Business Management | Arete Coach 2/16

The 2026 Mid-Year Economic Outlook

Six months ago, I published a ranked matrix of the ten issues most likely to shape the business environment in 2026. This mid-year update recalibrates that ranking against hard data: the IMF's April World Economic Outlook, the April CPI release, current markets, and post-SCOTUS tariff reality. The numbers have moved. More importantly, the pattern beneath them has sharpened. Let me give you the headline figures, then tell you what they actually mean for how you run your organi

18 hours ago4 min read

135,000 autonomous AI agents are already operating globally. There is still no regulatory framework governing them.

Recently, we’ve seen some of the most consequential shifts in AI regulation since the December 2025 Executive Order. But beneath the headlines, a more consequential shift is underway: AI is already making operational decisions inside companies, while governance, accountability, and legal clarity lag dangerously behind. Three developments, in particular, illustrate how quickly the AI regulatory landscape is diverging from how most organizations are currently operating: 1. The

Mar 253 min read

When AI Outpaces Governance, Leadership Becomes the Risk

Enterprise AI has reached an inflection point. Organizations are deploying increasingly capable systems—autonomous agents that execute multi-step tasks, make decisions, and interact across enterprise systems—without a comparable investment in governance infrastructure. The dynamic resembles what one executive once described as “a Ferrari engine with Tweety Bird brakes”—extraordinary acceleration paired with insufficient control. A widening asymmetry has emerged: capability is

Mar 234 min read

Lessons from the 2026 Verizon Outage: Architecting a Business That Never Goes "SOS”

The Verizon outage on January 14, 2026, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of users affected across the U.S., served as a stark reminder that even the most "reliable" networks have single points of failure. In the era of "Internet of Everything," a connectivity gap presents a halt in revenue, safety, and operations. To de-risk your digital footprint, use these 10 critical infrastructure shifts as a blueprint for your next strategic session with your CTO. 1. Shift from R

Jan 164 min read

Managing Chronic Uncertainty with AI as a Strategic Partner

For the better part of a decade, leadership teams treated uncertainty like a passing storm: a temporary disruption to be endured until familiar patterns returned. That assumption has collapsed; volatility has become the operating environment itself. The data confirms a period of chronic instability: Global growth is slowing, projected at 3.1% for 2026 , with trade policy defined by sudden shifts in tariffs and subsidies has become a primary driver of market turbulence. The

Jan 144 min read

Are your leaders “Quiet Cracking”?

In recent years, the corporate world has been preoccupied with Quiet Quitting: the phenomenon of employees doing the bare minimum while they look for an exit. But for executive coaches and C-suite leaders today, a more destructive trend has emerged: Quiet Cracking. Unlike those who are checked out and waiting to leave, people who are cracking aren't trying to quit. They are often your high-performers, your long-tenured managers, and dedicated specialists. They want to stay, b

Jan 86 min read

15 Lessons from a Transformative Year

In 2025, artificial intelligence evolved from a promising experiment into the backbone of modern infrastructure. As execution gained incredible momentum and information became more accessible than ever, traditional leadership roles underwent a powerful transformation. Rather than sticking to old scripts, leaders embraced a new era of agility and insight, discovering fresh patterns through real-world experience. Here are 15 lessons from this year that empower leaders to thrive

Dec 26, 20254 min read

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