The contemporary business landscape is characterized by an unprecedented confluence of technological advancements, geopolitical realignments, and seismic shifts in talent markets. In this environment, leaders are increasingly compelled to make high-stakes decisions with incomplete information at an ever-accelerating pace. This article explores how six chief executives are adapting to this new paradigm, sharing their insights on strategy, risk mitigation, and decision-making in an era of persistent volatility.
The accelerating pace and scale of change present a fundamental challenge to established business models. Luis Valls, co-CEO of Turtle, an electrical and industrial distribution company, notes the structural nature of current volatility. "Volatility isn’t temporary anymore—it’s structural," Valls stated, citing the impact of tariffs and geopolitical tensions on his company’s supplier markets. He elaborated on the long lead times for critical equipment like transformers and switchgear, emphasizing that such delays cannot be overcome through reactive measures alone. This sentiment is echoed across industries, where CEOs report that disruptive shocks, once sequential, are now converging into a complex interplay of competing forces. Technological evolution is reshaping industries faster than traditional planning cycles can accommodate, while demographic shifts are simultaneously redefining labor markets and consumer demand. Geopolitical instability further exacerbates this, threatening supply chains and capital allocation strategies.
Jeanne Johnson, a principal in KPMG’s advisory practice, highlights the compressed nature of decision-making cycles. "The speed of the planning cycles, the investment cycles—how quickly change can manifest—that’s what’s hitting everybody differently today," Johnson observed. She explained that decisions once unfolding over predictable annual rhythms are now overlapping, with investment cycles also becoming compressed. This leaves leaders with diminished time to gather perfect information and shorter windows for course correction, placing a greater burden on real-time judgment. The critical question for leaders, Johnson posits, is "How much information is enough to make what kind of change at what pace?" Yet, she stresses the imperative to maintain momentum: "But while you’re figuring all this out, while you’re calibrating this, you’ve got to keep moving."
To understand these adaptive strategies, we interviewed six CEOs from diverse sectors and geographies. A common thread emerged: the need for a strategic approach anchored by long-term conviction, yet possessing the flexibility to evolve with changing conditions. These leaders shared their tactics for proactive risk mitigation, disciplined execution, and the avoidance of decision paralysis.
Start With What Won’t Change: Focusing on Enduring Principles
Sadi Khan, CEO of Aven, a fintech company based in Campbell, California, draws on his experience at Facebook, a company known for its rapid iteration. In navigating noisy and unpredictable markets, Khan advocates for concentrating on enduring goals. "The most valuable approach to strategy is to start with what won’t change," he explained. "Because at any given point in time, there are often a handful or subset of variables that are probably not going to change. And what you can do is index on those."
For Aven, a core principle is that consumers will always benefit from a lower cost of capital. This fundamental truth remains constant regardless of interest rate cycles, regulatory shifts, or technological advancements. Aven’s mission to reduce the total cost of borrowing is achieved through innovation that minimizes friction and enhances efficiency, thereby lowering transactional costs. An early challenge involved overcoming specific constraints, such as the requirement for "wet signatures" on mortgage documents.
The company faced a significant build-versus-buy dilemma regarding the investment in a proprietary, patented robotic arm designed to automate the digital notary and document-signing process. This innovation enabled borrowers to complete lending processes remotely, significantly reducing time and expense. Khan recalled the internal debate: "Initially we were like, ‘Oh man, like should we even build this thing?’ We’re a startup. We have very little capital. Should we allocate it to inventing an entire new way of doing signatures? We were not in the signature business, we were in the asset-backed credit card business at that time."
Guidance from a long-standing board member, who highlighted the immense potential of the tool and inquired about the capital commitment, proved pivotal. "He said, the value of this is so high that if you’re reasonably confident you’re not going to die, you should go ahead," Khan recounted. "That was eye-opening to me. And it’s been invaluable as we continue to invest heavily in long-term bets because we think that longer-term conviction over the shorter term is the only true alpha left in the game. Everything else kind of washes out. If you believe in something and can hold a longer-term view that you’re willing to bet on, you will win as long as you don’t die. At the end of the day, the advantage we have over others is that we think over a longer time horizon. Everything else kind of washes out." This philosophy underscores the importance of identifying and leveraging foundational truths that transcend market fluctuations.
Design Resilience Into The System: Proactive Risk Mitigation
Luis Valls, Co-CEO of Turtle, emphasizes the importance of designing resilience into business operations from the outset. Turtle’s strategic planning is guided by an overarching mission to evolve from a transactional distributor to a trusted partner in infrastructure solutions. "Our job is to absorb complexity, so that our customers don’t feel it," Valls explained. "Because in critical infrastructure, a missed shipment isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s downtime, lost revenue or operational risk."
In recent years, the 103-year-old company has implemented several measures to safeguard against supply chain disruptions. These include adopting dual sourcing strategies globally, maintaining strategic inventory levels, pre-staging long-lead equipment, and cultivating deep partnerships with manufacturers worldwide to secure capacity well in advance of demand. "Before, supply chain was taken for granted; now it’s a strategic part of our infrastructure planning," Valls stated, referencing recent trips to Turkey and Mexico to explore potential OEM partnerships. "You can’t react your way out of volatility, so we design resilience into the system upfront."
Turtle is also proactively managing talent-related risks. Recognizing the potential impact of demographic shifts and the impending departure of experienced workers, the company has invested in comprehensive training and mentorship programs. Furthermore, they have developed digital resources to capture institutional knowledge for new employees. Consequently, employees now have access to on-demand software that provides answers and guidance throughout various processes.
"We’re also in the process of conducting a companywide skills-gap analysis," Valls added. "We’re looking at not only what skills our people need today but tomorrow, and how do we start preparing them for that? We think it’s important to have a roadmap for this new generation where they can see that they can grow and be challenged." This forward-thinking approach to talent development is crucial for long-term organizational health and adaptability.
Longevity At A Company Is Underrated: The Value of Stable Workforce
Eran Mizrahi, CEO of Source86, a company specializing in global product sourcing, operates in an environment where uncertainty is inherent. As an importer, Source86 navigates interest rate fluctuations, foreign exchange volatility, shifts in tariff policy, and changing market sentiment. The intensification of tariff unpredictability in early 2025 necessitated a strategic pivot from growth acceleration to risk mitigation.
"On strategy, the first thing we’re trying to do is identify areas under our control where we can reduce or manage risks," Mizrahi stated. He described adopting a "smoke detector" practice, continuously monitoring inventory exposure, interest rate sensitivity, and cash management. "When tariffs went crazy and customers were looking to cancel every order they had with us, we had to almost open our books up to our customers and to our suppliers and figure out how to communicate a lot faster to make sure we could react. We were in hyper alert every day looking at cash and being very deliberate about every inventory decision because one wrong turn could put us in a lot of danger."
The company emerged from this period stronger, with tighter relationships with customers, suppliers, and lenders. This resilience was further bolstered by the attrition of less adaptable competitors. Source86 implemented disciplined approaches across its operations, including robust quoting tools, scenario analysis capabilities, and more thoughtful hiring and resource allocation practices. Hiring is now contingent upon meeting specific sales or cash-flow indicators, rather than being front-loaded. Marketing budgets are deployed in discrete tranches tied to performance thresholds, with immediate suspension if metrics are not met. "We’re asking: What do we need to see? How long will it take? What’s the maximum we’re willing to lose?" Mizrahi elaborated. "We’re not being as aggressive with new initiatives as in the past, and we build in exit paths along the way."
Mizrahi maintains a strong commitment to human capital development, emphasizing consistent practices that align more with established corporations than the typical startup culture. Source86 offers clear salary bands, transparent promotion pathways, predictable pay increases, and long-term incentives. Instead of traditional performance ratings, the company practices "performance enablement," focusing on supporting employee growth and advancement. "Doing everything we can to make sure that our employees are moving forward, that where you are today is not where you are tomorrow," he explained.
This approach is not merely altruistic. In an era of high job mobility, Mizrahi argues that the value of tenure is significant. He cites companies like Costco, where a long-serving workforce has become a competitive advantage. "It’s Maslow’s hierarchy—with that framework people feel safe. They know what the expectations are and how they will be rewarded for managing those things. We’re aggressive about people progressing because we want people to stay and be part of the success. If you can do that, the value is incredible. Longevity at a company is underrated."
The Biggest Mistake Is Paralysis: Adhering to Core Values
Sonya Mughal, CEO of Bailard, a wealth management firm with 57 years of history, offers a perspective shaped by decades of market cycles. Her primary insight is that "The biggest mistake is paralysis—convincing yourself that the environment is so different than what you have seen in the past that you have to throw all your tried-and-true disciplines out the window." She adds, "Environments can be quite terrifying. They can look different and present differently, but thinking you’ve got to somehow come up with something radically new or not do anything at all is not the way to handle volatility."
At Bailard, adherence to six core values—accountability, compassion, courage, fairness, excellence, and independence—guides the company through both turbulent and stable market conditions. During periods of volatility, Mughal relies heavily on these principles. "For me, the guiding North Star is independence, because we’re largely employee-owned so we’re each answerable and accountable for every single decision," she stated. "There’s no deep-pockets bank, insurance company, private equity shop. So there’s a heavy weight that comes with that."
To foster accountability across a multi-generational workforce, Bailard cultivates autonomy through mentorship. Mughal also prioritizes cultural fit during recruitment, employing a rigorous, cross-functional, committee-based approach to vet candidates. "There will be five or six of us, and we do not talk with one another during the process; we have our HR person collect notes," she explained. "That way everyone has already put their notes down when we meet so no one voice can drown out the others. It’s a way to avoid groupthink so that when you have unanimity around the right candidate it’s real—not from people trying to influence one another. That’s worked brilliantly for us in terms of surfacing talent." This method ensures that decisions are well-considered and grounded in shared principles, rather than being swayed by individual opinions.
Hold Your Strategic Plan Loosely: Embracing Agility and Decentralized Goal Setting
Lisa Nichols, CEO of Technology Partners, an IT staffing firm, has embraced compressed planning cycles and a focus on agility to lead over 450 employees in an industry where strategy demands constant adaptation. "I believe in having strategic plans, in goals, but you have to make sure you’re holding your plan loosely," she asserted. "We’ve chunked ours down to quarterly goals because of the changing landscape. Because if you go off course just by one degree and don’t realign, you can end up 100 miles from your intended destination."
Nichols eschews top-down directives. Instead, she and her leadership team establish an overarching organizational direction, empowering employees to develop their individual goals. Each employee is tasked with creating quarterly "top 10" objectives. Across the company, these objectives and progress toward them are documented digitally and are accessible to all team members.
"We don’t dictate to them, we say, ‘Here’s where we’re going, how do you fit into that?’" Nichols elaborated. "Then at the end of the quarter, every individual has to look and go, ‘Why didn’t I get my top 10s done?’ And, ‘For the next quarter, are those goals still relevant or do I need to adjust a little bit?’ So we’re continually setting goals and adjusting as we go." This decentralized approach to goal setting fosters a sense of ownership and promotes continuous adaptation.
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is a prominent feature across all functions at Technology Partners. Recognizing the need to enhance familiarity with the rapidly expanding universe of AI tools, Nichols has encouraged employees to dedicate time to experimentation and share their findings with peers during regular AI Day sessions. "We’re learning from one another and also bringing in third-party partners we’ve worked with that share what they’ve been doing with AI for clients in different industries," Nichols said. "There’s really not a function area of our company where AI is not infused… And, of course, we have our own AI group that goes in and talks with clients about AI road-mapping because sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. So it’s about having a Sherpa to guide you through climbing that mountain." This proactive engagement with AI positions the company to leverage emerging technologies for competitive advantage.
Act A Lot More Like A Startup: Embracing Experimentation and Iteration
Catherine Wolfe, General Manager of CT Corporation, a division of Wolters Kluwer that provides corporate services and entity management solutions, believes that increased agility is essential in times of heightened chaos. "When the degree of change feels overwhelming, it’s important to pick a point on the horizon and head toward it because you can get very distracted by all the possibilities and implications," she stated. "So you need a clear strategy you can focus on executing—but then be prepared to pivot as needed. I choose to focus on opportunities because there are so many great stories of businesses starting up during economic downsides."
Wolfe acknowledges the challenge of instilling a startup mentality within a large division of a major corporation, noting that Wolters Kluwer is leveraging AI to achieve this. "On the opportunity side, we can actually act a lot more like a startup," Wolfe explained. "Startups focus on experiments, on learning, doing things initially that are reversible rather than really big projects and pivoting much more quickly rather than really big projects. Whereas if you think about change at a big company—for example if you think about changing a big tech stack you already have—it’s like modernizing an old house, right? It’s more expensive and takes longer than you’d ever think."
AI, however, is enabling companies to develop and test new processes more rapidly. At CT Corporation, Wolfe has focused on deploying AI to identify customer needs and accelerate the development and iteration cycles for new products and services. The formation of "Tiger Teams" to oversee and drive this iterative process is another tactic Wolfe has adopted to emulate startup agility. For each potential opportunity, a small, cross-functional team is assembled with an ambitious timeline and clear objectives, tasked with defining next steps and reporting back.
Crucially, these teams are granted permission to fail. "The group members need the safety to know that we all know it might not work, but let’s see what we can do," Wolfe emphasized. She cited a recent sales and marketing initiative aimed at accessing a promising growth market. The Tiger Team developed and launched an effort to convert more website visitors into customers. Although initial results were disappointing, the team identified and addressed shortcomings, leading to a 450 percent increase in conversion rates over three months.
"What we’re learning is that at a big company, if you can kind of pull things out and focus on them, you can get to a result—whether to keep going and scale up or to walk away—much faster," Wolfe concluded. "But you do need to start with some sort of strategy; otherwise it’s kind of random. And you really have to be okay with it not working, which you make possible by keeping it at a level that you can walk back if it doesn’t work. That takes the stress out of it, and honestly, it’s fun—that innovation experience, especially when things work." This approach fosters a culture of calculated risk-taking and rapid learning, essential for navigating an unpredictable future.
