Study developed by Data-Makers and CDN shows that leaders foresee an increase in investments but admit challenges in the country’s economy
Understanding perceptions, sensations and expectations for the next year is a great thermometer for anticipating scenarios and designing strategies. With this in mind, the research and big data institute Data-Makers and CDN presented the research “Business Leaders and Perspectives for 2024”.
The analysis included the participation of 216 business leaders, including CEOs and C-Levels from different segments, who shared prognoses for the economy, business and their careers.
The study addressed the retrospective of 2023 and expectations for the year that began this Monday (1/1). According to the data presented, executives are betting on 2024 as a year of changes in their professional and personal lives.
The most cited opportunities were ‘acting as a counselor’ with 60% of respondents, ‘improving physical health’ (51%) and ‘achieving financial stability/increasing assets’ (43%).
The analysis also showed that executives will be looking for ‘fulfillment in their current position’ (32%), an item that comes before ‘changing companies’ (21%).
Regarding the feelings associated with what executives expect for 2024, ‘hope’ stands out with 42% of mentions, followed by ‘gratitude’ (14%) and ‘happiness’ (13%). Among the most mentioned trends for 2024 are artificial intelligence (58%), digital transformation (57%), ESG (35%), customer experience (31%) and diversity, equity and inclusion (28%).
Challenges and opportunities in 2024
For executives, the year’s challenges lie in high public spending (68%), internal politics (66%), inflation (44%), drop in domestic demand (33%) and lack of credit (25%).
“More than fluctuations in demand and exchange rate variations, the economic issues that are keeping executives up at night are mainly internal issues. The fear is even greater than inflation, which is traditionally a critical point for us Brazilians”, pointed out Fabrcio Fudissaku, CEO from Data Makers.
For economic indicators, the leaders pointed to the expectation of an increase in interest rates, inflation, unemployment, dollars and services, in addition to also expecting a drop in GDP, industry and commerce and the forecast of balance in the internal market.
Among business indicators, C-Levels pointed to increased investments in HR (36%), marketing (40%), sales (33%), technology (42%), data (42%), infrastructure and operations (38%).
In HR, the biggest investments should be in talent training (56%), strategic hiring (49%) and management tools and systems (33%), while the marketing sector should receive a greater injection of contributions social networks/digital marketing (67%) and communication campaigns (50%).
The recipe for investing in training in ‘training and qualification’ of the team will be the main sales strategy (58%) adopted by executives in 2024. Next comes ‘management systems’ (39%) and ‘expansion of the sales team ‘ (38%).
Artificial Intelligence is one of the topics of the moment, thus being the main destination for investments in technology (60%) for 2024. Also noteworthy is the participation of cybersecurity (51%), another emerging topic in conversations between leaders. The topic of talent, a critical point for the area, was also mentioned. Thus, 26% of companies will invest in hiring talent and 18% in expanding the team.
In data, the biggest expected movements are in AI tools and applications (47%), data structure (47%), big data (33%) and LGPD compliance.
2023
According to the survey, most of those interviewed had a positive analysis of the past year, with 46% marking 2023 as good or excellent. The most favorable evaluations were in the individual sphere, between personal life with 74% and career with 65%.
In the collective context, 47% of leaders considered the year only reasonable in the general economy and for Brazil. Furthermore, ‘concern’ was the word that summed up 2023 for 32% of those interviewed.
During the period analyzed, the main concern of business leaders was ‘company results’ (65%), ‘personal life’ (39%), ‘health’ (32%) and ‘mental health’ (31%). Another major concern was ‘Macroeconomic factors’ (57%).
