The power of the Apollo platform to help CEOs embed excellence and drive transformation was on display at Apollo’s annual CEO Conference in New York City.
Transformation takes more than ambition, it takes discipline. At Apollo, helping portfolio companies evolve, grow and outperform is central to how we partner with management teams. We combine ownership with a performance-driven platform that gives leaders the tools, expertise and capital to turn a strategy into measurable results.
That philosophy came to life at the 2025 Apollo CEO Conference, where nearly 70 CEOs of Apollo fund portfolio companies joined leading economists, technologists and Apollo leaders in New York to explore how disciplined transformation drives enduring advantage.
The Power of the Apollo Platform
What sets Apollo apart isn’t just capital, it’s a system and strategy designed to create value at scale. Through Apollo Portfolio Performance Solutions (APPS), leaders gain hands-on support across operational excellence, digital acceleration and talent optimization. Apollo Capital Solutions provides flexible financing and market insights to help companies pursue growth with speed and conviction. And the Executive Advisory Council, a network of seasoned executives and board leaders, offers strategic guidance grounded in real-world execution.
Together, these resources form a powerful ecosystem that helps leaders move faster and perform better. By linking operational expertise, capital solutions and shared best practices across its portfolio, Apollo turns insights from one company into impact across many.
At the conference, that ecosystem came to life. CEOs shared experiences, exchanged ideas and explored how the Apollo platform helps them not only navigate complexity but build stronger, more agile organizations.
From Ideas to Impact
Throughout the event one idea stood out: transformation starts with people and systems, not slogans.
Patrick Nichols, CEO of The Venetian, described how instilling a culture of ownership with the company’s frontline staff and acting on employee feedback led to practical changes that lifted both guest satisfaction and profitability. Matt Zaist, CEO of The New Home Company, explained how a broad-based employee award program motivated team members by sharing in the value they help create.
In a session on artificial intelligence, experts made clear that success with AI depends on organizational readiness. Jenny Sha, Head of Solutions Engineering at OpenAI, noted that strong systems provide the platform for AI’s upside: “Being a follower in AI means you run the risk of not having the systems and the data in place to fast follow…the gap between those who started and those who wait is only going to get wider.” Harvard Business School’s Karim Lakhani echoed that point: “The biggest mistake is to think of this as a technology play when it really is an organizational play. Our research points conclusively to the biggest effect being on the cost of expertise.”
Across sessions, a common theme emerged: great leaders don’t just adapt, they institutionalize performance. The Apollo platform is built to help them do just that, enabling companies to scale learning, accelerate execution and sustain results.
The Apollo Advantage
The Apollo CEO Conference underscored what makes Apollo’s approach to private equity different. Apollo is not a passive owner; it’s a performance partner. By embedding operational rigor, technological readiness and leadership development into every stage of ownership, Apollo helps companies move from good to great and stay there.
Through deep domain expertise and the scale of its platform, Apollo delivers a transformation playbook that enables management teams to embed agility, foster innovation and build the systems that drive performance across cycles.
For Apollo and its partners, transformation is not an event, it’s a system built to perform, scaled to last.
“If you’re going to be a great leader, you have to keep transforming. Complacency is where great companies go to die.”
- Antoine Munfakh, Apollo Partner and Deputy Global Head of Private Equity
Tags
2:29
Novolex, a global leader in sustainable food packaging and one of the largest packaging companies in the U.S., partnered with Apollo Funds to drive transformative growth and advance its sustainability goals.
2:08
Atlas Air Worldwide, a global leader in airfreight logistics, partnered with Apollo to soar to new heights.
2:42
Apollo's Hybrid team worked with Global Schools Group, a leading private international education company based in Singapore, on multiple financings to launch the company's international expansion and maintain its exceptional track record of academic outcomes for students.
