The Rise of AI Agents
Published in February 2025 — Companies searching for impact from AI increasingly see agents—software that doesn’t just respond to instructions but learns and adapts on its own—as the big opportunity. Is 2025 the year of AI agents?
Investing in Growth
Published in January 2025 —
BCG’s latest Global Investor Survey, fielded following November’s US elections, finds investors optimistic about the economy and capital markets over both the next twelve months and the next three years. Investors’ bullishness—the second highest in the history of the survey—persists despite macro risks and relatively high market valuations.
For CEOs, the message is to invest for growth but to keep an eye on the bottom line.
STEM Talent Tracker
Published in December 2024 — Some 613,000 STEM experts moved across borders in the past 12 months, according to BCG’s Top Talent Tracker. These movements are enormously consequential for shaping current and future competitiveness in emerging technologies. While the US remains the top destination for STEM experts, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Canada do a better job of retaining them.
AI's Energy Impact
Published in October 2024 — As the second anniversary of ChatGPT’s global debut approaches, the energy needed to power AI development is claiming a greater share of voice on earnings calls. After decades of stagnant growth, US energy demand is surging, driven largely by the chips and data centers used for AI alongside the steady migration of business operations to the cloud. According to BCG forecasts, US data center electricity demand could more than double by 2030.
Global Consumer Sentiment Survey
Published in September 2024 — Globally, fewer people are worried about their personal financial situation compared with a year ago, according to the latest survey from BCG’s Center for Customer Insight. But emerging markets are seeing a slower recovery in consumer sentiment than mature markets, with wider disparities in spending habits between income groups. While people are spending more overall—and expect that trend to continue—most product categories are likely to see slower growth over the next six months, with only skin care products and apparel poised for accelerated growth.
Scope 3 Emissions
Published in August 2024 — Lowering upstream supply chain (Scope 3) emissions presents a far greater climate challenge to CEOs than reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Moreover, progress on managing Scope 3 emissions is anemic by comparison, including in industries where supply chains account for the lion’s share of a company’s carbon footprint. Three factors can significantly catalyze action on Scope 3: having a climate-responsible board, engaging with suppliers on climate-related issues, and using internal carbon pricing.
