Biggest Business Opportunities according to Corporate Affairs Professionals

Corporate Affairs Practitioners Increasingly View AI as the Biggest Opportunity for Global Businesses While Climate Change Adaptation Is Declining

The latest research from the Oxford-GlobeScan Global Corporate Affairs 2024 Survey finds that innovation, digitalization, and AI is the most-cited area of opportunity for business, followed by the ability of organizations to adapt to climate change and a just energy transition. This is the fifth annual Oxford-GlobeScan Global Corporate Affairs Survey, which provides the latest overview of opinions, trends, and challenges through the lens of Corporate Affairs practitioners. This survey captures the views and insights of 227 senior professionals in 43 countries who were surveyed from February to April 2024 on issues and themes of relevance to the function. 

The proportion of respondents mentioning innovation, digitalization, and AI has increased from 51 percent in 2023 to 64 percent in 2024. Second- and third-place opportunities are seen to be those relating to adapting to climate change and the energy transition, although proportions citing these opportunities have decreased – especially the proportion that mentions adaptation to climate-related issues.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

These results show that innovation, digitalization, and AI continues to become more important for business and is likely to continue to grow as businesses increasingly use AI and tech for data-driven decision-making, gains in efficiency and productivity, increased profitability, and other benefits. The decreasing enthusiasm for opportunities related to adaptation to climate change and the energy transition may be a reaction to the growing uncertainty and volatility in this space as the agenda is getting increasingly politicized and polarized in a crucial election year. However, new technology like AI may also increasingly create opportunities around adaptation and transition, with innovation increasingly seen by the public as a solution to climate change (see our recent Radar report published ahead of Davos 2024 here).  

Survey Question: What are the biggest opportunities for global businesses over the next two years? (n=227)

Source: Oxford-GlobeScan Corporate Affairs Survey (survey of 227 Corporate Affairs practitioners across 43 countries from February to April 2024)

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