Strategic foresight fell out of fashion for a decade. It is back, and for a blunt reason: corporates have learned what it costs to build the wrong thing well.
For years, new business builders poured attention into the late funnel, into launching and scaling, where budgets get eaten. The early funnel, deciding which opportunities to pursue at all, got less care. When a venture fails because the topic was wrong, no amount of good execution saves it.
What strategic foresight is
Strategic foresight is a structured way of looking at the future. The World Economic Forum defines it as "the capacity to explore multiple plausible futures and develop strategies that remain robust across a range of scenarios."
Foresight differs from forecasting. Forecasting picks the single most likely future and bets on it. Foresight prepares for several, so a strategy holds up whichever one arrives. It is a long-standing method, not a new one, and it is having a second moment.
Why foresight is back on the agenda
The shift is practical. As ventures and venturing units age, the true cost of chasing the wrong topic has become visible, and expensive. Attention is turning back to the start of the funnel, where a good decision is cheap and a bad one compounds.
More than three in five of our 2026 study respondents now use strategic foresight. In wider research, 99% of foresight users say it helps them find new market opportunities. The early funnel is getting its investment back.
What foresight is good for, and its limit
Foresight earns its place in setting growth strategy and finding new market opportunities. It gives a corporate a defensible view of where a market is heading before the market agrees, which is exactly when a new business is cheapest to start.
Its limit is the same as every venturing instrument. It does not build anything. A plausible future is not a business until someone connects it to the strategy and acts on it. Foresight that produces reports rather than opportunities is a cost, not a capability.
How to run foresight without over-engineering it
In a mature field, foresight can drift into the academic, with process crowding out purpose. Four habits keep it useful.
Stay lean, and resist the pull to map every plausible future; focus on the threats and opportunities that actually matter. Treat foresight as the missing link, turning the trends it surfaces into opportunities rather than into a longer deck. Set clear criteria for the opportunities it produces, tested against a real business model early. And let form follow function: choose the method to fit your organisation's culture and experience, not the reverse.
Foresight in practice
Sennheiser's LabX shows the pattern. Foresight sits at the centre of how the unit extends Sennheiser's strategic perspective, feeding opportunities that fit the company rather than a stream of unattached ideas.
The method serves the strategy, and the strategy decides which futures are worth preparing for. That order is what separates foresight that builds businesses from foresight that fills slides.
Where foresight ends and building begins
Foresight tells you where the market is going. Your strategy decides what to do about it, and your venturing instruments do it. Our 2026 study, based on surveys and interviews with 50+ senior new business leaders across DACH, has the full picture of how leaders put the early funnel back to work. Read the state of new business building 2026.
FAQ
What is strategic foresight?
A structured method for exploring several plausible futures and building strategies that hold across them. The World Economic Forum defines it as the capacity to explore multiple plausible futures and develop strategies that stay sound across a range of scenarios.
How is strategic foresight different from forecasting?
Forecasting predicts a single most-likely future. Foresight prepares for several, so a strategy stays resilient whichever one arrives.
How widely is strategic foresight used?
More than three in five respondents in our 2026 study use it, and in wider research 99% of foresight users say it helps them find new market opportunities.
How do you run strategic foresight well?
Keep it lean, use it to turn trends into opportunities, set clear business criteria for what it produces, and choose methods that fit your organisation.
The state of new business building 2026
New business building is shifting: Resources are tighter. Expectations are higher. This study shows how new business builders in DACH are responding and which ones are pulling ahead.
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