Horváth : USA

The new Horváth CFO-Study shows that economic uncertainty is increasingly weighing on the confidence of finance leaders. Volatile markets, geopolitical tensions, regulatory pressure, and persistently high costs are forcing companies to reassess their priorities. As a result, CFOs are acting with greater caution, focusing on liquidity protection and cost efficiency while shifting investments selectively toward digitalization, automation, and AI to strengthen future resilience.

Risk management has become a central pillar of the CFO agenda. Finance functions are expected to stabilize organizations in turbulent times by strengthening transparency, protecting cash flows, and improving decision-making under uncertainty. Especially developments in US economic policy are perceived as an additional disruptive factor, influencing global markets, supply chains, and strategic planning.

The study is based on insights from more than 240 top finance executives across industries, company sizes, and countries. It highlights how finance leaders worldwide are navigating the growing complexity of today’s business environment – balancing short-term stabilization with long-term transformation needs.

The 6th annual CxO Priorities Study, was conducted via interviews with over 1,000 top executives worldwide from 33 countries and 15 industries. The analysis reveals their strategic priorities and how organizations are adapting investment decisions in response to increasing complexity. While global relocation trends remain nuanced, there is a clear shift in workforce and capital allocation within Europe and other key markets. Innovation, R&D and resilience are high on the agenda. In contrast, sustainability has taken a back seat in the face of more immediate business challenges.

In 2025, escalating trade tensions and new waves of U.S. tariffs, coupled with retaliatory measures from major economies like China and the EU, are reshaping the global trade landscape. Tariffs have evolved from mere policy tools to strategic levers of industrial policy, signaling a structural shift that impacts businesses far beyond the supply chain. 

This paper explores the broader implications of tariff exposure on business models, from corporate governance and transfer pricing to tax planning and commercial strategies. By analyzing recent and historical tariff regimes, it provides actionable insights, highlights key organizational risks, and proposes strategic levers to enhance resilience.

IT today is far more than just a cost-effective service provider – it is evolving into a strategic enabler of value creation, transformation and efficiency. IT organizations face intense innovation pressure and rising expectations. At the same time, they must manage tight budgets, explore new sourcing approaches and develop more flexible governance models.

How is IT positioned within the organization, and what value does it deliver? Which factors and actions are driving IT budgets? And how is the use of artificial intelligence evolving within IT? To answer these questions, we surveyed 356 IT and business decision-makers across 13 countries and over 15 industries – including more than 45 percent C-level executives from small, medium and large enterprises.

SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW) has served organizations for decades as a reliable foundation for data warehousing and business intelligence. It has enabled tailored reporting, financial planning & analysis (FP&A), and financial consolidation through add-ons such as BPC and BCS.  

But the latest version, SAP BW 7.5, including its associated add-ons, will exit mainstream maintenance on 31 December 2027. Extended maintenance will be offered only until 31 December 2030, subject to additional cost. In addition, SAP BW’s architecture no longer meets modern requirements for data-driven FP&A, and AI-enabled performance management & steering (performance intelligence). 

This milestone confronts many finance and analytics leaders with a strategic question: What will be our trusted data & business intelligence platform for the next decades, after SAP BW? 

This paper explains why organizations should define a next-generation data & AI platform now, outlines strategic options for organizations using SAP BW, and concludes how to choose the best strategy.