Changes coming through artificial intelligence (AI) will be more profound and fundamental than other technological shifts in recent years, and India is very 'well positioned' to be a 'real powerhouse' in AI, said Christoph Schweizer, the CEO of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) at The Economic Times World Leaders Forum.
"The workforce in India is highly tech oriented, highly educated and nimble and that's a huge asset," said Schweizer in a fireside chat on 'The Next Playbook: Navigating geopolitics, Technology, and Climate in the 21st Century.'
"Secondly, Indian CEOs and family owners and promoters are very savvy and selective in where they adopt AI and where they wait. So, the bar is high. If you can show a great path to return on investments, the Indian CEOs are bold and fast. But, where they are uncertain, they are slow and maybe rightly so," he added.
Schweizer said there will be a significant increase in trade that India does with the rest of the world.
"I am convinced that there is a fantastic future for India going forward. India is a very sizable economy. It's on the path to becoming a $ 7 trillion GDP economy by 2030. Trade will grow disproportionately in most countries in the global south and among those India is one of the preeminent players," said Schweizer.
"You see that with Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Japan and Korea. And now you have an agreement with the UK. India will see continued trade growth. In some industries, such as textiles there is a lot of stress and understandably so. But, fundamentally for the macro economy of India, you are positioned to trade with many parts of the world, and I believe it will continue to increase," he added.
Given all the global disruptions and geopolitical uncertainties, Schweizer said it is a very 'intense' time to be a CEO.
"If you talk to CEOs anywhere in the world, any industry, they are all talking about how much uncertainty and disruption they have had to deal with over the past few years. It was just a few years ago that the pandemic changed everything in business," said Schweizer.
"You have also had military escalations, political and geopolitical situations since then, and you have all the disruptions coming from technology. I think most CEOs at this point have accepted that it will continue like this. No one is under the assumption that the next three to five years are going to be calm and easy and it's going to be just smooth sailing," he added.
For BCG, the uncertain environment has also meant an all time high of scenario planning and simulation work that the company has been doing on all sorts of subjects.
"So, what advice do I give leaders? Firstly, it's important to control what you can control. Set your company to be efficient, have a good cost position, and be financially flexible so that gives you the room to breathe whenever uncertainty hits you," said Schweizer.
"Secondly, CEOs have to prepare. They need to sense new changes that could be coming, and they need to do scenario planning. Thirdly, they need to run the company with a different level of flexibility and nimbleness. If they have very rigid static supply chains, they are going to be very likely in trouble. If they have very static capital deployment, they are likely going to be in trouble. I think these can be good recipes to succeed in an uncertain environment," he added.
He said on tech, AI, renewable energy, and sustainability, in areas with a lot of change, India is at the forefront of the work that BCG does.
"The workforce in India is highly tech oriented, highly educated and nimble and that's a huge asset," said Schweizer in a fireside chat on 'The Next Playbook: Navigating geopolitics, Technology, and Climate in the 21st Century.'
"Secondly, Indian CEOs and family owners and promoters are very savvy and selective in where they adopt AI and where they wait. So, the bar is high. If you can show a great path to return on investments, the Indian CEOs are bold and fast. But, where they are uncertain, they are slow and maybe rightly so," he added.
Schweizer said there will be a significant increase in trade that India does with the rest of the world.
"I am convinced that there is a fantastic future for India going forward. India is a very sizable economy. It's on the path to becoming a $ 7 trillion GDP economy by 2030. Trade will grow disproportionately in most countries in the global south and among those India is one of the preeminent players," said Schweizer.
"You see that with Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Japan and Korea. And now you have an agreement with the UK. India will see continued trade growth. In some industries, such as textiles there is a lot of stress and understandably so. But, fundamentally for the macro economy of India, you are positioned to trade with many parts of the world, and I believe it will continue to increase," he added.
Given all the global disruptions and geopolitical uncertainties, Schweizer said it is a very 'intense' time to be a CEO.
"If you talk to CEOs anywhere in the world, any industry, they are all talking about how much uncertainty and disruption they have had to deal with over the past few years. It was just a few years ago that the pandemic changed everything in business," said Schweizer.
"You have also had military escalations, political and geopolitical situations since then, and you have all the disruptions coming from technology. I think most CEOs at this point have accepted that it will continue like this. No one is under the assumption that the next three to five years are going to be calm and easy and it's going to be just smooth sailing," he added.
For BCG, the uncertain environment has also meant an all time high of scenario planning and simulation work that the company has been doing on all sorts of subjects.
"So, what advice do I give leaders? Firstly, it's important to control what you can control. Set your company to be efficient, have a good cost position, and be financially flexible so that gives you the room to breathe whenever uncertainty hits you," said Schweizer.
"Secondly, CEOs have to prepare. They need to sense new changes that could be coming, and they need to do scenario planning. Thirdly, they need to run the company with a different level of flexibility and nimbleness. If they have very rigid static supply chains, they are going to be very likely in trouble. If they have very static capital deployment, they are likely going to be in trouble. I think these can be good recipes to succeed in an uncertain environment," he added.
He said on tech, AI, renewable energy, and sustainability, in areas with a lot of change, India is at the forefront of the work that BCG does.
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