In the 16th century, in one of his most famous sonnets, the Portuguese poet Luís de Camões wrote: “Times change, wills change, ways of being change, so does trust; the whole world is composed of change, always taking on new qualities.” To conclude the poem, he said: “Yet, beyond this daily changing, another change astonishes- me: that nothing changes as it used to.”

Change is a constant in life and not exclusive to modern times. The origin of this change may lie in factors external to us, imposed upon us, in dynamics of which we are part but cannot control, or in processes over which we might have some discretionary power. This is true for both people and companies. In the latter, the difference lies between merely reacting, adjusting, or having the ambition to be an agent of change, to a greater or lesser extent. The situation becomes more complex when, as the poet said, the daily change no longer happens as it once did, introducing what, in the language of economics and management, is usually referred to as risk and uncertainty. And here, perhaps, there is a difference in degree, an acceleration of change that constantly challenges the management of companies involved in the competitive game, their organization and strategy, and ultimately, their people. With the established order quickly fading, and times changing, those who are first today may be last tomorrow, as Bob Dylan once wrote in The times they’re a-changing. At Altri, we are fully aware of these challenges, we know what they demand from us, and we are confident that, together, we will be able to build the appropriate responses.

2024 was, in a sense, a year of continuity that, like an elastic band stretching, contains within it the potential for disruption. The successive developments in Artificial Intelligence are, perhaps, the most striking example in case. In parallel, there were also announced ruptures in the geopolitical context, whose dimensions are only now beginning to be visible.