Learn what driving forces are shaping strategic planning and how to prepare your organization to be more resilient in the face of future changes in the operational landscape.
Below, you will find a detailed analysis of the trends in strategic planning expected in 2025–2026 and how they differ from those of the previous decade. We will focus on both:
- Trends in strategic planning as a discipline
- Trends in strategic planning as applied to specific domains
We plan to update this trend analysis annually, adding some minor insights monthly.
Trend 1: AI. Governance for AI; Exploring Applications in Strategic Planning
At the beginning of 2024, the direction for AI application was outlined with the statement, ‘GenAI Won’t Replace Strategists.’ This remains relevant, as AI is still in the early stages of development and is far from being able to manage the complexity of the real world.
We are seeing an increase in practical applications of AI in strategic planning:
- AI in scenario planning
- AI for validating existing controls against new regulations
- AI for generating a draft strategy and conducting analysis of existing strategy
With significant investments in AI, we can expect to see more advancements soon, including in applications for strategic planning. For example, BSC Designer platform is now capable not only of AI-powered analysis of metrics, but also of actual strategy modeling.
In the enterprise world, one of the main concerns remains the loss of control over data once it is passed to external AI. In response to this risk, we will see more AI models deployed and trained on-premises, isolated from the external environment.
The two key focuses in strategic planning now are:
- AI governance, particularly in relation to compliance and risk management
- Preparing strategic planning for a more active use of AI in the future
Another critical angle on the AI trend is the need for strategic oversight during AI implementation. A clearly articulated strategy, supported by strong governance and quality controls, is a key success factor for effective AI adoption.
Trend 2: GRC. More Internal Controls; Focus on Stakeholder and Risk Management
GRC is a rebranding of established concepts in performance management, governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance.
With the increasing number of regulations, this trend is gaining momentum. Just look at the number of conferences held on GRC and RegTech globally to see what I mean.
For European companies and those involved in Europe’s supply chain, the focus is on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), set to take effect in 2026, the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
One of the driving forces behind GRC is the introduction of new regulations. While each new regulation adds a layer of complexity to regulatory environment, there are some shared requirements that I believe will shape the GRC trend:
- The requirements for more transparent stakeholder management and strategy planning in general
- Improved risk management, marked by a shift from RM1 (heat maps as a tool, risk management for compliance) to RM2 (bowtie as a tool, strategy-first risk analysis)
- The requirement for alignment between the subject of regulation and other parts of strategy
- More transparency in the definition of internal controls, with a stronger focus on evidence-based performance reporting
Trend 3. Effects of Climate Change on Supply Chain and Business Continuity
Back in 2024, my predictions about supply chain and business continuity focused on extreme weather events, which remain relevant today. Here are a few notable headlines from 2024:
- Heatwaves in India
- Extreme floods in Spain, Brazil, UAE, and South China
In some cases, climate change affects only specific industries; for example, the increasing number of severe turbulence impacts the aviation industry. In other cases, it can lead to temporary disruptions in entire regions, such as when extreme floods affect a hub like Dubai.
The main implication for strategic planning is:
- Revising the impact and probability of such events and adjusting business continuity plans accordingly.
- Defining strategies for disaster recovery, preferably expanding them beyond the core IT infrastructure.
- Placing greater focus on analyzing risk events and aligning the results with the overall strategy and stakeholders’ needs. Bowtie analysis is a good choice for this task.
Trend 4: Cybersecurity. Vendor Risk Management
At the beginning of 2024, I predicted that cybersecurity would become a major trend. This opinion was somewhat biased, as I was preparing for my talk on “Change Management in Cybersecurity.”
Among the cases I reviewed were the supply chain vulnerabilities:
- The SolarWinds 2020 case (called “the biggest cybersecurity breach of the 21st century” before the CrowdStrike outage in July 2024)
- A backdoor in the xz Project affecting SSHD (which could have become a huge issue if it hadn’t been detected accidentally in the early stages)
With more breaches occurred in 2024, the cybersecurity trend is expected to strengthen in 2025-2026.
How does this affect strategic planning?
- We will see even more internal controls dedicated to cybersecurity and disaster recovery.
- There will be a greater focus on vendor risk management (we saw a spike right after the CrowdStrike incident in 2024).
- We will see more active use of cybersecurity scorecards and stronger alignment with the overall strategy.
Trend 5. Strategic Alignment. Demonstrating the Relationship Between Strategies
In practice, strategic alignment is about connecting a strategy with the strategies of others or with one’s own sub-strategies.
From our conversations with customers, we often hear that they “need to show how their strategy supports an overall strategy” or “show how their strategy aligns with the strategies of partners, investors, etc.”
- In general, this interest is reflected in alignment with Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
- It is more specific in domains that involve deep relationships with a wider range of stakeholders, such as nonprofits, startups, and educational organizations.
- In the enterprise segment, we observe increasing interest in strategic or consultative sales, with in-depth strategy analysis and alignment at their core.
Economic uncertainties have traditionally led to an increase in M&A deals. This trend was already evident in 2024 and is expected to grow further in 2025. This underscores the importance for organizations to reinforce their strategic planning, with a particular focus on achieving strategic alignment.
Ultimately, strategic alignment is not possible without appropriate strategy architecture. We see modular strategy as a success factor in future readiness for any organization.
Trend 6. Strategy Automation. Transparency in AI Practices; Consultancy from Vendors
Finally, let’s review the changes in the domain of strategy automation, which is our core expertise.
On the marketing level, we see vendors of goal tracking tools positioning themselves within the strategic planning domain. This is somewhat confusing for end users, as goal tracking software is more suitable for a stable project management environment rather than for dealing with validating hypotheses within strategic planning.
On the technical level, what we see in the RFPs is that the requirements for traditional strategic planning or Balanced Scorecard software have evolved. In fact, we’re seeing more requests labeled as “strategy execution platform” than “Balanced Scorecard software.” Here are the trends we’re observing now and expect to continue through 2026.
Projection of AI trend:
- The requirement for AI in software, primarily for horizon scanning and trend analysis.
- Requirements for greater transparency regarding how the software uses AI (if not 100% transparent, it will be a red flag during vendor validation).
- Software vendors will need to adapt their platforms to connect to multiple AI models. For example, one model could be a public one, like ChatGPT, used for scanning the external environment, while another could be a proprietary model trained for handling more sensitive data.
The role of software vendors is changing:
- The need for implementation consulting is rising. We started seeing this trend back in 2023, with more clients asking not just for software, but also for managerial experience in deploying and scaling strategy.
The role of business frameworks is evolving:
- From “one framework for all challenges” to
- Using a “combination of frameworks.”
We consider this a positive signal, as the deployment of a complex strategy naturally requires various decomposition methods and, respectively, various frameworks.
- The K&N Balanced Scorecard, OKRs, and Hoshin Kanri are among the preferred frameworks for strategy execution.
- PESTEL and SWOT are leading tools for strategic analysis.
Deglobalization trend:
- We see an increasing interest in deploying our platform on private cloud solutions. This trend appears to be driven by the reassessment of supply chain and cybersecurity risks, along with regulatory requirements for data localization.
Finally, following the GRC trend, we observe a growing interest in functionality related to:
- Internal controls
- Stakeholder management
- Strategy cascading
- Ownership and accountability
Session: 'Strategic Planning Under Uncertainty – 5 Trends to Consider in 2025' is available as part of BSC Designer's ongoing learning program, offered both as an online and on-site workshop. Learn more....
Feel free to share your thoughts on the trends in strategic planning in your industry in the comments below. If you want to understand how these trends affect strategic planning in your organization, consider conducting a strategy audit.
Alexis Savkin is a Senior Strategy Consultant and the CEO of BSC Designer, a Strategy Architecture & Execution Platform. He has more than 20 years of experience in the field, with a background in applied mathematics and information technology. Alexis is the author of the “Strategy Implementation System”. He has published over 100 articles on strategy and performance measurement, regularly speaks at industry events, and his work is frequently cited in academic research.
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I found the insights on strategic planning for 2025-2026 very enlightening! It’s crucial for organizations to adapt and be resilient in today’s ever-changing landscape. The emphasis on understanding driving forces is something I believe every corporate planner should prioritize. Looking forward to implementing some of these strategies at Rio Tinto!