Every major sporting and pop culture event creates a familiar conversation among employers: How much productivity will be lost?
This year’s FIFA World Cup was no exception. Before the tournament began, UKG research found that 37% of employees globally planned to adjust their work schedules during the tournament. Some intended to take time off. Others expected to arrive late, leave early, or otherwise alter their work patterns. The estimated global productivity loss from presentism and absenteeism ranged from $17 billion (UKG) to an astonishing $30.2B (Challenger, Gray & Christmas).
As tournament play began, viewership surged across broadcast and streaming platforms: FOX Sports reported record audiences, while Peacock and Telemundo viewership increased more than 230% compared to the 2022 tournament through the first 12 matches.
Those numbers are interesting, but, as a CIO, I think they point to a more important question: Why do events like this still disrupt organizations in the first place?
The World Cup is unique because it is one of the few workforce disruptions we can see coming years in advance, and the tournament game schedule is a blend of predictable (pool play) and unpredictable (knockout stage). We know employees will modify schedules. We know customer-demand patterns will shift. We know some industries will experience staffing challenges while others see increased activity.
None of this is a surprise.
That is what makes the UKG survey results so interesting. They reveal a broader truth: Even when change is predictable, many organizations still struggle to prepare for it effectively.
The issue is rarely a lack of data. Most organizations have access to workforce, operational, financial and customer information. The challenge is that those signals often live in disconnected systems, making it difficult to translate information into action before problems emerge.
In my experience, this is where many operating models begin to break down.
Organizations need to optimize operations for adaptability
For years, organizations optimized for efficiency, standardization and predictability. Those priorities helped businesses scale, but they also created processes that can struggle when conditions change. Increasingly, the ability to adapt is becoming just as important as the ability to execute efficiently.
Adaptability is often discussed in the context of unexpected events, but many operational challenges are highly predictable. Major sporting events, seasonal demand fluctuations, weather patterns, holiday periods and workforce trends all generate signals organizations can anticipate.
The question is not whether the information exists. The question is whether organizations can connect workforce, operational, financial and customer data in a way that allows leaders to act on those signals before they become problems.
This is where technology leaders have an important role to play.
Access to real-time insights leads to agile decision making
As CIOs, we are increasingly responsible for creating the conditions that allow organizations to sense changes, make decisions and respond quickly. That requires more than modern technology. It requires connected data, simplified processes and operating models designed to support faster decision making across the business.
When workforce planning, scheduling, labor costs, customer demand and operational performance exist in separate systems, organizations spend their time reconciling information. When those signals are connected, they can spend their time making decisions.
This is also where AI has the potential to create significant value. Much of today’s conversation focuses on productivity gains, but I believe the larger opportunity is responsiveness.
Organizations generate millions of operational signals every day. AI can help process those signals, identify patterns, surface risks and recommend actions faster than traditional approaches. The value is not simply producing more insights. The value is helping organizations shorten the distance between awareness and action.
When AI is combined with connected data and embedded into operational workflows, it can help leaders respond to changing conditions with greater speed and confidence. That is ultimately what organizations need: not perfect predictions, but the ability to make better decisions faster.
Three questions to ask right now to test operational effectiveness
For CIOs, the World Cup offers an interesting stress test. It creates a visible, measurable change in workforce behavior, but the lessons extend far beyond a sporting event. I think there are three questions every technology leader should consider:
- Can we identify operational changes as they happen, or only after they appear in reports?
- Can our teams make decisions quickly when conditions change?
- Are our systems helping employees adapt, or creating additional complexity when flexibility is required?
The answers often reveal more about organizational readiness than any technology roadmap.
Operational excellence means moving from information to action
Eventually, the tournament will end. The broader challenge it exposes will remain. Workforce expectations will continue to evolve. Economic conditions will continue to change. New technologies will continue to reshape how organizations operate.
Organizations cannot predict every disruption. But they should be able to prepare for the ones they can see coming.
The World Cup is a reminder that operational excellence is not just about responding to change. It is about recognizing signals early, connecting information across the business, and acting before predictable challenges become operational problems.
In my experience, the companies that do this well are not necessarily the ones with the most detailed plans. They are the ones with the clearest visibility, the simplest operating models and the ability to turn information into action quickly. Increasingly, that is what modern operational excellence looks like.
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