HUMINT Trends – Summer 2025

When clear-minded leaders read what others still overlook.

As annual meetings wrap up and corporate storytelling fades behind summer roadmaps, a fault line emerges. What weak signals reveal is more strategic than any board pack summary: power is changing shape.

1. Shareholder trust is fracturing

Say on Pay has become a legitimacy marker. In the FTSE 350, 9% of AGMs now record partial rejections of executive pay — three times higher than in 2024. Behind these votes lies a shift: a demand for visible, consistent, and aligned governance.

What this means: salary arrogance is no longer tolerated — even when performance is strong. The narrative of power needs a new tone.

2. Climate is receding, strategy takes the lead

Europe is renegotiating the CSRD and CS3D. Climate resolutions are falling. Support from BlackRock and Vanguard is evaporating. ESG has gone quiet.

What this means: boards are refocusing on fundamentals — strategy, risk, alignment. But this retreat on climate may signal a long-term loss of bearings.

3. AI isn’t an ally yet — it’s a governance issue

74% of corporate secretaries doubt the reliability of AI in disclosures. Trust is low. Risk is high. Korn Ferry warns: if AI fails to create tangible value, leadership could pay the price.

What this means: AI adoption is strategic — but its legitimacy remains deeply human. Validation power still belongs to those who can decode, interpret, and narrate.

4. The human factor is back at the center

The most in-demand leadership skills for 2025, according to Korn Ferry, are not technical — nor AI-native:

• Conflict resolution

• Relational leadership

• Influence and storytelling

What this means: in a world saturated with tools, the true differentiator is human. Teams are no longer looking for a boss — but for a meaning-maker.

5. Managerial culture is wavering

Uncertainty now reaches into work rhythms: no clear norms for summer breaks, blurry RTO policies, and managers under pressure to give direction without shared rules.

What this means: where structure is absent, trust vanishes. Governance becomes behavioral before it becomes regulatory.

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Why is HUMINT at the heart of these transitions?

Because we read what numbers can’t explain.

Because we decode what comes before visible decisions.

Because the resilience of a board, a CEO, or a team depends less on process than on the ability to understand invisible dynamics.

That’s why, starting this fall, we’re integrating the Belbin Method — not as an HR tool, but as a strategic compass. A revealer of hidden strengths, overlooked roles, and imbalanced dynamics. For CEOs, founders, and CHROs who refuse to lead blindly.

Summer invites hollow narratives.

Those attuned to weak signals, on the contrary, can choose with clarity.

HUMINT Advisory. Intelligence that drives decisions.

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