In the wake of a year of geopolitical and economic turmoil, continued inflation, and supply-chain fragility, it’s not surprising that cost control is top of mind for leaders in Design and Make industries, with 33% citing it as their main business challenge. 

Spending is down in nearly all categories, from technology to talent, as leaders hope to mitigate the continued challenges of a post pandemic economy. This dip in future investments could compound both talent and technology troubles, as organizations will struggle to do more with less.

Thirty-one percent of leaders identify technological advances (including AI) as a top challenge as their organizations struggle to implement new and emerging technologies. Cost-control measures will likely have a downstream impact here and could affect how quickly companies are able to reach their technology and digital transformation goals.

Ironically, cutting investment in technology can have a negative impact on budgets because new tools and processes can often lead to greater efficiencies across the organization. For instance, leaders at data-effective organizations see cost as less of a challenge—just 26% identify it as a top concern, compared to 35% at other organizations. 

Talent remains a perennial struggle, identified by 26% of leaders as a top challenge at their organization. The search for skilled talent is especially difficult, with nearly two-thirds of leaders saying they struggle to find the skills they need. Exacerbating the talent crunch is the growing number of organizations that are letting people go because they lack the right technical skills, further widening their talent gap.

Supply-chain reliability continues to be a concern worldwide, with 49% of business leaders saying their supply chain is fragile due to geopolitical tensions, up from 45% in 2024. 

Despite this increased fragility, there is a global, industrywide decline in the percentage of leaders who say their organizations are diversifying their supply chains. This year saw an 11-point drop (to 65%) in the number of leaders saying their company is diversifying their supply chains.  

During interviews, leaders cited the cost of diversification, competing demands within the organization, and the lack of alternative options to their current supply chain as ongoing struggles with supply-chain resilience. 

But one additional and critical factor companies need to consider when it comes to supply-chain stability is digital maturity. Survey results this year revealed that digitally mature organizations were 41% more likely to diversify their supply chains—giving them a significant edge when it comes to resilience.