As digitization sweeps across China’s economy and transforms consumers’ expectations and behavior, companies in every sector are scrambling to keep up. They must reimagine customer experiences, win at e-commerce, and harness digital technology to reshape their operations and organizations.

What will tomorrow’s CEO look like? In a society of independent consumer-producers acting via different, so-called collaborative platforms, it would undoubtedly be more appropriate to talk about a “chief platform officer” rather than a “chief executive officer” write Egon Zehnder consultants Lisa Barlow and Philippe Compagnion in the French financial daily Les Echos.

Egon Zehnder was privileged to be part of the 60th annual Consumer Goods Forum global summit on 15-17 June 2016. Held in Cape Town, South Africa, the summit provided a window onto the energy and opportunity of Africa— the world’s youngest continent and one of the fastest-growing consumer markets.

In contrast to the “merchant princes” who built the great retail businesses of the last century, the next-generation CEO will need to be a more skilled team builder who can create a culture of motivated collaboration.

Automotive OEMs must work in fundamentally new and different ways to deliver the Connected Car that consumers so clearly desire. The shift begins with objectively assessing and developing leaders’ potential to drive deep strategic change and build more open cultures that effectively integrate diverse expertise.

As sustainability gains importance globally and firms adapt their business models accordingly, the Consumer Goods Industry is definitely ahead of the game. A frank and dynamic discussion between leaders from or adjacent to the industry revealed four key insights.

While many industrial companies in a business-to-business sales environment have identified superior strategic marketing capabilities as a critical long-term success factor, most are unable to achieve the results they’d like from this increasingly important function.