BTG2025High-EndIndependentTalent ReportThe Critical Skills and ExpertiseNeeded to Navigate Today'sComplexities
BUSINESSTALENTGROUPCompeting in a High-Stakes. High-SpeedWorldWorkforce aglity has never been more essential for today's companies navigating abusiness landscape marked by relentless and accelerating change, geopoliticalcomplexity and risk, and intense performancedemands. Yet CEOs and boards of more than athird of companies around the world say they have lowconfidence in theirorganization's ability tomeetlits strateaicaoals.IIn this moment of uncertainty, every leader in every role in every industry has a transformation mandate.Itmight be to leverage technology advancements and Al, to drive M&.A integration and new market entry, ortbuild competitive advion focus. Reaardlessof the destination, initiatives on-demand exoerts andinterim leaders,companies canquickly and easily scale capacity and harness specilized skllsfor specific projects orperiodsWhen an urgent challenge or opportunity arises, Independent talent can provide an instant infusion of in-demand expertise and fresh perspectives to ensure high-stakes initiatives stay on track and deliver thedesired results. In this annual examination of Business Talent Group's proprietary data from the US and European markets we explore how large and mid-market companies are leveraging on-demand talent and interim leadersunpredictable world.Fast FactsInterim LeadershipStrategy and PlanningRequests for planning projects and strategic Demand forinterin leadersatalels hasskyrocketed310%since2020.planning experts eachrose by nearlv athird YOr(30%and33%,respectively),Requests for interim CEO and presidentsincreased80%YOY.Demand foritermexeutvesamong stategy leaders surged 71%6, while requests forprojectArtificial Intelliaencesupportfrom GMs and P&Lleadersared425%YOYcan bridge Al and business strategy as theirSeparation and Intearationbiggestbarriertotechprogress.Requests for post-merger integration expertsDemand for experts in Al and machine learningincreased21%YOY.grew46%YOY.Morethan athir (35%;Iof al tansaction-Finance related projects now require interim executivesInterimCFOsmake uohalf/51%lofallinterimleadership requests within the C-suite. businesstalentgroup.com
BUSINESSTALENTGROUPTable of ContentsOverviewTheIndependentTalentClearFocusBeats59Economy in 2025ComplexityStabilizing andStrengtheningBridging theAlGap withKey TrendsIndependent ExpertsOrganizationsStrategyand PlanningFinanceProveCrucialat the ForefrontPortfolio Optimization ThroughMoreTrendsWe'reWatchingSeparation and IntegrationDemandAcrossAppendixIndustries and Functions2025HIGH-ENDINDEPENDENTTALENTREPORTbusinesstalentgroup.com
BUSINESSTALENTGROUPTheIndependentTalent Economvin2025As businesses raverse the twists and turns of 2025, the need for specialized expertise continues to grow. Inthis section, we offer a data-driven look at the top industries and business functions turning to highly sklledindependent talent for help-and the key project types and s...
