Davos 2023: PwC's Bob Moritz And Sanjeev Krishan On CEO Survey And Supply-Chain Changes

PwC's Bob Moritz and Sanjeev Krishan. (Source: Vijay Sartape/BQ Prime)

The key highlight from this year's 26th Annual Global CEO Survey by PwC is not about slowdown or pessimism but the need to radically change the way businesses operate, according to PwC's Global Chairman Bob Moritz.

The headline this year is 40% of CEOs globally believe their businesses are not going to be financially sound in the next 10 years unless there's a radical change, Moritz told BQ Prime's Niraj Shah on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"We see that across all sectors, not a lot of variability, but we're seeing significant differences country-to-country."

He said China is actually "at the higher end of this concern because their energy supply is going to radically change in the next 10 years." "If you look at Brazil, they're at the lower end, so the question is, are they acknowledging the change? So it's important to look at the 40% that are acknowledging the change but also at the 60% that aren't," Moritz said.

PwC's India Chairperson, Sanjeev Krishan, said the survey showed that about 67% of Indian CEOs are rethinking supply chains, and that's good news.

"Yes, there's the little factor of security in their minds, but we're talking about sustainable transformation, and to me, supply chains are a key component of it. If I've made a carbon-neutral commitment for a certain date, I cannot be carbon-neutral unless my entire supply chain is carbon-neutral."

Moritz said supply chain management has become a lot more important, and CEOs are thinking about it strategically. "There's more optionality and moving away from the dependency of China. It doesn't mean I'm going to go China plus 1, it means I'm going to go China maybe, plus many others, including nearshoring or bringing it back home."

He added that supply chains are being considered for their cost efficiency, resilience, and security in terms of dependency, and they have to be "greener than ever before."