AI, Market Signals, and the CEO’s Path to Competitive Advantage: Dripping Syrup Example (Conference Board Q4 CEO 2025 Survey)

You’re a CEO or executive, and you’ve realized that technology is advancing far faster now than it has in the past. AI has become an increasingly valuable tool for recruitment, efficiency, market research, cost reduction, product development, customer experience, and much more. With this shift comes the need to hire people who can use modern technologies effectively, which means significant training will likely be required across the organization. As you seek to figure out a strategy it is beneficial to ponder what other CEOs are thinking and what they are doing to navigate the market. Surveys and industry reports allows one to understand the economic environment and create better strategic solutions.  

Representing a maple syrup 
tasting room and distribution
hub for example local export brand
as an alernative strategy.
Can technology make local 
development more possible?
Blending local assets and market changes.

Reading industry reports—such as the Conference Board’s Q4 2025 CEO survey—provides useful insight into current executive thinking. According to the report, CEOs believe that market conditions are becoming more challenging and that the overall economic outlook has worsened. Even so, many are choosing to increase hiring, raise wages, and allocate more capital spending compared to the previous quarter.

Leaders can use reports like these to benchmark their own strategies. For example, if you’re considering hiring new talent to adjust your approach or gain an edge over competitors, it helps to know that other executives are facing similar pressures. These insights also provide a sense of how companies may behave in the near term based on their outlook and expectations. You can then guage some of your own strategies in comparision to others.

That said, just because other companies are taking certain actions doesn’t mean you should follow the same path. Instead, these insights help you understand the landscape more clearly (The more you know, the less hazy it is). Sometimes, when everyone is heading in one direction, the better opportunity lies in a slightly different strategic approach. A strong grasp of economic principles and market dynamics allows organizations to manage resources more effectively and hedge against emerging trends.

An Example of Understanding the Market to Understand Strategic Options

A picture representing
profits up, markets opened, 
new jobs, visitors in store, area branding,
local circulation of wealth
and increased local tax revenue.

Imagine you own a maple syrup farm outside Escanaba or Gladstone and want to open a syrup shop downtown, where Escanaba is quickly becoming an entrepreneurial and investment hotspot. Suppose you notice many syrup producers nationally are adopting AI-powered tree-tapping systems to cut costs and sell their syrup to large wholesalers—consistent income, but often lower profit margins. Instead, you decide to partner with other local syrup producers within a 60-mile radius and invest in AI technology that enhances efficiency, improves quality, and helps develop unique flavors (for example, a BBQ-style syrup). Together, you launch a shared regional brand—maybe something like Delta County Drippers, Inc.—and open a storefront downtown for tourists, restaurant owners, and locals to sample and buy the products (Various sizes with various prices). UP Maple Syrup From there, you strike deals with national and international distributors to get the brand on shelves worldwide and the back of your store the loading dock. (Many of these buildings were built in a way that may now help start-ups. Free idea—run with it!)