For hundreds of years, artisans in Japan have embodied the artwork of “kintsugi,” restoring damaged pottery by sealing the cracks with lacquer dusted in gold. Relatively than hiding breakage, this apply teaches that though cracks could also be inevitable, the very act of anticipating such flaws and changing these stressors into strengths can construct resilience.
At a time of fixed volatility — some anticipated, however different know-how disruptions coming at a second’s discover — this mindset reminds us to take a step again and assume larger. If disruption is a given, how can we create a construction and group that turns into extra resilient with every type it takes?
For know-how and enterprise leaders responding to the breakneck tempo of superior AI, resembling generative AI, agentic AI and bodily AI, making ready for a way forward for change is vital. But, based on current Accenture analysis, solely 36% of CIOs and CTOs really feel ready to reply to change.
Once we analyzed greater than 1,600 of the world’s largest companies inside their peer units throughout key know-how and enterprise dimensions, we discovered that absolute resilience is rebounding. But, very like fragile pottery, there are fractures. The hole between robust and weak organizations widened by 17 proportion factors, and fewer than than 15% of firms obtain long-term worthwhile development.
Too many leaders are clinging to outdated fashions, somewhat than constructing resilience into the core of their organizations in order that when cracks seem, they will adapt and reply rapidly and successfully.
What CIOs Can Be taught from Excessive Performers
Essentially the most resilient firms are those who deal with disruption as an opportunity to distinguish themselves, not as one thing to endure. They obtain income development six proportion factors quicker, with revenue margins eight proportion factors greater than friends.
For CIOs, the takeaway is obvious: Resilience is not simply disaster administration. It should be adaptive, future-facing and deeply built-in throughout the enterprise. Simply as kintsugi artisans view surprising cracks as a chance to rebuild, CIOs should redefine resilience. This consists of balancing throughout 4 vital dimensions:
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Making know-how the muse of reinvention: An Accenture survey carried out in Might of three,000 C-suite executives discovered that 9 in 10 C-suite leaders plan to extend their AI investments this yr, with 67% viewing AI as a income driver. For CIOs, this implies making certain that AI, information, and cloud initiatives and initiatives transcend pilots to scaling foundations for development. The excellent news is that, based on Accenture’s Pulse of Change survey carried out in late 2024, 34% of the two,000 respondents already efficiently scaled no less than one industry-specific AI resolution.
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Adapting the enterprise and business fashions as shopper habits shifts towards AI: Three-quarters of greater than 18,000 respondents to Accenture’s 2025 Client Pulse Analysis are already open to utilizing a trusted AI-powered shopper, and about 18% cite generative AI (GenAI) as their go-to for buy suggestions. The shift in demand, coupled with rising prices, is placing pricing fashions below strain.
Know-how leaders can create AI-powered analytics to assist their enterprise groups make quicker calls on what prices to soak up and what to cross on, conserving margins intact. They will leverage this disruption in how shoppers make purchases by tapping into their belief in AI to create higher hyper-personalized choices.
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Investing in and rising their folks: Corporations that spend money on each their know-how and their expertise are 4 occasions extra prone to maintain worthwhile development. But, Accenture’s Pulse of Change survey discovered that leaders with GenAI are prioritizing tech of their budgets 3 times greater than their folks.
With 42% of workers working frequently with AI brokers, based on the identical survey, equipping workers with the instruments and coaching to thrive alongside AI is vital to constructing a resilient expertise workforce. This enables firms to not simply take in disruption, but additionally develop stronger via it. A workforce that may adapt rapidly, keep engaged, and drive change from inside is crucial to long-term development.
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Reconfiguring operations for higher autonomy: In line with Accenture analysis, an estimated 43% of whole working hours in provide chain roles within the U.S. will be reworked by GenAI. One more Accenture survey, this time of 1,000 C-suite executives in 2024, discovered that the availability chains of a mean firm are nonetheless solely 21% autonomous. By delegating processes and selections to clever AI-powered methods and enabling predictive modeling, tech leaders will help their firms get better quicker from shocks.
From Patchwork System to Adaptable Basis
When pottery breaks, kintsugi artisans do not throw the items away; they remodel adversity into resilience. Leaders of high-performing firms view change as a chance to create stronger, extra versatile, and extra adaptable companies for the longer term. In our analysis, 60% of firms within the high quartile of resilience maintain constructive revenue returns throughout systemic shocks.
In at present’s setting, resilience will not be reorientation; it is reinvention. Like pottery mended with gold, organizations that embrace it would emerge stronger, extra invaluable, and constructed for long-term worthwhile development.
