Crawford Hollingworth, founder, The Behavioural Architects
If I take off the rose-coloured spectacles I prefer to wear, this is what I see: fragmented alliances, economic turbulence, rising nationalism, climate crises, resource scarcity, cyber warfare, misinformation, AI dominance, cultural clashes, political unrest, border tensions, global protests, surveillance states, migration surges, collapsing ecosystems, escalating militarisation, energy shortages, technological disparities, disrupted supply chains, ideological divides, authoritarian regimes, fractured democracies, volatile markets, shrinking biodiversity, pandemic aftershocks, polarising media, fragile peace, trade conflicts, dwindling trust, social upheaval – please let me put my spectacles back on. 

Nick Baker, global chief research officer, Savanta 
US election and the aftermath facilitating a convicted felon to avoid sentencing and ride roughshod over his proven criminal track record waving two fingers at the world. Total disgrace. 

Ray Poynter, chief research officer, Potentiate
The damage that opinion polls tend to do to the image of surveys and research. 

Emma Cooper, chief people officer, System1 Group 
The US election has to be the year’s biggest anti-climax. It’s an enormous process, dominating the media for months on end, building anticipation at every turn — and then, suddenly, it’s all over. It’s a testament to the sheer power of marketing, driving such intense focus and engagement, only for the moment to pass almost as quickly as it arrived. 

Paul Hudson, founder and chief executive, FlexMR
This has to be the continuing decline of customer experience and satisfaction scores. It is widely documented (one source here), which suggests that brands are still not prioritising customers at this time; this is a great missed opportunity.

In part this is likely due to reductions in budget, but also likely due to a continued lack of understanding about customer expectations post-Covid. I don’t think we’ve delved into that aspect anywhere near enough. Likewise, too much focus on AI driving cost-savings is also likely related to both those points about budget reduction and lack of understanding.