As leaders across industries continue investing in AI tools for a wide range of issues they feel their businesses will need to address in 2024, new research from accounting, consulting, and technology firm Crowe LLP and Forbes finds that the ubiquity of AI and the approaching 2024 federal elections are an anticipated source of volatility that will impact their industry and business.
The new collaborative report from, The Volatility Strategy: How Leaders Are Seizing Opportunities In Both Calm And Turbulent Times, the second report of the Crowe Executive Outlook Study, is based on a survey of 500 industry leaders from companies with $500 million or more in annual revenues.
A previous survey, conducted in Fall of 2022, highlighted economic change, supply chain disruptions and talent shortages as leading sources of business disruption. However, this second survey, conducted in August and September of 2023, reveals a shift in the landscape.
“AI and federal elections, while not unexpected, have emerged as the most significant factors likely to create volatility concerns across all industries for U.S. business leaders in 2024,” said Crowe CEO Mark Baer, in a news release. “History has shown us that the companies that embrace the concept of perpetual evolution are the ones that are fastest to adapt to market dynamics and are thereby ultimately best positioned to thrive in changing market conditions with dynamic client expectations.”
Among the key findings:
- Executives feel AI is currently creating an extreme or high level of volatility for their organization and anticipate this continuing for the next three years.
- AI was selected most often when those surveyed were asked to identify the issue currently having the greatest impact on their organizations.
- Top industries extensively evaluating and investing in AI include banking, private equity, and technology, media & telecommunications (TMT).
- The upcoming federal elections are creating a high level of uncertainty and volatility for organizations, which could impact the next three years.
- Organizations with executives who view volatility as an opportunity rather than a hindrance continue to outperform their rivals.
- These identified executives are currently investing more in workforce skills and workplace diversity and feel better equipped to benefit from volatility.
Download the full report here.
In collaboration with Crowe LLP, Forbes surveyed 500 executives from organizations with at least $500 million in annual revenues. Respondents represent companies across a range of sectors. The study explores how business leaders across industries are leveraging volatility as a catalyst for innovation and success. Responses in the second survey were collected between August and September 2023. The preceding survey, as captured in the report The Unlikely New Frontier Of Enterprise Growth, collected responses between October and December of 2022.
