Month: January 2026

by Lee Green, Cascale Vice President, Communications & Marketing

Each year, the Global Risks Report offers a snapshot of how leaders around the world see the near and long-term risk landscape evolving. The 2026 edition, published by the World Economic Forum, is not a radical departure from previous years. Climate change remains a defining risk. Economic pressure, geopolitical fragmentation, and social stress continue to intensify. What feels different this year is not the diagnosis, but the clarity of the signal.

The risks shaping the global economy are increasingly interconnected, mutually reinforcing, and deeply embedded in the systems that underpin consumer goods supply chains. For our industry, this is no longer a future-facing warning. It is a description of current operating conditions.

Global Risk is Now Supply Chain Risk

The report highlights how environmental, economic, and geopolitical risks are converging rather than occurring in isolation. For consumer goods companies, this convergence is most visible in manufacturing regions, where climate exposure, regulatory change, cost volatility, and labor pressures are felt at the same time, often by the same actors.

Suppliers today are navigating rising energy costs while being asked to decarbonize, manage water scarcity, comply with new due diligence legislation, and respond to shifting demand patterns. These pressures are not sequential. They are simultaneous. When viewed through that lens, the risks described in the Global Risks Report – like geoeconomics confrontation, state-based conflict, and extreme weather – are not abstract global forces. They are practical constraints shaping day-to-day decisions across value chains.

This matters because risk exposure is no longer limited to operational continuity. It now extends directly into financial performance, regulatory compliance, brand trust, and long-term access to supply.

Fragmentation is Amplifying Risk, Not Containing It

One of the less explicit but most important messages in the report is how fragmentation increases vulnerability. As global systems become more politically divided, the burden of complexity grows. Nowhere is this more evident than in supply chains.

Multiple regulatory regimes, overlapping reporting requirements, and unaligned standards increase cost and dilute focus. When brands and retailers pursue disconnected approaches to climate action or responsible purchasing, suppliers absorb the complexity. The result is not greater resilience, but higher risk concentration at the most vulnerable points in the system.

The report implicitly challenges the idea that risk can be managed through isolated, company-by-company strategies. In a tightly coupled global system, fragmented responses often create new points of failure rather than reducing exposure.

Resilience is Not Built Through Individual Action Alone

Another clear takeaway from the 2026 report is the limitation of resilience narratives that focus on individual preparedness without addressing system-level design. While company-level risk management remains essential, it is no longer sufficient on its own.

Supplier resilience cannot be built brand by brand when suppliers serve dozens of customers with differing expectations, timelines, and data requests. Climate risk cannot be reduced through parallel, uncoordinated decarbonization efforts that compete for the same limited resources. Regulatory readiness cannot be achieved when suppliers are required to respond to multiple interpretations of similar rules.

The report points toward a simple but often uncomfortable conclusion. In an interconnected risk environment, coordination becomes a core risk mitigation strategy.

Turning Insight Into Industry Response

This is where the implications for the consumer goods industry become practical. The Global Risks Report does not prescribe solutions, but it makes clear that effective responses must operate at the level of systems, not just organizations.

For the industry, this means prioritizing approaches that reduce duplication, align expectations, and support suppliers in navigating transition pressures. It means investing in shared tools and data frameworks that enable comparability and credibility. It also means recognizing that responsible purchasing practices are not only a social issue, but a structural lever for risk reduction and long-term resilience.

These are not abstract ideals. They are business necessities in a context where risk is increasingly collective in nature.

Cascale’s Role in a Shifting Risk Landscape

Cascale exists to help the industry respond to exactly this kind of challenge. Not by positioning itself as the solution, but by enabling alignment where fragmentation increases risk.

Through shared tools, common metrics, and collaborative programs, Cascale helps members move from risk awareness to coordinated action. This includes supporting credible climate action that is grounded in data, advancing responsible purchasing practices that improve supplier stability, and reducing the reporting burden on manufacturers through greater alignment.

In a world where global risks are converging, the ability to act collectively and consistently across value chains becomes a competitive advantage. Cascale’s role is to support that shift, turning ambition into measurable progress while keeping the realities faced by manufacturers firmly in view.

One report quote reinforces this plainly for us: “In a world with greater competition, [cooperation] may be harder to achieve, but only by rebuilding trust and new forms of collaborative mechanisms can leaders steer us towards greater resilience and help shape a more stable future.”

What This Means for Members

The 2026 Global Risks Report reinforces three messages that are particularly relevant for consumer goods companies.

First, global risk is no longer external to supply chains. It is embedded within them, shaping cost, capacity, and continuity.

Second, fragmentation carries a rising price. The cost of unaligned approaches is increasingly borne by suppliers, and ultimately reflected back in business performance and risk exposure.

Third, collective action is becoming a core business capability. Not a values statement, and not a communications exercise, but a practical response to a risk environment that no single organization can manage alone.

The Global Risks Report is, in many ways, a mirror. It reflects the reality that many in the industry already recognize. The challenge now is not whether we understand the risks, but whether we are willing to respond in ways that match their scale and interconnected nature.

Cascale will continue working with members to translate global risk into practical, aligned action across consumer goods supply chains. Join us.

NEW YORK and MUMBAI, January 16, 2026 /3BL/ – Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a global leader in IT services, consulting, and business solutions, has been recognized by Newsweek as the most reliable IT services company in the Unites States for 2026.

The ranking, developed by Newsweek in collaboration with Statista, a global leader in industry rankings and statistical analysis, is based on an independent survey of more than 1,700 U.S. participants. Companies were evaluated across five key metrics: Likelihood of Customer Recommendation, Ease of Doing Business, Value for Money, Consistency of Deliverables, and Reputation for Dependability. The top 300 companies with the highest overall scores were included in the list.

Anil Bhatt, EVP, Chief Information and Digital Officer, Norfolk Southern, said, “I’d like to congratulate TCS on their well-deserved recognition as one of Newsweek’s America’s Most Reliable Companies. At Norfolk Southern, safety isn’t just a priority—it’s a core value that guides everything we do. Our work with TCS embeds technology into our business processes and supports our ability to maintain a secure and reliable technology ecosystem. We are united with TCS in viewing reliability as a core operating principle.”

Amit Bajaj, President, North America, Tata Consultancy Services, said, “We are deeply grateful to our clients for the trust they place in TCS and to our associates who go above and beyond to live our customer centric values. For over five decades and across technology cycles, we have partnered with organizations across industries to deliver reliable, resilient, and future ready business outcomes. With AI becoming integral to enterprise transformation—and given the probabilistic nature of technology—reliability is more critical than ever for delivering real, measurable value in a responsible way.”

Ryan Kinney, Senior Vice President of Research Strategy and Revenue, Newsweek, said, “Congratulations to Tata Consultancy Services on its inclusion in Newsweek and Statista’s America’s Most Reliable Companies 2026. The ranking reflects feedback from thousands of U.S. business decision-makers and emphasizes practical measures like ease of doing business and consistency of deliverables—core elements of dependable business to business partnerships.”

TCS’ leadership in IT services has been consistently recognized by industry analysts and market rankings. Last year, TCS debuted on Newsweek’s list of America’s Greatest Workplaces 2025.

For more information about Newsweek’s America’s Most Reliable Companies 2026 Ranking, visit: https://rankings.newsweek.com/americas-most-reliable-companies-2026

About Newsweek

Newsweek is the global digital news organization built around the iconic 93-year-old American magazine. Newsweek reaches 100 million people monthly with its thought-provoking news, opinion, images, graphics, and video delivered across a dozen print and digital platforms. Headquartered in New York City, Newsweek also publishes international editions in EMEA and Asia.

About Statista

Statista produces hundreds of global industry rankings and company listings in partnership with leading media outlets. Its research and analysis service is powered by the data-driven expertise of statista.com, a premier business intelligence portal offering comprehensive market insights, statistics, and consumer studies.

About Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) is a digital transformation and technology partner of choice for industry-leading organizations worldwide. Since its inception in 1968, TCS has upheld the highest standards of innovation, engineering excellence and customer service.

Rooted in the heritage of the Tata Group, TCS is focused on creating long term value for its clients, its investors, its employees, and the community at large. With a highly skilled workforce of 580,000 spread across 55 countries and 202 service delivery centers across the world, the company has been recognized as a top employer in six continents. With the ability to rapidly apply and scale new technologies, the company has built long term partnerships with its clients – helping them emerge as perpetually adaptive enterprises. Many of these relationships have endured into decades and navigated every technology cycle, from mainframes in the 1970s to Artificial Intelligence today.

TCS sponsors 14 of the world’s most prestigious marathons and endurance events, including the TCS New York City Marathon, TCS London Marathon and TCS Sydney Marathon with a focus on promoting health, sustainability, and community empowerment.

TCS generated consolidated revenues of over US $30 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025. For more information, visit www.tcs.com

Follow TCS on LinkedIn| Instagram | YouTube| X

###

While regulatory uncertainty and anti-ESG backlash dominated headlines in 2025, surveys of global C-suite leaders reported an increased commitment to sustainability. In our Top Stories this issue, SustainabilityOnline.com said a new report from Reuters found that 75% of C-suite leaders rate sustainability as a ‘top priority,’ an increase of six percentage points from six months ago.

The Reuters IMPACT: Global Sustainability Report 2025 also found that close to two-thirds (64%) of organizations remain committed to net zero and have not altered their targets. The full Reuters report, which gathered insights from more than 500 global decision-makers, is available for download at the link in our Top Stories below. Among the key findings from the report are:

• 61% of C-suite leaders cited emerging sustainability-related risks as a main factor for prioritizing sustainability, including risks from climate impacts, supply chain vulnerabilities, and resource constraints.
• Other operational risks cited include customer expectations, reputational risk, and regulatory changes.
• Organizations are adapting their strategies including reframing sustainability messaging, with 39% of organizations emphasizing terms like “efficiency” and “resilience” rather than more traditional sustainability terminology.
• 34% of C-suite leaders reported making no changes to sustainability strategy or communications.
• Organizations scaling up sustainability goals (30%) outnumbered those scaling down (9%) by more than three to one.

The Reuters report closely tracked the findings of the UN Global Compact’s 2025 CEO Study published in September 2025, in which 88% of CEOs said that the business case for sustainability is stronger now than it was five years ago. This study, conducted in partnership with the global professional services firm Accenture, is based on a quantitative assessment of nearly 2,000 CEOs across 128 countries, as well as in-depth one-to-one interviews with CEOs, chairpersons, and presidents of UN Global Compact member companies.

In another of our Top Stories, BusinessChief.com highlights the findings of the UN Global Compact’s report along with Deloitte Global’s 2025 C-Suite Sustainability Report, which for the fourth year surveyed more than 2,100 executives across 27 countries. The results of Deloitte’s report also indicated that sustainability remains a top-three priority on the C-suite agenda, alongside technology adoption and artificial intelligence (AI).

The full Deloitte report is available for download at the link in our Top Stories below. Key findings include:

• 83% of companies increased sustainability investments in the last year.
• 66% said their priority actions have a positive impact on revenue generation.
• 79% are transforming their business model or embedding sustainability throughout their organization.
• 81% are already using AI to support their sustainability efforts.

As we head into 2026, companies are focused on ensuring that their sustainability investments and strategies are delivering tangible results for stakeholders. The G&A team is available to provide counsel to CEOs and the entire C-suite to help your company move your sustainability programs forward. Reach out to us at info@ga-institute.com.

This is just the introduction of G&A’s Sustainability Highlights newsletter this week. Click here to view the full issue

Originally published on GoDaddy Resource Library

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your career journey, to date.

Throughout my time at GoDaddy, I’ve held a variety of positions. As the company has grown, my roles have grown with it. I started out as a PHP Developer on our legacy in-house Webmail system and gradually expanded my skills. This growth enabled me to serve as both a Senior Developer and a Manager. Currently, I’ve returned to being an individual contributor within the organization.

What initially attracted you to GoDaddy, and what has kept you here for nearly two decades?

What has kept me committed over the years is the people. A surprising number of us have been with the company for more than a decade.

The value of institutional knowledge is undeniable, and these long-standing relationships prove invaluable every day when it comes to getting things done.

How have you seen the software development landscape change during your time at GoDaddy?

There’s the push and pull of moving code and logic from the frontend to the backend and back, so while I’m not working in PHP anymore, the Javascript world continues to evolve and deliver interesting experiences. Of course, the introduction of AI means I can now approach these problems on a more abstract and conceptual level… it’s less about writing lines of code and more about delivering well designed features. That said, it’s still essential to understand what the code is actually doing.

What has been your most significant learning experience within the past year?

This job has a way of keeping you humble. Sure, there are times when you feel on top of the world—like you’re the smartest developer out there—but in my experience, those moments don’t last long. After about a month of experimenting with a particular JavaScript MicroFrontEnd technology (remote React components loaded from a CDN) I discovered some serious performance issues with the strategy and had to pivot and start again with a new approach.

Is wisdom simply the result of making mistakes and learning not to repeat them? Sometimes, you don’t even realize what you don’t know, until you’ve learned it. But now that you do, you’re able to make better, more informed decisions moving forward.

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received, and how has it influenced your journey?

When I was 21, I found myself at a bar in Tucson, Arizona with a well known alternative comic creator, back when that was a thing (The 90s)! He told me: “Find something niche that you like doing and no one else is doing well. Do that and people will give you money for it.”

Now, after spending 30 years in the tech industry—a wild thought—I’m still searching for ways to be helpful, identify gaps, and pursue work that excites me.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I’m a trail runner. When I’m not at work, I like to leave all the electronics behind, get out into the mountains, explore, and run free. We’ve got a great community of athletes here in Arizona and while my competitive days are mostly behind me, I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving the camaraderie and adventure.

Are you enjoying this series and want to know more about life at GoDaddy? Check out our GoDaddy Life social pages! Follow us to meet our team, learn more about our culture (Teams, ERGs, Locations), careers, and so much more. You’re more than just your day job, so come propel your career with us.

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• TikTok
• Career Page

Originally published by Mastercard

By Vicki Hyman – Director, Global Communications, Mastercard

Since the launch of the World Bank’s Findex database in 2011, bank account ownership among adults has grown from 51% to 79%. But a new report by Consumers International, the global membership organization for consumer associations, suggests that this progress masks an underlying fragility, with as many as 75% of consumers considered financially vulnerable to some degree.

In some low-income countries, less than half of people can come up with emergency funds within 30 days, says Helena Leurent, the director general of Consumers International. “That’s just not a level of resilience that is reasonable,” she says. “You can’t wait for another financial crisis to amend this issue, to build resilience.”

Though policy can be a powerful tool, you can’t regulate a community into resilience. Digital financial systems need to be designed with inclusion as a core principle, says Shamina Singh, the president and founder of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.

The Center has supported Consumers International’s “Building the Consumer Voice in Digital Finance,” an initiative that calls for regulators, policymakers, financial services providers and consumer organizations to adopt a common framework for building consumer resilience. The work includes designing and implementing outcomes-based regulation, integrating real-time consumer risk monitoring, strengthening and modernizing enforcement, and updating and developing financial products and services with consumer protection and feedback baked in.

Leurent and Singh recently spoke with the Mastercard Newsroom about the role of transparency in fortifying consumer trust, the need for greater collaboration to build resilience, and how to ensure vulnerable communities aren’t left behind as technology and financial services change faster than ever.

The following interview has been edited and condensed.

Digital finance has changed drastically since 2011. What is the answer to building consumer resilience? New policies? Better technology? More industry buy-in? More consumer education?

Leurent: In 2011, the world was exiting the financial crisis, and there was an important moment when the OECD said that consumer protection had been overlooked and that we needed a common, cross-sectoral set of principles for financial consumer protection. Their implementation is worth celebrating: They’ve become a reference standard for the need for, and importance of, consumer protection. Since then, the landscape has shifted dramatically. You’ve got so much more innovation — just look at the number of fintechs — more providers, the growth in mobile money, all sorts of shifts. There is greater recognition that consumers need to be included, but that in doing so, they can become more exposed. It means that the consumer outcomes are not progressing in tandem with that thinking about access and inclusion.

“Consumer protection builds trust, builds resilience. It means you can lean into the future. It means you can lean into innovation with confidence.”

Helena Leurent

There is a recognition that growth and consumer protection go hand in hand. Consumer protection builds trust, builds resilience. It means you can lean into the future. It means you can lean into innovation with confidence.

Singh: If the outcome that we’re looking for is resilience — being able to withstand shocks, being able to recover from financial hardships so that consumers can continue on their journey to financial health — then an essential component is protection. And protection in some respects can be legislated, can be implemented in policy. But a written policy doesn’t equal enforcement. To build resilience and protection, regulators, consumers, product providers and advocacy organizations all play a part. It requires constant communication and collaboration across various centers.

Do you think the lack of transparency in digital finance depresses access and usage for consumers, particularly those who are just entering the formal financial system? What’s the long-term impact for them and for the economy as a whole?

Leurent: Over time the meaning and value of transparency has shifted. In the past, it might have been enough to give people more information, but they could not make sense of it. Now we understand that disclosure is not the only solution. There must be well-designed products and process along the consumer journey where you factor in relevant, timely, inclusive information. It’s not just about telling me the price or the term, but answering the questions like: Is this product suitable and right for me? Are the distribution practices fair? Am I given a meaningful explanation? It’s a broader definition of what real transparency is.

Price transparency is a known issue. Asking consumer advocates around the world, close to 60% say that the lack of transparency in fees and charges is a significant factor that causes lack of trust in digital finance. But transparency in digital finance isn’t just on the demand side. There are supply-side issues that can be improved: Our research also shows that 88% of financial services regulators in low- and middle-income countries collect complaints data, but only 44% make that data available publicly. Doing so can help consumer advocates and financial service providers improve. If all parts of the ecosystem can see what’s happening behind the scenes in an increasingly complex marketplace, they can work together to improve it.

“Transparency is critical as part of the entire user experience. User experience and early interactions with the financial system will develop trust if they are repeated, predictable positive experiences.”

Shamina Singh

Singh: Transparency is critical as part of the entire user experience. User experience and early interactions with the financial system will develop trust if they are repeated, predictable positive experiences. One of the lessons that we can replicate from the Mastercard experience is protection by default, security by default, resolution by default. You know that when you use a digital form of payment, whether it’s a phone or a wallet or a card, protection is built into that experience. So that if something happens, if the purchase doesn’t work, you have a way of getting your money back. If you don’t, then that defeats the purpose of ensuring that a digital economy works for everyone, everywhere.

Can you point to an example of recent policies or an initiative that is already proving itself by empowering consumers in practical ways or making communities more resilient? Are there any common threads that could be easily replicated?

Leurent: In our report, we highlighted the U.K.’s relatively recent Consumer Duty regulation, which was a move from a “do no harm” approach to a “doing good by default” approach. In Malaysia, the Fair Treatment of Financial Consumers policy integrated a principle related to vulnerability, in which financial services providers should develop policies, procedures and controls to ensure fair treatment of vulnerable consumers through their entire journey. There are also examples of when regulators have intervened in specific circumstances, such as capping the cost of short-term credit, or stepping in to reduce the risk of mortgage defaults in the wake of interest rate rises after the COVID-19 pandemic. These are instances where different parts of the ecosystem have coordinated to focus on consumer and systemic outcomes and have been able to quickly design and implement effective solutions.

Singh: I’ll give you two examples around our work with women entrepreneurs that I’m really proud of. Through Mastercard Strive, we have a program called Strive Women that aims to turn cultural norms into opportunities in places like Pakistan and Peru. In Pakistan, we worked with a leading microfinance bank to remove male guarantor requirements and allow women to serve as loan guarantors. Now, instead of requiring a male co-signer, these women can use gold jewelry, which many South Asian women acquire in preparation for marriage, as collateral against a loan. These gold-backed loans make up 40% of total borrowers, and the repayment rate is an incredible 100%.

Separately, we have also been working to help digitize wages in the textile space, which builds trust and increases safety and autonomy for workers. By working with RISE in Egypt, where 93% of 24,000 garment workers now receive digital payments instead of cash, we’re reducing wage exploitation and theft while improving financial wellness and health. Across the two examples, the common thread is inclusion. When we think about bringing everyone, especially underserved or underrepresented communities in, we are creating systems that are resilient and sustainable.

The latest Global Findex showed significant strides in access to financial services, although there is more work to do. What do you think is the next gap or challenge that you’re looking to tackle?

Leurent: The reason we care so much about consumer resilience is that we don’t know what the next big shock could be. I could give you agentic AI, whatever comes after agentic AI, stablecoins, digital identity, energy costs and how we connect digitization with energy provision and energy services — major shifts coming down the pike, but we won’t know. If we thought back even five years, would we really know what was heading our way, and even faster?

If you build consumer resilience — that is a huge challenge on its own — if you get that right, then no matter what comes along, you’ve got a framework to be able to face it. The next challenge is this one: resilience.

Singh: Cybersecurity and fraud protection is the name of the game, especially for small businesses, where it’s very tough to withstand a cybersecurity attack. At the Center, we are working with many partners to create cyber toolkits bundled with our cyber products.

I would also say AI. The Center can intervene in this space by reducing the gap between the data-haves and the data have-nots. That’s why we’re working with organizations like data.org and Datakind and others that are fit for purpose and built for this moment, along with international consumer protection organizations, to ensure that the distance between those who understand data and AI and those who don’t isn’t insurmountable. So our area of focus has been on building the capacity of social sector organizations to realize the power of data and AI. And if I have one call to action, it’s please join us in this important work. Everyone has a part to play and we welcome your partnership.

From excluded to empowered

Shamina Singh on the latest Global Findex report, which shows that 79% of adults now have access to formal financial services, up from 51% in 2011.

Read more

Continue reading here.

Follow along Mastercard’s journey to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere.