The debate in the Nordic countries around climate change has moved from something that was abstract and global to now also being tangible and local, influencing businesses and everyday lives.

The Nordic countries are expected to look into making significant investments in adapting to the changing climate. There will be a massive need for infrastructure work, repairs following extreme weather, and flood control. This could give rise to new partnerships, new ways of financing and new innovations. But Nordic societies will have to take responsibility and step in to meet these needs and find ways of prioritising and financing the changes needed.

Markets, businesses and economists favour stability and predictability. But is stability and predictability an illusion in a world of increasing turbulence and geopolitical conflict? In many cases, we do not even know what it is that we do not know.

There has been an increase in global instability, and Nordic businesses have an increasingly global outlook when it comes to risk assessment. It could be said that turbulence should be viewed as an integral part of the future outlook and is a somewhat stable factor.

Unpredictability poses challenges for strategic thinking. Unpredictability also calls for innovation and provides new opportunities for businesses that are agile. History shows that a certain level of instability goes hand in hand with economic growth.

Two opposing developments can be observed in the Nordic region: a short-term lack of people and competencies in certain fields, and a prediction of surplus human labour in the long-term. New perspectives are needed if we are to ensure value creation and solve the important societal challenges.

Businesses fight to secure themselves the best talent because the best people are more than ever the foundation for commercial success. An important conversation centres around what competences are needed today and what competences are needed in the future – and more importantly about what can be done to find the right way forward. But the labour market has never been more unpredictable than it is today. Technological development is progressing almost too quickly to make relevant long-term educational planning possible.

Markets, businesses and economists favour stability and predictability. But is stability and predictability an illusion in a world of increasing turbulence and geopolitical conflict? In many cases, we do not even know what it is that we do not know.

There has been an increase in global instability, and Nordic businesses have an increasingly global outlook when it comes to risk assessment. It could be said that turbulence should be viewed as an integral part of the future outlook and is a somewhat stable factor.

Unpredictability poses challenges for strategic thinking. Unpredictability also calls for innovation and provides new opportunities for businesses that are agile. History shows that a certain level of instability goes hand in hand with economic growth.

Doomers or boomers? An expectation of a better tomorrow or a fundamental belief in unsustainable societies? The way tomorrow’s customers and employees view the future shapes how time and resources are prioritised and invested – and determines what is considered as being truly valuable.

The visions of many businesses are increasingly founded on the desire to build a better future. But how will tomorrow’s customers and employees behave if they do not share a common hope of a better future? Decisions made today are shaped by what the future is predicted to bring. The belief in shared interests and values binds democracies and economies together, and fundamentally different perspectives about the future could instigate important conversations.

2023 was the year in which generative AI, led by ChatGPT, took off. This technology is changing how businesses engage with customers, how we seek knowledge and how we use it.

It is not often that a paradigm shift is acknowledged when it actually happens – but for many, the introduction of AI and ChatGPT was just that. With the introduction of this new technology,

resources that were previously regarded as scarce are now abundant. In a business context, it is yet to be seen if this technology will make actual human communication and interaction between businesses and people less important or even more valuable than ever.