Author name: Noemi Balondo

In the next decade, the most competitive companies will be governed not by the most prestigious resumes, but by boards engineered for complexity. U.S. boardrooms are re-skilling under pressure from four converging forces: (i) AI deployment and risk, (ii) supply chain and ESG regulation that reaches deep into suppliers, (iii) increasing geopolitical tensions, and (iv) heightened investor scrutiny of board capability, disclosure, and refreshment. In 2025 and beyond, governance sophistication is no longer optional – it is a determinant of market value, stakeholder trust, and competitiveness.

In Q2 2025, tariff volatility and regulatory shifts have become a defining force in enterprise strategy — no longer a “trade” issue, instead a board-level risk. The most sophisticated multinationals are now deploying structured stress-testing frameworks to model “policy shock” scenarios: tariff spikes, export control expansions, carbon border pricing, and compliance detentions. These models link granular HS-code exposure, supplier geography, and product carbon intensity to real-time profit-and-loss simulations —quantifying the margin at risk and working capital requirements under each regulatory outcome. For directors, the strategic question is shifting from “Where should we produce?” to “How fast can we re-position when the rules change?”

Large multinationals are moving from pledges to procurement and projects — locking in long-dated clean power contracts, electrifying heat and fleets, re-tooling supply chains, and backing carbon removal. More broadly, the global energy transition to renewable technologies remains intact, but uneven. Global energy investment will reach $3.3 trillion USD in 2025, with $2.2 trillion being invested in renewables, nuclear, grids, storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency, and electrification (which stands at 2x fossil investment). On a dual-track energy system — adding clean energy capacity without fully displacing fossil fuels — China, the EU, India, and the U.S. continue to drive most of the additions.