More CEOs anticipate an economic boom (60%) than stagnation (40%) in 2021 and 2022. Thirty-five per cent anticipate returning to or exceeding 2019 revenue levels as early as this year.
Mark Raskino, distinguished research vice president at Gartner, said CEOs’ top priorities for 2021 show confidence. Over half report growth as their primary focus and see opportunity on the other side of the crisis, followed by technology change and corporate action.
“This year, all leaders will be working hard to decode what the post-pandemic world looks like and redeveloping mid- to long-range business strategy accordingly. In most cases, that will uncover a round of new structural changes to capability, location, products and business models,” he added.
CEOs prioritize “Digital”
According to the annual Gartner 2021 CEO Survey technology-related change was the second-highest priority for CEOs.
CEOs’ responses increasingly included the simple word “digital,” cited by one in five CEOs in this year’s survey. Digital capabilities were also the only category in which CEOs intended to increase investment in 2021.
Source: Gartner (May 2021)
When it comes to specific technologies, CEOs see artificial intelligence (AI) as the most industry-impactful technology. Over 30% of respondents said that quantum computing will be highly relevant to their long-range business plans but are still not quite sure how.
Blockchain, 5G, AI and quantum computing are at the forefront of an emerging economic race between the U.S. and China, with one-third of CEOs believing that evolving trade disputes between the two nations over these technologies are a significant concern for their businesses.
Expect a wave of M&A
Within CEOs’ third strategic business priority of “corporate action,” M&As were the most mentioned item, rising 75% year-over-year. This shows that CEOs and senior executives seeking advantage from a cyclical downturn are going shopping for structural inorganic growth.
There was a significant reduction in mentions of “sales revenue” within the growth priority category and a significant increase in mentions of “new markets” across different industries and company sizes, suggesting that CEOs are finding it hard to obtain simple incremental sales revenue growth using the strategies that have served them well in the past.
“Techquisitions can bolster digital business progress, while also providing access to potential fast-growth market sectors,” said Raskino.
