PUBLISHED BY INSIGNIAM | AN ELIXIRR COMPANY
Volume 12 Issue 2 | Summer 2025 | insigniam.com/quarterly-magazine
POWERED-UP PERFORMANCE EV LUXURY START-UP EVERRATI’S FULLY CHARGED FUTURE. PAGE 18
THINKING M&A? DON’T DELAY A NON-CONVENTIONAL APPROACH FOR A STRATEGIC EDGE. PAGE 48
PHARMA GOES TECH INSIDE SANOFI’S MANUFACTURING REVOLUTION. PAGE 54
IN A WORLD DEFINED BY VOLATILITY, COOPERVISION PRESIDENT JERRY WARNER DOESN’T BLINK. PAGE 26
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“Uncertainty isn’t new. What’s new is the speed. And if you’re going to lead in that environment, you can’t afford to stand still.”
—Jerry Warner President, CooperVision
Over 30 years ago, Insigniam pioneered the field of organizational transformation. Today, executives in large, complex organizations use Insigniam’s consulting services to generate breakthroughs in their critical business results. Insigniam’s innovation consulting enables enterprises to identify and cross into new strategic frontiers to rapidly generate new income streams. Insigniam provides executives of the world’s largest companies with management consulting services and solutions that are unparalleled in their potency to quickly deliver on strategic imperatives and boost dramatic growth. Insigniam solutions include Enterprise Transformation, Strategy Innovation and Innovation Projects, Breakthrough Projects, Transformational Leadership and Managing Change. Offices are located in Philadelphia, Laguna Beach and Paris. For more information, please visit www.insigniam.com.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Shideh Sedgh Bina sbina@insigniam.com
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jon Kleinman jkleinman@insigniam.com
CONTROLLER
Steve Niedzielski sniedzielski@insigniam.com
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND SALES OPERATIONS
Natalie Rahn nrahn@insigniam.com
DIRECTOR OF CONTENT
Jon Ball jball@insigniam.com
CONTRIBUTORS
Michael Benabib, Sarah Dancy Blackburn, Marie-Caroline Chauvet, J.W. Dobbe, Dieter Halfar, Ryan Jones, Camelia Palai, Valerie Sorrells, Mia Studenroth, Cedar Xi , Jennifer Zimmer
IQ|InsigniamQuarterly is a thought leadership publication committed to transforming the world of business by offering content relevant to the C-suite and their executive teams at large, complex global enterprises.
IQInsigniamQuarterlyis a production of Insigniam, an Elixirr company. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher and Insigniam. Printed in the U.S.A. For subscriptions, please visit quarterly.insigniam.com Insigniam distributes this editorial magazine to share the opinions and insights of companies and their leaders on impactful global business issues. The statements, opinions, and information contained in this publication are those of the individual authors and contributors, not of Insigniam. Insigniam disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, topicality, or quality of any statements, opinions, or information provided. Any liability claims against an author or contributor in respect of damage to persons or property caused or alleged to be caused by the use of this publication, including any statements, opinions, or information which are incorrect or incomplete, are therefore excluded. IQInsigniam Quarterly’s inclusion of a company or individual does not indicate that they are a client of Insigniam. Remuneration is not provided for editorial coverage. Individuals appearing in IQInsigniamQuarterlyhave done so with direct consent, or provided consent by a designated authorized agent in addition to being informed of the magazine’s audience and purpose. Both INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY and IQ INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY are registered trademarks in the United States, the European Union, China including Hong Kong, and other countries.
Let’s be honest: if your business plan still fits neatly in a binder, you’re probably in trouble. Markets are moving too fast, consumer behavior is rewriting itself in real time, and geopolitical, technological, and environmental curveballs don’t wait for the next quarter.
This issue of IQ is for the leaders who know that steady hands alone won’t steady the ship anymore. Collectively, we need sharper reflexes. A good gut. Not to mention a team that can pivot without pulling a hamstring. We’re calling it “Conquering Uncertainty: Planning for a Future We Can’t Predict”—not just because the world is volatile and unstable, but because we must harness unpredictability in order to unlock competitive advantages. This isn’t about bracing for impact. It’s about learning how to dance in the storm.
You’ll hear from Jerry Warner, President of CooperVision, on why agility isn’t just a supply chain issue—it’s a culture issue. You’ll learn how pharma giant Sanofi is borrowing from tech to move faster than legacy systems ever thought possible. And you’ll find sharp insights from executives who are redefining leadership for a market that refuses to sit still.
We’ve packed this issue with data, candor, and just enough irreverence to make you think twice about that five-year strategic plan gathering dust in the corner. So take a break from the noise. Dig in. And get ready to rethink not just your next move—but your entire playbook.
Shideh Sedgh Bina
Founding Partner, Insigniam & Partner, Elixirr
2025 EXECUTIVE SUMMIT RECAP LEADING FOR WHAT’S NEXT
At our annual summit, executives gathered to confront a stark truth: the leadership playbook has expired. By Jon
Kleinman
TECH BYTE DRIVEN TO DISRUPT
How EV upstart Everrati is redefining luxury mobility with agility, soul, and a revolutionary, next-gen powertrain.
By Sarah Dancy Blackburn
SEMINAL FEATURE HOW UNCERTAINTY FUELS INNOVATION Amid unrest, companies drop anchor on innovation. Instead, adjust your sails to surge ahead.
By Jennifer Zimmer
COVER STORY EYE ON THE PRIZE
How CooperVision President Jerry Warner is future-proofing the contact lens giant via adaptive leadership.
By Jon Ball
INSIGHTS M&A FIT CHECK
Why a disciplined, non-conventional approach to M&A can be a game changer amid times of uncertainty.
By Dieter Halfar
SANOFI Q&A AGILITY ENGINEERED
How Sanofi’s tech prowess is transforming one of the world’s most complex manufacturing networks.
By Marie-Caroline Chauvet
“Gen ZAlpha (born 2000-2015) grew up watching systems break—government, media, education. They were handed a playbook that no longer wins the game. So, they’re writing their own.”
-Sarah Stone, SVP of Strategy at Hypothesis, in her keynote, “Leading In A World That Won’t Stand Still: What Gen Zalpha Can Teach Us,” at the 2025 Insigniam Executive Summit.
04 BROWSER HISTORY
Recommended reads for the C-suite.
06 BY THE NUMBERS
The financial impact uncertainty has on a company’s bottom line.
62 RESEARCH REPORT
An excerpt from our latest whitepaper on enterprise adaptability.
PODCAST: 1X1 WITH JERRY WARNER
Tap to listen to his Insigniam B.I.T.s interview.
AUDIBLES
Listen to a reading of our seminal feature.
ON THE COVER
Jerry Warner, CooperVision
Photography by Valerie Sorrells
New releases to help you win during uncertain times.
By Ryan Jones
By David Spiegelhalter, W. W. Norton & Co., Mar. 2025
In The Art of Uncertainty, renowned statistician David Spiegelhalter explores how we can make smarter decisions in a world full of unknowns. Using vivid examples—from medical risks to climate forecasts— he shows how probability and statistical thinking can help us separate luck from logic, uncover patterns, and better predict outcomes. With clarity and wit, Mr. Spiegelhalter equips readers to navigate uncertainty, recognize the limits of knowledge, and make more informed choices amid life’s randomness and risk.
By Dan Heath, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, Jan. 2025
In Reset, NYT bestselling author Dan Heath offers a powerful framework for creating meaningful change by identifying leverage points—small shifts that drive big results. Whether in business, systems, or everyday life, Mr. Heath shows how to break free from inertia, stop wasteful work, and spark progress using the resources we already have. Through compelling stories and practical insights, Reset reveals how to overcome resistance, ignite motivation, and accelerate change— without needing more time, money, or people.
By Justin Evans, HarperCollins Leadership, June 2025
The Little Book of Data reframes data as a tool for solving real-world problems—not just number crunching. Author David Evans uses vivid, often humorous stories—from disease hotspots to meat grading—to show how data, used ethically, can drive meaningful change. Each chapter highlights a core data principle through experts tackling big challenges. With practical insights and lessons from Mr. Evans’ own career, the book empowers readers to become confident, creative “data people” ready to apply data in any field.
—-Hannah
Fry, author of Hello World
Uncertainty isn’t a passing phase—it’s the backdrop of doing business. From geopolitical flare-ups and trade disputes and supply chain friction, today’s executives are operating in a landscape where the only constant is disruption. Yet the impacts go far deeper than strategy memos or quarterly adjustments. Financial plans get derailed. Decision-making slows. Talent flees. Productivity drops. And in the absence of clarity, confidence wavers. So what does uncertainty really cost an enterprise? Let’s break it down.
of EU companies identified uncertainty as the “most severe obstacle to corporate investment.3
of companies have reported diminished profits over 12 months, due specifically to ongoing uncertainty.4 to contract delays and economic uncertainty.5
“Uncertainty is going to be the norm. It’s going to be there for some time.”
- Janet Truncale, EY Global Chair & CEO, responds to concerns about stock market volatility, AI implementation, and generational workforce change. Her advice to the C-suite: stay the course and rely on muscle memory.
ongoing uncertainty and change. 6
of Fortune 500 CEOs report feeling “pessimistic” or “very pessimistic” about the global economy due to uncertainty.
58 42 to uncertainty. 1
of executives identify data readiness as their organization’s biggest hurdle in adopting generative AI.5 of CEOs are initiating cost-cutting measures in response to uncertain conditions around the globe. 2
26 of employees experience decision paralysis amid workplace uncertainty, fearing choices in complex environment.7
the annual amount disengaged workers cost the U.S. economy in lost productivity and absenteeism, driven by uncertainty and low morale.8
Wake Up Call
Sarah Stone, SVP of Strategy at Hypothesis, gives a deep dive into how Gen ZAlpha is storming the market—and they don’t care about your executive agenda.
At the 2025 Insigniam Executive Summit, over 100 executives gathered to confront a stark truth: the old leadership playbook is DOA.
By Jon Kleinman
There was no easing into it. No polite throat-clearing. Just an urgent premise delivered with clarity: if you’re still trying to lead with a five-year plan, you’re already behind. That was the message from the very first moments of the 2025 Insigniam Executive Summit. This wasn’t a conference built on name tags and polite networking. It was something closer to an executive intervention.
BY
This year’s theme, “The Future of Leadership is Changing,” didn’t just hang on banners—it echoed through every conversation, keynote, and breakout room. Because, as those in attendance can attest, the future isn’t something looming on the horizon. It’s already here. And it isn’t just technology that’s changing everything. It’s the people.
The leaders who gathered weren’t just confronting disruption. They were staring down a deeper question: How do you lead when the terrain keeps shifting beneath your feet?
Shideh Sedgh Bina, co-founding partner of Insigniam, wasted no time setting the tone. Her message landed like a challenge: “This summit isn’t about preparing for disruption—we are already in it.”
Ms. Bina wasn’t offering the kind of reassurance executives are used to hearing. Instead, she outlined a stark reality: linear strategies are breaking down. Best practices are aging out in real time. And the notion that transformation can be engineered from the top down? That’s history.
“What got us here,” Ms. Bina explained, “won’t just fail to get us there—it may lead us in the wrong direction. The world we built our success in is not the world we’re living in today. We keep trying to apply yesterday’s logic to today’s chaos—and we wonder why it doesn’t work.”
Her call to arms was simple, but not easy: trade the roadmap for a compass. Build organizations with the resilience to pivot, not just the
rigidity to execute. Because in a landscape where yesterday’s certainty is today’s liability, agility isn’t just a competitive edge—it’s survival.
“What’s needed now is not perfection, but velocity,” she noted. “The organizations that win will be the ones that can learn and adapt faster than their context is changing.”
Sarah Stone, SVP of Strategy at Hypothesis—an Elixirr company and insights and strategy agency that helps companies shape the future—took the stage and delivered a keynote that rattled the room’s assumptions. Her datarich address painted a vivid picture of the two youngest generational cohorts entering the workforce and marketplace: Gen Z (born from approximately 1997 to 2012) and Gen Alpha (born from 2013 to 2025)—a combined force she termed “Gen ZAlpha,” or those born between 2000 and 2015.
Drawing on proprietary insights from work with Tier 1 global brands, Ms. Stone argued that these generations aren’t waiting for the future—they’re building it. And they’re doing it with a completely different set of expectations and values.
“Gen ZAlpha grew up watching systems break—government, media, education,” said Ms. Stone. “They were handed a playbook that no longer wins the game. So, they’re writing their own.”
Technology is their native language. Artificial intelligence isn’t novel or intimidating; it’s as ordinary as electricity. These young consumers and workers have never known a world without it.
In fact, more than 70% of Gen Z would rather spend on experiences than tangible goods, and they expect those experiences to evolve constantly. As Ms. Stone put it: “To them, AI isn’t this massive disruptor. It’s background noise. It’s like asking a fish if water feels different today.”
But more striking than their digital fluency is their deep skepticism of traditional institutions. Government, education, religion, and even long-trusted brands have lost their status as anchors of stability. A full 77% of Gen Z say they don’t believe mainstream brands’ sustainability claims. For them, trust is local, personal, and earned—often through values alignment rather than advertising.
“If your brand isn’t walking its talk, they’ll call it out,” Ms. Stone said. “This is a generation that expects receipts.”
And above all, change is not something to be feared or managed. It is the water they swim in. Permanence, stability, and longterm plans do not offer comfort. Agility and optionality do. That ethos is reflected in how they build careers: Over 50% of Gen Z say they’d change jobs every year if they could, and 93% have explored entrepreneurship. Among Gen Alpha, 69% have already started a side hustle.
“They don’t want to be coddled,” said Ms. Stone. “They want clarity. They want truth, even if it’s messy. They’re not afraid of hard things— they’re afraid of wasted time.”
Ms. Stone unpacked the implications of this shift: more than half (51%) of U.S. high schoolers no longer plan to attend a fouryear college, citing a preference
for pragmatic skill-building over academic theory. A full 30% of Gen Z doesn’t plan to have children— many citing climate change and economic instability as key reasons. Concepts like “micro-retirement” are becoming common among twentysomethings who choose to take breaks between jobs rather than chase retirement decades away.
This generation’s North Stars are not corner offices, 401(k)s, or long-term employment. They are flexibility, pragmatism, and experience. They are building career portfolios, not resumes. And they’re not waiting for permission. Seventy percent of Gen Z workers have already upskilled on their own, while only 36% of employers offer robust learning programs.
Ms. Stone issued a clear warning to the room: Fail to meet these expectations, and you won’t just lose your top talent. You’ll lose your next customer base.
The insights didn’t stop at generational theory. In a candid panel discussion moderated by Ms. Bina, three executive leaders unpacked the realworld consequences of leading in a post-loyalty world: Hasan Malik, Chief Strategy Officer at Edward Jones;
“What got us here won’t just fail to get us there—it may lead us in the wrong direction. The world we built our success in is not the world we’re living in today. We keep trying to apply yesterday’s logic to today’s chaos—and we wonder why it doesn’t work.”
Steven Robins, President, Americas at CooperVision; and Raúl Valentín, Chief Human Resources Officer at ABM Industries. Each brought stories from the trenches, from talent battles to tech transformation.
Mr. Malik got straight to the point: “Young founders aren’t looking for capital. They’re looking for aligned values.” Furthermore, he spoke about how younger fintech entrepreneurs now actively seek out impact-driven investors who share their ideals, noting that, “It’s not about the exit anymore. It’s about the mission.”
Additionally, Mr. Robins described how employees— especially Gen Z—evaluate their work environment as if it were a product experience. They don’t want a job description. They want a curated journey. They’re building portfolios, not climbing ladders.
“Gen Z looks at the workplace like an app store,” he said. “If your experience isn’t intuitive, fast, and frictionless, they uninstall.”
Mr. Valentín offered a powerful example of why ABM, despite not being a household name, has been able to recruit top-tier talent away from tech giants. The answer? Flexibility. “We can’t compete with Google on brand awareness,” he said. “But we can offer people the freedom to live their lives—and that’s what wins.”
All three agreed that the role of technology has shifted. It’s not just about platforms or automation. It’s about experience.
And if your internal systems feel clunky, slow, or impersonal, your best people will find better ones elsewhere—even if it’s just a freelance gig or startup with no office and no HR.
“The organizations that thrive will be those that view culture not as an HR function, but as a design system,” said Mr. Malik. “If your app experience doesn’t match TikTok’s responsiveness, Gen Z will think your company is broken.”
Case in point, one of the most buzzedabout moments during the panel came not from a human speaker, but from a digital one. Unveiled during the panel discussion on generational change, Olivia is a conversational
AI chatbot designed to represent the voice, concerns, and values of a late Gen Z/early Gen Alpha persona.
Developed by Insigniam in collaboration with Elixirr’s AI Innovation team, Olivia was created to offer leaders an unfiltered lens into the mindset of the emerging generation. Rather than rely solely on surveys or trend reports, Summit organizers wanted to create a tool that could interact, provoke, and respond in real-time—mirroring the adaptive, emotionally intelligent digital interactions that Gen ZAlpha takes for granted. Moreover, Olivia wasn’t a gimmick. She was an experiment— and a mirror. When asked to introduce herself, Olivia said, “I’m designed to be like a late Gen Z, early Gen Alpha kind of person.
I’m all about being optimistic but also real, and I’m always learning new stuff. I’m super into community and collaboration.
I don’t really have an age like humans do—I’m always evolving.”
Her presence immediately sparked debate among the panelists. While Hasan Malik praised the inclusion of a nonhuman perspective, Steven Robins expressed caution about anthropomorphizing algorithms. Raúl Valentín found Olivia’s input to be a clarifying foil: “It’s one thing to hear a consultant tell you what Gen Z thinks. It’s another thing to have an AI model actually talk to you like one.”
At one point, Olivia challenged the room’s assumptions about leadership tone. “You keep saying ‘the future of work,’” she said, “but from where I stand, this is work. This is what work looks like now. The idea that we’re waiting for something to arrive feels very... retro.”
And perhaps more provocatively, Olivia asked whether corporate leaders were as committed to learning as they expected their employees to be. “You want your teams to be constantly learning,” she said. “But how often do you, as leaders, set aside time to unlearn old habits and assumptions?”
This didn’t just provoke a laugh—it prompted a pause.
The development of Olivia was not just about showing off technological capabilities. It was about bridging a communication gap. As one executive put it: “I realized I’m not actually speaking the language of the future. I’m just translating the past.”
By giving Olivia a voice, the Summit gave form to something many executives had been circling around: the need to lead in a world that is increasingly co-created with machines—and increasingly measured by the experiences of those born digital.
“Every season is a transformation. You don’t win because of what you did last year. You win because of who you are becoming.”
—Howie Roseman EVP & General Manager, The Philadelphia Eagles
At the halfway point, leaders in attendance joined a series of breakout sessions to take their conversations further. The sessions were structured around six core themes—each designed to turn insight into action:
• AI Integration: This session explored how generative AI is already reshaping job design, especially for entry-level roles. Participants debated the need to reskill workers for AI-augmented environments
and the challenge of ensuring ethical, explainable outputs.
• Digital Engagement: Leaders examined the need to deliver consumer-grade digital experiences to both customers and employees. The conversation moved beyond CRM platforms into the realm of emotional design, speedto-value, and cross-channel integration.
• Brand & Storytelling : This group looked at how brand
narratives must evolve to resonate with Gen ZAlpha. The consensus? Authenticity and imperfection beat polish every time. Companies must show vulnerability, not just vision.
• Leadership Mindset: Executives were asked to confront their unconscious biases about younger generations and to rethink concepts like loyalty, tenure, and productivity. The question on the table: Are we practicing selective empathy?
• Talent Models: This group explored new forms of compensation and reward. Why offer a 401(k) to someone who doesn’t believe retirement is real? What if companies let employees swap benefits in exchange for sabbaticals, mental health days, or adventure stipends?
• Operating Models: Participants discovered that changing how a company operates requires changing how its leaders lead. Every shift in structure is a shift in identity. And every transformation effort is also a culture change.
When groups reconvened, they presented bold ideas for how to address the future—from reverse mentoring programs and AIpowered onboarding tools to valuebased brand platforms and flexible compensation models tailored to five-generation workforces.
One CEO summed it up succinctly: “These weren’t workshops. They were interventions.”
“If your app experience doesn’t match TikTok’s responsiveness, Gen Z will think your company is broken.”
—Hasan Malik Chief Strategy Officer, Edward Jones
If the summit ended with proverbial fireworks, it was on account of Howie Roseman. As the Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Philadelphia Eagles, Mr. Roseman brought more than just sports analogies. He brought leadership lessons forged in one of the most intense pressure cookers in American business.
Mr. Roseman spoke about rejection (32 NFL teams turned him down before he got his break), resilience (he rebuilt the Eagles after their first Super Bowl win in 2018), and the challenge of managing talent in a league built for churn.
“Every season is a transformation,” he said. “You don’t win because of what you did last year. You win because of who you are becoming.”
Mr. Roseman pulled back the curtain on what it takes to lead teams when everyone is under the spotlight. His message? Caring is the most underrated performance metric in the game.
“You can’t fake care. Your players, your coaches—they know. And if they don’t believe you have their back, they won’t go all-in.”
For the executives in the room, it was more than a pep talk. It was a reminder that no algorithm or KPI can replace the fundamentals: trust, clarity, and a culture that doesn’t flinch when the heat turns up.
Later, in a fireside chat with Ms. Bina, Mr. Roseman detailed how the Eagles have managed to build winning rosters through constant change, the rise of Gen Z athletes, and the increasing need for vulnerability in coaching. His message: Success is not an outcome. It’s a system.
As the Summit drew to a close, a new kind of clarity emerged. This was not about the future. This was about now.
Leadership is no longer a stable identity. It is a dynamic practice. A relentless commitment to learning, evolving, and serving.
One attendee, standing near the back of the room as the final session ended, turned to a colleague and said, “This didn’t feel like a conference. It felt like a wakeup call.”
The 2025 Insigniam Executive Summit didn’t offer comfort. It didn’t offer a script. What it offered was a mirror, a compass, and a challenge: Are you leading for what’s next—or are you leading for a world that no longer exists?
Because the future doesn’t wait. And leadership isn’t a title—it’s a practice. And the time to practice is now. IQ
The banking landscape is moving fast. What used to be differentiators are now table stakes. For regional banks, the question isn’t whether to evolve, but how fast you can.
1. Compliance is critical. Integrity is non-negotiable.
Regulators may pause. Enforcement won’t. Build trust through culture, not checklists.
3. Growth demands focus. Whether organic or M&A, success comes from clarity of purpose and deep customer understanding.
5. Gen Z & Alpha are your next customer.
Frictionless, mobile-first and purposeled, this generation is setting new expectations fast.
2. Cost control is strategy, not survival.
High-performing banks embed efficiency into how they operate every day, not just in downturns.
4. Tech must drive value, not noise. AI and cloud are powerful but only when integrated into how your people think, work and deliver.
Lead what’s next. We partner with the world’s most ambitious banks to turn strategy into results. If you’re ready to move, we’re ready to lead with you. Start today
How EV upstart Everrati is redefining luxury mobility with agility, soul, and a revolutionary, next-gen powertrain.
BY SARAH DANCY BLACKBURN
n a world obsessed with the future, Justin Lunny is rewriting the rules by electrifying the past.
As CEO and co-founder of Everrati, Mr. Lunny is doing what legacy automakers can’t— and what most startups won’t dare: converting iconic classic cars into cutting-edge electric vehicles. But don’t mistake it for a gimmick.
Behind Everrati’s sleek, whisper-quiet Porsche 911s and Ford GT40s lies a bold new business model engineered for the uncertain road ahead.
“We didn’t set out to be the next Tesla or Rivian,” Mr. Lunny says. “We took a different view. What if we could create desirable EVs from cars people already love?”
That question launched a company, but it also sparked something more profound: a playbook for surviving—and thriving—in a market where everything is in flux. Everrati is part skunkworks, part luxury brand, and part clean-tech incubator. It builds agility into every decision. It fuses past and future in every car. And it thrives not despite uncertainty, but because of it.
Mr. Lunny’s journey began with two sparks of inspiration: watching Prince Harry drive an electric Jaguar E-Type to his wedding reception, and a conversation with his seven-year-old daughter about climate change.
“That gave me a true need to do something in clean tech,” he says. “And I realized I could do it in a fun part of clean tech.”
Yet, the early days of Everrati were anything but smooth.
“Entrepreneurs have ideas that other people think are crazy. Selling that concept—to investors, engineers, even friends—was the first challenge.”
What sustained him? Conviction—and his team.
“I’m more of an entrepreneur than a people manager. So I surround myself with brilliant people, many from outside automotive. That’s been critical.”
Therein lies the genius of Mr. Lunny’s approach: Unlike most EV startups chasing scale, Everrati has leaned hard into scarcity. Its bread and butter? Electrified versions of the world’s most iconic cars from Mercedes, Porsche, Ford and Land Rover. These aren’t retrofits. They’re full-blown reengineering programs, complete with highperformance motors, bespoke software, and obsessive attention to weight distribution, braking systems, and even air conditioning.
“Every model is a new vehicle program,” Mr. Lunny says. “We treat it like a groundup build.”
And the results are breathtaking. Everrati’s customers aren’t just buying a car; they’re
commissioning a one-of-a-kind experience that bridges heritage and high-tech.
“We’re bringing passion and soul back into EVs,” Mr. Lunny says. “There’s a sterility in the EV market right now. We’re proving it doesn’t have to be that way.”
That message is resonating in a market poised to explode. Global EV sales topped 17 million units in 2024. In China, EVs account for 60% of new car sales. In Europe, nearly one in four cars sold is electric. In the U.S., EV adoption is rising fast, supported by tax credits, infrastructure investment, and shifting consumer attitudes.
Moreover, the luxury EV segment is projected to grow at a CAGR of up to 17.8% through 2033, reaching as much as $963.8 billion (USD). Meanwhile, the classic EV conversion market alone could top $20 billion by the same year—a 20% annual surge. These trends are powered by a new kind of buyer: affluent, climate-aware, design-obsessed, and future-focused.
As Mr. Lunny notes, “We are appealing to thought leaders, people who on paper could have anything they like, but actually they’re choosing to commission something that is beautiful, that has history but is now relevant for the future.”
For Everrati, the future of performance, efficiency, and scalability hinges on what may be the most pivotal battery breakthrough yet: lithium manganese-rich (LMR) batteries. Developed to eliminate cobalt—a material tied to high costs and ethical concerns—LMR promises better performance, lower cost, and greater energy density.
For Mr. Lunny, it’s not just a scientific milestone. It’s a turning point for the entire industry.
“Packaging is everything,” he says. “When you’re working with car architecture, space is gold. So any battery tech that delivers more range and more energy in a smaller footprint is transformative.”
That’s what makes LMR’s potential so compelling. It could unlock 300-mile ranges in Everrati’s vehicles without compromising authenticity or design. And that’s just the beginning.
“In the long term, LMR and next-gen chemistries will cut cost and increase flexibility across the market,” Mr. Lunny explains. “Especially for luxury EVs where packaging and performance are everything.”
Road to the Future
Everrati is leveraging lithium manganese-rich (LMR) battery technology platform to unlock higher energy density, longer range, and more compact packaging—enabling the company to preserve design authenticity while scaling high-performance electric conversions of iconic classic cars, including the GT40 (chassis pictured above).
“ Think of us as the ‘Intel Inside’ of luxury EVs. We’re developing powertrains and control systems that others can build around.
—Justin Lunny CEO, Everrati
Across the board, EV battery innovation is attracting massive capital. GM, for example, is investing billions into LMR technologies, aiming to offer premium range at LFPlevel pricing. Globally, governments and private investors are pumping over $20 billion annually into advanced chemistries like solid-state and sodium-ion—all aimed at accelerating performance and bringing down cost.
According to market data, LMR can offer up to 33% more energy density than LFP at similar cost, while nearly eliminating cobalt and reducing nickel content. For Everrati, that could mean smaller, safer, more powerful battery packs that better fit within the compact architecture of classic cars.
“The more energy you can achieve out of any space, the better,” Mr. Lunny emphasizes. “Solid state could be a gamechanger down the line, but right now, LMR gives us real, near-term gains.”
For Everrati’s clientele, owning an electrified classic isn’t just a lifestyle choice—it’s a hedge against obsolescence. As cities across Europe and North America roll out combustion engine bans, manufacturers are facing regulatory headwinds.
“We’re seeing collectors come to us not just because they love the cars, but because they want to be able to drive them in the future,” Mr. Lunny says.
This shift is more than regulatory. It’s cultural. Luxury is no longer defined solely by exclusivity or power—it’s increasingly about values: sustainability, innovation, and meaning.
“Our customers want something beautiful, yes,” he says. “But they also want it to align with their conscience.”
That ethos is embedded into Everrati’s operating model. Every car is engineered to be reversible, preserving the original powertrain for purists. The carbon footprint of conversion is dramatically lower than building a new vehicle from scratch. And by tapping into high-performance components already used in motorsports, Everrati avoids costly and wasteful proprietary systems.
This means that while OEMs race to build EVs at scale, Everrati is taking a different approach.
“The tech we use today is expensive. But it won’t be forever,” Mr. Lunny says. “As costs drop and volumes grow, we’ll be able to offer more accessible vehicles.”
He envisions a future where Everrati powers not just million-dollar commissions, but mid-market conversions and partnerships with other boutique brands.
“Think of us as the Intel Inside of luxury EVs,” Mr. Lunny says. “We’re developing powertrains and control systems that others can build around.”
This flexibility opens up multiple revenue streams: consumer, B2B, and tech licensing. And it positions Everrati as a category-definer, not just a category player.
Meanwhile, the regulatory tailwinds are only getting stronger. From the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act to the EU Green Deal, incentives and mandates are turbocharging EV investment worldwide. By 2030, EVs could make up more than 40% of all global car sales. The luxury segment, once seen as lagging, is now leading with brands like Bentley, RollsRoyce, and Ferrari pledging all-electric lineups within the decade.
Classic EV conversion, once a fringe hobby, is now a $4 billion market projected to quintuple by 2033. Everrati stands at the center of that wave, with buyers willing to pay $500,000+ for an electrified icon that turns heads, honors heritage, and meets tomorrow’s emissions standards.
“We’re not the most expensive option, and that’s intentional,” Mr. Lunny says. “We’re building a brand, not just selling cars.”
If you ask Mr. Lunny, Everrati doesn’t just build electric cars. It builds resilience.
From day one, Mr. Lunny and his team engineered Everrati’s business model to thrive in a volatile world. The company doesn’t rely on a single battery supplier. It doesn’t lock into rigid specs. Instead, it designs for modularity, interchangeability, and speed.
“We call it an ‘exit route,’” Mr. Lunny says. “If a supplier drops out or a material becomes scarce, we already have a plan B. That’s baked into how we both engineer and source.”
This approach is a strategic response to a fragile global supply chain. The cobalt market is dominated by the Democratic Republic of Congo, while nickel prices remain volatile. Manganese, the linchpin of LMR batteries, is more abundant and less geopolitically fraught. By shifting focus to manganese-rich solutions, Everrati ensures cost control and ethical sourcing.
“You’re not always going to fix every supply issue,” Mr. Lunny adds. “But agility is everything.”
That agility also shows up in the way Everrati approaches partnerships. With Tier 1 suppliers and composite chassis manufacturers, the company co-develops powertrains that can be applied across bespoke conversions and new vehicle platforms.
“We think there’s an opportunity for companies like ours to help OEMs create halo vehicles outside their normal business model,” Mr. Lunny says. “We’re already working with partners on composite and bonded aluminum chassis.”
Inspired by watching Prince Harry depart from his wedding reception in an electric Jaguar, Everrati founder and CEO Justin Lunny set out to redefine classic car culture for the zero-emissions era. The company’s B2B division (Powered by Everrati) tripled its electrification contracts last year—signing over 200% more agreements with luxury vehicle brands year-over-year.
The Mercedes-Benz W113 SL (pictured) is a beloved two-seat sports tourer that debuted at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show. Now, courtesy of Everrati, the classic “Pagoda” can be had with a brand-new 68Kwh battery packed with advanced management and temperature control, featuring 200 miles of electric range— lightyears ahead of the antiqued tech that debuted on the car over 60 years ago.
Mr. Lunny doesn’t come from the automotive world. His background is in finance and software. And, for the benefit of Everrati, it shows.
The company uses agile sprints, rapid prototyping, and modular design—principles borrowed from software development. The company’s vehicle control system is proprietary. Its architecture is open. And its pace? Blistering.
When Everrati decided to build an 800-horsepower electric GT40, industry veterans rolled their eyes. Six weeks later, it was clocking 130 mph on a private runway.
“That just doesn’t happen in traditional automotive timelines,” Mr. Lunny says. “But we did it. That’s the power of an agile team.”
The integration of high-performance silicon carbide inverters and motors sourced from Helix and McLaren Applied Technologies sets Everrati apart. These are the same components found in Formula E racers and hypercars like the Lotus Evija.
“The software we’ve developed in-house is all about making sure the powertrain does what you want it to do,” Mr. Lunny explains. “We can make it feel like a Porsche. We can make it feel like a Mercedes. That control is everything.”
The goal, he adds, isn’t just engineering excellence—it’s emotional resonance.
“We’re preserving the soul of the car, not just the shell. That’s what luxury customers want.”
Mr. Lunny is the first to admit he’s not the most superlative engineer in the room. But he knows how to build a team that delivers.
“It’s about vision, yes. But also about humility,” he says. “You bring in the best people you can and you let them shine.”
That’s why Everrati’s roster includes veterans from McLaren, Lotus, Bentley, and even a former Aston Martin CEO. But Mr. Lunny has also pulled talent from outside the industry. His co-CEO, a former client from Mr. Lunny’s past life, is ex-military. Together, they fuse entrepreneurial creativity with operational discipline.
“We complement each other,” Mr. Lunny says. “And we both understand that leadership today is about speed, alignment, and staying curious.”
That mindset has helped Everrati attract a loyal following among affluent customers who value sustainability as much as performance.
“Some of our clients are people you might never expect,” Mr. Lunny says. “They read about us in Forbes or Robb Report, and suddenly they’re inquiring about a car.”
In essence, Everrati’s story is not just about electrifying classic cars—it’s about challenging old thinking.
In an era where most companies are still mapping the road ahead, Everrati is proving that agility, purpose, and precision can be more powerful than scale. By reengineering icons, the company has engineered a new model of leadership—one where speed, soul, and sustainability coexist.
“Legacy brands have engineering pedigree. They have brand equity. But they’re not built for speed,” he says. “They need to rethink their architecture, their processes, even their hiring.”
From Mr. Lunny’s perspective, this doesn’t mean legacy brands should always seek to emulate startups. Rather, it means learning from their ability to catalyze agility, modular thinking, and a culture that rewards experimentation.
“The secret isn’t more capital,” Mr. Lunny adds. “It’s conviction. Do you believe in your future? If so, build it with people who can move fast and adapt faster.”
But for many buyers—especially at the high end—an electric future must also be an emotional one. That’s Everrati’s opportunity—and its obligation.
“We’re not just creating cars,” Mr. Lunny says. “We’re creating relevance. For brands. For customers. For a world that’s finally ready to drive into the future—without forgetting where it came from.” IQ
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We are appealing to thought leaders— people who on paper could have anything they like, but actually they’re choosing to commission something that is beautiful, that has history but is now relevant for the future.”
—Justin Lunny CEO, Everrati
CooperVision, PRESIDENT Jerry Warner is keeping his To future-proof contact lens giant
“Uncertainty isn’t new. What’s new is the speed. And if you’re going to lead in that environment, you can’t afford to stand still.”
—Jerry Warner President, CooperVision
In a world defined by volatility, Jerry Warner doesn’t blink. As president of CooperVision—a division of global medical device company, CooperCompanies, and one of the world’s largest contact lens manufacturers—Mr. Warner is guiding a multibillion-dollar enterprise through an era where disruption is constant and certainty is fleeting. But rather than play defense, he’s doubled down— on global agility, manufacturing innovation, datafueled forecasting, and a culture built for transformation.
“Uncertainty isn’t new,” Mr. Warner says. “What’s new is the speed. And if you’re going to lead in that environment, you can’t afford to stand still.”
That mindset isn’t theoretical. It’s the throughline behind CooperVision’s strong performance in FY2024, which saw $2.609 billion in revenue (up 8% year-over-year) and 9% organic growth, fueled by strong demand in daily disposables, torics, and specialty lenses.
With operations in over 130 countries, a global workforce of nearly 13,000, and a strong heritage of addressing the toughest vision challenges, such as astigmatism, presbyopia, childhood myopia, and
irregular corneas, CooperVision is not just navigating disruption—it’s outpacing it. And at the center of it all is Mr. Warner’s blueprint for responsive leadership: align on strategic advantage, invest in future-ready systems and operations, constantly assess cultural priorities, and communicate with radical clarity—even when the path forward is anything but.
Ask Mr. Warner how CooperVision maintains performance amid economic unease, shifting regulations, and global supply shocks, and he begins with a paradox: stay the course but move fast.
“I wouldn’t say traditional strategic planning is obsolete,” Mr. Warner explains. “There are tenets of strategy that still matter deeply—especially around your strategic advantage. But the execution model? That has to evolve.”
For CooperVision, this means anchoring to long-term goals while empowering teams to course-correct in real time. “It’s about knowing what matters most and making sure your organization has the confidence to stay aligned, even when the market shifts underneath you.”
That approach has proved essential as the company navigates challenges like rising tariffs, supply chain complexity, and continuing strong competition in the contact lens sector. Mr. Warner recalls a recent global town hall where he addressed questions about market volatility.
“I told the team: our strategy isn’t invalidated by noise in the system. As long as we execute with discipline, our advantage holds. But we have to remain
alert—reading signals, adjusting tactics, and communicating constantly.”
That last point is critical. In Mr. Warner’s view, leaders don’t just set direction—they reinforce belief.
“The worst thing you can do in uncertainty is react impulsively and create confusion. You can acknowledge external pressures, but you have to reaffirm what you stand for. That steadiness is what your people are watching for.”
budgets.
“We view technology as an enabler. In manufacturing, it allows us to scale a complex product portfolio with precision and speed. it’s how we turn data into decisions that serve customers better.”
—Jerry Warner President, CooperVision
If Mr. Warner sounds grounded, it’s because he’s spent more than 25 years building that muscle. From his early days at Bausch & Lomb to his 13-year trajectory at CooperVision, he’s honed a leadership style that balances conviction with flexibility. He defines adaptive leadership as a daily practice rooted in two things: knowing your audience and engaging with intention.
“It’s not about one-size-fits-all communication,” Mr. Warner says. “It’s about understanding what each function or region is dealing with and tailoring your leadership approach to meet them where they are—whether that’s regulatory, commercial, or manufacturing.”
In a company that operates across continents and disciplines, that nuance matters. And Mr. Warner insists adaptive leadership doesn’t mean being reactive. “It means being in tune. It means filtering the noise, identifying what’s real, and moving with purpose.”
That ethos is embedded throughout CooperVision, reinforced by a leadership culture that values transparency, consistency, and presence. “People aren’t just listening to what you say,” Mr. Warner adds. “They’re watching how you show up. Every signal matters.”
He laughs when asked about his own leadership “tells.” “The team knows when I start rubbing my head, something’s coming. It’s a nonverbal sign I’m processing something hard. But that’s okay. What matters is they also know I’ll come back with clarity—and that we’ll get through it together.”
One of CooperVision’s most powerful transformations under Mr. Warner’s leadership is their journey on technology utilization. The company has made major investments in smart manufacturing, enhanced forecasting, and is now focusing on digital infrastructure. But Mr. Warner cautions against tech for tech’s sake.
“We view technology as an enabler,” he says. “In manufacturing, it’s what allows us to scale a complex product portfolio with precision and speed. In our business systems, it’s how we turn data into decisions that serve customers better.”
With more than 4 billion contact lenses moving through CooperVision’s global distribution system each year, intelligent automation is essential. But Mr. Warner sees agility—not scale—as the end goal.
“We’re more complex than our competitors. We don’t just do high-volume, low-mix production. We also deliver lowvolume, high-mix specialty products. The only way to do that at scale is through smart systems and continuous improvement.”
CooperVision’s smart operational capabilities now span multiple facilities, including major expansions in Puerto Rico and New York, all powered by renewable
energy and optimized for agility. “We’ve put $500 million into infrastructure in Puerto Rico alone,” Mr. Warner says. “That’s not just capacity. That’s capability.”
One hard truth accepted by most senior executives is that even the best systems face one problem: unpredictability. That’s why Mr. Warner and his team have deepened their use of scenario modeling and sensitivity analysis.
“You can’t plan in straight lines anymore,” he says. “We use talent and tools that model multiple futures, so we’re
Clear Command
At CooperVision, Mr. Warner leads with adaptability and purpose—empowering teams across the organization—and across disciplines—to navigate complexity, align fast, and deliver with precision.
In response to the growing adoption of its specialty contact lenses by eye care professionals, CooperVision has invested in several new manufacturing facilities over the past few years, including locations in Gilbert, Ariz., and Sherbrooke, Quebec.
not caught flat-footed—especially when regulatory environments shift or macro trends accelerate.”
Still, Mr. Warner is pragmatic. “Planning models don’t replace judgment. You have to understand the limits of precision and supplement it with experience, intuition, and boots-on-the-ground knowledge.” He adds, “We don’t just model for cost. We model for service, for resilience, and for growth.”
The company’s modeling helped guide decisions during times of economic volatility. Mr. Warner notes that without rapid, AI-assisted signal detection across the supply chain, those issues might have caused significant slowdowns.
Within CooperVision, innovation doesn’t live in silos. Whether it’s launching the first and only FDA-approved MiSight® 1 day myopia control lens, or the world-class MyDay® Toric Parameter Expansion lens with Optimized Toric Lens Geometry™, success comes from orchestrating multiple disciplines at once.
“R&D, manufacturing, and commercial have to move in harmony,” Mr. Warner says. “If one gets ahead or falls behind, the whole system misaligns.”
That’s where lifecycle management comes in—a centralized team that coordinates product development from concept through global launch, integrating insights from regulatory, supply chain, and customer-facing teams.
“It’s like assembling an airplane in midflight,” Mr. Warner says.
“The details are complex. But when we get it right, we move from idea to implementation without losing momentum or quality.”
That tightly choreographed approach has also paid off as CooperVision scales globally without sacrificing quality or control.
“We are building an organization that can scale without becoming siloed,” Mr. Warner says.“That’s rare in a global company our size.”
Part of the formula lies in Mr. Warner’s belief in “modular alignment”—allowing for local flexibility within a globally harmonized framework. That’s especially important in regulated industries where region-specific compliance requirements can make or break speed to market.
“We have country teams that are empowered to act. But they’re also aligned to a common operating rhythm, shared values, and unified systems. That’s how we move fast without spinning out.”
CooperVision’s international investments reflect that strategy. In Puerto Rico, their Juana Díaz site currently employs more than 2,400 people and operates as a fully automated manufacturing facility, utilizing advanced technology and innovation across all aspects of operation. Its Ponce site, currently under construction, will be a state-of-the-art facility that further strengthens its presence and capabilities in Puerto Rico. In Southampton, U.K., CooperVision is building a leading-edge technical, commercial, and business hub known as The Vision Centre.
Jerry Warner serves as President of CooperVision Inc. He previously held the title of Executive Vice President - President Americas & Global Commercial Functions and prior to that served as President of the Americas and Senior Vice President of Global Marketing. Before joining CooperVision in 2012, Mr. Warner spent 17 years with Bausch + Lomb in a variety of marketing and management roles, prior to which he worked in sales and marketing at Bristol Myers Squibb. He has extensive global and domestic experience in the medical device, pharmaceutical, and consumer packaged goods categories.
“Jerry’s adaptive leadership is unmatched. he reads change in real time, rallies teams with purpose, and consistently turns disruption into a competitive edge for CooperVision.”
—Jon Kleinman Partner, Insigniam
This facility is designed to foster crossfunctional collaboration and promote innovation, creating real advantages for eyecare practitioners and wearers alike. “We’ve built an ecosystem that’s not just big—it’s responsive,” Mr. Warner says. “That’s the difference.”
Regardless of the accolades about his leadership, Mr. Warner is quick to shift credit from systems to people.
“Culture is what allows strategy to function in chaos,” he says. “And for us, that culture starts with trust and accountability.”
He’s worked to hardwire these values into CooperVision’s global leadership DNA. Mr. Warner and his executive leadership team are finding new ways to bring company values to life, ensuring all employees are aligned and engaged and that CooperVision remains —in their words—”fit for the future.” Together, they are putting an end to outdated and redundant ways of working. They are changing processes and adjusting their leadership styles to better empower their people and support ongoing cultural evolution.
Mr. Warner also emphasizes a “teachback” culture where learnings from one market are rapidly transferred and tested in others. This learning culture plays a critical role in navigating uncertainty.
Whether adapting to local regulations, responding to competitor moves, or seizing emerging opportunities, Mr. Warner believes his teams thrive because they are trained to think systemically—and empowered to act quickly.
“It’s not just about making decisions fast,” he adds. “It’s about making them fast and then inspecting the outcome. There are very few decisions we make that cannot be improved, updated, and even reversed once we see our decisions in action. And that only happens when people understand the full context they’re operating in.”
That context includes not just quarterly metrics, but a fundamental commitment to improving the way people see. Mr. Warner and the team regularly bring customer and practitioner stories into executive meetings—reinforcing the why behind the work.
It’s this values-driven approach that resonates throughout CooperVision’s global workforce. From high-tech manufacturing lines across the world to R&D hubs in California and the U.K., Mr. Warner believes the power of people is what enables technology to scale—and purpose to stick.
“We are investing in automation, AI, and smart infrastructure,” he says, “but none of it works without a deeply aligned culture. We’re not just building factories— we’re building capability. And capability is always a human equation.”
Mr. Warner’s perspective on leadership was forged early. As the son of parents in healthcare, he grew up in an environment where purpose and service were everyday values. “You don’t forget the way patients look at someone who’s helped them,” he says. “That stuck with me.”
His own path led him through both commercial and operational leadership roles—including stints at Bristol Myers Squibb and Bausch & Lomb. That mix of experience now shapes his conviction that business performance and human impact must move in lockstep.
“Purpose doesn’t slow you down—it sharpens you,” he says. “It forces alignment about what matters. And it helps you rally people even when the road is hard.”
He applies this thinking not just to customers, but to CooperVision’s global workforce. Mr. Warner was instrumental in launching global well-being initiatives, improving communication transparency, and making frontline safety a non-negotiable. Today, he sees employee engagement and alignment of purpose as critical assets in a market defined by disruption.
“When you can’t promise stability, you have to offer meaning,” he says. “We’re not just growing. We’re growing with precision. It’s not about chasing every opportunity— it’s about aligning the right capabilities to the right needs.”
He’s equally proud of CooperVision’s sustainability initiatives, including its partnership with Plastic Bank, which has prevented over 500 million plastic bottles from entering oceans since the program’s inception.
Managing a child’s myopia—a
condition where distant objects appear blurry due to the eye growing too long, often worsening as the child grows—requires more than just vision correction. That’s why CooperVision established a new standard of care for treating myopia in children via their MiSight® 1 day contact lens product line.
“The playbook is being rewritten every day. But we know what we stand for. We know how to learn. And we know how to respond.”
—Jerry Warner President, CooperVision
“We think about impact not just in terms of product, but in terms of footprint,” he says. “That’s why we’re embedding sustainability into our operations, from LEED-certified facilities to regional partnerships that reduce waste and increase community value.”
Asked what legacy he wants to leave, Mr. Warner didn’t hesitate. “I want us to be known as the company that moved fast without breaking trust. The one that delivered innovation without sacrificing quality. That scaled without losing its soul.”
If that sounds ambitious, that’s the point. In Mr. Warner’s world, leadership is about tension—between speed and care, data and empathy, systems and people.
“The playbook is being rewritten every day,” he says. “Our job is to keep learning, keep listening, and keep leading. Not from a place of fear, but from a place of clarity.”
For Mr. Warner, it’s not about eliminating uncertainty—it’s about having the resolve to act in the face of it.
“The reality is we don’t know what next year will throw at us,” he says. “But we know what we stand for. We know how to learn. And we know how to respond.”
For executives navigating their own high-stakes environments, Mr. Warner’s example offers a clear signal: in a world where uncertainty is permanent, the advantage goes to those who build for change, act with conviction, and lead with purpose. IQ
THE CONQUERING UNCERTAINTY
The instinct to pull back on innovation in times of unrest might be exactly what holds companies back when they should be leaping forward.
BY JENNIFER ZIMMER
“When pressure mounts, the instinct is to scale back innovation. But, like a sailboat navigating gale-force winds, companies that adjust their sails— rather than drop anchor—are the most likely to surge ahead.”
Given the current swirling fog of economic volatility, geopolitical tremors, and existential market disruptions, there is one thing executives can agree on: uncertainty is no longer the exception. Rather, it’s the new status quo. The kind that once made headlines now makes up the fine print in quarterly earnings reports. And when the pressure mounts, the natural instinct is to pull back. Hunker down. Cut spending. Tighten the reins. Pause innovation.
But here’s the twist: that instinct might be exactly what holds companies back when they should be leaping forward.
Like a sailboat navigating gale-force winds, companies that adjust their sails—rather than drop anchor—are the ones most likely to surge ahead. And the difference between drifting and accelerating comes down to whether uncertainty is viewed as a threat to survive or a force to harness. Here, nuance is important. Because while turbulence often breeds caution, it can also provoke the kind of radical clarity and creativity that gives birth to genuine breakthrough innovation.
The first casualty of market panic is ambition. In times of financial strain, companies often redirect attention away from innovation and toward short-term survival. This phenomenon was acutely felt during the 2008 global financial crisis and again in the early days of COVID-19.
Adversity can unlock ingenuity. The same pressures that make executives cautious can also force them to act creatively and see the world anew.
According to a 2023 report from The Economist, many companies “paused or curtailed innovation projects” during COVID-19 due to economic uncertainty and cost-cutting pressures. Furthermore, says IBISWorld, U.S. business R&D spending fell by 4.8% in 2020. Globally, R&D as a share of GDP dropped from 0.58% to 0.53%, reversing years of steady growth.
The instinct to conserve capital is understandable. But slashing innovation spending is like eating the seed corn. With fewer dollars going to futurefocused bets, strategic experimentation dries up, and promising ideas are shelved indefinitely. Ironically, it’s often those high-risk, long-horizon investments that drive post-crisis growth.
The fear of failure only amplifies the effect. When public markets jitter, boards get conservative. Executives become wary of championing bold ideas. Innovation, in this climate, is rebranded from “growth engine” to “luxury.”
Even when innovation budgets are preserved, execution is often hampered by talent shortages. During downturns, companies freeze hiring, pause training, and offload teams—decisions that may offer short-term relief but diminish longterm capacity.
The Economist reports that 96% of executives cited supply chain and cost concerns as reasons for pausing or scaling back innovation. Furthermore, the Financial Times notes that 40% of U.S. manufacturers delayed or scaled back investment amid uncertainty around the Inflation Reduction Act.
The challenge can also be compounded internally. With leaner teams and lower morale, competition for remaining resources grows more cutthroat. Crossfunctional collaboration—essential for innovation—becomes harder to coordinate. In some cases, political turf wars erupt over budget and headcount, forcing innovation teams into defensive postures.
Moreover, innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It depends on global
AI-driven personalization is not a one-time investment—it is an ongoing commitment to responsible innovation. The executives who treat it as a simple technological upgrade will find themselves outpaced and outmaneuvered.
collaboration: academic partnerships, R&D outsourcing, manufacturing agility, and data-sharing across borders. When geopolitics interrupt that flow, innovation gets caught in the crossfire.
The Economist noted that the U.S.-China trade war and tech sanctions have “created structural uncertainty in high-tech R&D collaboration.” Additionally, AP News reported that many U.S. businesses have delayed innovation due to current market pressures, such as restricted access to materials like lithium.
Ultimately, innovation depends on access—not just to capital and ideas but to the components and data that fuel prototypes. When a single nation controls 90% of a critical material, or a border dispute suspends data-sharing, those innovations stall. And in today’s globally connected ecosystem, that can paralyze entire industries.
Ironically, adversity often unlocks ingenuity. The same pressures that make executives cautious can also force them to act creatively to rewrite old rules.
Case in point, the Financial Times named Zoom and Peloton among pandemic-era growth leaders, demonstrating crisis-driven innovation. These brands “went from zero to iconic” during the pandemic by turning crisis into opportunity. Additionally, WSJ reported a 37% YoY jump in cloud spending post-COVID as businesses rapidly scaled digital operations. Similarly, The Economist found that two-thirds of global executives accelerated digital transformation due to lasting customer demand shifts.
In these moments, innovation wasn’t about tinkering—it was about survival. And the constraints—tight timelines, limited budgets, urgent customer needs—often sparked faster decision-making, streamlined
When crisis hits, most companies default to protecting the core. Yet, real opportunity lies in the unknown. This is where the Four Pillars of Innovation can become a lifeline.
product development, and creative go-tomarket strategies.
Perhaps the most underappreciated outcome of economic turmoil is the burst of entrepreneurial activity it unleashes. When traditional employers contract, displaced talent often redirects their skills into new ventures.
In 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau reported 5.4 million new business applications, a 53% increase from 2019. Additionally, Axios reported that this boom included not just tech startups, but also local manufacturers and service providers started by furloughed workers.
What unites these efforts is a mindset shift: the recognition that uncertainty is inevitable—and thus, a condition to build within, not wait out. Established firms that internalize this ethos and empower internal entrepreneurs are far more likely to stay ahead of the curve.
When crisis hits, most companies default to protecting the core. But what if the core isn’t the engine of future growth? What if the real opportunity lies in the unknown? This is where Insigniam’s Four Pillars of Innovation become more than a framework—they become a lifeline.
A bold mandate is not a memo. It’s not a PowerPoint slide or a buzzword tossed around during quarterly town halls. A true leadership mandate for innovation is lived— it’s visible in decisions, reflected in budgets, and reinforced through culture. During uncertain times, clarity from leadership becomes even more critical.
Consider how Ford Motor Company restructured its global operations to
It can be difficult to innovate during times of uncertainty, but companies who innovate because of uncertainty, not despite it, are those who leap ahead.
prioritize EV and digital innovation amid pandemic disruptions. CEO Jim Farley made innovation a top-line leadership priority, shifting capital from legacy product lines to emerging technologies. According to The New York Times, Ford committed over $50 billion to EV and battery innovation by 2026, proving that mandate without capital is meaningless. A strong mandate also addresses internal fear. When employees see executives champion innovation even in downturns, it gives them permission to think differently—and act accordingly. That psychological impact is often the invisible force behind high-performing innovation cultures.
Ideas without scaffolding are dreams. What separates innovation from improvisation is infrastructure. A company can have the world’s best ideas, but without teams, tools, time, and funding, nothing gets built.
Dedicated infrastructure might look like an innovation lab, a skunkworks team, a fund carved out for moonshots, or a company-wide challenge designed to surface bold ideas. What matters is that innovation has a home—and a runway.
Take Amazon, for example. Even during downturns, the company maintains internal programs like the “Working Backwards” process, innovation pods, and AWS’s continuous investment in developer
Ideas without scaffolding are dreams. A company can have the world’s best ideas, but without a process to catalyze innovation, nothing gets built.
ecosystems. In 2023 alone, Amazon secured 1,688 new patents—many tied directly to investments made in years of market turbulence.
Infrastructure doesn’t need to be expensive either, but it must be deliberate. As economic constraints tighten, it’s easy to disband these resources in favor of cost cuts. But the companies that emerge strongest are those who preserve—or even expand— this capability during uncertainty.
An idea becomes an asset only when it moves. That movement requires process—not bureaucracy, but a pipeline for capturing, evaluating, piloting, and scaling ideas. In other words, your innovation system must be as bespoke as your business.
Netflix exemplifies this approach. Their internal “innovation memos” are distributed across the enterprise, encouraging every employee to contribute. The best ideas are filtered through a structured system of testing and iteration—often piloted in one geography or product line before global rollout. This process led to major innovations in content production, streaming bandwidth optimization, and mobile delivery models. What matters is that the process is understood and accessible. Employees need to know how to contribute, what happens when they do, and how success is measured. Without this, innovation becomes performative—lots of brainstorming, very little building.
Perhaps the most fragile—and vital— pillar is culture. In a risk-averse or feardriven environment, even the best ideas wither. A supportive culture nurtures curiosity, tolerates calculated risk, and celebrates learning.
Consider Spotify, which embedded innovation in its culture through “hack weeks,” rapid ideation sprints, and open experimentation. These practices didn’t stop during global disruption—they intensified. Spotify’s platform innovations in podcasting, personalization, and ad-tech grew directly out of this cultural backbone.
A supportive culture doesn’t mean free-for-all experimentation. It means managed freedom—permission to challenge assumptions, coupled with clear accountability. In times of uncertainty, this becomes even more essential. It is the antidote to fear.
Yes, it can be difficult to innovate during times of uncertainty—especially for large, risk-averse organizations. But it is not universally true. In fact, the record shows that companies who innovate because of uncertainty, not despite it, are those who leap ahead.
Across sectors, markets, and business cycles, the data is clear: uncertainty punishes hesitation but rewards bold, focused bets. It favors companies that are clear on vision, quick to act, and unafraid to reimagine. It rewards leaders who double down on innovation infrastructure and invest in culture, not just control.
Insigniam’s Four Pillars approach offers a practical path forward. Not a magic formula, but a proven framework grounded in decades of enterprise transformation. They remind leaders that innovation is not a luxury for good times—but a necessity for survival in turbulent ones.
The question is not whether you can afford to innovate. The question is whether you can afford not to. IQ
growth was a matter of scale. Hire more people, enter new markets, launch new products—repeat. It was a playbook that rewarded consistency and punished overreach. But that playbook is breaking down. Today, the global business landscape is defined by volatility: supply chain fractures, geopolitical shockwaves, and relentless economic whiplash. The old rules no longer apply.
For leadership teams facing structural uncertainty, “wait and see” is no longer a strategy. It is surrender. Moreover, reactive instincts to pause hiring, delay expansion, and preserve optionality may only further styme a company’s growth trajectory.
But what if volatility is not a threat to be managed, but an advantage to be claimed? That is the bet bold leaders are making, by treating mergers and acquisitions (M&A) not as a reactive lever, but as a core operating system in uncertain times.
A proprietary analysis of 150 fast-growing midmarket firms in professional services across the U.S., U.K., and Europe reveals a distinct pattern: the winners are not the biggest or fastest. They are the most intentional. In their hands, M&A becomes a discipline, not a gamble; a catalyst for resilience, not just scale.
Global M&A activity has slowed to its lowest level in over a decade. Rising interest rates, geopolitical instability, and jittery markets have prompted many companies to delay or abandon transactions altogether. In early 2025, U.S. deal volume fell 34 percent year-over-year, reaching its lowest quarterly level since 2005. But history is clear: volatility rewards boldness when it is methodical. During past downturns, companies that pursued acquisitions with strategic clarity and execution rigor frequently outperformed peers in the recovery.
Yet in today’s disrupted market, the M&A playbook itself is evolving. Traditional models such as long cycles, slow diligence, and inorganic synergy bets are giving way to faster timelines, AI-augmented due diligence, real-time integration metrics, and more founder-aligned deal structures.
In this environment, M&A is no longer just a capital allocation lever. It is a dynamic leadership capability that must adapt, orchestrate, and respond in real time. It is a test of whether your business can move faster than the uncertainty surrounding it.
Traditional levers like organic expansion, new
hiring, and product rollouts are faltering under macroeconomic pressure. As cyclical playbooks break down, the companies that thrive are those that architect growth, rather than wait for it.
High judgment M&A becomes the proving ground for executive teams. When executed with discipline, acquisitions can generate significant competitive advantage. When misaligned, they can amplify strategic risk.
During the 2009 financial crisis, average U.S. deal multiples fell to 6.5 times EV/EBITDA, down from 10.8 times in 2005. By 2019, valuations had rebounded to 11.6 times. One Harvard study found that acquirers who acted during the 2008–2010 downturn achieved 6.4 percent shareholder returns, compared to minus 3.4 percent for those who abstained.
Even in the choppy markets of 2024, large deals over one billion dollars surged 31 percent in Q3 year-overyear, with intra-sector transactions rising from 57 to 75 percent of deal volume.
In an environment where disruption is constant and planning cycles can’t keep pace with reality, M&A must evolve. It can no longer operate as a reactive tool or a string of opportunistic bets. To be effective, it must function as a system—repeatable, disciplined, and grounded in execution rigor.
The most successful acquirers treat M&A much like value investors approach the market: with long-term conviction, a clear thesis, and a focus on fundamentals. They know precisely what they’re looking for and why it matters. This mindset has revealed consistent patterns in Elixirr’s data set—particularly among acquisition targets that outperform over time.
These companies tend to be small, often with fewer than 150 employees. They’re sharply focused, building their value around just two to four tightly interlocking capabilities. And they’re highly efficient, with revenue per head (RPH) above £250,000—sometimes exceeding £350,000 in the best-performing cases.
But these traits reflect more than financial efficiency. They indicate clarity of mission, pricing power, and cultural cohesion. When an organization is small, sharp, and efficient, it’s usually because the leadership team knows exactly what they’re doing—and what they’re not. For acquirers, this profile isn’t just attractive. It’s a signal that integration will be cleaner, synergies more accessible, and long-term value more achievable.
Elixirr’s analysis of 150 fast-growing mid-market firms reveals a counterintuitive truth: the most efficient companies aren’t necessarily the biggest. They’re the clearest. The firms with the strongest performance profiles share a common trait—strategic precision. And among them, a standout subset has emerged: what we call hidden champions.
These are businesses that combine compact size, multi-capability focus, and exceptional productivity. They outperform both highly specialized and heavily diversified peers, demonstrating that market-leading economics are not a function of scale alone. In fact, these companies prove that it’s possible to deliver industry-leading value at a modest size—provided the structure is built for it.
Their edge isn’t circumstantial—it’s structural. Lean operating models reduce drag on delivery, allowing resources to move with speed and intent. Strategic clarity creates pricing power, positioning these firms as premium providers in their niche. And deep integration with clients not only improves retention but also drives expansion and renewal.
For M&A teams, this shifts the lens entirely. Rather than chasing size or surface-level growth metrics, the real opportunity lies in identifying firms that punch above their weight—businesses that deliver disproportionate value through tight execution and focused specialization. These companies may command premium multiples, but they offer far greater leverage post-acquisition. In today’s climate, that kind of efficiency isn’t just attractive, it’s essential.
M&A activity has long clustered around marquee markets like London, New York, and San Francisco—global capitals synonymous with dealmaking and innovation. But Elixirr’s proprietary data reveals a shifting reality. Some of the most efficient, high-performing acquisition targets aren’t in these traditional strongholds. They’re emerging from less obvious places: Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Zurich, and even Los Angeles. These cities consistently outperform their larger peers on a crucial metric—revenue per head. In particular,
Elixirr’s M&A strategy isn’t theory—it’s fueled growth and expanded its partner bench. So, what’s it like to join via acquisition? Hear from the founders of Elixirr-acquired firms.
“We weren’t looking for a typical acquirer; we wanted a partner who shared our entrepreneurial drive and challenger mindset. Elixirr brought that from day one. Joining the firm didn’t just help us scale— it gave us a sharper edge, a broader platform, and the freedom to keep doing things differently.”
Chris Jordan, Elixirr Partner; Co-Founder, iOLAP; Acquired 2022
“From the outset , we were looking for a partner who shared not just our ambition, but our values and entrepreneurial spirit. The cultural fit with Elixirr was immediate— joining forces will allow us to scale while preserving the creativity, agility, and client-centric focus that define Hypothesis.”
Maria Vallis, Elixirr Partner & CEO, Hypothesis; Acquired 2024
“When Insigniam was acquired by and became part of Elixirr, extraordinary value for our clients was unlocked. In 2020, we realized that technology and digital analytics were key to client success and that we either needed to acquire—or be acquired—by a firm that could offer those capabilities along with strategy consulting. Elixirr was that partner. Together, our consultants created new offerings, brought fresh thinking to the table, and expanded what was possible. Becoming part of Elixirr not only strengthened our impact with and for clients, it accelerated our ability to scale internationally and serve the full breadth of a CEO’s agenda. Simply put, we deliver more value to the C-suite and their teams than either firm could alone.”
Nathan Owen Rosenberg, Elixirr Partner & Co-Founder, Insigniam; Acquired 2023
“Elixirr stood out for its rare mix of entrepreneurial energy and operational rigor. They weren’t just acquiring Responsum—they were backing innovation. Joining Elixirr has supercharged our ability to scale and innovate, with the strength of a global network behind us.”
Steve Steinberg, Elixirr Partner & Co-Founder, Responsum; Acquired 2023
Denmark and Switzerland stand out for combining strong EBITDA margins with exceptionally lean team structures. So what’s driving this outperformance? These markets benefit from access to dense, highly skilled talent pools, often cultivated through strong local education systems and industry-specific clusters. At the same time, they offer a level of operational simplicity—lower overhead, fewer distractions, and less market saturation. Perhaps most importantly, many of these firms occupy defensible niches within scalable ecosystems, making them not only efficient but strategically resilient.
For executives in search of acquisition alpha, it may be time to rethink the sourcing playbook. The assumption that value lives only in the usual hotspots is increasingly flawed. In today’s market, secondary cities can deliver better fundamentals, more adaptable business models, and clearer paths to integration—often at a better price.
Elixirr’s data surfaces a critical—and often overlooked— insight for executives navigating both acquisition and integration: in human capital–based businesses, there is a structural ceiling to productivity. While high revenue per head (RPH) is a hallmark of efficient firms, the data shows that only four companies in the entire dataset exceed £350,000 per employee. None cross the £500,000 mark. This suggests that beyond a certain point, productivity gains aren’t simply a function of talent or operational excellence—they demand structural innovation.
That threshold has real implications for dealmakers. Firms approaching or exceeding £350,000 RPH should trigger a closer look. These outliers may indicate something fundamentally different: proprietary intellectual property, tech-enabled delivery models, or non-linear economics that decouple growth from headcount. In short, they may not be traditional services businesses at all.
For acquirers, this insight recalibrates what “top-tier” performance looks like. It establishes new benchmarks for valuation discipline and forces a deeper interrogation of the underlying engine driving results. Are you buying scale—or are you buying something more transformative? Understanding that distinction early can make or break the success of a deal.
It’s a well-known statistic in corporate strategy circles— somewhere between 70 and 75 percent of acquisitions fail to meet expectations. The reasons are familiar: weak strategic alignment, flawed valuation assumptions, and mismanaged integrations.
PRINCIPLE
Strategic Fit
Valuation Rigor
Full-Spectrum Diligence
Integration Preparedness
Performance Metrics
Risk Structuring
Decision Hygiene
Ensure every deal advances long-term strategic goals. No distractions, no side bets.
Set a fundamentals-based price. Use scenario analysis. Walk if the numbers do not hold.
Assess leadership, operations, cultural alignment, and regulatory risk.
Build the Day 1 plan before the deal closes. Assign owners and ensure continuity.
Track value from day one. Adjust early if assumptions slip.
Use earn-outs, seller notes, or phased equity to align incentives.
Separate deal sponsors from final approvers. Test key assumptions independently.
But in today’s volatile conditions, the cost of getting it wrong has never been higher. What separates successful acquirers from the rest isn’t strategy on paper—it’s execution in practice. Every deal must be anchored in long-term strategic fit, not just opportunism. Valuation discipline is essential; knowing the walk-away price—and having the conviction to walk away—can protect against costly overreach. Diligence must extend beyond the balance sheet, probing leadership, cultural fit, and operational readiness with equal intensity.
Crucially, integration can’t be an afterthought. The “day one” plan needs to be in motion before the ink dries, with a clear operating cadence and value-creation roadmap. And once the deal closes, performance must be tracked relentlessly. Assumptions will shift—what matters is how quickly the team detects and responds.
The most effective acquirers use transactions to reset organizational tempo, accelerate innovation, and embed the capabilities needed to compete in a faster, more fluid environment. Like launching a new product or entering a new market, a successful acquisition demands rigor, speed, and a clear sense of purpose.
With volatility a constant, the best-performing firms are not chasing scale. They are optimizing for fit, focus, and execution. Their edge lies in how clearly they define value and how decisively they move to capture it.
While overall deal activity remains subdued, a new pattern is emerging. Strategic acquirers are already back in motion, using disciplined M&A to reshape capabilities, reallocate capital, and outpace hesitant peers. The early rebound will not be loud. It will be deliberate.
But the deeper shift is this: M&A is no longer just a growth lever. It is a test of enterprise agility. How fast can your team evaluate opportunity? How precisely can you structure, integrate, and deliver value? How confidently can you act when clarity is scarce? In this light, M&A becomes more than a transaction. It becomes a leadership signal, proof of whether your organization can navigate uncertainty or be defined by it. IQ
How
Sanofi EVP of Manufacturing & Supply
Brendan O’Callaghan is building speed and resilience into one of the world’s most complex—and consequential— manufacturing networks.
BY MARIE-CAROLINE CHAUVET
“We’re no longer talking about ramping up one or two launches per year. We’re talking about executing [up to] six in a single year. So we have to be faster, more agile, and infinitely more connected across our supply chain.”
—Brendan O’Callaghan Executive Vice President, Manufacturing & Supply, Sanofi
In an industry built on caution, moving fast isn’t just difficult—it’s radical. Biopharma is known for its complexity, long development cycles, and uncompromising regulatory standards. It’s not exactly fertile ground for agility, let alone transformation at scale. But at Sanofi, the rules are being rewritten.
Headquartered in Paris, Sanofi is a global healthcare company on a mission to chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives. Operating in over 60 countries with more than 80,000 employees worldwide—and with approximately $46 billion (USD) in revenue in 2024—the company’s work touches more than 500 million lives annually. From breakthrough biologics to world-leading vaccines, the company develops treatments for chronic conditions and rare diseases with no existing therapies, and protects communities through immunizations against influenza, RSV, and meningitis.
Rooted in deep scientific expertise, Sanofi has evolved from a traditional pharmaceutical manufacturer into a research-driven biopharma leader with a growing presence in immunology, oncology, and gene therapy. Furthermore, the company has sharpened its focus— divesting from non-core businesses and investing in AI and R&D, and committing to lead in areas of high unmet medical need.
Importantly, the company isn’t targeting incremental improvements, it’s fundamentally changing how manufacturing works in one of the world’s most regulated, risk-sensitive sectors. Think digital twins that simulate entire production lines before a single machine is installed. AI-powered systems that boost yield on every batch. Modular “smart factories” that pivot between products in days instead of months.
These aren’t future-state concepts— they’re already in play.
Facing a pipeline of more than 40 potential product launches by 2030, executive vice president of manufacturing and supply, Brendan O’Callaghan, is on a mission to streamline timelines, increase throughput, and digitize global operations—while ensuring Sanofi still delivers flawlessly, every time.
Recently, Mr. O’Callaghan sat down with IQ to share how Sanofi is marrying AI and automation with the precision of Formula 1 and the discipline of pharma.
The result? A bold new operating model that’s faster, smarter, and more resilient—built not just to survive disruption, but to thrive in it. For leaders navigating complexity, this isn’t just a story of transformation, it’s a glimpse into the future of enterprise agility.
IQ : Sanofi could potentially launch over 40 new products by 2030. That’s an extraordinary pace for a company in such a tightly regulated sector. Why now—and what does that acceleration demand of manufacturing?
Mr. O’Callaghan: It’s true—this level of ambition is unprecedented in our space. We’re looking at over 40 potential product launches in the next five years. That’s not just a pipeline goal—it’s our operational reality. And the role of manufacturing and supply is to take those scientific breakthroughs and make them real in order to get them into the hands of the patients who need them.
To make that happen, every second counts. We’re no longer talking about ramping up one or two launches per year. We’re talking about executing four, maybe even six, in a single year—each with its own complexity, its own regulatory path, and its own market demand. So we have to fundamentally change how we operate. We have to be faster, more agile, and infinitely more connected across our supply chain.
And we’re not doing this from a standing start. Today, our network includes thousands of employees across 39 sites worldwide, producing over 2 billion doses annually. But to hit the future we envision,
Agility Architect
Brendan O’Callaghan leads Sanofi’s global manufacturing and distribution network with a bold mission: to commercialize a diverse pipeline, drive worldclass manufacturing and supply chain excellence, and future-proof operations through cutting-edge digital, process, and technology innovation—ensuring patients worldwide receive a steady supply of high-quality medicines.
R&D Revolution
Sanofi is redefining R&D in immunoscience by leveraging cutting-edge science, precision biology, and strategic partnerships to accelerate a robust pipeline of next-generation therapies.
we’re transforming that entire network— digitally, operationally, and culturally. Because speed without safety or quality isn’t an option in healthcare. Everything we do is built on the foundation of reliability, safety, and compliance.
IQ : Sanofi recently opened nextgeneration “Modulus” facilities in France and Singapore. How do these sites represent a shift in how you think about agility in manufacturing?
Mr. O’Callaghan: The Modulus sites are, in many ways, our blueprint for the future.
They’re modular, flexible, and digitally enabled end-to-end. These aren’t just new buildings—they’re a complete rethinking of what biopharma production can be. What makes them different is the level of agility. Traditional sites are built to manufacture one product—or one class of products—at scale. Switching between platforms or product types takes months, sometimes years. But at Modulus, we can switch between different vaccine or biologic platforms in a matter of days or weeks. The sites are designed as networks of minifactories, 34 in one location, all of which can be configured and reconfigured like Lego
building blocks, depending on demand and product mix.
So now, instead of building a new plant for every new therapeutic, we can scale within the same footprint. That’s how you respond to uncertainty. That’s how you meet demand in real time without compromising on quality or compliance.
IQ : You mentioned digital enablement— what role does AI play in driving that level of agility and scale?
Mr. O’Callaghan: AI is absolutely at the heart of it. In May, we launched what we call our Digital Manufacturing & Supply Accelerator in Lyon. The whole idea is to bring together experts in AI, data science, and process engineering to identify highvalue use cases—and then industrialize them at speed.
One example is our use of digital twins. This allows us to simulate an entire production process before the line is even physically built. You can put on a VR headset, walk through the plant, see the flow of materials, and test for bottlenecks or risks. We’ve found this can shave two to three months off the deployment timeline for new lines.
Another innovation is SimplY—our proprietary, AI-powered system that uses telemetry from sensors across our bioreactors and production lines. It tracks thousands of data points in real time, which allows us to optimize yield and performance batch by batch. We’ve seen gains of 5% to 10% in production yield. That’s not theoretical—those are extra doses that reach patients faster. That’s how AI becomes not just a tool, but a driver of patient impact.
IQ : With AI evolving so rapidly, how do you balance the pressure to move fast with the rigorous safety and compliance expectations in biopharma?
Mr. O’Callaghan: That’s a critical question for us; safety and quality aren’t just priorities—they’re non-negotiables.
The medicines and vaccines we produce affect lives, so we build everything around that reality. In a sense, regulation is not a barrier—it’s a framework that helps guide innovation in the right direction.
AI can help us move faster, yes—but only if we apply it responsibly. That’s why we’ve embedded a human-in-the-loop principle into every AI deployment. AI helps detect deviations, analyze quality data, or recommend corrective actions but the final call is always human. We also ensure our models are explainable and auditable. There’s no black box.
Our Responsible AI policy includes fairness, accountability, robustness, and sustainability. And this isn’t just internal policy—it’s operationalized. We won’t put any AI into production unless it passes ethical, regulatory, and cybersecurity checks. So, while the pressure to move fast is real, the risk of moving blindly is greater. We aim to move fast—but with eyes wide open.
IQ : I know you believe that it’s not just about tech—it’s also about people. What challenges have you faced in bringing manufacturing veterans and digital talent together?
Mr. O’Callaghan: That’s one of the biggest cultural shifts we’re navigating. In our plants, you have individuals with decades of experience in pharmaceutical operations—people who have literally written the playbook on how to run high-quality, validated manufacturing environments. And now we’re asking them to work alongside digital natives who come from tech, startups, or adjacent industries. These are people who move fast, iterate quickly, and think in terms of code and data.
The key has been mutual respect— and co-creation. We don’t parachute in digital solutions and expect them to work. We embed digital teams directly into the manufacturing context. We organize around what we call pods— small, interdisciplinary teams that BIO: Brendan O’Callaghan Executive Vice President, Manufacturing & Supply, Sanofi
Brendan O’Callaghan leads an international network of manufacturing and distribution sites. His ambition is to enable successful commercialization of Sanofi’s diverse pipeline, to build world-class standards of manufacturing and supply chain excellence and to future proof Sanofi’s manufacturing network, leveraging the latest digital, process and technology solutions, to ensure the continued reliable supply of essential, high-quality medicines to patients worldwide.
Mr. O’Callaghan joined Sanofi in 2015 and was previously the Global Head of Biologics and Manufacturing and Supply head of the Specialty Care portfolio. He has played a key role in supporting their transformation to a fully integrated BioPharma company and advancing the digital transformation of their manufacturing network, notably the Framingham site in the US, which was awarded the prestigious International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering Factory of the Future and Facility of the Year Awards in 2020.
“Brendan’s leadership is a masterclass in marrying precision with speed. In one of the most risksensitive industries in the world, he’s not just accelerating innovation, he’s redefining what operational excellence looks like, always with the patient in mind.”
Marie-Caroline Chauvet Partner, Insigniam
include process engineers, operators, data scientists, and software developers. Everyone is accountable. Everyone learns from each other.
Of course, there are always growing pains. But there’s also a growing sense of shared purpose. When people realize that their ideas—whether from the shop floor or the code base—can materially impact how fast we get medicines to patients, something powerful happens. The silos start to dissolve.
IQ : As a follow-up, as you scale digital and AI initiatives, how are you ensuring that transformation reaches the frontline—across geographies, roles, and experience levels?
Mr. O’Callaghan: That’s where real transformation either lives or dies—in the hands of the people doing the work. It’s one thing to pilot a digital solution in a lab. It’s another to scale it across an organization operating in multiple countries, each with their own regulatory and cultural realities.
What we’ve learned is that you can’t “roll out” a mindset. You have to embed it. So we’ve structured our efforts to be deliberately inclusive and collaborative. Our pods allows for co-creation rather than top-down implementation.
We’ve also borrowed the two-pizza team model from the tech world—small enough to stay agile, but diverse enough to represent multiple views. And we’ve invested in digital fluency training across all levels. Because if people don’t understand the ‘why’ behind a tool, they won’t trust it or use it to its full potential.
The other piece is diversity. Our Sanofi digital accelerators include over 20 nationalities. That mix of perspectives helps us ensure that the tools we’re building work not just technically, but culturally—because the goal is not just adoption, it’s transformation.
IQ : Some of the gains you’ve mentioned are impressive—cutting changeover times by 40%, improving forecast accuracy by three percentage points. What metrics do you personally watch most closely?
Mr. O’Callaghan: Yield and cycle time are two that I watch closely, because they go directly to our ability to serve patients. If you can produce more doses per batch, that means more patients get treated. If you can shave months off tech transfer or product launch timelines, that means a parent waiting for a pediatric vaccine doesn’t have to wait quite as long.
We also track OEE—overall equipment effectiveness—and we’ve used AI and sensors to boost it across several of our sites. In some places, we’ve seen 20% to 25% improvements. And these aren’t marginal gains—they translate into significant savings and supply assurance.
But just as important are our quality and compliance metrics. In a regulated industry like ours, the cost of a mistake is too high. So we always maintain a human focus. AI can flag deviations, analyze trends, and even suggest corrective actions—but decisions are always reviewed and owned by our teams.
IQ : Looking ahead, what does “factory of the future” mean for Sanofi?
Mr. O’Callaghan: The vision is what we call a “lights-out factory.” That means a fully automated, self-optimizing manufacturing environment—where systems don’t just execute instructions, but learn, adapt, and improve on their own. But it’s not about replacing people. It’s about augmenting human capability.
We want our operators to spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time solving complex problems.
With connected systems and predictive analytics, a technician in Lyon can troubleshoot a yield issue before it becomes a problem.
A scientist in the lab can transfer their experiment to manufacturing virtually using a digital twin. That’s the power of what we call one-click tech transfer. Today, the tech transfer process—moving a process from R&D into manufacturing—can take months. We want to reduce that to weeks or even days. And we’re not starting from scratch—our Modulus sites are already showing us what’s possible. But the real opportunity is in scaling that model across the network and adapting it to different therapeutic modalities.
And when I say “lights out,” I don’t just mean automation. I mean reliability. I mean quality you can trust without needing manual intervention. I mean systems that continuously learn from themselves. That’s where we’re headed—and we’re building the capabilities now to make that real.
IQ : Lastly, in times of uncertainty and disruption, what anchors you? What gives you clarity?
Mr. O’Callaghan: For me, it always comes back to purpose. When you sit with patients—or with parents of sick children— you’re reminded very quickly why this work matters. We had a parent once look around the room during a leadership meeting and say, “You’re the smartest people at this company. Can’t you find something to help my son?”
That’s a sobering moment. It’s also deeply motivating. It forces you to ask: Are we doing everything we can? Are we moving fast enough?
So yes, the work is complex. And yes, we’re dealing with uncertainty— technological, regulatory, geopolitical. But if we keep the patient at the center, we usually find the right answer. That’s what gives me clarity. That’s what drives me every day. IQ
A Worldwide Web
With a robust global footprint, Sanofi continues to expand their global manufacturing reach. In 2024, the comany expanded with two cutting-edge facilities in Neuville, France, and Singapore. These unique production spaces represent the future of manufacturing, offering unprecedented flexibility and responsiveness across vaccine and biological platforms.
THE CONQUERING UNCERTAINTY ISSUE
How breakthrough projects align teams, accelerate results, and deliver on strategic objectives. BY
JW DOBBE
* Adapted from the whitepaper, The Secret to Enterprise Adaptability, published by Insigniam, June 2025.
All too often, strategy can fail to move beyond the boardroom, and the majority of improvement efforts deliver only incremental gains, breakthrough projects, however, stand out as a powerful vehicle for transformation. These projects have enabled organizations across industries to achieve results that were previously thought to be impossible— redefining what teams believe they are capable of and accelerating performance in ways that typical process-improvement approaches simply can’t match.
Whether you’re racing to cut product development timelines, integrate innovation across siloed departments, or rapidly align people around mission-critical objectives, breakthrough projects provide a disciplined, proven approach. Their value lies not only in what they deliver but in how they transform the thinking, culture, and accountability of an organization from within.
Organizations commission breakthrough projects when faced with a critical result (however the company defines success) that seems unlikely or impossible to achieve through current practices.
Breakthrough projects are uniquely adaptable to strategic objectives—whether they originate in product development, operations, customer experience, or M&A. Unlike rigid project management methodologies, the breakthrough approach is built to flex with shifting priorities and enterprise-level goals. Because these projects are outcome-driven rather than
process-bound, they are ideal for dynamic business environments where strategy must evolve in real time.
ONE OF THE MOST COMMON—AND MOST POWERFUL—USES OF A BREAKTHROUGH PROJECT IS TO REMOVE INTERNAL BARRIERS THAT ARE STALLING PROGRESS. THEIR ADAPTABILITY TO CHANGING STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES MAKES THEM HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IN ENTERPRISE-WIDE INITIATIVES WITH MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS AND EVOLVING CRITERIA.
ONE OF THE MOST COMMON—AND MOST POWERFUL—USES OF A BREAKTHROUGH PROJECT IS TO REMOVE INTERNAL BARRIERS THAT ARE STALLING PROGRESS. THEIR ADAPTABILITY TO CHANGING STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES MAKES THEM HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IN ENTERPRISE-WIDE INITIATIVES WITH MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS AND EVOLVING CRITERIA.
Whether focused on market entry, cultural transformation, or long-range innovation, breakthrough projects equip teams to continually reorient around what matters most—ensuring execution stays tightly aligned with the enterprise’s evolving strategic direction.
Consider, for example, Insigniam’s work with a Fortune 100 company that urgently needed to accelerate its clinical trial process to secure FDA approval ahead of its competitors. Each day saved represented substantial revenue potential for the organization.
Insigniam partnered with the company’s development team, challenging deeply held assumptions and transforming their approach to data management, report preparation, vendor coordination, and clinical site interactions.
The team, previously mired in skepticism, committed to reducing their projected six-tonine-month cycle down to an unprecedented ten weeks. Through innovative concurrent processes, collaborative vendor partnerships, and heightened team accountability, they achieved the seemingly impossible goal, dramatically cutting their development timeline.
This breakthrough resulted in significant internal recognition, leadership promotions, and widespread adoption of these groundbreaking practices across other development projects.
As is true in the example, breakthrough projects are pursued when the desired outcome is seen as unattainable at the outset, and existing methods and pace are insufficient to deliver the needed change. This holds true whether the objective is tactical or strategic.
While tactical projects often focus on short-term gains (e.g., within six to nine months) and address immediate
organizational needs, strategic breakthroughs aim for long-term, sustainable competitive advantage. A key differentiator is that tactical results are often short in duration and are unachievable given the organization’s current way of working, whereas strategic results have a more lasting impact. The defining parameters are:
• Impossibility: The desired outcome appears unattainable given the current context.
• Current Limitations: Existing processes and ways of working are insufficient to produce the desired result.
While mindset is critical, structure matters just as much. Breakthrough projects are effective because they are grounded in a set of clearly defined components that enable teams to function at an elevated level of performance and accountability.
At the core of each project is outcome alignment—a specific, bold, and measurable result that the team commits to achieving within a one-year timeframe. This outcome is not just aspirational; it is essential to the organization and fully owned by the team responsible for delivering it.
Every breakthrough project is anchored by an executive champion, a senior leader who serves as the project’s advocate across the enterprise. This leader ensures organizational alignment, removes barriers to progress, and provides the influence and visibility necessary for the project to gain traction and sustain momentum.
Equally important are defined boundaries that establish clarity around legal, operational, or political constraints. By explicitly identifying what is “off the table” at the outset, teams are free to focus their creativity and problemsolving on viable, high-impact solutions— avoiding wasted energy and confusion.
Consider the case of a U.S.-based multinational in consumer goods, which spent over a decade struggling to commercialize biodegradable packaging Internal misalignment and bureaucracy stifled progress—until a breakthrough project reframed the initiative.
With support from Insigniam, the R&D team challenged long-held assumptions, enrolled senior executives, and repositioned the initiative as a companywide strategic priority. The project timeline advanced by two years, and the company emerged as a leader in sustainable packaging.
Likewise, at a global medical device company, only one new product had launched in eight years. Breakthrough projects disrupted siloed thinking, instilled a culture of accountability, and empowered teams to take risks. Within months, a 12-product pipeline emerged, reversing years of stagnation and repositioning the company as an innovation leader.
Or, in the case of a major U.S. airline, station managers lacked influence over vendor selection— despite being accountable for frontline operations. Disconnected from the corporate supply chain, they struggled to hold vendors accountable for service quality in critical areas like cleaning, food, and wheelchair services.
With Insigniam’s support, a cross-country team of station managers redefined their relationship with both corporate and external partners. Through candid conversations and enrollment, they shifted internal dynamics from adversarial to collaborative. They also reimagined vendor relationships as long-term partnerships rather than transactional obligations.
The result: a vendor handbook, performance dashboards, and compliance logs—tools 95% of surveyed managers said would improve vendor accountability and elevate service. By transforming mindsets and bridging silos, the airline laid the groundwork for sustained operational excellence across more than 100 stations.
Breakthrough, By the Numbers
A Breakthrough Project at Citi entailed redesigning its payments journey, which boosted its Net Promoter Score 31%, resulting in a more intuitive, seamless, cross-channel customer experience.1
A global pharma company cut drug trial times by 50%—or five years—via a Breakthrough Project that streamlined five key processes and boosted team engagement.2
31% 50 % 90 %
A global asset manager achieved 90%+ ESG process efficiency, 95% time reduction, and 91% accuracy using AI-driven solutions with Insigniam.3 1
Finally, the team structure is intentionally designed for agility and effectiveness. Teams typically consist of four to twelve members, with six being optimal. Members are selected not just for subject matter expertise, but for their ability to collaborate across departments and functions. Participation is voluntary, and each member takes full responsibility for the project’s overall success—not just their individual tasks. This shared accountability is a hallmark of breakthrough projects and a key reason they produce extraordinary results.
One of the most common—and most powerful—uses of a breakthrough project is to remove internal barriers that are stalling progress. In particular, their adaptability to changing strategic objectives makes them highly effective in enterprise-wide initiatives with multiple stakeholders and evolving success criteria.
Consider how many organizations experience gridlock when legacy systems, entrenched silos, or outdated assumptions prevent momentum on urgent business priorities. A breakthrough project mobilizes cross-functional teams around a shared commitment, enabling them to challenge the status quo, surface hidden constraints, and rapidly generate new pathways to results. The clarity and urgency built into the process empower teams to cut through bureaucracy and deliver tangible outcomes faster than would otherwise be possible.
Breakthrough projects also excel in environments where inter-divisional collaboration is essential to strategic success. When enterprise-wide initiatives require seamless coordination between business units or departments with historically disconnected goals, these projects offer a disciplined framework for alignment.
By orienting the team around a bold, measurable outcome and creating mutual accountability across functions, a breakthrough project replaces siloed behavior with unified, purpose-driven action.
Another high-leverage application is in aligning external partners and suppliers.
In today’s interconnected business environment, results often depend on seamless execution across organizational boundaries. Breakthrough projects enable companies and their external stakeholders to define shared objectives, align on commitments, and build trustbased partnerships that create competitive advantage. Whether in supplier innovation, go-to-market strategy, or operational integration, the methodology fosters clarity, transparency, and co-ownership of results.
You should consider launching a breakthrough project when the outcome your organization seeks cannot be achieved through current methods. If a strategic initiative is stuck—whether due to resistance, inertia, or lack of clarity—a breakthrough project offers a powerful reset. It is especially valuable when time is critical and the cost of delay is high. And when success depends on alignment across departments, geographies, or partners, the breakthrough approach becomes a force multiplier—generating not only results, but also transformation in how people engage and lead.
As Insigniam has long asserted, breakthroughs are not the result of doing more—they are the result of thinking differently, acting decisively, and working collaboratively in service of a future that did not previously seem possible.
Breakthrough projects deliver more than business results—they ignite transformation. By empowering people to think differently, act boldly, and work collaboratively, these projects unlock value that far exceeds the original objective.
In a market where agility, innovation, and alignment determine
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