While discussions of US tariff policies dominated Q2 earnings calls to an unprecedented degree, another equally important trend is bubbling just under the surface in C-suites and on trading floors: concern that the economic uncertainty caused by tariff turmoil may lead to a downturn. That’s the conclusion of the third edition of the CEO Radar—a tool to help CEOs determine which issues truly deserve their time and attention. It unpacks the leading topics discussed on more than 4,500 earnings calls worldwide in Q2 2025, enabling chief executives to compare their agendas to those of their peers, and to the market’s expectations. On this episode of the CEO Radar Podcast, Edward Adams of Bloomberg Media Studios is joined by BCG Global Chair Rich Lesser and Mai-Britt Poulsen, Global Leader of BCGs Consumer & Retail Practice, to discuss how CEOs can build their resilience.

Financial analysts were far more prepared than most CEOs for the US tariffs announced on April 2. Analysts, who serve as a proxy for the financial markets, anticipated tariffs would soon be an enormous issue, mentioning the topic 62% more often than did CEOs during Q1 earnings calls. That’s the conclusion of the second edition of the CEO Radar—a tool to help CEOs determine which issues truly deserve their time and attention. It unpacks the leading topics discussed on almost 4,900 earnings calls worldwide in Q1 2025, enabling chief executives to compare their agendas to those of their peers, and to the market’s expectations. On this episode of the CEO Radar Podcast, Edward Adams of Bloomberg Media Studios is joined by BCG Global Chair Rich Lesser and Michael Brigl, Head of BCG’s Central European practice, to discuss how tariffs are likely to have a long-term effect on corporate operations.

As dozens of countries worldwide have held national elections in the past year, a new global agenda has emerged that is focused more on trade and taxes, and less on environmental and cultural issues. That’s the conclusion of the first edition of the CEO Radar—a new tool to help CEOs determine which issues truly deserve their time and attention. It unpacks the leading topics discussed on almost 4,700 earnings calls worldwide in Q4 2024, enabling chief executives to compare their agendas to those of their peers, and to the market’s expectations. On this first episode of the CEO Radar Podcast, Edward Adams of Bloomberg Media Studios is joined by Christoph Schweitzer, CEO of BCG, and Judith Wallenstein, head of BCG’s CEO advisory practice, to unpack the stories behind the data, based on their one-on-one conversations with CEOs.

Welcome to The CEO Radar, a new podcast from BCG and Bloomberg Media Studios. Each episode will review Bloomberg’s quarterly earnings call data, providing an unprecedented look at what’s top-of-mind for CEOs at the world’s largest companies. BCG consultants will explore what’s driving the data, based on their one-on-one conversations with CEOs.