key priority. Nearly 60% (compared to 33% in a similar survey last year) ranked scarcity of talent with the right skills among the top business risks for 2024. As respondents planned and implemented their “return-to-office” policies, a quarter had cited also planning to increase investments in office space, up from only 4% in a similar survey in 2022. However, respondents also believed that flexible and hybrid work engagements are here to stay.
According to Aiman Ezzat, Chief Executive Officer, Capgemini, which commissioned the survey: “It is good news that (respondents) are increasing investments in a wide array of critical business areas from customer experience and innovation to talent and supply chains, and perhaps even more importantly, sustainability. We have only scratched the surface of what digital tools and technologies, in particular AI, can achieve (to help organizations) to reach these business objectives.”
*The US, UK, France, Germany, China, Japan, the Netherlands, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Spain, India, Australia, Sweden and Singapore
