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Disruption - a word tom-tomed all through the past decade - has made way for another at the start of this decade – uncertainty. That is what is clouding the view from the top. This year, there is a record level of pessimism among CEOs the world over. For the first time, more than half of the 1581 chief executives surveyed across 83 territories for PwC’s 23rd Annual Global CEO Survey believe the rate of global GDP growth will decline. Moreover, as the Survey was undertaken prior to the outbreak of Coronavirus, risks to global growth may be exacerbated. In India, 52% CEOs underline a decline in economic growth, as compared to 27% in 2019. The India outlook focuses on the future of digital privacy, workforce upskilling challenges and impact of climate change. It also explores how India CEOs are taking action to address these challenges and provides a few PwC recommendations.
Uncertainty undermines outlook
In every region, CEOs report increased pessimism, further impacted by the current outbreak of Coronavirus. In almost every region, CEOs show significantly diminished confidence in their own organisations’ 12-month revenue growth prospects.
In India, too, there is a persistent air of uncertainty. India CEOs are ‘extremely concerned’ about uncertain economic growth (51%), followed by speed of technological change (40%), over-regulation and policy uncertainty (38%), protectionism (37%) and cyber threats (35%) – as potential threats to their organisations’ growth prospects.
However, over 67% of CEOs who were interviewed prior to the Coronavirus outbreak were ‘very confident’ about their organisation’s growth prospects over the next three years. For them, organic growth, operational efficiencies and launching a new product or service are three priorities in the next one year to drive revenue growth. In fact, India is among the top 3 countries that are ‘very confident’ about their revenue growth prospects - over the next 12 months and the next 3 years.
Setting up guard rails in Cyberspace
51% of India CEOs are optimistic that the Internet (including social media) will be increasingly seen as a platform that brings people together, spreads factual information and facilitates political empowerment. 48% of India CEOs are also positive, as compared to 41% of global CEOs, when it comes to believing that governments are designing privacy regulations that both increase consumer trust and maintain business competitiveness.
Further, with data privacy moving centre stage and shortage of cybersecurity talent being a constant theme across geographies, in the Indian context, this is an opportunity to secure the globe. India has a young population, and a dominant share comprises engineers. Organisations could therefore invest in reskilling this population to address cyber security requirements and talent shortage, not just for India but for the entire world. With the right investments and collaboration between academia and industry, this could pave the way for the next wave of growth.
To upskill or not to upskill, no longer the question
In India, 73% of CEOs are either ‘extremely concerned’ (30%) or ‘somewhat concerned’ (43%) about the availability of key skills. But, not too many of them have acted on it. Only 11% have made ‘significant’ progress while 35% have made ‘moderate’ progress in establishing an upskilling programme that develops a mix of soft, technical and digital skills. And this, despite the fact that a majority of India CEOs believe upskilling programmes help achieve higher workforce productivity, a stronger corporate culture and employee engagement.
For India CEOs, the primary challenges in upskilling initiatives include defining the priority skills for the future in the context of their business; ability to drive an organisation-wide upskilling agenda; and retaining employees who have been upskilled. The report offers recommendations to address such issues and discusses the need to identify and prioritise the “burning platform” defined by an organisation’s differentiating capabilities that combine technical/functional, digital and human centric capabilities.
Climate Change: An opportunity cloaked in crisis
Chief executives the world over have begun to understand the undeniable link between balance sheets and climate change, and the importance of factoring in a sustainability vision into their long-term strategic plans. Today, 66% of India CEOs are concerned about climate change and environmental damage. In the last decade, India CEOs who are up for exploring innovation opportunities due to climate change have increased three-fold. 17% of CEOs in India as compared to 5% in 2019 ‘strongly agree’ that climate change initiatives will lead to significant new product and service opportunities for their organisations.
India CEOs then are showing agility in sensing the significant opportunities that lay in using innovation and new technologies to create products and service offerings that will emerge from the challenges induced by climate change. They are well aware that investing in climate change initiatives will also boost their reputational advantage among key stakeholders including employees, and they will benefit from government funds or financial incentives for ‘green’ investments.
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“Today 66% of India CEOs are concerned about climate change and environmental damage, while those willing to explore innovation opportunities due to climate change have gone up more than three fold (from 5% in 2010 to 17% in 2020). This indicates that India CEOs are aware that investing in climate change initiatives, including use of technologies to create new product and service offerings, will boost their reputational advantage. ”
Yasir Ahmad
Partner & Leader, Sustainability & Responsible Business, PwC India -
“Shortage of cybersecurity talent is a constant theme across geographies. From an India perspective, this provides an opportunity to secure not just India but the globe. India has a young population, and a dominant share comprises engineers. India could therefore invest in upskilling/ reskilling this population to address cybersecurity talent shortage for the world. Strong collaboration between academia and industry would be key to achieving this objective. ”
Siddharth Vishwanath
Partner & Leader, Cyber Security, PwC India
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