Inspiration for the Next Decade from BCG’s Global Partner Meeting

We've just wrapped up another global partner meeting—an important time that bonds our partnership and strengthens our culture, community, and network. In a time of rapid change in BCG’s capabilities and client needs, meeting twice a year is more important than ever. As always, we covered an array of topics, and there were many inspiring moments. Among those were when we heard from Arti Zeighami, head of advanced analytics & AI at H&M Group, and Carlos Moedas, EU commissioner for research, science, and innovation.

Arti shared an amazing story about how H&M used AI—what he refers to as amplified intelligence—to move the company from laggard to leader in just 24 months. His story showcased how the combination of people and machines can dramatically improve outcomes, affecting business decisions ranging from highly operational to more creative.

Companies that will win in the next decade will take similar steps. Leaders will realize that the company of the future is not the company of today, and they’ll understand how to leverage the best parts of humanity and technology in concert to become more competitive. We refer to this as building a “bionic company.” Getting there, of course, requires leading-edge algorithms, data platforms, and technology. But just as important, it means new ways of working together and investing in employees and ecosystems that enable faster rates of learning to leverage this data and technology.

Equally inspiring was Carlos, who spoke about the challenges and opportunities for innovation within Europe and across the world. His belief is that true innovation is about collaboration—not competition. He explained that we need to solve the world’s greatest challenges, including climate change, together. I couldn’t agree more. I believe that true collaboration between business and government—with governments making bold decisions to set the right context for business—is the only way we can make real progress on climate. 

Global leaders from our Social Impact practice spoke to us about that topic. They made it clear that climate is not only the most complex problem businesses and society face; it’s also the most urgent. Global warming affects the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, and more. On our current path, we will increase warming by 4 degrees by 2100, which will have dramatic negative ecological, economic, and societal impact. For instance, analysis by the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) suggested we will see a 30% drop in global GDP by that time, if we do not change course. We must do more, because as Ban Ki-Moon so famously said, there is no plan B, because there is no planet B.

If leaders want to enable their organizations to thrive over the coming decade, they must boldly embrace a different agenda from the one that saw them through the 2010s. At BCG, we’re building a roadmap that leaders can use to navigate the decade ahead. Winning the ’20s is the conversations that CEOs I speak with are most interested to discuss, and I look forward to sharing more with you about this in the coming weeks and months.