The CEO’s Clarity Crisis5 mindshifts for growth

How can leaders tune out the noise to navigate uncertainty?

“AI is evolving so quickly every day that we should ride this wave and move forward.”

Miki Tsusaka

President, Microsoft Japan

of CEOs say the risk of falling behind drives them to invest in some technologies before they have a clear understanding of the value they bring to the organization.

What is your organization’s top barrier to innovation?

Organizational silos/Lack of collaboration

Aversion to risk/Disruption

Lack of expertise/Knowledge

Lack of clear
innovation/Strategy

Limited budget/Financial resources

“Pessimists sound smart, but optimists make money. There are opportunities that come with market dislocations—and if you've got good information, you should lean into risk.”

Stephen J. Rich

CEO, Mutual of America

Change has always been constant. Just not this constant. Leaders have one job — keep pushing forward and innovating with a plan.

Make Courage
your core

Today’s marketplace is chaotic, contradictory, and complex. Leaders must prepare for the future despite uncertainty.

But playing it safe might be the riskiest move of all.

Let confidence fuel calculated courage.

Clarity—and fluidity—can be created
when data meets direction.

“You need to be able to push your thinking, even without time for rigorous analysis, through to the implications and the solutioning much faster, so you can be a guide to others who need to act and operate quickly.”

Carla Vernón

CEO, The Honest Company

Today’s CEOs are looking beyond brilliant ideation to disciplined execution.

62%

of CEOs surveyed agree, “We measure innovation success by business outcomes delivered rather than the volume of pilots initiated or ideas produced.”

Discover where AI can make the biggest impact.

Discover more View case study

Embrace AI-fueled
creative destruction

As AI spreads, it’s burning away outdated habits that suffocate growth, but teams are still clinging to what's familiar—or stuck without the tools to let go.

68%

of CEOs say AI changes aspects of their business that they consider core.

“In tech, you either grow or die. And to grow in our business, given the pace of change in the world, you have to innovate.”

Tom Hogan

CEO, Cellebrite

Refine what works and burn down what doesn’t.

Reverse-engineer the strategy, mobilize your data, and build a brain where AI drives the action.

See how to put AI agents to work for your business.

Find out how

Cultivate a vibrant data environment.

The risk isn’t bad data—
it’s disconnected data.

Feed your organization the data it needs to thrive, and make technology more empowering
—not more complex.

Explore our Data Matters hub to learn how you can tackle data and AI challenges like integration.

See why Data Matters

Ignore FOMO,
lean into ROI.

Hype tempts you to swing big.
But will it land? Headlines fade. Results don’t.

Great leaders don’t chase shiny objects—they build engines that last. Stop relying on yesterday’s models to make tomorrow’s decisions.

“While navigating a changing landscape, we have managed to find financial resources to invest in innovations such as AI—which do not immediately show up in ROI—and set up an innovation quota.”

Toshiaki Sumino

CEO, Dai-ichi Life
Insurance Company

85%

of CEOs expect a positive ROI for scaled AI efficiency and cost savings investments by 2027.

25%

52%

Over the past three years, CEOs say only 25% of AI initiatives have delivered expected ROI; only 52% say their GenAI investments are delivering value beyond cost reduction.

IBM clients are redefining ROI.

Learn how

Borrow the talent
you can’t buy.

AI is rewriting the org chart—with skills that aren’t in the building.

Buy, build, bot. And borrow.
AI won’t replace your team—but the teams who know how to use it will.
Train your people to lead the shift.

“As the demands of the times shift, we must also reform our talent structure…To cope with uncertainty, we must cultivate a circle of allies.”

Aiqing Yang

CEO, JA Solar

67%

of CEOs say differentiation depends on having the right expertise in the right positions with the right incentives.

But

31%

of the workforce will require retraining and/or reskilling over the next three years.

And don’t forget, the talent you need may already be in the room—just wearing a partner’s badge. Give them the tech, the training, and the green light to run

See how IBM uses AI to empower workers.

Learn more