BCG’s Weekly Briefs

In BCG’s Weekly Brief, our most senior executives, including Global Chair Rich Lesser and CEO Christoph Schweizer, share their latest perspectives and ideas, as well as some of the firm’s most compelling thought leadership, in an email to colleagues, clients, and friends around the world. These messages cover a wide range of topics that are top of mind for business leaders today, issues that have become more layered and challenging than ever: from global trade and consumer choice to corporate purpose, climate change, and responsible AI. Here is a selection:

Banking at a Crossroads

MARCH 25, 2024

Banks have historically played two vital roles: directly financing economic growth and indirectly advancing societal progress.

The rapid rise of mobile banking in developing countries shows how these two roles intertwine by creating economic and social opportunities for the “unbanked” population. Banks will also be critical in providing the $37 trillion needed to reach net zero goals by 2030. More broadly, banks touch every part of the economy, facilitating trade and economic activity that generates job and income growth.

For these reasons, business leaders need to understand what’s happening in the banking system. In a nutshell, the industry has still not recovered from the global banking crisis of 2008. The average return on equity has since declined by more than 450 basis points, and many banks, especially in Europe and parts of Asia, are trading below their book value.

In 2023, the failure of a few high-profile banks in Europe and the US exposed the industry’s continued vulnerability. Can banks fulfill their economic and social missions without fundamental transformation?

The State of Banking Today

My colleagues in BCG’s Financial Institution practice recently wrote a comprehensive report on the industry. Some highlights:

  • Banks’ share of total financial assets has been steadily declining in most markets. Banks are ceding their raison d’être. Direct commercial lending by asset management firms (such as private equity funds) grew by 20% annually between 2017 and 2022, compared with banks’ asset growth of less than 5%.
  • Banks spend more on technology than most other industries, such as consumer goods, industrial goods, media, and telecom, but have struggled to reap the benefits. Only about one-quarter of the industry’s tech spending is on innovation, including intuitive mobile banking apps or AI-powered decision making. Most of the rest goes to costly maintenance and updating of legacy systems.
  • Regulators are likely to impose additional capital and liquidity requirements on banks. Managing climate risks, for example, will require structured end-to-end data platforms and new, complex data.

The $7 Trillion Opportunity

Despite these challenges, there is a window of opportunity for banks to create $7 trillion in shareholder value over the next five years—but only if they fundamentally reshape their organizations and collaborate with regulators.

  • Banks need a new, simplified business model. Banks need to actively manage their business portfolio by exiting subscale businesses. They also need to reskill their staff, create digital end-to-end processes, and seamlessly partner with fintech firms. Banks that fully adopt this model can improve productivity by as much as 40%.
  • Regulators need a new approach, too. Regulators need to balance profitability, innovation, systemic stability, and consumer protection. Otherwise, business will move to unregulated markets and increase the systemic risk regulators are trying to avoid. Regulators should adopt agile approaches to rule making, allow consolidation when it makes sense, and support the development of digital public infrastructure, such as a real-time interbank payments system.

***

Banks are too important for the overall economy and for societal progress to have underperformed for more than 15 years. It’s time for banks and regulators alike to take a fresh look at how they operate and how they regulate in the interest of stability, innovation, and sustainable profitability.

Christoph Schweizer
Chief Executive Officer


When Government and Business Work Together for Change

MARCH 19, 2024

Four years ago this week, I got one of the most unexpected and meaningful phone calls of my career at BCG. It was ten days after we had closed our offices due to COVID-19, like so many businesses all around the world. I was working from home, when Gina Raimondo, then the governor of Rhode Island, reached out to me directly. She said managing the COVID-19 situation was going to be more challenging than people realized, society wasn’t prepared for it, and the public and private sectors would have to work together if we were going to keep people safe.

She brought this message to multiple CEOs in those earliest days of the pandemic and led the development of new models of collaboration. She may have been the leader of the smallest state in the US, but she turned out to be a bellwether for governors and others around the country and the world. In the weeks and months that followed, leaders actively looked for collaboration between government and business to manage the unprecedented challenges—first to slow the spread of the disease and support a strained medical system, and eventually to develop, distribute, and administer vaccines.

Advancing Economic and Societal Impact

This past week, I had another opportunity to work with the now US Commerce Secretary Raimondo, as she led a presidential trade mission to the Philippines and a President’s Export Council visit to Thailand. It was a fascinating and energizing week. At every stop, the clear message from the Secretary and leadership in both countries was about the critical role of businesses to invest ambitiously, develop new capabilities, and form new partnerships with one another and with governments to advance the economy and society.

We heard from Filipino and Thai officials not about ideology but about the practical steps they were taking to support and encourage business investment in their countries. This was the case whether the focus was on digitization, tackling climate change and the energy transition, education and reskilling for a world of AI, building infrastructure, strengthening cyber protections, or advancing other critical issues.

As examples, in the Philippines, President Marcos meets with a business advisory council for two hours every other Thursday to focus on specific actions to accelerate economic progress and remove obstacles. The country recently passed amendments to its Renewable Energy Act to allow 100% foreign ownership of renewable assets.

And in Thailand, Prime Minister Thavisin has been on the road with his mission to seek partnerships with both local and foreign businesses and to attract foreign direct investment.  He has also guided the Thai Board of Investment to focus on building infrastructure and attracting new manufacturing hubs for electric vehicle components and other segments of high-tech value chains. A critical enabler will be attracting investment from international companies capable of developing engineering and tech talent within the Thai labor force.

We spoke with US and local business leaders, as well as representatives of local chambers of commerce, and they were open about what was needed to go faster. It starts with addressing basic issues, such as excessive regulation and paperwork related to customs and borders, but also includes more fundamental challenges, such as improving workforce skills, increasing investment support, and working on free-trade agreements. There was a lot of enthusiasm for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, which will include 14 countries.

A $2 Trillion Opportunity

As we look at the challenges ahead, it will be essential to strengthen the business-government relationship. A BCG study sponsored by Australia and endorsed by ASEAN economic ministers last October points to a $2 trillion digital opportunity for ASEAN countries by 2030 if they establish a bold agenda leveraging both the public and private sectors.

And of course, we need collaboration to address the climate crisis. The key technological solutions are likely to come from business but will need governments to invest and remove roadblocks to deployment if we’re to reach the pace of progress we need.

The relationship between government and business is never perfect, no matter the government and no matter the business. But when leaders from both sides are committed to drive real change and find models to work together, the impact can be dramatic.

Rich Lesser
Global Chair


Advice from Women Leading and Shaping the GenAI Revolution

MARCH 13, 2024

GenAI proficiency is a requirement for some of today’s and many of tomorrow’s jobs. It is an accessible technology that does not require programming skill. But could it also be an inclusive technology, opening doors for women in the tech industry?

Rather than wait and see, several of my women colleagues are working to level the playing field. They recently surveyed more than 6,500 employees of tech companies in Germany, India, Japan, the UK, and the US to understand how women are using GenAI at work. They also talked to women leaders at tech companies, providing both a quantitative and qualitative look at how quickly women are adopting GenAI—and what’s holding them back.

The results contain positive and negative signals.

  • Women and men use GenAI at work similarly. About two-thirds of each group use the technology more than once a week.
  • Senior-tenured women who work in tech functions are adopting GenAI at a higher rate than their colleagues who are men. These women in tech functions were 10 percentage points more likely than men in those functions to say they considered GenAI to be critical to their job success.
  • The picture is less encouraging for junior women in tech. When it comes to using GenAI more than weekly, they lagged behind their peers who are men by 7 percentage points.
  • And it’s even worse for junior women in nontech functions, such as HR, legal, and finance. Junior women in these functions lagged behind their peers who are men by 21 percentage points.

Lessons for All Companies

The survey and interviews offer general lessons for all companies, not just tech companies. “There is a small window of opportunity to make progress on the gender gap,” a director at a Fortune 500 AI company said.

The women executives we spoke to had clear advice for companies to encourage greater and more even adoption of GenAI.

  • Leaders should talk about the importance of GenAI to corporate and career success. They then need to put in place change management initiatives to encourage all women, not just leaders, to embrace GenAI. “Leaders need to recognize and elevate GenAI such that people are excited,” a board member of an IT services company said.
  • Companies can create targeted upskilling programs that encourage experimentation and build confidence among women. “Our company has courses that help explain for each function what are the applications of GenAI,” a vice president of a large tech company said.
  • Businesses should develop a pilot environment that offers a safe space for employees to explore and test GenAI tools while following responsible AI policies. As the vice president of an enterprise tech company said, junior women “may be less likely to take risks without clear policies.”

In the spirit of International Women’s Day last week and its 2024 theme—inspire inclusion—we have an opportunity to intervene earlier in the tech adoption curve to ensure that the benefits of GenAI are available to everyone.

Christoph Schweizer
Chief Executive Officer


Space: The Final Frontier

MARCH 04, 2024

Business leaders have their work cut out for them as they navigate the incredible advances in artificial intelligence and a whole host of other fast-evolving changes.

And that’s just here on earth.

It’s also time to get used to the idea of a space economy. For CEOs, space offers a new frontier in innovation and sources of value. It’s important for all business leaders to get smart about how much they depend on space already (think GPS and connectivity) and to get moving on the potential benefits ahead. The commercialization of space is lowering barriers to entry and providing companies with powerful opportunities in communication, observation, and location.

I recently chatted with my colleague Troy Thomas, who leads BCG’s space topic, about the space economy, its potential for growth, and the challenges ahead.

To Boldly Go…

Opportunities in satellite services offer huge potential for industrial goods companies through precise communication, navigation, and earth imagery. Satellites can provide data-driven insights, enhance operations, help with sustainability goals, and unlock significant value.

Troy and his team estimate that some industrial goods companies can see up to a 15% increase in gross profit margins, 25% revenue increase, 10% decrease in operating costs, and 10% reduction in fuel within one year of rolling out integrated space-based services.

There’s a broad range of industries that can benefit, including agriculture, aviation, automotive, logistics, energy, mining, and construction. Logistics companies could reap benefits from fleet management, equipment monitoring, and autonomous operations, leading to improvements in productivity and reductions in cost. Long-haul trucking can use satellites to enhance smart navigation and optimize routes, increasing efficiency and cutting back on fuel.

John Deere is a great example of an organization digging into these opportunities. The company recently announced one of the largest ever satellite communications partnerships, with SpaceX’s Starlink.  Satellite connectivity will further transform smart agriculture for John Deere, enabling automated planting and harvesting in remote locations that lack internet service.

Volkswagen Group is another interesting example. The company has partnered with Germany’s Isar Aerospace to use satellite connectivity for self-driving cars.

Make It So

The space sector is expected to have a market value of more than $1 trillion by 2040. That growth will come primarily from four areas of digital and advanced manufacturing:

  • Small satellite manufacturing, with commercial, cost-effective, off-the-shelf components that increase affordability and advances such as the use of ceramic composites, which reduce weight and protect satellites from radiation
  • Payload modernization, with new software-defined sensors, high throughput transponders, and on-orbit processing of data powered by AI
  • Faster connectivity, with high-speed downlink radios and relays and laser-based communications among satellites, forming a smart, global, ultra-high-speed network that connects with terrestrial 5G
  • Next-generation launch capabilities, such as fully reusable launch vehicles, satellite “ride shares” to reduce costs, commercial spaceports, and “green” propellants

Essentials to Live Long and Prosper

The commercialization of space comes with increased congestion, and there have been numerous close calls involving debris, satellites, and spacecraft—even crewed space stations. The likelihood of collisions will continue to grow. There are right now about 4,400 satellites in different “orbital bins,” and it’s estimated there will be thousands more by 2030. The increased debris from spacecraft is particularly hazardous, with more than 30,000 such objects currently being tracked and moving at speeds of up to 29,000 km/hour.

To manage the risk of collision, government and industry will need to work together to advance technologies in space environment management, ensuring safe and sustainable space operations.

I can’t write about space without also mentioning geopolitical competition. As space grows in business importance, it’s also growing in strategic military importance. A key challenge of our time is ensuring the sustainable development of the space domain while seeking to avoid conflicts that extend into space.


As we focus on the commercial opportunities in space, the promise of space exploration still looms large. The James Webb Space Telescope, the recent return to the moon, and other success stories ignite the imagination and provide enormous scientific value.

As someone who grew up with Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Star Trek, it’s been remarkable to see the concept of space move from the realms of science fiction and science to a much more everyday reality for business. We’ll need to see collaboration in order to advance a responsible and sustainable space economy, but the opportunities for businesses to create value and competitive advantage—on earth and beyond—will skyrocket.

Rich Lesser
Global Chair


Extending and Expanding Impact as Leaders

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

One of the things that inspires me in my work is hearing stories of how leaders take capabilities they’ve built during their careers and apply them in new and important areas.

A recent example has to do with Lewy Body dementia, a horrible disease and the second most common form of neurodegenerative dementia in the US, afflicting more than 1 million Americans and millions more around the world. It’s frequently confused with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and as a result takes much longer to diagnose. And it’s woefully underfunded relative to its incidence, receiving one-eighth the research funding per patient of these better-known diseases.  

Lewy Body dementia is also the disease that claimed the life of the husband of my close friend and mentor, Sandy Moose. Sandy has had a remarkable career. She started at BCG in 1968—the first woman to work as a management consultant and then partner in our industry, now serving as one of our senior advisors since retiring 20 years ago. Since her retirement, she also served as the lead outside director of Verizon Communications and chaired the boards of trustees of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among other roles.

When Eric, Sandy’s husband, began showing challenging symptoms, she was frustrated—as was he—by the lack of a clear diagnosis. Because they didn’t know exactly what he had, they couldn’t seek out the support they needed—and they weren’t able to prepare for how quickly his life would be cut short. Sandy had asked several doctors if it might be Lewy Body dementia, but she didn’t get any affirmation from a doctor until two days before Eric died.

Building a Framework for Progress

Afterwards, Sandy was determined to understand what went wrong—where the gaps in knowledge were and what was holding back the ability to tackle this devastating disease. She brought her years of experience alongside a pro bono BCG team and together they reviewed everything written on the topic in recent years. They pulled out the major themes and analyzed the current state of research and funding.

The team created a novel perspective on the disease, setting the stage for a discussion with two dozen leading scientists from academia, government, and the biopharma industry in the US and the UK. Their work culminated in an articulation of the most urgent priorities, which are laid out in the recent publication of an article in a highly regarded peer-reviewed neuroscience journal.  

In the business world, we often say you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Sandy’s work with Lewy Body dementia has led to a similar understanding. In this case, we are missing clear diagnostics and biomarkers. Until we get those, we’re in a vicious cycle. We’re unable to design research programs that will attract sufficient funding with the dedicated scientists needed to make progress on foundational work. And without that progress, the biopharma industry is constrained in its ability to develop therapeutic interventions.

This new effort has given scientists and funders a framework that can help address those gaps, redirecting research priorities and investments that can make a difference for so many patients and their families.

Impact Beyond a Career

Talking to Sandy about her experience and reading the impressive output from this work has led me to think more broadly about how we can extend and expand our impact as leaders. Sandy took the skills she had honed during an amazing business career and applied them to an area where she had never worked. She formed new teams and now talks expertly about protein folding, biomarkers, and research funding as if she were a biologist and not an economist.

As she put it to me recently, “I didn’t intend to embark on this, but it’s given me a whole new sense of purpose and mission in the sixth decade of my career.” As someone just starting the fifth decade of his, I find that really inspiring and hope it can be for you, too, whatever your decade.

Rich Lesser
Global Chair


In Uncertain Times, Control What You Can Control: Costs

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

We live in uncertain times. Geopolitical tensions remain high. Global trade patterns are shifting. Inflation and interest rates have come down but are still above pre-pandemic levels. In a recent BCG survey of more than 600 executives, economic uncertainty was their top concern for 2024.

In the face of such significant unknowns, many CEOs and top executives focus on controlling what they can control: costs—the top priority of companies in 2024 in North America, Europe, and Asia alike, according to our survey. Growth was the number two priority.

Fortunately, cost control and growth are not mutually exclusive. Cost management frees up resources, which can fuel a company’s growth and support its strategic priorities.

The Focus for Cost Management Is Shifting

To cope with the pandemic, supply chain disruption, energy shocks, and other factors, most companies added to their cost bases, which were further impacted by input-cost inflation. As a traditional reaction, companies have reduced overhead expenses to manage costs. Now, two-thirds of executives say manufacturing and supply chain costs are their top priority. This shift is particularly evident at consumer goods, industrial goods, and energy companies, where these costs are very significant.

Linear, rigid, just-in-time supply chains no longer work in today’s challenging times. Corporations now need to carefully manage their supply chains for cost, flexibility, and resilience by relying on best-in-class, real-time data and digital capabilities. In addition, AI, GenAI, and other disruptive technologies can help. As one CEO told me, “If we aren’t experimenting with AI, our competitor is and two start-ups are, too.”

Why Traditional Cost Management Falls Short...and How to Do It Better

Too often, we find that the effectiveness of traditional approaches to cost management fades over time. In the survey, 83% of leaders said that their companies met or exceeded recent cost savings targets, but more than one-third also reported that the costs crept back soon. Lots of work for little lasting impact!

We have learned how to make cost transformations stick: looking beyond one-and-done cost takeouts and instead establishing a culture of continuous improvement. This shift emphasizes innovation and treats setbacks as learning opportunities by focusing on:

  • Engagement. Sharing the company’s priorities and cost management vision can engage employees, help them feel part of the solution, and shift how they work.
  • Enablement. Providing other leaders with the right resources and clear objectives encourages them to better balance cost and growth ambitions.
  • Execution. Effective governance and monitoring processes allow teams to break down a large cost transformation into distinct actions with measurable change—and to hold teams and leaders accountable.

Companies also need their workforces to possess emotional strength. If companies can meet four fundamental human needs—the need for clarity, trust, meaning, and belonging—they significantly increase their chances of success.

Christoph Schweizer
Chief Executive Officer


The Global Race for Economic Growth

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

I recently caught up with BCG’s Chief Economist Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak just after he attended a private dinner with CEOs in Canada. I asked him to share some of the key messages he delivered to that group.

Over the past couple years, Philipp and his collaborator Paul Swartz repeatedly made the case that narratives of structural inflation and inevitable recession were too pessimistic and that the US was most likely headed toward a soft landing. Now that this is playing out, I was eager to hear Philipp’s current global views, not just for the US but for China and the Eurozone as well. Here’s an overview of his take, which I hope you’ll find helpful.

A Reversal of Fortunes

To see the near-term growth prospects of these three regions, we need to consider the emerging structural legacies of recent shocks. The direct comparison of growth rates would be misleading, but understanding each bloc’s ability or inability to return to its old growth path tells us a lot about resilience and the tactical outlook. (See Philipp’s and Paul’s new article on this topic in Fortune.)

  • The US started out as a laggard in 2020 but is now the only bloc on its way to its pre-pandemic growth trajectory. Inflation threatened that progress, but the unfolding soft landing is evidence of remarkable resilience.
  • China’s economy was the envy of the world in 2020, making a swift return to its old growth path. But in its own reversal of fortunes, China’s switch to a consumption-driven economy is proving challenging and has pushed it off that pre-pandemic path.
  • The Eurozone has seen yet a different reversal of fortunes. It was making sustained progress toward its old growth path—until the war in Ukraine. Though a show of resilience has allowed it to escape a recession, a return to pre-pandemic growth now looks challenging.

Tactical Growth in 2024

Settling into their new trajectories, each bloc is fighting for tactical strength in the year ahead. Prospects vary, but we can view near-term growth with an optimistic lens. It should be a year of progress.

US Strength. Philipp thinks the US will continue to defy the pessimists. Consensus recession odds of 45% remain too high and are reminiscent of the recent past when pessimism was simply punted out quarter after quarter.

Yes, growth will be slower than the fast 3.1% of 2023, but the underlying resilience of the US economy is sustainable, not finite. As inflation has fallen below wage growth, real incomes are growing again. After a pullback during much of 2023, corporate earnings are set to expand. And the labor market is structurally tight, pushing companies to embrace technology where labor is scarce and pricey.

On the monetary side, it will get easier in 2024, even as the timing of rate cuts remains uncertain. And looking beyond this year, Philipp’s team thinks the US is likely to overshoot its pre-pandemic trend.

China’s Challenges. China’s tactical fight, meanwhile, is to arrest the drag on growth. The shrinking real estate sector and weak equity markets remain headwinds as they impair the confidence and spending power of households whose consumption is needed to drive growth.

Stimulus would help, but many of the old channels, such as pushing construction, would undermine the desired rebalancing toward consumption. That said, even as the Chinese economy has been pushed off its old growth path, its rate of growth likely remains much higher than that of the other blocs, and China’s past ability to manage difficulties points to resilience.

Europe’s Restart. Despite the challenges, the Eurozone will see faster—but uneven—growth. Germany, which weathered the 2010s well relative to other Eurozone members, is now at the bottom of the growth league tables.

Yet labor markets across the bloc remain stronger than they’ve been in two decades, and real income growth is set to return as inflation drops below wage growth. Plus, after an era of tepid investment, the Eurozone has found convincing investment narratives in decarbonization, technology, and defense.

Combining Vigilance with Ambition

The better-than-expected growth outlook is no reason to let down our guard. The past four years have shown that shocks are ubiquitous, and continuous judgment of macroeconomic risks should stay at the top of corporate agendas.

But the past four years have also shown that shocks are not deterministic—neither for economies nor companies. The resilience we have seen, especially the avoidance of recession, is testament to the strong collective efforts of business leaders and policymakers. While leaders can’t control the shocks, investing in capabilities to understand and react to them is a muscle they can continue to build.

Finally, given a baseline positive case for growth, boldness alongside vigilance is important, too!

Rich Lesser
Global Chair


India: A Nation on the Move

FEBRUARY 08, 2024

I recently returned from India, where the business leaders I met in Mumbai and Chennai believe that India’s moment on the world stage has arrived. The evidence is strong.

At a time when growth is hard to find in many parts of the world, the Indian economy is growing by about 7% annually. It is on a path to become a $7 trillion economy by 2030 and is likely to surpass both Japan and Germany in size.

Indian consumers are benefitting from this growth. GDP per capita has grown from about $1,000 15 years ago to about $2,500 currently, putting more money in the pockets of consumers. The elite and affluent consumer segments account for 15% of the population, up from about 6% a decade ago. By 2030, these segments will approach one-quarter of the population. Domestic and international companies alike can tap into this opportunity.

The country is enjoying other tailwinds as well:

  • Global trade is going through profound changes, and India is emerging as one key option. In our recent global trade report, we project that India will add nearly $400 billion in additional trade in goods over the next ten years.
  • There is a concerted effort to expand India’s manufacturing base, driven in part by Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes. This creates an opportunity for the country to diversify beyond services that have powered growth this century—building an additional leg for the economy to stand on.
  • India, now the most populous country in the world, has the workforce to support this transition. Its working-age population will reach 950 million next year, a striking demographic dividend in an aging world. The share of the working-age population will continue to grow until 2041.
  • To enable this growth, India is investing in hard infrastructure such as roads, airports, ports, and power. It is also a leader in public digital infrastructure, building on its traditional strength in IT services. India’s Unified Payments Interface and Open Network for Digital Commerce facilitate peer-to-peer transactions, while Aadhar is the world’s largest biometric identity system.

The leaders I met with recognize the opportunity of a large and growing local economy alongside the challenges. They are keeping their eyes on the horizon but feet on the ground.

A significant share of manufacturing moving to India involves assembly. To guarantee future competitiveness, India will need to improve the skill level of employees in manufacturing and related functions (e.g., in quality management). The added value per employee in manufacturing is below that of several countries in Southeast Asia, which are also seeking to attract investments.

Healthy ecosystems around raw materials and subcomponents will be critical. Companies need to improve their R&D and innovation capabilities to compete globally. Inclusivity is also key. More opportunities for women, a reduction in regional disparities, and support for micro, small, and medium-size enterprises will all help India reach its potential.

One of my colleagues in India described the country as ready for “tough optimism.” The country’s ambitions are high, and it has a lot going for it. I am excited to see India meet the moment.

Christoph Schweizer
Chief Executive Officer


Why We Need Catalytic Climate Action—and a New Resource to Get Us There

JANUARY 29, 2024

Last week, Christoph and I wrote to you with an overview of our takeaways from Davos, focusing on some of the larger themes. Now I want to double-click on climate and sustainability, which was my biggest focus at the annual meeting, and share two important updates with you.

The first is our latest report with the WEF Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, where I serve as chief advisor. The second is a practical resource that can help companies turn a central insight of the report—the power of supplier decarbonization—into action.

Bold Measures to Close the Climate Action Gap

This year’s report takes as its starting point our current reality: while many companies and governments have taken steps to act responsibly on climate change, the sum of all our actions and global progress is far from sufficient. The key to catching up will be for the many committed companies and governments to become catalysts to accelerate broader systemic change.

We presented this work at Davos, highlighting five ways companies can broaden their climate action efforts well beyond their direct spheres of control:

  • Accelerate supplier decarbonization. For many companies, suppliers’ emissions are three to eight times greater than their own Scope 1 and 2 emissions. And it’s possible to reduce the end-to-end emissions of many products with a final price increase that’s less than 1%.
  • Make it easier for customers to make greener choices. Product redesign, including value-creating circular models, can lower the emissions footprint of many products.
  • Drive change with peers in your sector. The potential is especially great in supply chain “pinch points,” where ten players or fewer control more than 40% of many key markets. Standardizing product labeling is another great area of opportunity.
  • Engage in cross-industry partnerships. Large-scale buying groups, in particular, can have a dramatic impact, mobilizing capital and accelerating the development and scaling of advanced technologies.
  • Advocate for bolder policies. Start by making sure the government engagements of your company and lobbying partners are not harming climate progress. Then look for opportunities to go further, partnering with governments to encourage bold and pragmatic changes in incentives, policies, and reporting.

Net-Zero Value Chain Support Hub

For several years at BCG, we’ve been digging into the power of supplier decarbonization, led by deep insights from my colleagues Chrissy O’Brien, Patrick Herhold, and others. Some companies are making strides in this area. Members of the First Movers Coalition are signing offtake agreements with suppliers and investing in them to meet their goals.

To speed up change across supply chains even more, we’ve developed the Scope 3 Support Hub in partnership with the World Economic Forum. It’s an online resource that offers knowledge and tools to guide procurement teams, suppliers, and companies throughout the maturity stages of supply chain decarbonization.

It’s an offering that comes out of a multiyear focus of the WEF’s Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders on upstream Scope 3, including great work from my colleague Trine de Nully. Its success has also depended on the close collaboration of ecosystem partners, such as SBTi, WBCSD, WMB, along with powerful case studies from Alliance members, including GEA, Scania, H&M, and Unilever. The Support Hub can help you in your own journey to accelerate the decarbonization of your supply chain.

I hope you’ll take a little time to read our report and investigate the Support Hub—and think about how you can be a catalyst for broader change.

Rich Lesser
Global Chair


Davos Reflections and the Road Ahead

JANUARY 23, 2024

The official theme of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos last week was “Rebuilding Trust.”

At BCG, we believe trust starts with delivering on promises. So what will it take for business leaders to deliver on many of the commitments shared at Davos: driving impact through AI, responding wisely to geopolitical and macroeconomic concerns, and taking action on climate?

Driving Impact Through AI. AI, especially GenAI, was at the heart of so many conversations at Davos. After a period of experimentation, it’s now time to translate the potential of the technology into tangible business impact and return on investment. Getting there will be mostly about people—talent, training, incentives, leadership, processes, and organizational setup. Our research shows that 9 out of 10 CEOs rank AI as a top priority, but only 1 out of 10 lead companies that have trained more than one-quarter of their employees on GenAI tools—a misalignment we need to correct.

The other critical part of realizing AI’s potential is making sure we use the technology responsibly. We have to build greater transparency and accountability and avoid hallucination, bias, misinformation, and the undermining of societal values. If we can demonstrate a strong commitment to responsible AI, our employees, customers, and society will feel they can trust the change that happens.

Responding to Geopolitical and Macroeconomic Unknowns. Half the world’s population lives in countries holding nationwide elections this year, and the results of some are likely to alter geopolitics, trade, climate commitments and policies, and more. Ongoing wars and conflicts—with highly unpredictable outcomes—are causing enormous human suffering. While the US-China relationship has improved in recent months, uncertainties remain high. And, of course, there are still major macroeconomic unknowns in every part of the world around growth, inflation, and interest rates.

It’s important for business leaders to focus on what they can control. Setting up our organizations and running processes in a very cost-efficient way will allow us to best adapt and react to short-term discontinuities, while also maintaining room to invest in the future. Regular scenario planning along key factors of uncertainty affecting our respective businesses is also essential.

Going from climate agreements to climate action. Many companies and governments have made commitments to tackling climate change, but progress overall has been too slow. Building on a successful COP 28, much of the conversation at Davos centered on how to translate a host of agreements and a strong negotiated statement into faster action.

At the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, with 80 CEOs present, this centered on how climate leaders can be catalysts for broader systemic change by focusing on five areas: accelerating supplier decarbonization, enabling customers to make greener choices, driving change with peers in your sector, engaging in cross-industry partnerships, and advocating for—and supporting—bold and pragmatic government policies.

* * * * * * *

Davos is always an important opportunity to reflect on the challenges we’re facing and engage with a wide range of senior leaders for positive change. The conversations this year were practical yet full of possibility.

But talk only goes so far. We’re excited about the year ahead, getting down to work to deliver on promises and “unlock the potential of those who advance the world” jointly with you.

Christoph Schweizer
Chief Executive Officer

Rich Lesser
Global Chair


Transforming the Poetry of GenAI into the Prose of Business

JANUARY 16, 2024

A famous US politician once said, “You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.” Business leaders too can talk poetically about their strategies and goals but ultimately are judged by their prose—what they accomplish.

At the start of 2024, GenAI is moving from the realm of potential and promise to the reality of business plans and profitability. 2023 was the year of experimentation. 2024 has to be the year of business impact. CEOs and their executive teams will be judged on whether they can get the human part of the equation right—capabilities, processes, organizational setup, incentives, leadership models, and more.

There is still so much work to be done. BCG recently surveyed more than 1,400 C-suite executives across 50 markets:

  • Nine out of ten of these executives say that GenAI is a top technology priority for their company in 2024.
  • But fewer than one in ten companies, just 6%, have trained one-quarter of their workforce on GenAI tools.

In a world full of change and disruption, wait-and-see is not a viable option. And yet that is the path most organizations have adopted.

  • 90% of organizations are on the sidelines or still only experimenting with GenAI.
  • Unsurprisingly, 66% of executives are ambivalent or dissatisfied with their organization’s progress on AI and GenAI.

I empathize with many of these respondents. At BCG, we have had to make some of the same tradeoffs and decisions as our clients. How much do we invest in GenAI?  Should we build or buy GenAI solutions? How much freedom do we give employees to experiment? How fast can and should we train our staff? How do we mitigate risks like overreliance?

We have decided to move boldly—partnering with large and small tech companies on a few comprehensive platforms that we’re scaling rapidly and training large numbers of our staff on new ways of working.  Just as important, we are implementing responsible AI policies every day.

I worry that too many C-suite executives continue to treat GenAI as a new technology to be delegated to the experts rather than a new way of working. More than half of leaders surveyed, 59%, say that they have limited or no confidence in their executive teams’ proficiency in GenAI.

To kick off 2024, I encourage you to:

  • Become familiar with GenAI tools and incorporate them into your workday.
  • Think big. How can you deliver on your top business priorities even more boldly and faster with AI?
  • Obsess about your people. Take a zero-based approach to defining the skills you need tomorrow and start training today.
  • Build a safe technological environment. The financial and reputational costs of AI can be significant.
  • Spend time with your legal, regulatory, and risk staffs. The ethical decisions tied with this technology need to be steered from the top.

Embrace the uncertainty.

Christoph Schweizer
Chief Executive Officer



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