As companies today struggle to navigate global economic and political headwinds, some are responding by trimming their funding for digital ecosystems. This after years of uninterrupted expansion and generously funded forays into ecosystems to support the development and marketing of everything from new banking and retail systems to smart-farming solutions. These digital ecosystems have enabled improved customer experience, connecting groups of companies to deliver products and services on shared digital platforms. They’ve been the backbone of well-known brands such as Amazon, Meta, and AirBnB.

But today, even the largest tech players have not escaped cutbacks, such as Amazon’s recent reduction of its workforce and funding for a variety of units. That included paring down the Alexa voice ecosystem, which only a few years ago was seen as a new revenue vehicle and critical ecosystem for the future.

However, there is another path that companies should consider. Rather than trimming their digital ecosystems, companies should double down on such investments to build resilience, exploit new opportunities, and lock up competitive advantage into the future. This is not to downplay the complexity or severity of today’s geopolitical and economic challenges. But even amid such concerns, companies that have gone against the grain and used turbulent times to invest in their digital ecosystems have often been rewarded.