Prepare your business for Christmas 2025

December 2025 feels like a strange mix of cautious optimism and permanent uncertainty.

Growth is still there—but slower and patchier than before the pandemic. Major forecasters see the world economy expanding modestly, with advanced economies growing at around 2–2.5% and global inflation easing but still above 2019 levels.IMF+1

At the same time, leaders are wrestling with three big realities:

• AI is mainstream… but not yet fully under control. Most enterprises now have AI in production, yet many are struggling with data quality, governance, compliance and actually turning pilots into scaled value.Thailand Business News+1

  
  

• Geopolitics is now a core business variable, not background noise. Supply chains, energy, raw materials and trade policy are all being rewritten, forcing companies to rethink resilience, nearshoring and risk.maersk.com+1

  
  

• Debt and cost of capital still bite. Many developing economies are under heavy debt pressure, while businesses everywhere are adjusting to a “higher for longer” borrowing environment, even as inflation cools.economymiddleeast.com+1

  
  

In short: this isn’t a boom or a bust year. It’s a discipline year.

The companies that will win in 2026 aren’t necessarily the loudest or the biggest—they’re the ones quietly strengthening margins, tightening execution, investing in people and data, and treating AI and resilience as core capabilities, not side projects.