WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.870 --> 00:00:09.330 And Simon, you've been doing a lot of research 2 00:00:09.330 --> 00:00:11.760 in the realm of geopolitics. 3 00:00:11.760 --> 00:00:14.550 And let me start by asking you, how do you read 4 00:00:14.550 --> 00:00:18.780 the reactions of the firms, of corporate entities 5 00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:20.280 within the space of 6 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:23.130 the rise of geopolitical issues globally? 7 00:00:23.130 --> 00:00:25.770 So geopolitical issues are clearly on the radar 8 00:00:25.770 --> 00:00:26.880 screen of most companies. 9 00:00:26.880 --> 00:00:29.400 We see in publicly listed companies, many, 10 00:00:29.400 --> 00:00:31.770 many more mentions of geopolitical risks 11 00:00:31.770 --> 00:00:33.240 and some cases opportunities. 12 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:35.670 So it's on people's radar screens. 13 00:00:35.670 --> 00:00:37.530 How they're actually reacting to this 14 00:00:37.530 --> 00:00:40.950 and how deep those reactions go, I think is very mixed. 15 00:00:40.950 --> 00:00:42.660 Some companies, I think, are much more used 16 00:00:42.660 --> 00:00:45.810 to operating in geopolitically sensitive areas, 17 00:00:45.810 --> 00:00:47.490 and so they're a bit more attuned to this. 18 00:00:47.490 --> 00:00:49.320 Others were completely surprised 19 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:52.710 by things like the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 20 00:00:52.710 --> 00:00:56.490 and other disruptions that we've seen in the last few years. 21 00:00:56.490 --> 00:00:58.980 And so I think companies are at different places 22 00:00:58.980 --> 00:01:01.320 on this, on this journey. 23 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:04.710 And of course, within companies, some of the responses 24 00:01:04.710 --> 00:01:07.230 and shock is in certain operational units, 25 00:01:07.230 --> 00:01:09.870 maybe supply chain managers and the like, 26 00:01:09.870 --> 00:01:11.850 sometimes I've seen a lot of disruption. 27 00:01:11.850 --> 00:01:15.510 Other cases we see boards beginning to take a much stronger 28 00:01:15.510 --> 00:01:16.590 interest in this. 29 00:01:16.590 --> 00:01:19.440 And I think the c-suite in many companies is beginning 30 00:01:19.440 --> 00:01:23.910 to realize that geopolitics isn't just a plus, 31 00:01:23.910 --> 00:01:27.060 it's not an add-on, it's now becoming core 32 00:01:27.060 --> 00:01:30.690 to making proper strategies, strategic decisions. 33 00:01:30.690 --> 00:01:34.200 And you mentioned how basically the thought 34 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:36.990 on how to incorporate geopolitics within the frames 35 00:01:36.990 --> 00:01:38.130 was developing. 36 00:01:38.130 --> 00:01:40.920 What do you see as those critical components 37 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:43.440 within the frames to actually develop this acumen, 38 00:01:43.440 --> 00:01:45.930 this geopolitical acumen inside the firm? 39 00:01:45.930 --> 00:01:47.160 So let me break this down. 40 00:01:47.160 --> 00:01:50.130 I think ultimately, of course, what we want companies 41 00:01:50.130 --> 00:01:52.560 to be able to do is to make much more informed decisions 42 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:54.030 about the opportunities and risks 43 00:01:54.030 --> 00:01:56.580 which geopolitics presents, along, of course, 44 00:01:56.580 --> 00:01:59.970 with all the other drivers of strategic decisions. 45 00:01:59.970 --> 00:02:02.640 To get to that point, we need to ensure 46 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:05.700 that boards are better informed and also senior managers, 47 00:02:05.700 --> 00:02:09.420 and to get them better informed, companies need to develop 48 00:02:09.420 --> 00:02:12.270 a much more sophisticated geopolitical radar. 49 00:02:12.270 --> 00:02:14.100 They need to figure out how they're gonna acquire 50 00:02:14.100 --> 00:02:16.380 information on geopolitical factors, 51 00:02:16.380 --> 00:02:19.860 how they're gonna retain it, store it when they can, 52 00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:21.960 which decisions they're gonna use it in. 53 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:23.820 And then companies have also gotta figure out 54 00:02:23.820 --> 00:02:28.650 how geopolitical factors should be taking into account of, 55 00:02:28.650 --> 00:02:31.500 in addition to all the other factors which are there too. 56 00:02:31.500 --> 00:02:34.980 I think to the extent that we can start putting numbers 57 00:02:34.980 --> 00:02:37.500 and magnitudes on geopolitical factors, 58 00:02:37.500 --> 00:02:40.440 then things will become a lot more tangible 59 00:02:40.440 --> 00:02:43.470 for many companies, which are used to thinking in 60 00:02:43.470 --> 00:02:44.700 hard numbers and the like. 61 00:02:44.700 --> 00:02:48.180 So I think companies are on a very significant journey 62 00:02:48.180 --> 00:02:49.380 in this respect. 63 00:02:49.380 --> 00:02:51.750 I see some companies making a lot of very serious 64 00:02:51.750 --> 00:02:53.610 investments in this regard. 65 00:02:53.610 --> 00:02:56.070 And it's interesting that the geopolitical function 66 00:02:56.070 --> 00:02:58.680 sometimes is being built out of the strategy units, 67 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:01.320 sometimes out of public affairs units, 68 00:03:01.320 --> 00:03:04.260 government affairs units, sometimes out of compliance. 69 00:03:04.260 --> 00:03:05.670 And it differs across companies 70 00:03:05.670 --> 00:03:08.130 and it'll be very interesting to see 71 00:03:08.130 --> 00:03:11.160 whether the origins or the assignment of these roles 72 00:03:11.160 --> 00:03:14.220 initially shapes the type of geopolitical function 73 00:03:14.220 --> 00:03:15.123 that emerges.