As the reins of family businesses are set to pass into the hands of a new generation of leaders, a profound transformation is underway—one fuelled by the catalytic force of generative AI (GenAI). This moment marks not only a change in leadership, but a strategic shift towards harnessing a fundamentally new technology within family-run and -owned businesses.
For those that get it right, generative AI will shape future success. And we believe that the next generation of family business leaders (a group we call NextGen, which refers to members of the next generation of a business-owning family who are between ages 18 and early 40s and are aiming to become responsible owners, influential board members or visionary leaders) hold the key to this transformation. Our global survey of more than 900 NextGen suggests not only that they are more optimistic about generative AI than the incumbent generation, but that they understand the urgent need to shift responsibility for AI out of discrete silos and to deploy it to support enterprise-wide adoption in their companies.