M&A strategy when the obvious targets are gone
How companies can build a stronger acquisition radar by connecting portfolio logic, target intelligence and strategic fit before competition intensifies.
Read articleRelated macro
Chemicals and process industries
Protect competitiveness and unlock portfolio value as feedstock, energy, capacity and regional economics reshape process industries.
Discover the macroEditorial overview
Articles
From AI pilots to enterprise performance
What separates companies that scale AI from those that accumulate experiments�and how operating models, economics and governance determine whether adoption creates measurable value.
Read articleFocus
Food economics remain unusually exposed to weather, energy and logistics shocks
Commodity supply may look broadly adequate while individual categories face sharp volatility from climate, fertilizer and transport disruption.
Semiconductors now sit at the intersection of AI economics and national security
AI accelerators, advanced packaging and export controls are reshaping capital allocation across an industry already defined by geographic concentration.
Strategic challenges
Can autonomous operations scale beyond isolated high-performing plants?
The challenge is integrating intelligent systems across ageing assets, fragmented data and manufacturing networks with uneven maturity.
What happens when consumers stop accepting price as the main growth lever?
The challenge is restoring volume and relevance without surrendering margin through permanent promotion or excessive portfolio complexity.
POV
Food supply can be globally abundant and commercially fragile at the same time
Aggregate availability matters less when the specific ingredient, route or origin a business depends on becomes constrained.
The billable hour is becoming harder to defend when the hour disappears
Professional services will need to price judgment and outcomes rather than preserve economics built around human effort that AI removes.
Strategic impact
Tokenized finance is widening the design space for payments and settlement
Programmable infrastructure may reduce friction while creating new choices around money, settlement assets and institutional roles.
Volatile food markets reward supply flexibility more than perfect forecasting
Multiple sourcing paths and responsive pricing become more valuable when category-specific shocks disrupt otherwise stable global supply.
What we observe
Data-center developers often secure land before securing a credible power pathway
Sites can remain commercially stranded when grid capacity, interconnection timelines and local infrastructure fail to support planned density.
Mining strategies often focus on reserves while underestimating midstream concentration
A diversified mine portfolio can still rely on highly concentrated processing capacity, creating a different form of strategic dependency.