AlixPartners Exec. Chairman: Disruption the New Norm Among CEOs

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00:00To say that we're in an age of disruption might be an understatement, particularly after what we

00:03saw last year. I don't know who was naive enough to think that 2026 might be a little calmer,

00:08but we're already off to a fast and furious start. And it gets to the idea that when you are

00:12advising these executives, talking to the executives, picking their brains here,

00:17do they feel any sort of sense of clarity or comfort to a better degree than maybe what

00:22they saw in 2025? Well, this is the seventh year in Maine we've done our disruption index,

00:263,200 executives, 11 of the world's biggest economies, 10 of the biggest industries.

00:32The world is as disrupted today as it's ever been in our study. But a couple of interesting

00:37insights. One is that CEOs seem to be thinking this is normal. They're getting better at managing

00:42this multiple and intense disruption environment. But they are very anxious. They're anxious because

00:48the pace and the intensity is such that will they keep up? Will they be able to pivot quickly enough

00:55to adapt? And interestingly enough, about 15 to 17 percent of these companies, we call them

01:00growth leaders, are actually doing incredibly well in this environment. They're outperforming

01:04their markets and their competitors in revenue growth and earnings growth. So it's a time of

01:09opportunity as well as a time of challenge. Well, let's well, I want to talk about both of that,

01:14the opportunity and challenge. But I want to stay on the challenge for just one second here.

01:17When they start to see headlines from, you know, Trump saying, I want to cap credit card rates or I want

01:21to ban investors from buying single family homes. Are you still seeing CEOs react to that

01:26immediately? Or is it kind of like, OK, we don't know where this is going. Let's just wait and see,

01:31get more details and then we'll formulate a plan. Well, the CEOs I speak to every day, what they've

01:35got really good at now is understanding that are going to be disruptions. They don't know exactly

01:38what they're going to be, but there will be more disruptions rolling out month in, month out.

01:42They've got much better at not reacting or overreacting to a particular single disruption.

01:47We're getting better at managing the complexity of them. They're planning for multiple outcomes.

01:53They're not being a hostage of one strategy. They're pivoting very quickly. They're leaning

01:57in. It's leadership by leaning in, really. They're being ruthless in their capital allocation.

02:02They're being ruthless in their prioritization. They're getting rid of non-core assets. They're

02:07prioritizing M&A where they think they'll make a difference. So they're getting much better at it,

02:11Romain. Well, that gets to the idea of opportunity. And I remember, I don't know if maybe we're

02:15going to draw a parallel, but I remember during the COVID and all the big supply chain disruptions

02:20that we saw then, and companies were really shook by that. But it was also interesting to

02:24see how those companies updated their supply chains in a way that they probably would not

02:28have done and that they probably should have done years prior. And a lot of them came out

02:31of it much healthier, a much more efficient supply chain line. And I am curious as to whether

02:36the disruption we're seeing now on a slightly different front with geopolitics, that does end up

02:41being kind of the catalyst to improve these companies in a way that might not have happened.

02:45Well, it turned out, of course, that COVID was a dry run. The people had these wonderful just-in-time

02:50supply chains, and they realized they didn't have a just-in-case supply chain. So they had to quickly

02:56pivot, not just to what they could get globally, but what regional supply chains would provide, what

03:00local supply chains would provide. So having got through COVID, when disruptions continued, and of

03:06course, tariffs became a real issue. They had done this once. They knew what the playbook was. It's

03:12interesting how quickly CEOs around the world have been able to digest tariffs, have repurposed

03:17manufacturing capabilities, shifted contracts to optimize in this new tariff environment. So I think,

03:23you know, if there's another wave of tariffs, there's another type of disruption that will impact

03:26supply chains, geopolitical developments, for instance. I think people are much more practiced at

03:31this now. They're better at it. They're expecting it. I do have to ask you, the World Economic Forum is

03:37kicking off in a couple of days in Switzerland. The president of the United States is going to make

03:41a big presence there. He's given a keynote speech there on his economic policies. He's taken a huge

03:46delegation of advisors and cabinet leaders here. Is the presence of the United States going to be the

03:53dominant one at this conference? Well, I mean, the U.S. is the dominant economy. So, of course,

03:58they'll play a very important part in the discussion. But it's fantastic, I think, that the

04:02U.S. is getting involved in the World Economic Forum or that global discussion in such a material

04:08way because they're a very important player. But, I mean, there's an impressive turnout, actually,

04:12of political leaders as well as business leaders this year, maybe even the best turnout ever. So I

04:17think there'll be rich discussions. I'm personally delighted that the U.S. will be in the middle of it.

04:20Well, I bring that up because, I mean, we know the U.S. has been the focal point of the global

04:24economy and for good reason for decades. There's a lot of concern, or it is a concern, but there's

04:29a lot of people pontificating that that might be shifting, a slow shift, but it is a tectonic

04:34shift. So that maybe it might necessarily be one singular country, but we might have a more

04:38regional breakdown where maybe China rules the East, maybe the U.S. rules the West, and who knows

04:42what rules in between. But do you see a bit more of a split and divergence in the global economy,

04:49in the global structure? Well, I think that in the last 35 years, we've lived in this

04:53extraordinary global super cycle where the world has been largely flat. There's been little friction

04:58in the movement of goods or services or capital, and the world, through populist governments around

05:03the world, are reshaping the polarity of the world. Obviously, I get to see from the privilege of a

05:09front row seat with our clients every day how business leaders are dealing with this, and they're pivoting

05:14and trying to work out in global businesses or even international businesses how best to adapt to that.

05:19There's clearly a repositioning going on, and business leaders are trying their very best to

05:23read that and make the business decisions that leave their enterprises as best placed as possible.

05:28What is kind of, what are you hearing in terms of the most optimism out there with regards to sort of

05:35what people are looking towards, what people think, not just are going to drive their individual

05:39businesses, but really, you know, the economy overall?

05:41Well, in our survey, 3,200 executives around the world, I mean, the vast majority of executives are

05:47optimistic about AI. They're optimistic not just about the efficiency that AI can drive in their

05:53businesses, but also how it can drive revenue growth. So we touched on these growth leaders

05:57earlier. The majority of those growth leaders are really understanding how these tools and these

06:02capabilities can drive the performance of their business at the top line and the bottom line.

06:06So I think a large amount of optimism about AI, but a real sense of anxiety, they're not moving

06:12quickly enough to capitalize on those new capabilities.

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