Buckle Up CEOs: A New Age of Long-Term Disruptions Is On The Horizon

• AlixPartners' 5th Annual Disruption Index finds that nearly 60% of CEOs worry about losing their job, with acute disruptive forces–geopolitics, climate change, and technological innovation–cited as top concerns.
• CEOs are still in the hot seat, but those who embrace the challenge and opportunity, act quickly and decisively will be the winners, according to the survey.
• Notably, two-thirds of global CEOs in our survey are worried about the impact that the 2024 US election will have on their business.

Business leaders are getting better at managing disruption after more than three years of pandemic, supply chain instability, worker shortages, and inflation, but newly emerging factors outside of executives' control are setting the agenda in the New Year, according to findings from global consulting firm AlixPartners' Disruption Index (ADI). The annual survey canvasses more than 3,000 CEOs and senior executives around the world to uncover the latest global business concerns.

A New Age of Disruptions is Poised to Rise in 2024

While the pandemic era challenges of supply chain instability, worker shortages, and inflation are mostly in the rear-view mirror, business leaders continue to express uncertainty about the future and are increasingly worried about intensifying issues that are beyond their control. Geopolitical events, including the tragic wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the combustible 2024 US Presidential election, and ongoing friction with China, are causing them to adjust their strategy. New technologies, in particular Generative AI, are their biggest disruptive opportunity over the next year, but at the same time a majority of CEOs say their company can't keep up with pace of technological change. Most business leaders feel pressure to take a stance on environmental issues from government and regulators, their investors and board, their customers, and their employees and team members. More than a third of business leaders say their company has been impacted by environmental concerns. Interest rate and the inflationary uncertainty continue to be a concern, and one-third still see the potential for recession on the horizon.