In this year’s trend series, we reflect on a business cycle shaping a new set of challenges for Vistage members.

In Part IV of our series, we focus on Economic Trends facing small and midsize businesses (SMBs) in 2026 and beyond.

In Part III of our series, we turn our attention to AI.

In Part II of our series, we focus on Technology Trends facing small and midsize businesses (SMBs) in 2026 and beyond.

In Part I of our series, we focus on social and workforce trends facing Vistage members in 2026 and beyond.

Enabled by technology, marketers can deliver the right message to the right prospect at the right time based on their unique characteristics. Marketing can influence enterprise value, unlike ever before.

Business owners are actively seeking AI solutions that will transform their organizations forever, are easy to implement and free. Our expectations may be a wee bit unrealistic.

It’s been the best of times and worst of times for mergers and acquisitions. As volume and valuations rose in Q4 of 2024, it was expected that the New Year would bring a resurgent M&A market.

To project into the future, we must first understand the past. Much of the last year’s narrative has been about the Federal Reserve trying to cool inflation. Its root cause was certainly formulaic — part short-term reaction to supply chain shocks rooted in the pandemic, and some in the form of fiscal stimulus.