Fireside Chat, Interview
From “The Way Forward" Conference: Jim Fitterling, CEO of Dow, and Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture
- The year 2020 marks a pivotal transition where companies recognizing technology as a universal transformative force can achieve agility and growth comparable to digital natives, with the crisis accelerating digital adoption and widening the gap between invested and non-invested firms.
- Future innovation processes will shift toward computer modeling prior to physical lab testing, while paint formulation cycles are expected to reduce from two-to-three-year outdoor testing to approximately three months from summer season consultation to product readiness.
- Customer engagement will evolve to feature real-time order visibility akin to Amazon, with color matching and design shifting from store visits to digital tools utilizing improved camera quality for item replication.
- Post-crisis operational models will require a balance between remote and in-person interaction, necessitating adjustments to customer service strategies that move beyond old predictive models to address significant behavioral changes in buying and work habits.
- Automation will create a tradeoff between jobs and technological deployment in specific sectors, requiring upskilling and reskilling initiatives without causing a one-to-one displacement of individuals, alongside a need for collaboration between corporate leaders, governments, and educational institutions to address reskilling for mid-career professionals.
- The pandemic will likely be superseded by trade and geopolitical disruptions as the primary challenge for supply chains, with China and Asia projected to remain more resilient and serving as accelerated markets for penetration through partners like Alibaba.
- Business leaders must tightly integrate security planning with business strategy for supply chain resilience, while those who invested in core technologies will accelerate 5G deployment, further widening the competitive gap with non-investors.
- Dow has committed to carbon neutrality by 2050 with specific interim reduction targets for 2030, aiming to rank among the top 25 global users of alternative energy by that same 2030 date, and plans to make 100% of plastic packaging fully reusable or recyclable by 2035 using one million metric tons of annual post-consumer recycled plastic.
- Accenture intends to establish external goals for the percentages of Black and Hispanic Americans in leadership roles and implement mandatory training on identifying racism, moving beyond unconscious bias training to address systemic issues.
- Broader societal progress is anticipated within a 20-year timeframe, though significant work remains to achieve comprehensive equality regarding protections against discrimination in housing, adoption, and healthcare beyond workplace settings.