Why Every Business Must Set "Geopolitical KPIs"

Sanctions, wars, and supply shocks now demand new action

Sep 12, 2025

∙ Paid

The world of business is being redefined by geopolitics. Consider just some of the profound developments in the past month:

The US government has taken a 10% stake in Intel as the US-China rivalry heats up, enabling America to start “steering” its organizations.
Companies like AMD and Nvidia have to pay 15% of certain sales in China to Washington, meaning that for American businesses, access to China now comes at a cost.
At a moment when European competitiveness is in the air, ASML, the Dutch chip giant, has invested $1.5 billion in Mistral, the French AI leader (also Europe’s largest AI firm), to help bolster the region’s tech sovereignty.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. But the reality is clear: companies are being disrupted by geopolitics, or are making moves because of geopolitics. It is yin-and-yang, push and pull.

As the dance between geopolitics and business accelerates, companies need a new way to manage the chaos, beyond supply chain diversification (a strategy with a very short shelf-life). One of the new strategies executives must employ is what I call “geopolitical KPIs.”