CEIBS Faculty Predictions 2025

January 7, 2025. Shanghai – From new technological developments to geopolitical upheaval and uncertain economic prospects, 2025 promises to be a year of change. To gauge where the world might be heading, we asked some of our faculty members to offer their predictions for the year ahead. Read on to find out what they think the next 12 months may have in store.
Zhu Tian
Professor of Economics, Santander Chair in Economics, and Associate Dean (EMBA)
“The year 2025 could be a turning point for China’s economy. If China further intensifies its fiscal and monetary policies to stimulate consumption and investment, and strengthens protections for the private sector, the economy could return to an upward trajectory in 2025.”

Shameen Prashantham
Professor of International Business and Strategy
“I expect 2025 to be a year of heightened uncertainty and complexity as three key macroenvironmental forces – digitalisation (especially AI), sustainability (especially climate change) and geopolitics (especially China-US tensions) – continue to intensify and intersect. Success in navigating these unsettled times will in part come down to how well companies and individuals can be both strategic and entrepreneurial. This, in turn, calls for accepting that complex challenges typically don’t have simple answers – and that there’s no room for intellectual dishonesty or laziness.”
Dr. Robert Straw
CEIBS Zurich CEO
“In 2025, opportunities lie in leveraging AI advancements for innovation across industries, Europe’s steady economic growth for sustainable development, and tapping into the global talent pool, particularly China's record number of graduates. However, significant challenges include escalating US-China tensions disrupting global trade, labour market pressures from slowing growth in China and regional disparities in Europe, and ethical dilemmas around unregulated AI development. Capitalising on these opportunities while addressing these challenges will require strategic investments, collaboration, and a focus on governance. The balance between competition and cooperation in technology and trade will define global progress in 2025. Resilience and adaptability will be key for nations, businesses and individuals.”
Wang Yajin
Professor of Marketing
“The consumer outlook for 2025 may remain cautiously optimistic. Beyond essential needs, emotional value will become increasingly scarce and highly sought after by consumers. The market is expected to grow more polarized and segmented, requiring businesses to gain sharper insights into their customers and adopt multi-product and multi-brand strategies to address these challenges.”

Nana Yaa A. Gyamfi
Lecturer of Management
“As large employers such as Amazon trend toward integrating AI and robotic technology in the workplace, employees will prioritise gaining skills and capabilities, in order to be more versatile in shaping their careers and navigating the job market.”

Yinliang (Ricky) Tan
Professor of Decision Sciences and Management Information Systems
“Artificial intelligence is revolutionising the global industrial ecosystem, from intelligent healthcare to autonomous driving, emerging as a critical force propelling innovation and efficiency. In the future, increasingly intelligent and human-centric AI systems will be deeply integrated into our daily lives, providing unprecedented decision support and creative assistance to humanity.”
Mai Ke
Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour
“By 2025, effective leaders will need to cultivate a new set of skills to navigate the complexities of an AI-driven workplace. This includes not only understanding how to leverage AI tools for decision-making but also fostering a culture of innovation and adaptability among their teams. In the year 2025, successful leaders will prioritise human-AI collaboration, recognising that the most effective outcomes arise from combining human creativity with AI efficiency. Leaders will need to guide their teams in embracing AI as a partner, fostering an environment where technology enhances, rather than replaces, human contributions.”

Bai Guo
Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship
“Making predictions for 2025 is rather difficult, as we face fascinating opportunities and daunting challenges simultaneously. In my personal view, when uncertainty is so high, it is useless to make predictions. Instead, we should focus on the “right” things. For business leaders, that would be protecting their employees and competitiveness by continuing to create value for users. When the waves are strong, surf. Be agile, be entrepreneurial, stay humble, and keep learning. Let’s make the best out of 2025!”