About the study
Return to Investment is based on a research study combining a global business survey among 2,000 business leaders and investors with a scenario planning framework to gauge what the world of business looks like in 2035 and how CFOs should prepare.
Scenario planning
For the first part of our study, OneStream worked with an advisory panel — including experts from academia, think tanks, corporations, and multinational boards — to map out the potential world of business in 2035. Interviewees included scholars in the field of international studies at leading research universities in Europe and the US: Rogier Creemers (Leiden University) and Catharin Dalpino (Georgetown University).
This involved examining a series of predetermined international structures, trends, and critical uncertainties.
Based on these insights, OneStream identified two critical axes which formed the foundation for four distinct scenarios for the world of business in 2035:
Regulation
Will international regulation converge or diverge between now and 2035?
Technology
Will the rollout of advanced technologies, such as AI, drive strong economic growth, or will technology and growth hit limits?
Global survey
For the second part of the study, OneStream commissioned a global business survey, interviewing business leaders and investors about their perspectives on these identified scenarios, or ‘worlds of business’ and the role of the CFO in 2035. The sample consisted of:
1,500 business leaders
working in both large enterprise organizations and mid-market businesses.
1,000 CFOs; 250 CEOs; and 250 line of business (LOB) managers (including leaders from operations, procurement, sales, finance, customer, and regional heads).
Company size: 1,000 – over 10,000 employees
Annual revenue: USD $500 million – over USD $10 billion
500 investors
with assets under management (AUM) of $10 billion to over $3 trillion.
Respondents were based in Australia, France, Germany, Singapore, the UK, and the US and represented the following sectors: financial services; manufacturing; healthcare; public sector; and retail and consumer.