Leading through change: Alessio Vinassa on building resilient businesses in uncertain times
The blockchain and Web3 space has seen some of the wildest market movements in recent years, as mainstream adoption and painstaking government regulation spark periods of excitement and uncertainty at the same time. That is why we thought it would be well-timed to sit down with Alessio Vinassa, entrepreneur and international Web3 strategist, about resilient leadership and how to navigate uncertain times. Vinassa speaks like a builder: detail-minded, future-focused, and unafraid to call out what really scales. Below is a fireside-style Q&A that captures his playbook for navigating uncertainty, strengthening organisations, and turning disruption into durable business growth.
What does “leading through change” mean right now?
“Leading through change means treating uncertainty as a design parameter, not an anomaly. If you design systems for variability, you don’t just survive shocks — you learn from them and get stronger.”
PwC’s Global Crisis and Resilience Survey (2023) found that 89 per cent of business leaders now rank resilience as a strategic priority, and nearly all organisations have faced disruptions in recent years. That shift reframes leadership: rather than reactive crisis management, resilience becomes part of long-term strategy and business development.
How should leaders prepare for systemic shocks?
“Preparation is a portfolio. Diversity of suppliers, redundancy in critical infrastructure, and scenario-based playbooks — those are the components.” Vinassa argues leaders should balance three investments in their operating model: visibility (real-time data), optionality (multiple sourcing and modular operations), and responsiveness (clear decision rights and practiced drills).
Research on supply chains shows how companies that reconfigured networks and emphasised nearshoring, inventory strategies, and data-driven forecasting improved continuity during disruptions.
What role does technology play in business resilience?
“Technology is the nervous system of resilient businesses. Digital capabilities — from monitoring to automation — let you detect shocks early and respond precisely.”
McKinsey’s analysis showed the pandemic pushed many companies several years forward in adopting digital tools and AI, and those firms were better able to pivot operations, reach customers, and keep teams productive.
But technology without governance is fragile. Vinassa warns: “Deploy tech with clear ownership and rehearsal — automation that isn’t stress-tested becomes a liability in a crisis.”
How do culture and leadership influence resilience?
“Culture is the multiplier. Systems and processes matter, but culture determines whether people execute when stakes are high.”
He recommends three cultural pillars: transparency (so teams have accurate situational awareness), psychological safety (so people surface problems early), and empowerment (so decisions happen at the point of impact). When leaders model these behaviors—by sharing information, acknowledging trade-offs, and rewarding rapid learning—organisations adapt more quickly and innovate under pressure.
What practical changes should entrepreneurs and established firms implement now?
Vinassa spells it out in a pragmatic checklist:
Map critical nodes — Identify systems, suppliers, and teams whose failure would cascade across the business.
Build short-run and long-run buffers — Maintain working-capacity reserves and modular options for key inputs.
Operationalise visibility — Invest in real-time dashboards for cash, inventory, and capacity.
Practice response — Run scenario drills (cyber incident, supply shock, regulatory change) quarterly.
Design for rapid redeployment — Modularise product and service components so resources can be reassigned quickly.
“These aren’t expensive on-paper measures,” Vinassa says. “They’re disciplined — the same discipline that underpins product development. Discipline protects optionality.”
How does risk like cybercrime change the resilience equation?
“Cyber is not an IT problem — it’s a board-level continuity issue,” Vinassa warns. The IBM Cost of a Data Breach report (2024) found the global average cost of a breach reached $4.88m. The data underscores a simple truth: durable organisations treat cybersecurity as integral to business resilience, not a back-office fix.
Final reflection: what does success look like?
“Success is sustainable adaptation,” Vinassa concludes. “If the metric you use is quarterly growth alone, you’ll be tempted to over-optimise for the short run. But resilient leaders measure how fast they can respond, redeploy, and keep creating value when conditions change.”
He wants entrepreneurs, executives, and boards to reframe their growth ambitions: “Business growth powered by resilience is the most competitive strategy. It creates durable advantage because it is harder to copy.”
Quick Data Highlights
89 per cent of business leaders now say resilience is a top strategic priority. (PwC, 2023)
$4.88m — average global cost of a data breach in 2024 (IBM, 2024)
Majority of companies accelerated digital adoption during the pandemic; McKinsey found the crisis pushed many firms several years forward on tech adoption.
More than 60–75 per cent of firms reshaping supply networks for resilience. (Gartner / Deloitte)
Read the article on Gulf Business: https://gulfbusiness.com/leading-through-change-alessio-vinassa-on-building-resilient-businesses-in-uncertain-times