Navigating uncertainty with confidence: Investment priorities for 2025

2025 will be a year of opportunities and challenges. How we approach them will define our future.

Sometimes, the world can feel more uncertain than ever. For business leaders, the road ahead can seem increasingly uncertain due to rapidly evolving technology, changes in policies, fears over supply chain stability, and the move toward more sustainable models. But this is exactly why it is vitally important to have a clear strategy in place to guide us in the right direction.

Navigating Uncertainty with Confidence: Investment Priorities for 2025, a new report from the Capgemini Research Institute, offers a comprehensive overview of emerging investment trends and complexities. The report serves as a companion piece to the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2025 in Davos. It has been designed to serve as a strategic guide for CEOs, helping them align their investment strategies with broader global trends. It includes recommendations for CEOs and their leadership teams to help them navigate their investment strategies for 2025 and beyond. These recommendations include building resilient supply chains, harnessing sustainability for growth, preparing for regulatory changes and geopolitical uncertainty, developing a strong partner ecosystem within nearshoring and friendshoring strategies, and accelerating digital transformation and tech investment.

The third annual edition of the investment trends report draws insights from a survey of 2,500 senior executives across 17 countries and nine industries. It also includes a discussion with Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director and Head of the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

According to the report, even with ongoing global uncertainties, 62% of large organisations are optimistic about their growth prospects for 2025, an increase from 56% in 2024. However, this confidence contrasts with a more cautious view of the broader global economy.

Cost reduction is a strategic objective for 2025, with 56% of organisations prioritising it over revenue growth in 2025. Despite the cost containment imperative, 50% of organisations plan to increase overall investment in 2025 to drive efficiency and long-term competitiveness.

The top investment priorities for 2025 are customer experience and engineering, R&D, and innovation and the fastest growing priorities are supply chain transformation and sustainability. Navigating Uncertainty with Confidence: Investment Priorities for 2025 found that 63% of business leaders plan to increase investment in the supply chain, up 15 percentage point from 2024. And 62%  plan to increase sustainability investments in 2025, up 10 percentage points from last year.

Although investment growth in sustainability has slowed, sustainability still remains an important aspect of businesses’ future plans, with sustainability investment focusing on climate technologies, sustainable product design, biodiversity, and water. When it comes to technology investment, US organisations, particularly mid-sised ones, are expected to outspend their global peers on tech investments, with AI and generative AI being top priorities.

The key challenges and risks for 2025 are trade disputes and tariffs and talent scarcity. Seven out of ten executives globally are concerned about rising tariffs and bilateral trade disputes. And a majority (61%) of business leaders agree that the lack of tech skills is significantly hindering their organisation’s ability to remain competitive.

Download the full report now.