By Alan Murray

Corporations weren't built for change. Their purpose is the opposite: to preserve and protect; to create bulwarks of predictability amid the chaos of the markets.

So how can they deal with the current historical moment? When technology is imposing change on virtually all of their systems at an unprecedented and mind-spinning pace. When the world order they were constructed within is deconstructing in dramatic fashion. When virtually every CEO of every company of any size is proclaiming a need to "transform." Change has become the norm, black swans proliferate like starlings, and the ability to navigate through the flux makes the difference between outsize success and obsolescence.

That's why the WSJ Leadership Institute has created a new Best Companies for the Future ranking. Most rankings look backward. They measure companies based on performance in the past. This one attempts to look forward, capturing the characteristics that will allow companies to succeed in the future.

Working with our partners at Bendable Labs, we have carefully selected 30 data points that provide insights into company performance across six different vectors: AI readiness, innovation, talent readiness, financial fitness, resilience and agility. These are the qualities, we believe, that will allow companies to continue to thrive.

In constructing this ranking, we owe a heavy debt to the work of others. Our AI readiness scores, for instance, rely on excellent work done at MIT FutureTech, CB Insights, Revelio Labs, the Burning Glass Institute, ROI Rocket and Diligent. Our talent readiness scores draw from data at both Indeed and Glassdoor, among others. Our resilience scores depend on the work of our Dow Jones sister organization Dragonfly, as well as Aquisio.ai, MSCI and the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative at North Carolina State University.

Our hope is that this ranking will become a beacon that helps companies find their path into the future. Much time is spent these days charting the exponential growth of technology. Far less is spent on the all-too-linear advance of human institutions that must manage that technology. Creating companies that can master new technologies while navigating a world awash in uncertainty is one of the great challenges of our times. This list is meant to help meet that challenge.

Spend some time exploring its insights. As The Wall Street Journal's Theo Francis details elsewhere, chip maker Nvidia rules the roost thanks to high scores on five of the six vectors. It ranks first in AI readiness and agility, and second in innovation, talent readiness and financial fitness. But when it comes to resilience, the company plunges to 110th place -- a byproduct of its dependence on both Taiwan and China.

Tech companies, not surprisingly, dominate the top of the list. After Nvidia, the top six are Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, Cisco and Salesforce. Mastercard is the first non-tech firm to show up, coming in at No. 7. S&P Global also makes the top 20, with a rank of 13. Johnson & Johnson is the only healthcare firm in the top 20, with a rank of 20. Eli Lilly is at 22.

Marsh & McLennan, which advises others on risk, ranks third in resilience -- a sign that it practices what it preaches. Delta Air Lines, which doesn't make the top 100 on technology measures, soars to the top place in talent readiness. And the top score in financial fitness goes to Texas Pacific Land, which owns 880,000 acres in West Texas. The value of that isn't going away.

To those at the bottom of the list, our apologies. The goal here is not to shame you, but to inspire a new approach. Almost half of the S&P 500 weren't on that list 20 years ago. And if we're right, more than half won't be on it 20 years from now. If you want to avoid that fate, this list may help show you how.

WSJ Leadership Institute members receive exclusive access to insights through our competitive intelligence tool. For more information on repurposing this content and your eligibility for badge licensing, visit wsj.com/bestcompanieslicensing .

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 07, 2026 21:00 ET (01:00 GMT)

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