BEYOND THE BOTTOM LINE

CEOs MUST LEARN TO READ THE WORLD BESIDES THEIR BALANCE SHEET, AS THE NEXT DISRUPTION COULD COME FROM BEYOND JUST THE NUMBERS

- BY MAMTA SHARMA

FROM SUPPLY CHAIN disruptions in Asia to policy changes in the West to operational instability and burgeoning technology, no event is distant for business leaders. They, in turn, are fraught with an additional challenge—geopolitical fluency. A word in the boardroom, a decision on the factory floor, or a post on social media can send ripples. The question is no longer if leaders should respond to geopolitics, but how.

CHANGING CAPABILITIES

“There are numerous geopolitical challenges that are impacting the ways chief executives view the global economy,” says Yezdi Nagporewalla, CEO, KPMG in India.

He explains that organisations that adopt fresh approaches to supply chain management, technology integration, and workforce development can not only mitigate the negative effects of geopolitical shifts but also seize new competitive advantages. “By fostering a culture of agility and responsiveness, organisations can thrive amid uncertainty and navigate the complexities of geopolitics with confidence,” he adds.

The KPMG 2025 India CEO Outlook reinforces that CEOs, both in India and globally, agree that leadership in the age of uncertainty calls for capabilities that balance agility with foresight.

While there is no single defining skill, 31% of CEOs in India (compared to 26% globally) identify greater agility and faster decision-making under pressure as among the most critical leadership attributes. CEOs in India also place higher importance on regulatory understanding, ranking it second versus fourth globally, finds the KPMG 2025 India CEO Outlook. Conversely, CEOs globally (24%) attach greater importance to transparency in communication than their Indian counterparts (18%), reflecting the growing need for open dialogue and trust-building across diverse and distributed teams.