Some of the world's leading strategists and thinkers have a piece of advice for C-suite executives grappling with tariff challenges-it's not all "gloom and doom" but choose your investment destinations wisely and be the "first responders" to artificial intelligence (AI) to innovate and turn the tide. Addressing the event on Saturday, Martin Sorrell, founder and chairman of S4 Capital, dwelt on the "China risk" for large global corporations, and opportunities for India and others.
"If you're Tesla, LVMH or Apple, do you really want to take the Taiwan risk? I don't think the Taiwan risk is invasion, but it's certainly constriction on Taiwan," he said.
"So, India comes to the fore in that context, along with Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, what I call new Asia, rather than as much as Japan, Australia and New Zealand."
Sorrell was speaking at a panel discussion on Rethinking Strategy in an Unstable World, moderated by ET's Sruthijith KK.
Others who took part in the discussion were Mohamed Kande, global chairman of PwC; Federico J Gonzalez, chief executive of Radisson Hotel Group and director at Louvre Hotels Group; Sunny Mann, global chair-elect at Baker McKenzie; and Dame Sharon White, senior managing director and head of global affairs, CDPQ.
Lower global growth and higher inflation is the new normal. So, two things are really important for global CEOs, Sorrell reckoned. "Number one, pick your geographies carefully," he said.
Also Read: India must aim to be No 1 economy: N Chandrababu Naidu at ET WLF 2025
Globalisation may not be dead yet but the world is a lot more fragmented now than in earlier decades, he lamented.
"Number two, (in a) slower growth world, efficiency is really going to become important," he said. "So the moment we get some sort of certainty about the levels of tariffs, I think AI, quantum computing and blockchain, these big technological advances are going to kick in very heavily," he added. This is because companies will be under pressure to maintain margins or even increase them.
PwC's Kande viewed global uncertainty as the biggest anxiety for chief executives that has made strategizing a much tougher proposition.
That uncertainty is turning into "unreliability," he added.
The global environment over the past 15 years was predictable and companies knew what the playbooks were and what to do to create value for shareholders. "Now everything is changing," Kande said.
Baker McKenzie's Mann said companies have to "re-hardwire their way of thinking back to an old normal," pointing at Cold War-era global fragmentations.
"Who was talking about tariffs a year ago? Now it's a C-suite issue. It's the biggest thing we're advising companies on," Mann said.
Also Read: China shift not linked to US trade talks: Piyush Goyal at ET World Leaders Forum 2025
Multilateralism is being replaced by a complex patchwork of bilateral relationships. So, companies have to switch from a more global macro mind-set to bilateral issues, he said.
"When there's a reshuffling of the deck, opportunities arise as well. And through that cloud of risk, the companies that will succeed are the ones who identify the opportunities," he said.
CDPQ's White underscored the sudden, massive intrusion of geopolitics into corporate boardrooms.
"Geopolitics that might be agenda number 10 on your board pack is suddenly the sort of overarching framework," she said. "The first thing you turn into in the morning is... your Wall Street Journal app or your Economic Times app, because a change or tweet overnight could wipe potentially 10% off one of your key markets."
Radisson Hotel's Gonzalez reckoned that anxiety and uncertainty has always been there but it may be of different nature.
"For me, the thing that drives my anxiety the most is actually how to find the relevant information," he said.
The panellists acknowledged the massive disruptive potential of AI and underscored the need to benefit from it.
"The biggest impact of AI is democratization of knowledge," said Sorrell. "So what you're going to see with AI is a collapsing, a flattening of organisations."
Also Read: Frugal economy model can guide India's growth: Navi Radjou at ET WLF 2025
"If you're Tesla, LVMH or Apple, do you really want to take the Taiwan risk? I don't think the Taiwan risk is invasion, but it's certainly constriction on Taiwan," he said.
"So, India comes to the fore in that context, along with Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, what I call new Asia, rather than as much as Japan, Australia and New Zealand."
Sorrell was speaking at a panel discussion on Rethinking Strategy in an Unstable World, moderated by ET's Sruthijith KK.
Others who took part in the discussion were Mohamed Kande, global chairman of PwC; Federico J Gonzalez, chief executive of Radisson Hotel Group and director at Louvre Hotels Group; Sunny Mann, global chair-elect at Baker McKenzie; and Dame Sharon White, senior managing director and head of global affairs, CDPQ.
Lower global growth and higher inflation is the new normal. So, two things are really important for global CEOs, Sorrell reckoned. "Number one, pick your geographies carefully," he said.
Also Read: India must aim to be No 1 economy: N Chandrababu Naidu at ET WLF 2025
Globalisation may not be dead yet but the world is a lot more fragmented now than in earlier decades, he lamented.
"Number two, (in a) slower growth world, efficiency is really going to become important," he said. "So the moment we get some sort of certainty about the levels of tariffs, I think AI, quantum computing and blockchain, these big technological advances are going to kick in very heavily," he added. This is because companies will be under pressure to maintain margins or even increase them.
PwC's Kande viewed global uncertainty as the biggest anxiety for chief executives that has made strategizing a much tougher proposition.
That uncertainty is turning into "unreliability," he added.
The global environment over the past 15 years was predictable and companies knew what the playbooks were and what to do to create value for shareholders. "Now everything is changing," Kande said.
Baker McKenzie's Mann said companies have to "re-hardwire their way of thinking back to an old normal," pointing at Cold War-era global fragmentations.
"Who was talking about tariffs a year ago? Now it's a C-suite issue. It's the biggest thing we're advising companies on," Mann said.
Also Read: China shift not linked to US trade talks: Piyush Goyal at ET World Leaders Forum 2025
Multilateralism is being replaced by a complex patchwork of bilateral relationships. So, companies have to switch from a more global macro mind-set to bilateral issues, he said.
"When there's a reshuffling of the deck, opportunities arise as well. And through that cloud of risk, the companies that will succeed are the ones who identify the opportunities," he said.
CDPQ's White underscored the sudden, massive intrusion of geopolitics into corporate boardrooms.
"Geopolitics that might be agenda number 10 on your board pack is suddenly the sort of overarching framework," she said. "The first thing you turn into in the morning is... your Wall Street Journal app or your Economic Times app, because a change or tweet overnight could wipe potentially 10% off one of your key markets."
Radisson Hotel's Gonzalez reckoned that anxiety and uncertainty has always been there but it may be of different nature.
"For me, the thing that drives my anxiety the most is actually how to find the relevant information," he said.
The panellists acknowledged the massive disruptive potential of AI and underscored the need to benefit from it.
"The biggest impact of AI is democratization of knowledge," said Sorrell. "So what you're going to see with AI is a collapsing, a flattening of organisations."
Also Read: Frugal economy model can guide India's growth: Navi Radjou at ET WLF 2025
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