Resetting strategic priorities

Leaders are renewing commitments to the top strategic priorities in their plans this year, revealing five interconnected areas shaping boardroom agendas and each demanding adaptability in the face of uncertainty.

Top five strategic priorities

• 39%

  Transforming through company IT/technology

• 24% 

  Adapting business model/strategy due to competition and tariffs

• 23% 

  International expansion

• 22% 

  A new or revised talent attraction/retention strategy

• 22% 

  Entering a new product or service category

• 22% 

  Reviewing supply chains, operations and procurement processes

Transformation through technology remains the dominant priority of C-suite executives (39%). Despite having fallen in importance (only slightly by four points from last year), this has been the top strategic priority of leaders five years running.

We are however, seeing a shift among the other priorities in the top five. Tech transformation is now followed by international priorities, representing a significant risk and a significant opportunity. Adapting business models due to competition/tariffs appears for the first time (24%) and international expansion remains in the top three for the third year (23%).

Leaders are also revising or establishing new talent strategies, no doubt as a way of addressing their lack of confidence in talent scarcity, as well as entering new product/service categories and reviewing supply chains.

Transforming technology

Three-quarters of organisations now have a dedicated technology transformation strategy in place. AI leads the charge, seen as the biggest determinant of transformation success and the top investment area for the year ahead. Leaders are confident in AI’s ability to deliver returns, with 94% expecting ROI within a year – an ambitious expectation even in the best of business and economic environments. The pace of advancements brings challenges with pain points from increased costs and talent shortages as the biggest barriers to digital transformation. To ensure investments are maximised, transformation will depend on the ability to pivot quickly

and embed operational agility at every level but there are clear motivations from the advantages in better decision making to forecasting, and from operational or production efficiencies to enhancing customer experience.

Adapting to competition and tariffs

Competitive pressures and shifting global trade dynamics are forcing C-suite executives to review business models and revise operations. Nearly threequarters of leaders have changed their business approach in response to increased competition and tariff changes. Organisations are developing new capabilities, entering new markets and restructuring supply chains to manage costs and maintain growth.

Confidence is high: nine in ten leaders feel equipped to manage tariff-driven costs and four in five have contingency plans for further trade disruption. The past nine months have truly tested trade and competition worldwide, but adaptability remains the game changer. Adapting swiftly will be a core differentiator for organisations and critical to their growth.

A change in direction for international expansion

Expansion strategies remain a major opportunity despite geopolitical instability and are now more diverse than ever before. Most businesses plan to enter new countries within the next two years and the U.S. is still the top destination for expansion.

While the country’s trade plans haven’t removed its dominant attraction, leaders are also considering additional locations. For the first time, Canada joins Germany, France and China in the top five destinations into which C-suite executives plan to expand their business, now on a par with the United States. Plans are clearly evolving from what was the norm. Leaders are increasingly targeting countries within their own region and adjusting plans in response to tariffs, talent shortages and regulatory challenges. However, successful expansion for leaders still fundamentally relies on managing local compliance and securing the right talent, while simultaneously dealing with new costs and operational issues from tariffs, and adapting or upscaling digital infrastructures to support investments in new technologies.

In a world where uncertainty is the only constant, adaptability is not just a defensive posture as C-suite executives prepare for what’s next, it is the engine of growth and competitive advantage for 2026 and beyond.