We keep our ear to the ground for the interesting stats, insights and discussion points you need to feel in the know to shape the future with confidence.
1. Go anyway
Borders are tightening, trade rules keep shifting and one political decision can reroute an entire supply chain. Companies have plenty of reasons to retreat. Most aren’t. More than 90% are still looking abroad for growth, but they’re traveling with backup plans. They’re spreading investments across markets, pressure-testing decisions and agreeing on their red lines before a crisis forces the conversation. Nobody can make geopolitics predictable. The advantage comes from being ready to move when the map changes…
How to stay global in a fracturing world
2. Too much of a good thing
Shoppers have never had more ways to buy, more niche products to choose from, or more reasons to change their minds. For consumer brands, keeping up means juggling more products, channels and moments than their supply chains were built to handle. Some of that complexity earns its keep, helping a brand move quickly or reach a new customer. The rest quietly eats through time, money and attention. The companies gaining ground are learning to tell the difference, then moving quickly when an opportunity is worth the trouble.
EY State of Consumer Products 2026
3. No time to lose
Cyberattacks used to leave a little breathing room to spot the problem, investigate and respond. AI is quickly eating into that window. Vulnerabilities that once took skilled hackers time to uncover can now be found and exploited at machine speed, while many insurers are still relying on human-speed defenses. The industry has stronger foundations than most, but blind spots remain across customer-facing AI, third-party systems and fast-changing technology. When an attack can unfold in minutes, being well prepared means being ready to act just as fast.
How to prepare the insurance sector for machine-speed threats
4. First impressions
After years of rapid growth, Mars, the global food, pet care and snacking company behind brands like M&M’s, Pedigree and Whiskas, noticed a familiar problem. New hires were spending their first days buried in forms, jargon and guesswork. So Mars rebuilt onboarding around real human moments. Managers played a bigger role. New hires were paired with buddies from day one. The result? Stronger retention and higher satisfaction. Culture isn’t built at the annual town hall. It’s shaped in those first few days, when people decide whether they belong.
How a global food and pet care leader transformed employee onboarding
5. Front door, back office
For years, enterprise software asked people to learn the system. AI is starting to flip that around, letting people ask for what they need in plain language and leaving the software to figure out the rest. Sounds simple. It rarely is. Most large organizations still rely on systems carrying years of business rules, compliance requirements and operational know-how. That’s why many CIOs are weaving AI into existing platforms rather than ripping them out. When decisions touch money, risk or regulation, speed only helps if trust can keep up…
How AI is transforming SaaS ― and what CIOs should do next
If you do one thing:
Turn one “what if?” into a plan your team could use tomorrow.