Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, OYO Rooms Pranjal Sharma (Topic Leader), Economic Analyst, Advisor and Author, India
India is undergoing its economic, technological and demographic transition simultaneously. An old country is becoming youthful and adventurous with the passage of time. Young Indians like OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal are quietly taking charge of Indian ethos by becoming icons of audacious aspirations and tangible proofs of its potential, spawning startups that are becoming most valuable and famous than many legacy companies. How can young revolutionaries find ways to carry the older generation of investors, regulators, workers and consumers with them and what can other economies and founders learn from India’s momentous transition?
Former Members of the International Students' Comittee Christoph Loos (Topic Leader), Chief Executive Officer, Hilti AG Vivian Bernet (Topic Leader), Head of the Organising Committe, International Students' Comittee
For over 50 years teams of student have volunteered to organise the St. Gallen Symposium. They have written countless invitations, met thousands of partners, and welcomed some of the most important personalities of their time on stage. Together with former members of the ISC we will reflect on the St. Gallen Symposium experience of cross-generational dialogue and collaboration, the lessons they have learned for their lives and on how the symposium has evolved. This session is organised together with ISC Alumni.
Susan Goldsworthy, Affiliate Professor of Leadership, Communications and Organizational Change, IMD Business School Gerry Hofstetter, Light Artist & Film Producer Hofstetter Marketing Javiera Estrada, Artist Tatjana Rupp (Topic Leader), Member of the International Students' Committee
As the need for innovation is growing, the routinisation of well-structured creative processes within organizations is key for concurrent value creation. Prof. Susan Goldsworthy of IMD, this year's St. Gallen Symposium artist Javiera Estrada and Light Artist Gerry Hofstetter will discuss the role of collaboration in the creative process. Together, and in conversation with the audience, they’ll explore the way collaboration can drive creativity in various organisational contexts, and, on the other hand, the role of introversion and lone contemplation in creating something new.
Curdin Duschletta, Head Community Impact Switzerland & Foundations, UBS Christopher Jarvis, Executive Director, RWInstitute Prof. Amanda Shantz (Topic Leader), MBA Director and Professor of Management, University of St.Gallen
Many employee volunteering and giving programs are presented as an employee perk, similar to casual Fridays or a team-building event. But treating workplace giving and volunteering this way fails to fully capitalise on the great potential of such programs: to foster employee personal growth, and address key societal challenges. The panel will particularly explore the potential of skills-based volunteering, its benefits, and the unique challenges that arise when moving from merely transactional volunteering to something far more transformative.
Patrick Zhong, Founding Managing Partner, M31 Capital Makram Azar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Full Circle Capital Prof. Julia Binder (Topic Leader), Professor of Sustainable Innovation and Business Transformation, IMD Business School
The investment landscape over the next twenty years will be radically different from previous generations. While there appears to be greater access to capital, there also appears to be much more volatility and debt with no clear dominant financing mechanism. Entrepreneurs, VC, Private Equity, and banks will have to find new ways to work together to create growth and stimulate innovation. How can investors and entrepreneurs better collaborate and find mutually beneficial agreements that balance risk and return?
Martina Bonnier, Editor-In-Chief, Vogue Scandinavia Raynald Aeschlimann, President and CEO, Omega S.A Carmen Jenny, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CLOTHESfriends AG Johannes Reponen (Topic Leader), Director of Post-Graduate Programmes; Academic Affairs; Research & Knowledge Exchange, Condé Nast College
The fashion industry accounts for 10% of humanity’s annual carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. For long, the fashion and luxury watchmaking industry drove, together with the fashion media industry, unsustainable dynamics in the sector: generating more and more demand through an artificial cycle of new collections and seasonal trends. Businesses’ marketing, media as well as influencers thereby create a constant longing and demand for their products. How can designers, fashion houses and publishers exit this vicious cycle and, collaboratively, drive the transition towards more sustainable and ethical fashion and luxury watchmaking?
Mathias Müller von Blumencron, Journalist, Member of the Board, Tagesanzeiger and Advisory Board Member M100 Sanssouci Colloquium Joanna Krawczyk, Chairwoman, Leading European Newspaper Alliance Paul Radu, Investigative Journalist, Co-Founder OCCRP Astrid Frohloff (Topic Leader), TV Presenter and Journalist, Advisory Board Member M100 Sanssouci Colloquium
Media diversity, freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Europe are currently under threat. Journalists and independent media companies are increasingly joining forces across borders to respond to such challenges as well as to be able to continue to offer independent quality journalism in the future. This session will identify learnings from new media partnerships such as the Leading European Newspaper Alliance (LENA) and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) to identify how media can most effectively work together.
Gina Loften, Member of the Board of Trustees, TIAA Luzius Meisser, Chairman, Bitcoin Suisse Tycho Onnasch, General Manager, Trust Machines Shuo Chen (Topic Leader), General Partner, IOVC
Technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are key drivers of the modern economy and social mobility. Given their importance, we should strive to improve accessibility to tech, education and entrepreneurship across all backgrounds. Creating open and inclusive communities, especially with tech is important to accomplishing this goal, but it is easier said that done. Simultaneously, a third iteration of the internet – Web3 – has the potential to radically transform the internet of things and reduce barriers to access. How can these forces be effectively harnessed and directed for the benefit of all people and move the world forward?
Over the past decades, the tech sector, especially the internet of things, has become a central component of modern economies. Trying to catch up with the exponential pace of technological development, the US, China, and Europe are crafting rules of the game on digital markets. What are the emerging characteristic differences between regulatory regimes of digital markets, in the US, Europe and beyond, and how do they balance innovation and regulation? In light of strategic competition over tech dominance between the US and China, what are the opportunities and challenges for Europe in particular?
Petra von Strombeck, Chief Executive Officer, New Work SE Jean-Christophe Deslarzes, Chair of the Board, Adecco Group Nat Ware, Founder & CEO Forte Prof. Heike Bruch (Topic Leader), Director, Institute for Leadership and Human Resources Management, University of St. Gallen
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world of work forever. The fast and widespread adoption of remote work and an ever-increasing concern of employees with purpose and meaning on their job have intensified the war for talents. Reaching out to and concurrently engaging employees is key for businesses across sectors and regions. What learnings can be drawn from the pandemic as regards our approach to work? Has the world of work changed for the better? And what role does leadership culture and a new approach to hiring play going forward?
“We make some kind of impact on the planet every single day, and we can choose what sort of impact we make.”
Jane Goodall PhD, DBE, ethologist and conversationist, at the St. Gallen Symposium
“The climate does not have a crisis, but humanity has a crisis.”
Luisa Neubauer climate activist and author, at the St. Gallen Symposium
“A company should succeed only when it helps the world around it succeed.”
Satya Nadella Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, at the St. Gallen Symposium
“To be able to give a chance to mother nature to regenerate itself, we have to raise our level of ambition, starting with each one of us.”
Mamphela Ramphele Co-President of the Club of Rome, at the St. Gallen Symposium
“[Leadership with the next generation in mind] means the ability to move with the times, to understand the aspirations of younger people, to adjust your thinking, vision, policy choices and decision-making to meet those aspirations.”
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar Minister of External Affairs of India, at the St. Gallen Symposium
“Governments have a difficult and delicate balance to strike between interdependence and independence.”
Karin Keller-Sutter Federal Councillor of Switzerland, at the St. Gallen Symposium
“[In the wake of Covid-19], we have seen a dramatic acceleration and accentuation of injustices in the world, and it is of critical importance to deal with those fragmentations.”
Peter Maurer President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, at the St. Gallen Symposium
“You have proven from St. Gallen, from this university, that greatness has nothing to do with bigness.”
Kofi Annan former Secretary General of the United Nations, at the St. Gallen Symposium
51st St. Gallen Symposium
Selection of upcoming Speakers
Ignazio Cassis
President of the Swiss Confederation, Federal Council of Switzerland
Maria Ressa
Journalist, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate – 2021
Friedrich Merz
Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Germany
Mamphela Ramphele
Co-President, Club of Rome
Ben van Beurden
Chief Executive Officer, Shell plc
Grace Fu
Minister of Sustainability and the Environment of Singapore
José Manuel Barroso
Board Chair, Gavi Vaccine Alliance
Karoline Edtstadler
Federal Minister for the EU and the Constitution of Austria
Shashi Tharoor
Author and Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
4th President of the Republic of Croatia
Benedikt Franke
Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Munich Security Conference
Claudia Plakolm
State Secretary for Youth, Austria
Felipe Rigoni
Federal Deputy, Brazilian Chamber of Deputies
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Former Executive Director, UN Women
Yelyzaveta Yasko
Member of Parliament, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Josef Aschbacher
Director General, European Space Agency
Katalin Cseh
Member of the European Parliament
Christophe Deloire
Secretary-General and Executive Director, Reporters Without Borders
Gwen Ngwenya
Head of Policy, Democratic Alliance of South Africa
Luz María de la Mora
Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, United Mexican States
Prof. Maja Göpel
Political Economist and Author
Vanessa Nakate
Climate Activist
Prof. Markus Gabriel
Philosopher and Author, University of Bonn
Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook
Non-Resident Fellow, Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi)
Petra Laux
Global Head Business Sustainability Crop Protection, Syngenta
Dorothea von Boxberg
Chief Executive Officer, Lufthansa Cargo
Ritesh Agarwal
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, OYO
Prof. Bernhard Ehrenzeller
President, University of St.Gallen
Dominic Barton
Co-Conference Chair, St. Gallen Symposium Rio Tinto plc
Lord Brian Griffiths of Fforestfach
Co-Conference Chair, St. Gallen Symposium
Former Vice-Chairman, Goldman Sachs International
Peter Voser
Chairman of the Board of Directors, ABB Ltd.
Raynald Aeschlimann
President and Chief Executive Officer, Omega, Switzerland
Franklin Chang-Díaz
Former Astronaut and Founder & CEO, Ad Astra Rocket Company
Petra von Strombeck
Chief Executive Officer, New Work SE
Karl Gernandt
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kuehne+Nagel Group
Martina Bonnier
Editor-In-Chief, Vogue Scandinavia
Raoul Roßmann
Managing Director, Dirk Rossmann GmbH
Julian Teicke
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, wefox Group
Jeremy Thompson
Executive Vice President Europe, Huawei Technologies
Nat Ware
Founder & CEO Forte Global, 180 Degrees Consulting
Alexia Hilbertidou
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, GirlBoss New Zealand
Veit Dengler
Visiting Fellow, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford
Kai Diekmann
Journalist & Author
Bogolo Kenewendo
Global Economist, Former Minister of Trade & Industry, Botswana
Ali Aslan
International TV Presenter and Journalist
Alyssa Goessler
Research Intern, Aerospace Security Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Prof. Amanda Shantz
MBA Director, Professor of Management, University of St.Gallen
Andrea Stürmer
Chief Executive Officer, Zurich Austria
Andreas Brandstetter
President, Insurance Europe
Andreas Neus
Managing Director and Vice President, Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions
Prof. Andreas Herrmann
Co-Director, Institute for Mobility, University of St.Gallen
Arrey Bate
Founder and Journalist, ARREYB Media
Arthur Vayloyan
Strategic Advisor & Member of the Board, Bitcoin Suisse AG
Astrid Frohloff
Author
Prof. Christoph Frei
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of St. Gallen
Brian Bosire
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, HydroIQ
Carmen Jenny
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CLOTHESfriends
Christoph Keese
Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Axel Springer hy GmbH
Christopher Jarvis
Executive Director, RWInstitute
Curdin Duschletta
Head Community Impact Switzerland & Foundations, UBS
David Gugelmann
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Exeon Analytics
Prof. Elgar Fleisch
Professor, Chair for Operations Management, and Director, University of St. Gallen, Institute for Technology Management (ITEM)
Director, Institute of Economics, University of St. Gallen
Prof. Heike Bruch
Director, Institute for Leadership and Human Resources Management, University of St.Gallen
JavieraEstrada
Artist
Jean-Christophe Deslarzes
Chair of the Board, Adecco Group
Joanna Krawczyk
Chairwoman, Leading European Newspaper Alliance
Johannes Reponen
Director of Post-Graduate Programmes; Academic Affairs; Research & Knowledge Exchange, Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design
Prof. Judith Walls
Professor, Chair for Sustainability Management, and Co-Director, University of St. Gallen, Institute for Economy and the Environment (IWÖ)
Prof. Julia Binder
Professor of Sustainable Innovation and Business Transformation, IMD Buisness School
Kerstin Knapp
Executive Vice President, People & Culture, Vestas Wind Systems A/S
Prof. Klaus Wellershoff
Chief Executive Officer, President of the Board of Directors, Wellershoff & Partners Ltd.
Leslie Maasdorp
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, New Development Bank
Li Xin
Managing Director, Caixin and Vice President, Caixin Media, China
Lisa-Marie Fassl
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Female Founders, Austria
Makram Azar
Chief Executive Officer at Golden Falcon Acquisition Corp., Full Circle Capital
Malgorzata Bonikowska
President, Centre for International Relations, THINKTANK Magazine
Prof. Mariana Valente
Assistant Professor of Law and Economics, University of St. Gallen
Martina Fuchs
Business Correspondent, Xinhua
Mathias Müller von Blumencron
Journalist, Member of the Board, Tamedia,Advisory Board Member M100 Sanssouci Colloquium
Nikolaus Lang
Global Leader—The Global Advantage practice & Founder and Director – Center for Mobility Innovation, Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Nuseir Yassin
Chief Executive Officer at Nas Academy, Harvard College
Prof. Oliver Gassmann
Director, Institute of Technology Management, University of St.Gallen
Patrick Zhong
Founding Managing Partner, M31 Capital
Paul Radu
Investigative Journalist, co-founder, OCCRP
Pranjal Sharma
Economic Analyst, Advisor and Author, Business Standard
Rachele Focardi
Author, Founder, XYZ@Work
Riz Khan
International Journalist, Television Host, Author
Rebecca Robins
Global Chief Learning and Culture Officer, Interbrand
Renat Heuberger
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, south pole
Prof. Rolf Wüstenhagen
Professor of Management of Renewable Energies, University of St. Gallen
Shuo Chen
General Partner, IOVC
Prof. Simon Evenett
Director, Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economic Research, University of St. Gallen
Stephan Lendi
Speaker and Moderator
Prof. Susan Goldsworthy
Affiliate Professor of Leadership, Communications and Organizational Change, IMD Business School
Talimka Yordanova
Chief Executive Officer, Global Citizen Forum
Prof. Tomas Casas i Klett
Professor, Director, China Competence Center, University of St.Gallen
Tycho Onnasch
Managing Director, Trust Machines
Fostering the Dialogue between generations
The impact our speakers have:
Sending a Strong Message
With intergenerational frictions rising around the world, our debates signal the importance of cross-generational collaboration and leadership with the next generation in mind.
Inspiring Future Leaders
The symposium allows for intimate exchanges between current decision-makers some of the world’s most brilliant young talents, inspiring them to mutually take responsibility.
Advancing the Global Debate
The St. Gallen Symposium promotes cross-generational dialogue on the most pressing issues of our time. Our annual theme inspires our cross-generational community of leaders of today and tomorrow to reflect and act upon key questions in five thematic areas, related to business, governance, sustainability, technology, and the social and generational contract.
history
Past Speakers
Aiko Doden
Senior Commentator NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
Aisha Addo
Founder/Mentor Power to Girls Foundation
Alain Dehaze
Chief Executive Officer The Adecco Group
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde
Winner FIS Alpine Overall World Cup Title in 2019/20
see full list of past speakers
Prof. Alena Buyx
Chairwoman German Ethics Council
Prof. Alison Wolf
Professor of Public Sector Management King’s College London
Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein
Alvin Tan
Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore
Amitabh Kant
CEO Niti Aayog, Government of India
Andreas Berger
Chief Executive Officer Corporate Solutions Swiss Re
Andreas Neus
Director Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions
Andreas Treichl
Chairman Erste Stiftung President Forum Alpbach
Anthony Lamy
Chief Revenue Officer Wecan Group
Anton Shingarev
Director of Public Affairs Yandex
Prof. Antoinette Weibel
Professor of Human Resources & Trust Researcher University of St.Gallen
Arlene Mulder
Founder WeThinkCode
Audrey Tang
Digital Minister of Taiwan
Prof. Bernhard Ehrenzeller
President University of St.Gallen (HSG)
Brian Bosire
Founder & CEO HydroIQ
Catherine Chen
Corporate Senior Vice President and Director of the Board Huawei
Charlotte Stix
Researcher Eindhoven University of Technology
Christiane Schulz
Chief Executive Officer Edelman Germany
Christophe Deloire
Secretary General Reporters Without Borders
Christoph Franz
Chairman of the Board of Directors Roche
Prof. Christoph Frei
Associate Professor, School of Economics and Political Science University of St.Gallen
Christoph Heusgen
Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations
Cindy Chow
Executive Director Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund
Prof. Damian Borth
Professor of AI & Machine Learning University of St.Gallen
Dominic Barton
Conference Chairman Canadian Ambassador to China
Doris Leuthard
Chairwoman Swiss Digital Initiative Former Federal Councillor of Switzerland
Edmund Koh
Member of the UBS Group Executive Board President UBS Asia Pacific of UBS Group
Edward Brooks
Executive Director Oxford Character Project University of Oxford
Elizabeth Filippouli
CEO & Founder Global Thinkers Forum & Athena40
Erik Fyrwald
Global Chief Executive Officer Syngenta
Fabian Ziegler
Managing Director Shell Germany Oil GmbH
Franklin Cudjoe
Founding President & Chief Executive Officer IMANI Centre for Policy and Education
Gabor Steingart
Journalist & Media Manager Media Pioneer
George Yeo
Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore and Senior Advisor, Kuok (Singapore) Limited
