The New Reality for Industrial and Energy: Global Leadership Survey 2025

Letter from the Authors

Dear reader, 

As we present the findings from our 2025 Global Leadership Survey for the Industrial and Energy sectors, collected between January and March 2025, we find ourselves at a turning point in the global economy.  

Our survey reveals how Industrial and Energy leaders are responding to these challenges. The move toward targeted reshoring, faster sustainability integration, and strategic AI deployment all show how companies are trying to build stability in an increasingly unstable environment. 

Our analysis uncovered several interesting insights. On the talent front, leadership skills remained a concern across regions and roles. EMEA-based executives cited leadership skills as a top talent challenge (37.4%) more frequently than their North American counterparts (28.1%). Among C-suite positions, CHROs (66.7%) and CEOs (48.1%) were most concerned about leadership skills, while CTOs and COOs ranked technical skills as more pressing.

This leadership gap was particularly pronounced in global organizations (41.7%) compared to national ones (29.4%). 

In this report, you’ll also discover: 

• Economic outlook and revenue expectations for 2025-2026 
• How companies are adjusting their supply chain strategies 
• The state of AI adoption and implementation challenges 
• Leadership priorities and talent development approaches 
• Sustainability’s impact on business strategy and operations 
• Emerging risks that may reshape the Industrial and Energy sectors 

As always, we welcome your thoughts and look forward to discussing these findings further. 

Sincerely, 

Jan Duniec
Partner 
Global Sector Leader, Industrial 

Christian Ehl
Partner 
Global Functional Leader, Sustainability and ESG 

Ward Garven
Managing Director 
Global Sector Leader, Energy, Resources, and Mining 

Key Findings