For the past two and a half decades, the mandate for global business leaders was relatively straightforward: Grow the existing business, allocate capital efficiently, and implement technology to drive productivity. But Mohamed Kande, global chairman of PwC, speaking to Fortune in Davos, Switzerland, ahead of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, insisted that era is over. Kande argued that the CEO job has changed more in the past year than anything he’s seen over the past quarter-century.
“This is one of the most testing moments for leaders,” Kande told Fortune’s Diane Brady, describing a new “trimodal” mandate that requires executives to simultaneously run their current business, transform it in real time, and also build entirely new business models for the future. “I’ve not seen that in 25 years,” he said.
