Author: Naomi Chan

The gig economy was meant to be temporary. Fifteen years later, it has institutionalised. For workforce strategy in the late 2020s, contingent work is no longer optional to plan for — it’s central.

Two decades of flattening has eliminated the layer that actually makes large organisations work. The productivity, retention, and burnout data are now visible — and not what the theory predicted.

From the EU AI Act to China’s generative AI rules to state-level US action, AI regulation is becoming a fragmented but consequential reality. Here’s what business leaders need to navigate it.

Sustainable businesses are outperforming on revenue growth, margins, and capital costs. The green premium is real, measurable, and earned through operational substance — not communications strategy.

Sanctions have moved from the periphery of international business to the centre. For any company with global operations, compliance is no longer back-office — it’s a board-level strategic concern.

After a three-year drought, the IPO window is reopening. The market that has returned rewards profitability, strong NRR, and clean capital structures — not growth at any cost. What founders need to know now.

Every VC is now an AI fund. Every pitch deck references AI. The contrarian founder — building seriously in categories the market is ignoring — has structural advantages that the current hype cycle obscures.

Seed-stage valuations have risen sharply, AI is crowding out everything else, and warm introductions still dominate deal flow. First-time founders without established networks face a structurally harder fundraising environment.

AI companies are commanding 20–30x revenue multiples. Some are justified by genuine moats and market scale. Many are not. Distinguishing between the two is the most consequential investment question in technology right now.

OpenAI raised $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation. Sovereign wealth funds are writing cheques that traditional VC cannot match. For the next generation of founders, the implications are not straightforward.