Driving the Innovation Agenda in Uncertain Times. A Perspective from CEOs

Right now, keeping innovation high on the agenda is often challenging for CEOs in an era of increased uncertainty and pressing cost constraints.

The nagging worry about not pushing hard enough to innovate came to the fore at a recent gathering of leaders at BCG’s CEO Summit in California.

Among the discussions: How can companies lean into the innovation agenda when there are so many urgent demands on a company’s resources and leaders’ time? And how can they address innovation holistically when AI, understandably, dominates the agenda?

The So What

“In tough operating environments when risk and cost management are priorities, the temptation is to extract incremental growth from existing product portfolios and underinvest in innovation that will only materialize in the mid to long term,” says Judith Wallenstein, who leads BCG’s CEO Advisory.

“While volatility actually increases the need for innovation, it often makes organizations more risk averse and paralyzes them.”

The data suggests that the companies which outperform their industry peers are those that keep innovating and making smart, strategic investments during times of economic stress.
Based on an analysis of those companies that have appeared on BCG’s annual Most Innovative Companies list since 2005, there is a strong link between long-term innovation excellence and superior total shareholder return (TSR).

Top innovators outperformed the broader market by 2.4 percentage points annually on average, with particularly strong gains during the 2008 financial downturn and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Separate BCG research found that strategic deals made in down markets generate 9 percentage points greater relative shareholder returns over the following two years than deals made in up markets.
And 43% of transformation programs launched during the pandemic—certainly a moment of crisis—achieved value-accretive growth. That compares with only 28% launched in years of comparative global economic stability.

Such data can also support alignment from the board, persuading those who are reluctant to take on more risk through continuously investing in innovation.

And while AI investments are an essential part of every company’s innovation agenda, they should not necessarily make up all of it, Wallenstein says. CEOs need to align their boards on a holistic set of innovation priorities.

“One of the most impressive traits I see in the innovation leaders I meet is their passion to make better products and services for customers,” she says. “It starts with an obsession that there could be a better product out there, an attitude that simultaneously drives out complacency and fosters innovation.”


Now What

Win the board’s backing. Having a big, bold idea is not necessarily enough in itself. Having the right innovation systems and demonstrating how to execute well is also vital to get alignment. Striving for above-peer research and development excellence is an evergreen in many industries in this context. Many leaders also stress that being clear on which ideas to stop and which ones to prioritize is part of a strong execution culture on innovation. This frees up resources and also demonstrates a clear vision and commitment to the most important ideas.

Harness the power of AI to accelerate the innovation cycle, making it more effective and cost-efficient. This could include identifying market trends by distilling multiple sources of unstructured data at speed, and using simulations to quickly and cheaply test virtual product iterations. AI can also help post launch, with testing performance and providing real-time feedback from multiple sources to aid with post-launch modifications.

Scrutinize competition. This includes being brutally honest about the external environment and asking what a competing product from a traditional or an AI-first competitor could look like. It’s about continuous reflection on what a customer could want and honing in on whether a particular product will meet customer needs in five years’ time.

Build organizational capacity around continuous innovation. This includes deciding where innovation is hosted and who the key decision makers are. Innovation should not be seen as a standalone initiative, but instead become embedded in how the organization operates, makes decisions, develops talent, and allocates resources. Aligning innovation efforts with the company's purpose and values will also help it to become an integral part of company culture. Part of this culture could include visibly rewarding the right level of risk-taking, even when a project does not have the desired outcome.

“Building and maintaining a strong and productive innovation machine is one of the strongest legacies that CEOs can create,” Wallenstein says.

“It is surely worth keeping high on the agenda, even in these uncertain times.”

Secret of German Economy

The Core of Germany's Economy

Germany is often described through the language of engineering, exports, and industrial discipline. But beneath those familiar labels lies something even more distinctive: a deeply rooted culture of family business. In Germany, family firms are not a niche or a romantic leftover from an earlier era. They are the core of the economy.

Depending on the definition used, family-owned or family-controlled companies account for roughly 86–90 percent of all German businesses. They employ about 54 percent of the national workforce, and under a broader “family-controlled” definition they account for around 58 percent of jobs subject to social-security contributions. In revenue terms, they generate about 43–46 percent of total business turnover.

TOP 100 Women in Business will meet at the World Woman Forum 2026 in Davos, 9-12 July

Women have always participated in economic life. Across centuries, women traded in markets, managed farms, produced textiles, ran family workshops, operated shops, financed community activities and sustained local economies. But in many societies, their work was informal, legally restricted or attributed to male relatives.

The modern story of women in business becomes more visible in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, when women began to appear publicly as merchants, industrialists, financiers, publishers, beauty entrepreneurs, fashion founders, educators and owners of scalable businesses.

Startup World Cup Championship 2026: Davos to Host the Next Generation of Global Entrepreneurs

From 9 to 12 July 2026, Davos, Switzerland, will become a meeting point for a new kind of global leadership: young founders, visionary educators, business angels, investors, diplomats, trade representatives, policymakers, and innovation leaders. The 26th Startup World Cup Championship 2026 will gather some of the world’s most forward-looking entrepreneurial and intellectual communities to evaluate youth-led startups and select the best projects of the year as World Champions 2026.

The Championship is part of a broader international movement dedicated to practical entrepreneurship education, innovation, and business diplomacy. According to the official Davos event listing, the Startup World Cup Championship brings together young and mature entrepreneurs, inventors, investors, entrepreneurs, and government representatives from more than 35 countries, with projects assessed by an international jury across innovation, feasibility, scalability, and business potential. (davos.ch)

GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK 2026 will be held in Davos

Every year, leading entrepreneurs from five continents who are interested in developing business connections, studying and supporting innovation, establishing new trade missions, and shaping a global business civilisation gather at GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK — an international platform for a series of business forums and strategic corporate retreats.

GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK 2026 is the world’s leading arena for business diplomacy. It is a next-generation format: a trade initiative, an entrepreneurial diplomacy platform, and a continuously operating ecosystem of international business connections, where entrepreneurs gain access not only to knowledge and networking, but also to practical tools for entering the global arena.

Sources of Growth for the Global Economy 2026

The global economy is entering 2026 not in a state of collapse, but in a state of deep structural transition. The old sources of growth — cheap energy, globalisation without geopolitical borders, low interest rates, unlimited supply chains and predictable trade — no longer work in the same way. The world is still growing, but the quality, geography and logic of that growth are changing.

The key question for 2026 is no longer simply: “How fast will the global economy grow?”

The more important question is: “Where will growth come from?”

The answer is complex. Growth will not come from one sector, one country or one technological breakthrough. It will come from the interaction of several forces: artificial intelligence, defence and security industries, energy transition, infrastructure modernisation, demographic shifts, new consumer markets, industrial relocation, food security, digital finance, education, healthcare and the rise of middle powers.

In other words, the world economy is moving from an era of passive globalisation to an era of strategic growth.

1. Artificial Intelligence as the New General-Purpose Technology

The first major source of global growth in 2026 is artificial intelligence.

AI is no longer only a technology sector. It is becoming a general-purpose infrastructure for the whole economy. It affects finance, logistics, medicine, education, manufacturing, agriculture, defence, retail, media, law, public administration and scientific research.

Social Capital Theory

Theories Explaining Why Forums and Clubs Increase People’s Prosperity

Bringing people together at forums, business clubs, associations, women’s leadership clubs and entrepreneurial communities is economically valuable because it transforms an individual into a participant in a network of exchange: the exchange of knowledge, trust, contacts, deals, status, reputation and opportunities.

1. Social Capital Theory

Main idea: relationships between people are a form of capital, just like money, knowledge or equipment. The more high-quality connections a person has, the greater their access to information, recommendations, partners, clients and resources.

Social capital was explored by Pierre Bourdieu, James Coleman and Robert Putnam. In business, this means that a person in a club receives not just “contacts”, but accelerated access to opportunities that they would otherwise spend years trying to find outside the network.

How this works at forums:

A person meets entrepreneurs, investors, experts and potential clients; builds trust through personal contact; becomes part of a group where their name starts to be recognised; and receives deals faster through recommendations.

Video: Social Capital Theory — an explanation of social capital through Bourdieu, Putnam and its business application.

2. Mark Granovetter’s Theory of “Weak Ties”

Main idea: the newest opportunities often come not from close friends, but from “weak ties” — acquaintances, colleagues, conference participants and people from other circles.

Close contacts usually know roughly the same things as you do. But someone from a different circle brings new information: a new market, a new client, a new vacancy, a new partner, a new idea. This is why Granovetter showed that weak ties are especially important for spreading information and opportunities.

Forums and clubs are factories of weak ties.
Every new person can become a bridge to another market, another country, another industry or another group of clients.

Video: Granovetter — Strength of Weak Ties — a short explanation of the theory of weak ties.

3. Ronald Coase’s Theory of Transaction Costs

Main idea: every deal has hidden costs: finding a partner, checking their reliability, negotiating, agreeing terms and making sure they fulfil their promises. These are called transaction costs.

Forums and clubs reduce these costs. Why? Because people in a club are already partly verified, they have a reputation, they can be seen in person and spoken to directly. This shortens the path from “I do not know whom to trust” to “we can discuss cooperation”.

Coase explained the importance of transaction costs for the functioning of the economy.

Video: Essential Coase: What Are Transaction Costs?
Video: A Conversation with Ronald Coase — a deeper interview with the Nobel Prize-winning economist.

4. Network Effects Theory

Main idea: the value of a network grows as the number of participants increases. One person has limited resources. But 100 entrepreneurs already create hundreds of potential connections, deals, recommendations and combinations.

In economics, this is called network effects or network externalities: the more people are in the system, the more useful the system becomes for each participant.

A forum becomes more valuable when it has more high-quality participants.
Not simply “more people”, but more people with resources, competences, status, projects and access to markets.

Video: Network Effects and Demand-Side Economies of Scale
Video: Network Externalities — Marginal Revolution University

5. Gary Becker’s Human Capital Theory

Main idea: education, skills, experience and competences are investments that increase a person’s productivity and income. Human capital theory is associated with Gary Becker and Theodore Schultz; it treats learning and skills development as investment in future productivity.

Forums and clubs increase human capital because a person learns not only from books, but also through:

masterclasses, expert speeches, exchange of experience, case studies, public speaking, business matching and international communication.

In other words, a club is not merely “communication”. It is an environment of continuous learning.

Video: Lectures on Human Capital by Gary Becker
Video: Human Capital Theory — a short explanation of the theory.

6. Agglomeration Economies Theory

Main idea: when people, firms and talent gather in one place, an economic effect of concentration emerges. Cities, business clusters, technology parks and forums become wealthier not by accident: knowledge, suppliers, clients, investors and specialists are close to one another.

Agglomeration economies explain the benefits that arise when people and firms are located close together. Key mechanisms include knowledge exchange, a shared labour market, access to partners and infrastructure.

A forum is a temporary “city of opportunities”.
In two or three days, it concentrates what a person would normally spend months looking for: people, ideas, markets, capital and clients.

Video: What Are Agglomeration Economies?
Video: Urban Economics 101: Agglomeration Economies and Urban Growth — Ed Glaeser

7. James Buchanan’s Theory of Club Goods

Main idea: a club creates a special type of good — not fully private and not fully public. This good is available to club members: closed meetings, a trusted environment, contacts, knowledge, status and access to events.

Buchanan developed the economic theory of clubs, explaining how clubs create value for their members through shared benefits and limited access.

This is why paid clubs, closed business communities, entrepreneurial associations and international forums make economic sense: a participant pays not only for an event, but for access to an environment where opportunities are born.

8. Collective Intelligence Theory

Main idea: a group of people, when properly organised, can think, solve problems and generate ideas better than one person alone. Collective intelligence emerges when people combine different knowledge, experience, intuition, data and perspectives.

Forums provide exactly this: an entrepreneur sees their problem through the eyes of other people. One person gives an idea about marketing, another about finance, a third about an international market, and a fourth about partnership.

Video: What Is Collective Intelligence?
Video: Collective Intelligence Mission: Tom Malone, MIT Sloan

The Main Formula of the Value of Forums and Clubs

Forum / Club = Social Capital + Weak Ties + Trust + Knowledge + Reputation + Deals + New Markets.

Or, even more simply:

Prosperity grows where the quality of exchange grows.

One person is limited by their own knowledge and their own circle.
A person in a strong club gains access to other people’s experience, markets, connections and ideas — and turns them into their own growth.

Therefore, economically, a forum or a club is not merely an “event”. It is an infrastructure of prosperity.

 
Author: Dr Olga Azarova 

From “Skills Gaps” to “Skills First”

Why the Future of Growth Depends on People

The global economy is entering a new stage of development. For much of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, economic growth was largely associated with physical expansion: more roads, more factories, more industrial parks, more real estate, more ports, more machines and more infrastructure.

That model created enormous progress. It helped countries industrialise, urbanise and integrate into global trade. It lifted millions of people into the middle class and transformed the map of the world economy. But today, the logic of growth is changing.

The next stage of competitiveness will not be defined only by how much a country can build. It will be defined by how much a country can learn.

Emotional Awareness with EQ TEST

Emotional awareness is one of the strongest signs of mature leadership because every leader works not only with tasks, strategies and results, but also with people, energy, motivation and trust. A leader who understands emotions can recognise what is happening inside themselves and within a team before tension becomes conflict, fear becomes resistance, or enthusiasm becomes real action.

The main task of emotional awareness is to learn to notice emotions, rather than escape from them or suppress them. Scientifically, an emotion is a complex psychophysiological reaction to a meaningful event. It includes the brain’s evaluation of the situation, bodily activation, subjective experience, emotional expression and readiness for action. In other words, emotion is a short-term state of the nervous system that appears in response to an internal or external stimulus which the brain evaluates as important for a person’s needs, goals, safety, relationships or survival.

EQ and the Emotional Tone Scale as your Inner Compass of Leadership

Emotional Intelligence as The Inner Compass of Leadership

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to recognise, understand and regulate emotions in oneself and in others. It is not simply about being “emotional”; it is the capacity to transform emotions into information, self-control, communication and purposeful action. For leaders, entrepreneurs and educators, this ability is essential because every decision, relationship, conflict and achievement is influenced by the emotional state from which a person acts.

The Emotional Tone Scale can be used as a practical model for observing the quality of a person’s emotional energy. Although it is not a clinical diagnostic tool, it helps describe how emotional states move from low levels of apathy, grief, fear and anger towards higher levels of interest, enthusiasm, action and serenity. In this sense, emotional tone reflects not only how a person feels, but also how much inner energy, openness and readiness for constructive behaviour they have.

Why Business Retreat is a Key Tool for Business Families

Why Retreats Are Especially Important for Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders

The Entrepreneur as a Person under Constant Pressure. Entrepreneurs are among the most overloaded people in the modern economy. They carry responsibility not only for themselves, but also for teams, clients, partners, investors, families, reputation, cash flow, growth, risk and the future.

Unlike many professionals, an entrepreneur does not simply finish work at the end of the day. The business continues to live inside the mind. Problems follow the founder into the evening, into the weekend, into family time and sometimes even into sleep.

Ukraine as the “Silicon Valley” of the Soviet Union

Ukraine as a Nation of Inventors: From Space and the Atom to the New Architecture of Modern Warfare

Today, Ukraine is not merely defending its statehood. It is also reintroducing itself to the world as it truly is: one of the historic centres of intellectual, engineering, agricultural, industrial, cultural and military modernity in Eastern Europe — a nation whose achievements were for decades too often presented under someone else’s name: “Soviet”, “Russian” or “imperial”.

This is one of the great historical injustices of the twentieth century. Many outstanding engineers, scientists, designers, artists, philosophers, writers and entrepreneurs connected with Ukraine by birth, education, cultural environment or professional formation were absorbed into the general Soviet canon and later into the Russian historical narrative.

Nadiia Vasylieva: Eurosatory 2026

Eurosatory 2026: Ukraine’s Defence Sector Is No Longer a Collection of Companies — It Is a New Industry

I am returning from Eurosatory 2026 with an important realisation.

Many people still talk about the Ukrainian defence sector as a collection of separate successful companies. But at Eurosatory, I saw something different: I saw the birth of a new industry.

Only a few years ago, Ukrainian companies came to international exhibitions as individual manufacturers of drones, electronic warfare systems, robotic platforms or software.

Today, Ukraine is already represented as an integrated ecosystem. The exhibition featured dozens of Ukrainian companies, industry associations, state institutions and private manufacturers that are no longer competing merely with individual products, but with complete technological solutions.

Why Franchising

Why Franchising May Be One of the Most Powerful Business Models in the Modern Economy

Franchising is often associated with burgers, coffee shops, hotels, fitness studios and everyday consumer services. Yet behind this familiar business format lies one of the most effective wealth-creation mechanisms in the modern economy.

In a world where many people are searching for a reliable path to financial independence, franchising offers something rare: the opportunity to build a business with an already tested brand, a proven operating system and a clear commercial model. 

Launching an artificial intelligence startup may sound exciting, but most startups fail. Building a traditional corporate career in law, finance or management may still be prestigious, but many professional paths are now being disrupted by technology and automation. Franchising, by contrast, continues to create practical business opportunities for ordinary entrepreneurs who are ready to work hard, follow a system and grow locally.

Women Retreat is a Technology for Unlocking Potential

Why Women’s Potential Needs the Right Environment

Every woman carries within herself a unique combination of intelligence, emotional depth, creativity, intuition, leadership, resilience, care, ambition and the ability to transform the world around her. Yet potential alone is never enough. Potential is like a seed: it may contain the future of a powerful tree, but without the right soil, light, water and climate, it may never fully grow. This is why women’s potential needs the right environment.

A woman may be talented, educated and strong, but if she is surrounded by criticism, fear, outdated stereotypes, emotional pressure, social limitations or weak opportunities, her inner strength may remain hidden. On the other hand, when a woman enters a healthy, ambitious and supportive environment, her confidence grows, her vision expands, her energy increases and her leadership becomes visible.

Family Business Camp is an innovation to shape the Success of the Whole Family

Entrepreneurs who already have children understand one essential truth very clearly: children are their most important “business”, their most valuable long-term investment, and the greatest legacy they will ever create.

A company may grow, decline, be sold, transformed, or replaced by a new venture. Markets change. Technologies become obsolete. Professions disappear. Artificial intelligence is already reshaping entire industries and eliminating many traditional career paths. Yet the development of a child’s intelligence, character, values, leadership, creativity, resilience, communication skills and entrepreneurial mindset remains the deepest and most strategic investment a family can make.

Empowering the Next Generation: MINIBOSS BUSINESS SCHOOL at the 2026 Johannesburg Startup Forum

On 14 July, the latest MINIBOSS Startup Forum took place in Johannesburg, South Africa. Children and teenagers aged 6–17 presented their first startup ideas to an expert audience, received feedback from mentors and business angels, and gained valuable support for further product development.

The event, now in its third year in South Africa, has become a significant educational milestone for youth entrepreneurship. Under the leadership of Wendy Silinyana, franchise owner and Director of MINIBOSS BUSINESS SCHOOL in Johannesburg, the Forum demonstrated how practical business education can raise the standard of learning, confidence and leadership among the next generation.

Dr Olga Azarova: “Children Should Learn to Solve Problems”

MINIBOSS BUSINESS SCHOOL is one of the most recognisable international brands in children’s business education. Its mission is ambitious and unusual: to teach children entrepreneurship, invention, leadership and financial thinking from the age of six.

Over the years, the MINIBOSS methodology has helped develop tens of thousands of young entrepreneurs around the world — children who learn not only how to build a business, but how to think independently, solve problems creatively and realise their own potential.

12 stages of the evolution of women rights

Women's rights are rights considered inherent and inalienable to every woman (girl, young woman) regardless of her citizenship, age, race, ethnicity or religion.

But it was sometimes different from this.

The 100% News interviewed and discussed the evolution of women's rights in the world from a famous woman, entrepreneur, and innovator - Olga Azarova, founder and President of the International Club of Successful Women WORLD WOMAN CLUB, Honorary UN Ambassador for Women's Entrepreneurship, Laureate of the Rating of the 500 Most Powerful Women in the world according to FORTUNE magazine.

The article is based on a story by Olga Azarova.

"Let's start with the fact that 100 years ago WOMEN DID NOT have basic property rights, to work, study, vote, or even to live.

Stage 1. Suffragettes.

Maybe you haven't even heard of it. In post-Soviet countries, they did not talk about this. But the first women's rights were demanded in Great Britain.

Suffragettes (from the French suffrage - suffrage) are participants in the movement to give women voting rights. Suffragettes also opposed discrimination against women in general in political and economic life. They considered it possible to fight using radical actions.

The first was the British Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), a women-only movement founded in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst that engaged in direct action and civil disobedience. A good film, Surazhist, was created, led by Meryl Streep and other outstanding actresses.

In 1893, New Zealand became the first self-governing country to grant the right to vote to all women over 21 years of age. When women in Britain failed to gain suffrage in 1903, Pankhurst decided that women should “get to work themselves.” The motto of the WSPU became “deeds, not words.” Suffragettes harassed politicians, attempted to storm Parliament, were attacked and sexually harassed during clashes with police, chained themselves to railings, broke windows, set fire to mailboxes and empty buildings, planted bombs to damage churches and property, and faced wrath and ridicule in the media controlled by politicians.

Citigroup: The Global Bank That Connects Money, Markets and the Future

There are banks that serve customers. There are banks that finance companies. There are banks that trade currencies, manage wealth or issue credit cards. And then there are institutions that become part of the invisible operating system of the global economy.

Citigroup Inc., known worldwide as Citi, belongs to the latter category. 

This 100%NEWS analysis is part of our Business & Growth coverage: a story about a bank, but also about infrastructure, globalisation, technology, risk and trust.

It is not merely an American bank with a global presence. Citi is a financial network that connects corporations, governments, investors, consumers, currencies, markets and payment systems across continents. It helps multinational companies move money, manage liquidity, finance trade, raise capital, hedge risks, serve clients and operate across complex jurisdictions.