Searching for sunshine in the winter fog of uncertainty

As February draws to a close and the northern hemisphere slowly brightens up ahead of Spring, it’s a moment in my professional and personal life for me to pause, reflect and prepare for warmer and more positive times ahead.

The last few months have undoubtedly been a challenge for the global business community with ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty, but I remain convinced that CEOs and wider leadership teams are more agile and resilient than ever before, offering hope that we’ll see a return to sustained international growth.

While the World Economic Forum in Davos increasingly feels like a distant memory, much of what was discussed in the mountains of Switzerland will play a key role in how we navigate our way out of that disruption.

I’ve spoken at length about Davos, so I won’t bore you with too much more detail, but if you’re a business leader or senior decision maker, I’d urge you to head over to the KPMG Davos 2024 dedicated web space.

?The site will remain live throughout the year, until delegates return to the Swiss Alps in January 2025. It’s packed with insight and should at least offer some guidance and thoughts on the pathway back to growth.

Some of the key topics include ESG and a just energy transition, the future of work – from hybrid planning to tackling talent shortages, and AI – a topic that is bound to become a huge theme in 2024.

For me, personally, the issue of trust and ensuring artificial intelligence is developed to benefit society, rather than simply cutting costs will be key. KPMG’s new Global Head of AI, David Rowlands, chaired a discussion on that very theme in Davos. Watch the session in full on YouTube. It’s worth giving up 45 minutes of your time as it’s a subject that is rapidly climbing up the priority list in board rooms throughout the world.

If your company is on its own AI journey, or if you’re more interested in finding out what KPMG’s approach to AI is all about, take a look at the KPMG Trusted AI.

Launched at the start of the year, it’s the global organization’s strategic approach and framework to designing, building, deploying and using AI solutions in a responsible and ethical manner so we can accelerate value and confidence. In short, it’s a set of rules and guidance for our own people to embrace AI correctly, but it can also serve as a great template or starting point for your business.

Equipping ourselves with knowledge is – in my view – going to be the key to staying on the front foot in 2024.? I meet so many inspirational, entrepreneurial business leaders on a daily basis, but if we’re all guilty of one thing it’s that we can sometimes get too focused on developing a long-term plan and sticking to it. Agility will be essential in the coming months and years as we learn to cope with a new norm of uncertainty with climate, economy and geopolitics.

Collaboration and agility are two key things our own global CEO at KPMG, Bill Thomas, has championed throughout his career, and you can watch what he has to say on that and on the global organization’s wider investments in technology, AI and ESG, in the latest Pull Up A Chair podcast with KPMG UK’s Bina Mehta.

?While we’re looking at inspirational leaders, it’s worth mentioning the wonderful Sze Yeng Lee, who leads KPMG’s team in Singapore, and shared some of her own reflections on her own leadership style and approach. There are some real words of wisdom for current and future leaders!