Visionary Execs at Whole Foods, Slack, Google, Amazon and More Share Their 2024 Predictions Leaders at some of the world's most forward-thinking companies on how you should be thinking about marketing, fundraising, work culture, responsible AI, sustainability and more.
By Frances Dodds and Liz Brody Edited by Frances Dodds
This story appears in the November 2023 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
Anyone running a business has thought: It would be nice to see into the future. The coming year is particularly rife with unknowns, induced by tightening economic conditions, climate change, and lightening-fast evolution in the realm of generative artifical intelligence. But the second-best thing to a crystal ball is a panel of prominent women leaders with a knack for foresight. So we spoke to executives and founders at some of the world's most visionary companies, from Whole Foods to Google to Y Combinator, to get their predictions on the forces that will shape the coming year, and how business owners can rise to meet them.
Maëlle Gavet
CEO of Techstars, the world's most active pre-seed investor
How startups will meet the crises of the moment…
"2024 will be driven by two conditions. The first is a challenging macroeconomic environment, and the second is excitement around AI. We expect to see an uptick in applications from startups that lower costs for consumers, and help solve societal challenges exacerbated by recessionlike conditions. Healthcare — and in particular, innovation geared toward Medicaid enrollees — will be a major focus. At the same time, we're anticipating a whole new world of companies powered by artificial intelligence, particularly in industries like space and defense."
Paige Hendrix Buckner
CEO of All Raise, which works with underrepresented investors
How founders will fundraise in a rocky economy…
"Venture firms do have capital to deploy — hundreds of billions each year. But investors are being more judicious as they consider investments, looking for the absolute best team to take an idea to the next level. My advice for founders is to focus on building a great business with an excellent team and stellar product. Strive to serve customers that you and your team can uniquely build for. This is a great way to ensure strong product-market fit and defensibility, so when you're ready to raise, you'll be in a stronger position to find the right investors and negotiate."
Lidiane Jones
CEO of Slack, a cross-platform messaging service
How leaders will build empowering hybrid work cultures…
"We are experiencing a connection crisis. The role of the physical office — once the epicenter of workplace culture and camaraderie — has forever changed. Even as many companies return to a structured set of in-person days, leaders need to innovate to build trust and connection with their increasingly distributed workforce. Slack's research has found that how trusted an employee feels by their company is the number one indicator of how productive they are. Creating environments for employees to share ideas, and systems for two-way communication, is the first step."
Related: 8 Companies Utilizing AI to Tackle Climate Change
Diya Wynn
Senior practice manager of responsible AI at Amazon Web Services
How businesses will build ethical guardrails for AI…
"Responsible AI standards and legislation are imminent. Responsible AI is a people-centered approach, and whether businesses are using AI to drive revenue or to improve productivity, they need to ensure the right guardrails are in place. For entrepreneurs, this shouldn't be seen as a checkbox, but a strategic advantage. At the end of the day, responsible AI is about trust and customer loyalty. We know customers are more likely to support companies that are committed to social responsibility, privacy, and security, and I predict customers will increasingly value companies' commitments to responsible AI."
AnaMaria Friede
Executive leader of grocery at Whole Foods Market
How entrepreneurs will succeed in food retail…
"The industry is evolving at an unprecedented pace, so insights into customer behavior is imperative. Some customers are convenience-seekers who prefer food already prepared. Others are culinary enthusiasts who want the restaurant experience at home. With suppliers, I'm focused on quality standards for food ingredients and responsible, sustainable sourcing. I'm also looking for products with authentic heritage from around the world. Climate-related extremes will continue to affect crops and raw materials, so build strong, transparent supply chains."
Related: Don't Be Afraid Of AI — Your Fears Are Unfounded, and Here's Why
Melanie Nakagawa
Chief sustainability officer at Microsoft, formerly senior director for Climate and Energy on the NSC
How startups will speed up climate progress…
"Generative AI and the ability to discover new insights in large datasets can speed up the clean energy transition. We are just starting to understand how AI can be used to make meaningful climate progress, and businesses can leverage it to tackle some of the world's toughest challenges. They can help integrate new sources of renewable energy onto the grid, optimize energy and water consumption, anticipate weather events, speed up the discovery of low carbon building materials, and generate more carbon-free sources of energy — just to name a few."
Lorraine Twohill
Chief marketing officer at Google
How businesses will create viral marketing moments…
"Build a culture of experimentation. Our team sets aside roughly 20% of our media budget to try new things, like direct-to-consumer live shopping, advertising in gaming, or experimenting with AI. We run scrappy pilots and scale what works. Make sure your team is trying AI tools in their daily work, because that's how you'll work out where it can help. Ask: How can AI drive creativity? How can it improve performance across media planning, buying, and measurement? Above all, be open to ideas from everyone. The best answers often come from the most junior members of the team."
Katherine Kosterova
CEO of Creatio, a global no-code software company
How business leaders will automate systems, faster…
"In a world of constant change, adoption of no-code software for business automation will continue to rise, because it reduces the time and cost associated with app development. It empowers knowledge workers to build business applications and automate complex workflows without technical skills. They can assemble solutions from available elements, which simplifies the development process, allowing organizations to rapidly prototype and deploy new applications. Forward-looking companies around the globe will embrace no-code automation."
Ida Tin
Cofounder of Clue, popularized the term "FemTech"
How developers will use data to improve health outcomes…
"For most people, their health data is still some abstract thing that has no real impact on their health journeys and decisions. Longitudinal data even more so. But companies that find ways to give users agency over their health outcomes by leveraging their own — and collective — data will be game-changers. In the FemTech space, we see this emerging in hormonal health, where conditions like endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome are finally getting some attention, and where pattern recognition and data collected over time is essential for treatment and care."
Related: 5 AI Marketing Tools Every Startup Should Know About
Surbhi Sarna
Group partner at Y Combinator and founder of nVision Medical
How your startup will stand out in the crowd…
"Our time of uncertainty is reflected in both investor and customer behavior. Your potential customers are facing their own economic uncertainty, so expect more diligence and selectivity from them. On top of that, AI is creating more choice as startups flood the field. For example, there are several AI-driven billing products for physicians coming to market simultaneously. How will your company stand out? Spending time with customers and truly understanding their pain points will be critical. A 'nice-to-have' feature or a product that meets a small need will no longer be enough for customers."
