Carol Liao, chair of BCG Greater China, outlined the primary anxieties facing Chinese business leaders at the Fortune Leaders Forum on September 8, 2026. She emphasized adaptability and organizational culture over pure technology as key responses to globalization shifts, artificial intelligence implementation, and generational changes.

Liao identified three major sources of concern for executives in the region. "There are a few anxieties Chinese leaders have," she said. "Globalization anxiety, AI anxiety, as well as generational shift… It’s quite a lot for leaders to think about." She noted that the nature of global expansion has evolved from previous decades.

"Globalization has been going on for Chinese companies for 20, 30 years," Liao said. "But for a long time, it’s been a trading model. It’s about exporting the products, exporting the capacity to the world." Today, she observed, "Globalization, in a way, [has] become localization." This shift is visible in sectors such as electric vehicles, where Chinese companies like BYD are building factories globally and integrating international supply chains.

Regarding artificial intelligence, Liao stated that technical barriers are less important than human factors. "Seventy percent [of AI transformation] is really about people: changing organization, ways of working, incentives, dealing with organizational inertia," she said. "That’s a hard problem." She added that "Technology often is not the problem," but rather "The problem is often how you run this human transformation." According to her LinkedIn post, 75% of CEOs consider AI a strategic priority, but only 25% currently see tangible value from its implementation.

Liao also noted that AI can assist global operations, stating, Many of our clients find AI helps even more when they go global … because the intelligence on the market can be gathered quickly. "The supply chain can be managed more efficiently."

Liao advised leaders to focus on flexibility rather than prediction. "Instead of trying to predict the future, it’s probably better off to really enhance the muscle of adaptability," she said. "Judgment does have a premium." Her perspective draws on a career at BCG that began in 1995, with over 30 years of experience advising companies on strategy and AI-driven transformation.

She has led BCG’s CEO Advisory in Greater China since 2019 and served on the firm’s Global Executive Committee from 2016 to 2022. In 2021, she co-authored the book China’s Pathway to Net Zero, which focused on sustainability strategies for Chinese enterprises.

Other executives at the forum echoed the emphasis on adaptability and cultural clarity. Chanda Beppu, president of Starbucks Asia Pacific, discussed the limits of forecasting. "We can’t always create certainty about what’s to come," Beppu said.

"We can create clarity about what matters most to our business and to our teams." She noted the practical application of technology within her organization. "Where [AI] enhances our culture and our purpose, where it removes friction for our baristas, it’s valuable to us," Beppu said. Feroz Sheikh, chief information and digital officer at Syngenta Group, also stressed the need for resilience. "The way to deal with all of these complexities is to build that muscle of being able to adapt," Sheikh said. He noted that heat stress in Europe resulted in the loss of almost 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) of agricultural production in 2026. Sheikh advocated for environments that support experimentation. "It’s safe to fail, and it’s not a blip on your career," Sheikh said.