News & Insights

Big Pharma: Do you need a new talent strategy?

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 07:08:23 Z

Patent cliffs. A pricing squeeze. AI can answer both.

Big pharma is no stranger to chronic pressures. Today, two forces have become particularly acute for executive hiring organizations. The first is patent cliffs. The second is pricing. A third force – AI – has immense potential to provide relief.

But many legacy organizations are struggling to inject the talent they’ll need to unlock it.

The AI Imperative for C‑Suite Hiring

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:17:12 Z

Dorota Kolecka | Poland

No longer a niche technical concern, AI is also transforming what companies expect from senior executives – and how they hire them. As companies adapt to an accelerated AI-driven transformation agenda, executive recruiters are seeing crucial patterns emerge, revealing new leadership requirements, evolving role definitions and growing expectations around governance, transformation and strategic vision.

Going Deeper: 7 Questions for CIOs

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:18:01 Z

Those Who Run Technology Aren't Always Those Who Decide About It

Joseph Teperman | Paulo Aziz Nader | Amrop Brazil

We have spent more than 50 years, combined, working with technology companies. We started inside them, early in our careers. Then we moved to the other side of the table – as consultants, headhunters, mentors, and advisors.

Even after all that time, one thing still stands out: most interviews for technology leadership roles remain shallow.

European Manufacturing: Smart is no longer enough

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:46:38 Z

Matthias Rodewald | Germany

For 20 years, smart factories have been boosting production output, efficiency and adaptiveness. But their potential is still underexploited.

Beyond honing the efficiency of individual machines and fully automated manufacturing lines, skilled organizations are using data holistically to identify bottlenecks and solve problems intelligently. As geopolitical problems intensify, data will be critical to tackle supply chain volatility, from raw‑material to energy consumption, and beyond.

On the upside, real time data access makes it easier to flex competitively to client needs and market dynamics. It can reduce energy use and CO₂ emissions by 25–30%, strengthening a firm’s sustainability credentials and creating an immediate bottom-line impact.

Unlocking Vital Human Value for Telecom Operators

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:00:08 Z

From ‘one size fits all’ to systemic customization: the enterprise opportunity is a true leadership test.

Bo Ekelund | Sweden

More than 5G SA and IoT portfolios, capturing the potential of enterprise and programmable networks means dismantling old habits – and re-designing organizations.

Mobile telecom operators face a perfect storm, with underperforming stocks, profit margins and investments butting up against heavy infrastructure investments. As many are running to stand still, an enterprise-focus is appealing. But designing customer solutions demands systemic culture change.

Unlocking Vital Human Value for Telecom Operators (1)

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:00:08 Z

From ‘one size fits all’ to systemic customization: the enterprise opportunity is a true leadership test.

Bo Ekelund | Sweden

More than 5G SA and IoT portfolios, capturing the potential of enterprise and programmable networks means dismantling old habits – and re-designing organizations.

Leadership Under Pressure: Resisting the Call of Charisma

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 14:20:43 Z

Igor Sulik | Slovakia

Strong-arm rhetoric in the political arena. Forceful founder-CEOs challenging and disrupting the status quo. The socio-economic environment is heating up.

Do boards risk falling prey to an old bias: charismatic, directive leadership? A reversion to an aggressive, short-term culture?

Now is the moment to take a step back, says Igor Sulik, Head of Amrop’s Global Leadership Advisory Practice.

Single family offices are moving upward and outward

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 07:32:21 Z

Their broadening scope is opening new doors for critical talent.

Paul Weinberg | Toronto

Closed, inaccessible worlds. Investment engines and little else. This is the widely held image of the single family office. But change is afoot. SFOs are growing, not only in numbers, but in scope. As their spectrum of activities widens, they’ll need the bandwidth that external executives and advisory board members can bring to the top table.

Appointing outsiders benefits all stakeholders. It opens strategic opportunities for SFOs. It creates enticing career opportunities for top candidates. These deserve examination, argues Paul Weinberg, a Partner with Amrop in Toronto and a member of Amrop’s Global Financial Services Practice.

Inside the Circle: Executive Success Factors Within Single Family Offices

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:05:00 Z

Single Family Offices are changing. Generational wealth transfer is accelerating. Investment mandates are shifting decisively toward direct investments, co-invests and private capital. And governance structures are evolving, as family offices attract increasing scrutiny. This inevitably leads to increased demands for more sophisticated executive talent.

Adam Saunders, Managing Partner at Amrop UK, draws on confidential interviews with senior executives who have held leadership roles within single family offices, and attempts to name experiences that are widely felt but rarely articulated.

The question is ultimately a simple one: as SFOs professionalise, will the talent systems that surround them professionalise too? Or will the sector continue to rely on intuition, goodwill and reference - tools that are genuinely inadequate for the environments they are being used to navigate?

Could the energy transition mean a career transition?

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 09:21:16 Z

Roland Theuws | Netherlands

Renewables or fossil fuels? Today, the question is less ‘either-or’ than ‘see-saw.’ On one hand, policy changes influenced by the US administration, disappointing short-term returns and lagging infrastructure are continuing to cause a row-back on renewables. On the other, geopolitical instability and accelerating climate change have sharply highlighted the perils of reliance on fossil fuels – especially from overseas.

This interplay of forces and counterforces is pulling energy and infrastructure companies in different directions, says Roland Theuws, a Partner with Amrop in the Netherlands and Leader of Amrop’s Global Energy and Infrastructure practice.

As an executive, what could this mean for your next career move?

Know Your Customer. But does your customer know you?

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 08:46:53 Z

AI efficiencies are eroding trust in Financial Services. How can the C-suite get it right?

Mads Nyrup | Denmark

AI is increasingly mastering high‑volume, repeatable work. Processes are becoming real‑time and predictive. Customer onboarding and credit decisions. Settling simple insurance claims, performing triage, detecting fraud, or dynamic underwriting. Real‑time retirement modelling, automated portfolio construction and rebalancing. Behavioral nudging.

Correctly applied, insight and co-pilot tools can certainly augment relationship management. Incorrectly applied, they risk eroding it.

But are they wise?

Bridging the Generation Gap – Part 3: Designing the Future

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:49:11 Z

Over 25 years, directive, autocratic leadership has been replaced by democracy – by dialogue and feedback. By showing authenticity and giving autonomy. This is hardly news. What has changed is the extent to which executives will need these qualities if they are to retain and grow their new gen successors.

How are we to attract and retain the next generation of leaders? Bring out the best in them to secure performance today? Establish a leadership pipeline for tomorrow?

Where should the focus be? And as businesses thrive or fail on daily interactions, are leaders doing enough?

Green isn’t just a tech transition. It’s a human one.

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 11:31:50 Z

Are you open to a different kind of CXO?

Marcus Pokorny | Sweden

Scandinavia is a global leader in green industrial transformation. It has every reason to be. Abundant hydro and wind electricity. Innovative enterprise and a strong climate policy. Close public-private coordination. What’s more, for many of Sweden’s business leaders, climate change is personal.

But it’s also about economics. Like its Nordic neighbours, Sweden’s high operating costs make innovation and efficiency essential (reinforced by automation, AI, and digitization). Manufacturing remains the country’s second largest economic pillar, accounting for 70% of its exports in 2023 – and much of its emissions. World-leading companies such as Volvo, Ericsson, Sandvik, and Electrolux tell an eloquent story.

Converting AI Ambition into Scalable Business Value

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:00:00 Z

The Art of AI in Business: What Actually Works

Most organisations have run AI pilots. Far fewer have scaled them.

Amrop's Global Digital Practice recently brought together four senior practitioners to explore what separates AI experiments from enterprise-wide value. Anthony Belpaire (BNP Paribas Fortis), Łukasz Samborski (ex-Alior Bank), Sofie Perslow (AI advisor, retail and media), and Silvio Giorgio (ex-AusPost, ex-Coles, ex-REA) shared the cases, failures, and practical lessons they have accumulated across industries and geographies.

Two themes ran through every conversation. The first: trust is the real barrier, not technology. The second: the AI that delivers the most value is often the AI nobody sees.

Beyond Expertise: The Rise of AI-Augmented Leadership in Professional Services

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:07:55 Z

“Why would I pay you for work done by AI?”

Gabriela Nguyen-Groza | Luxembourg

As a partner in a professional services firm, you’ll be familiar with the question. And it’s a fair one.

AI is not killing professional services – it is exposing a broken model.

AI now holds more technical knowledge than any individual. As a consultant, the value is no longer in what you know. It lies in how you frame problems, connect disciplines and exercise judgment under uncertainty. The real issue for firms is not AI adoption. It is an outmoded leadership model.

Trust arrives on foot – and leaves on horseback

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 09:17:13 Z

Storytelling and statistics are no longer enough.

Sandra Schrögenauer | Austria

64% of people say they trust CEOs in general. But 72% trust their own CEO.^* The gap between the two figures is revealing. It tells us that trust in a leader is based more on personal experience than corporate messaging. CEOs have never been more present online.

But when it comes to communication, stakeholders don’t want more. They want better, says Sandra Schrögenauer, Managing Partner of Amrop in Austria, and a member of Amrop’s global Board Services Practice.

Bridging the Generation Gap – Part 2: The New Executive Contract

Mon, 25 May 2026 15:32:49 Z

In our last article, we asked: beyond the hype, which new gen* characteristics deserve special attention? Now we examine new gen career expectations, and hiring strategies to identify the Leaders for What’s Next. This 3-part series is based on in-depth interviews with senior Amrop Partners from Northern and Central Europe, Asia, North and South America.

*Gen Z: 20-26 | Young Millennials: 27-34 | Old Millennials: 35-42 | Gen X: 43-60

Feedback is vital: How can leaders activate a healthy practice?

Fri, 22 May 2026 15:14:39 Z

Paolo Clemente | Italy

Feedback is vital. But it’s often missed - and sometimes misused.

As the old adage goes: it’s lonely at the top. And younger executives are feeling isolated too. As global instability increases, taking the right decisions has never been more difficult.

But it doesn’t need to be this way – thanks to the power of feedback. The counsel of supportive, objective advisors dissolves walls. It nourishes and reinforces strategy design and implementation. Yet this precious resource asks nothing of us – except an open mind, writes Paolo Clemente, a Partner at Amrop Italy.

Manufacturing is becoming a technology sector. How could this affect your next career move?

Mon, 18 May 2026 07:18:40 Z

Sandy McKenzie | UK

Industrial leaders are relentlessly deploying AI to improve performance: 92% of leaders in the US alone say smart manufacturing (and AI) will be their main competitiveness driver.ⁱ A true growth engine, AI is embedded in a host of processes. It feeds predictive maintenance, supply‑chain optimization, and pricing. It is wired into customer segmentation and forecasting.

There are exciting implications for executive hiring.

As a board, are you ready for the unthinkable?

Fri, 08 May 2026 12:25:49 Z

Your next black swan is just over the horizon.

Andrew Woodburn | South Africa

It’s natural for a board to switch to conservation mode, especially in the current climate. To focus on governance, ethics, regulatory compliance. Risk management and value protection. But a defensive bias could render your board vulnerable – unequipped to handle the unthinkable. Black swans are never far away.

The past twenty-five years have delivered one unexpected mega-disruptor after another: a global financial crisis, nationalism, COVID, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, tariff wars. Even as I write, blockages in the Straits of Hormuz are impacting the world economy. The gold price is soaring. Factor in regional or localized events, and a black swan looms into view every five years.

Leadership development needs data, tech – and us

Fri, 01 May 2026 15:20:53 Z

Victor Reis | Sweden

But binary thinking remains a real risk. It’s all about the nuance...

Leadership assessment and development specialists are living in interesting times: the burgeoning range of tools and instruments is both promising and disorienting, writes Victor Reis, Partner at Amrop Sweden and member of Amrop's Global Leadership Advisory Practice.

Especially given the dizzying rise of AI, it’s tempting to seek clarity in the black and white: humans versus data and technology. Few deny that we should combine both. But what should that look like? What do we want, and (really) need?

Bridging the Generation Gap – Part 1: Who Are Your Leaders For What's Next?

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 08:40:26 Z

"They have not yet been humbled by life, nor experienced the force of circumstances... They think they know everything." Aristotle.

Since the dawn of time, mature adults have been scratching their heads about the next generation. Family business owners questioning their desire and drive to keep the shop open. Educators mystified by minds that seemed to function differently. Governments worried about the survival of the social and economic fabric. In the 21st century, the Gen Z and Millennial cohorts have sparked megabytes of academic and business studies - and a host of assumptions.

Amrop's new A 3-part series, based on in-depth interviews with senior Amrop Partners, examines the relationship between the new gen and business leadership. Beyond the hype, which new gen characteristics deserve special attention?

Creating AI Heroes

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 14:22:41 Z

Could you be an AI hero?

Christian Axberg | Sweden

Good news. AI isn’t rocket science. It’s about controlled leaps - and empowerment.

Three out of four CEOs fear losing their jobs if AI doesn’t deliver.ⁱ But it’s perfectly possible to move from doubt to dynamism. It’s a question of consciously adopting and adapting, not randomly experimenting. Discerning AI’s potential for your business, taking action where it matters, and acknowledging the human factor.

When it comes to AI, the first question leaders used to ask was: “What do we want to change?” Now it’s: “Do we even want to exist?” If the answer’s yes, then consider this: the more deeply AI infuses the relevant parts of your operations, the faster your organization will adopt and adapt.

Fine-tuning Value Chains in Discount Retail

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 15:35:36 Z

How top players are recruiting and developing top-flight executives in a competitive market

Eelco van Eijck | Netherlands

Low-cost, high-volume models. A rare blend of discipline and agility. As the cost-of-living squeeze drives value-driven consumption, functionality and convenience, discount retail is on the rise. To sustain momentum, Eelco van Eijck asks: how can we find highfliers with an eye for detail and optimization?

Sustainability, Affordability, Security: A Big Ask for a Small Talent Pool

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 14:24:43 Z

Ranju Shergill | Canada

Whether government, city, or PE-owned, energy providers are having to balance multiple imperatives. Accelerating decarbonization and the transition from fossilbased fuels to renewables. Expanding infrastructure, doubling grid capacity to feed EV adoption, industrial electrification, and hungry AI data centers.

Canada is one of the world’s biggest producers, with energy as its main export. This pioneering country is a prime example of the sector’s challenges – and how to solve them. Its leaders are playing an increasingly important role in global clean energy provision.