John de Yonge

Before the pandemic, many companies delayed responding decisively to new value drivers and imperatives. That’s no longer an option. The COVID-19 pandemic hastened the full-force arrival of trends already on the CEO agenda. The stakes are now existential: the latest global EY CEO Imperative survey shows the pandemic has accelerated the trajectory of organizations, and CEOs must seize this opportunity to transform and leap ahead or risk being left behind.

That’s because companies are… Show more

Before the pandemic, many companies delayed responding decisively to new value drivers and imperatives. That’s no longer an option. The COVID-19 pandemic hastened the full-force arrival of trends already on the CEO agenda. The stakes are now existential: the latest global EY CEO Imperative survey shows the pandemic has accelerated the trajectory of organizations, and CEOs must seize this opportunity to transform and leap ahead or risk being left behind.

That’s because companies are quickly being divided into what we call “thrivers” and “survivors.” Thrivers are leaning into this pivotal moment, and outdistancing survivors in growth.

So, how do you become a thriver or get even stronger? The EY CEO Imperative Series is designed to provide critical answers and actions to reframe the future of your organization, with the CEO Imperative Study, a survey of 305 chief executives of Forbes Global 2000 companies, focused on insights to achieve sustainable growth in the long term. We believe a new DNA for successful enterprises is emerging, built around human-centered transformations that break down silos, increase agility, improve innovation, and drive toward long-term value. Show less

Technologies that capture carbon and turn it into a source of value are accelerating; driven by partnerships, venture financing, and government programs. Carbon removal may be an important new tool for CEOs who want to shift corporate sustainability from a reporting-led function to a value-led focus. Rapidly advancing technologies are driving a new question when it comes to sustainability: is merely becoming carbon neutral enough?

As the largest generational cohort in history, Gen Z’s attitudes and expectations are poised to shape the next normal. Business leaders must understand this generation’s ambitions and expectations if they are to thrive. Transparency, accountability, trust and a focus on stakeholder capitalism will be key to successfully engaging with Gen Z in the next normal.

The world changed in March. The COVID-19 pandemic has strained health care systems to breaking point, put much of the global economy on an indefinite hiatus and radically reshaped societal norms and interactions. Trends that seemed far off suddenly arrived, undermining established assumptions and leaving leaders scrambling to formulate business models and approaches that address a very different economic, social and political environment.

So, how do you make sense of this emerging… Show more

The world changed in March. The COVID-19 pandemic has strained health care systems to breaking point, put much of the global economy on an indefinite hiatus and radically reshaped societal norms and interactions. Trends that seemed far off suddenly arrived, undermining established assumptions and leaving leaders scrambling to formulate business models and approaches that address a very different economic, social and political environment.

So, how do you make sense of this emerging reality? We have long advised that disruption does not come from technologies and business models alone; it can equally be unleashed by elections, climate disruption or, in this case, a pandemic. The EY Megatrends approach seeks to provide an organizing framework, allowing you to formulate strategy by looking far beyond your traditional sector and legacy competitors to help identify potential threats and opportunities. Show less

A globally disruptive event such as the COVID-19 pandemic opens the door to new approaches and accelerates trends already in motion. In the early days of the pandemic, we saw additive manufacturing (3D printing) utilized to produce urgently needed ventilator equipment and personal protective equipment locally as global supply chains broke down.

We also urgently need a vaccine and treatments for COVID-19. As the global health care community mobilizes to this end, synthetic biology… Show more

A globally disruptive event such as the COVID-19 pandemic opens the door to new approaches and accelerates trends already in motion. In the early days of the pandemic, we saw additive manufacturing (3D printing) utilized to produce urgently needed ventilator equipment and personal protective equipment locally as global supply chains broke down.

We also urgently need a vaccine and treatments for COVID-19. As the global health care community mobilizes to this end, synthetic biology (synbio) companies are making a splash with their quick progress so far compared to traditional approaches. Their biology-as-engineering toolset looks poised to provide vaccines and treatments that are more potent, more stable, and easier and quicker to manufacture. These advantages are crucial not only for the current crisis but also for enabling governments and health systems to respond quickly to new and unanticipated future threats. Show less

In this multi-part research study EYQ explored the dynamics of disruptive challenge and transformation, engaging both leading CEOs and institutional investors globally to answer two fundamental questions:
1) How ready are the world’s largest corporations to seize the upside of disruption?
2) How do institutional investors value disruption readiness?

The study involved approximately 67 hours of interviews with the CEOs of 101 of the world’s 5,000 largest companies ranked by revenue.… Show more

In this multi-part research study EYQ explored the dynamics of disruptive challenge and transformation, engaging both leading CEOs and institutional investors globally to answer two fundamental questions:
1) How ready are the world’s largest corporations to seize the upside of disruption?
2) How do institutional investors value disruption readiness?

The study involved approximately 67 hours of interviews with the CEOs of 101 of the world’s 5,000 largest companies ranked by revenue. This was paired with an online survey of 100 senior institutional investors worldwide, representing firms with at least US$1b of assets under management

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As the evolution of digital technologies accelerates and markets become superfluid, how can organizations become disruption ready?

How will disruptive innovation fuel radical growth in a global, digital world?

This was the challenge taken up by more than 250 corporate executives, chief innovation officers, chief digital officers, chief strategy officers, disruptors and thinkers from 20 countries who came together for Innovation Realized 2017, which was convened by EY in collaboration with C2.

Set under two circus tents perched at the edge of a wharf near San Francisco, Innovation Realized was designed to… Show more

How will disruptive innovation fuel radical growth in a global, digital world?

This was the challenge taken up by more than 250 corporate executives, chief innovation officers, chief digital officers, chief strategy officers, disruptors and thinkers from 20 countries who came together for Innovation Realized 2017, which was convened by EY in collaboration with C2.

Set under two circus tents perched at the edge of a wharf near San Francisco, Innovation Realized was designed to convene conversations, create connections and spark new ideas. IR17 experiences engaged all the senses — from dark rooms, to rooms encased by rain “walls,” to interactions while seated in suspended chairs high above the room — and pushed participants beyond their comfort zone, allowing them to open their minds to ideation.

Participants expressed an overwhelming need for a duality that integrates seemingly opposing factors — automation with human capacity, technology with creativity, the institutional with the organic, and the businesses we are in today with the businesses we will need to be in the future. Show less

Innovation executives weigh in on how corporate leadership, culture and innovation structures contribute to disruption readiness.

We are moving from “solo to symphony” as manufacturing becomes integrated into broader IoT-enabled ecosystems. While maintaining the capability of virtuosic execution, manufacturers will have to develop new skills as ecosystem orchestrators and conductors, forging new relationships with suppliers, customers and partners.

With high stakes and a growing prize, start-ups and corporations find common cause. Jeff Dachis of One Drop, Tina Sharkey of Brandless and Prith Banerjee of Schneider Electric offer some key considerations for your corporate / start-up partnering strategy.

The logic of global demographic trends can seem inescapable: the more the global population grows, the more resources are consumed and the greater the resulting CO2 emissions. Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technologies disrupt this logic by turning CO2 into a resource with commercial value. Dr. Issam Dairanieh, head of the Global CO2 Initiative, shares his perspective on the opportunity for CCU innovations and his organization’s approach to catalyzing CCU investment and technology… Show more

The logic of global demographic trends can seem inescapable: the more the global population grows, the more resources are consumed and the greater the resulting CO2 emissions. Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technologies disrupt this logic by turning CO2 into a resource with commercial value. Dr. Issam Dairanieh, head of the Global CO2 Initiative, shares his perspective on the opportunity for CCU innovations and his organization’s approach to catalyzing CCU investment and technology development. Show less

Amid all the talk of embracing disruption, what should businesses actually do about it? Here’s some practical advice on preparing your business to survive and thrive through an era of change.

Disruption is fundamentally changing the way the world works. Today’s businesses, government and individuals are responding to shifts that would have seemed unimaginable even a few years ago.

Artificial intelligence and robotics are reinventing the workforce. Drones and driverless cars are transforming supply chains and logistics. And changing preferences and expectations — most notably in the millennial generation — are altering consumption patterns and demand for everything from cars… Show more

Disruption is fundamentally changing the way the world works. Today’s businesses, government and individuals are responding to shifts that would have seemed unimaginable even a few years ago.

Artificial intelligence and robotics are reinventing the workforce. Drones and driverless cars are transforming supply chains and logistics. And changing preferences and expectations — most notably in the millennial generation — are altering consumption patterns and demand for everything from cars to real estate.

Three primary forces drive this current wave of disruption: technology, globalization, and demographic change. By understanding the interaction between these three forces, we’ve identified eight global megatrends that are shaping the future. These are large, transformative trends that define the present and shape the future by their impact on businesses, economies, industries, societies and individual lives. Show less

In this era of unprecedented change, organizations need to harness the power of disruptive innovation to be the disruptor rather than the disrupted.

So how do you embrace disruption and reap the upsides? We recently asked 120 chief innovation officers and other leaders at Innovation Realized, an EY retreat organized in collaboration with C2.

The answer? Ask catalytic questions. Achieve cognitive diversity on teams. Bring “the outside in” by collaborating with customers… Show more

In this era of unprecedented change, organizations need to harness the power of disruptive innovation to be the disruptor rather than the disrupted.

So how do you embrace disruption and reap the upsides? We recently asked 120 chief innovation officers and other leaders at Innovation Realized, an EY retreat organized in collaboration with C2.

The answer? Ask catalytic questions. Achieve cognitive diversity on teams. Bring “the outside in” by collaborating with customers, competitors and broad external networks. Remake middle managers as innovation drivers. Create organizational spaces for innovation. Give individuals slack to create. Invest in a portfolio of ideas and embrace failure. Align the organization to a clear purpose.

Learn more at our online magazine, Innovation Realized 2016: Disrupting the agenda. Show less

For most participants in energy market reform, there is just one chance and a limited period of time to capitalize on its opportunities. The ability to gather insights from other markets’ experiences of reform and discover leading practices is invaluable and can mean the difference between success and failure.

Our teams have advised clients during energy reform and unbundling in more than 35 countries around the world. We’ve used this experience to develop a series of “lessons learned”… Show more

For most participants in energy market reform, there is just one chance and a limited period of time to capitalize on its opportunities. The ability to gather insights from other markets’ experiences of reform and discover leading practices is invaluable and can mean the difference between success and failure.

Our teams have advised clients during energy reform and unbundling in more than 35 countries around the world. We’ve used this experience to develop a series of “lessons learned” that deliver deep insights into the complex decisions to be made at every part of the reform journey. These are not observations of what happened — they are an insider’s view of how and why decisions were made. We reveal how these decisions shaped, for better or worse, the resulting energy market. Show less

The report provides Ernst & Young's point of view on the multiple challenges that are converging to compel change in the US water sector, focusing on the following critical trends and issues:

- Emerging new financing approaches, including repricing, public-private partnerships (PPPs) and institutional investment beyond public equities
- Opportunity for private equity as a catalyst for sector consolidation
- Need for a stronger innovation ecosystem, including new frameworks for… Show more

The report provides Ernst & Young's point of view on the multiple challenges that are converging to compel change in the US water sector, focusing on the following critical trends and issues:

- Emerging new financing approaches, including repricing, public-private partnerships (PPPs) and institutional investment beyond public equities
- Opportunity for private equity as a catalyst for sector consolidation
- Need for a stronger innovation ecosystem, including new frameworks for assessing emerging technologies
- Growing importance of transparency and quantitative management in at both the municipal and industrial levels, including the need for common reporting standards Show less