10 Break-Out Sessions

  • Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

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A Demographic Revolution: Young India Takes Charge (with All India Management Association)
Speaker
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?

Collaborative Advantage Across Generations: Reflecting on the SGS Experience (ISC Alumni)
Speaker
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
Watch Here

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.

Collective Genius? Cultivating Creativity in the Arts and Beyond
Speaker
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.

Connecting Business with Purpose: The Potential of Skills-Based Volunteering
Speaker
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.

Financing the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs
Speaker
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?

Hacking the Fashion & Luxury Watchmaking Industry towards more Sustainability (with Condé Nast College)
Speaker
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?

M100 Sanssouci [email protected] Gallen: Media’s New Power: More Impact Through Collaborative Journalism
Speaker
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.

Democratizing Access to the next Generation of Technology and Innovation: Communities and Radical Transformation
Speaker
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?

Varieties of Tech Capitalism: Europe's Approach to Innovation and Regulation in a Global Context
Speaker
Julian Teicke, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, wefox
Lisa-Marie Fassl, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Female Founders
Christoph Keese (Topic Leader), Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, hy

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?

Changed for Good? Engaging with the New World of Work
Speaker
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
Watch Here

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?

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52ND St. Gallen Symposium

Selection of upcoming Speakers

Egils Levits

President of the Republic of Latvia

Guy Parmelin

Member of the Swiss Federal Council

Shamma Al Mazrui

Minister of State for Youth Affairs, United Arab Emirates

Ricarda Lang

Member of the German Bundestag; Co-Leader of Alliance 90/The Greens

Desmond Lee

Minister for National Development & Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration, Singapore

Ayọ Tometi

Co-Founder, #BlackLivesMatter / Human Rights & Social Justice Advocate

Nicolai Tangen

Chief Executive Officer, Norges Bank Investment Management

Mamphela Ramphele

Co-President, Club of Rome

Prof. Thomas J. Jordan

Chairman of the Governing Board, Swiss National Bank

Nelly Attar

Founder and Athlete

Eckart von Hirschhausen

Physican, Science Journalist & Founder, „Gesunde Erde – Gesunde Menschen“

Dame Inga Beale

Chair, Mediclinic

Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara

CEO & Executive Director, Temasek Holdings

Esther Wojcicki

Vice Chair of Creative Commons, Author, and Journalist

Stefan Paul

CEO, Kühne + Nagel

Janina Kugel

Supervisory Board Member, TUI, Kyndryl, and Konecranes; Senior Advisor, Boston Consulting Group

C Vijayakumar

CEO & MD, HCLTech

Sophie Howe

Fmr. Future Generations Commissioner for Wales ('15-'22)

André Hoffmann

Vice-Chairman, F. Hoffmann-La Roche

Vanessa Nakate

Climate Justice Advocate

Erik Fyrwald

CEO & Executive Director, Syngenta Group

Tabata Amaral

Federal Deputy, Brazilian Chamber of Deputies

Leonhard Birnbaum

CEO & Chairman of the Board of Management, E.ON

Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook

Non-Resident Fellow, Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi)

René Obermann

Chairman, AIRBUS SE; Managing Director and Co-Head of Europe, Warburg Pincus

Bineta Diop

Member of the Board, The Hunger Project; Founder, Femmes Africa Solidarité

Axel P. Lehmann

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Credit Suisse

Prof. Miriam Meckel

Co-Founder & CEO, ada Learning

Sal Khan

Founder, Khan Academy

Lisa Yasko

Member of Parliament, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

Keith Enright

Chief Privacy Officer, Google

Peter Maurer

Fmr. President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Daniel Grieder

CEO, Hugo Boss

Richard David Precht

Philosopher and Author

Thomas Buberl

CEO, AXA

Yasuhito Hirota

CEO, President, COO & Representative Director, ASICS Corporation

Prof. Xue Lan

Cheung Kong Distinguished Chair Professor and the Dean of Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University

Gerald Butts

Vice-Chairman & Senior Advisor, Eurasia Group

Prof. Bernhard Ehrenzeller

President, University of St. Gallen

Christina Keller

CEO, Cascade Engineering Family of Companies; President, Noble Polymers

Peter Voser

Chairman of the Board of Directors, ABB

Aditya Ghosh

Founder, Homage Ventures

Eric Li

Founder and Managing Partner, Chengwei Capital

Eunice Zehnder-Lai

Board Member, Julius Bär; DKSH Holding; Geberit

Prof. Jean-François Manzoni

President and Professor of Leadership and Organizational Development, IMD Business School

Anahita Thoms

Partner & Head of International Trade Practice in Germany, Baker McKenzie

Prof. Manuel Ammann

Director, Swiss Institute of Banking and Finance, University St. Gallen

Lord Brian Griffiths of Fforestfach

Conference Co-Chair, St. Gallen Symposium

Dominic Barton

Conference Co-Chair, St. Gallen Symposium

Fabienne Kinzelmann-Opel

Editor/International Correspondent, Handelszeitung

Andreas Brandstetter

President, Insurance Europe

Cathy Desquesses

Group Chief HR Officer & Head of Corporate Services, Swiss Re

Raynald Aeschlimann

President & CEO, Omega

Florian Brokamp

Co-Founder & CEO, Thinksurance

Johannes Teyssen

Chairman of the Board of Directors, ALPIQ

Kai Diekmann

Founder, Storymachine

Vivien Jain

CEO, Aquila

Klaus Wellershoff

CEO & President of the Board, Wellershoff & Partners

Ali Aslan

International TV Presenter & Journalist

Mai's Vault

Social Media Influencer and Entrepreneur

Marco Alverà

CEO, Tree Energy Solutions (TES-H2)

Prof. Mariana Valente

Professor, University St. Gallen; Associate Director, InternetLab

Martin Reeves

Chairman, BCG Henderson Institute

Martina Fuchs

Business Correspondent, Xinhua News Agency

Veit Dengler

Founder, draw.solutions

Michelle Gibbons

Director General, European Brands Association

Mike Grandinetti

Faculty Director for Post Graduate Programme in Innovation Leadership, Brown University & Harvard

Özge Aydoğan

Director, SDG Lab, UN Geneva

Patrick Awuah

Founder & President, Ashesi University

Péter Fankhauser

Co-Founder & CEO, ANYbotics

John W. H. Denton

Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)

Pranjal Sharma

Economic Analyst, Advisor, and Author

Russell Napier

Market Strategist and Historian

Vaitea Cowan

Co-Founder & Head of Communications, Enapter

Jan Goetz

Co-Founder & CEO, IQM Quantum Computers

Fridtjof Detzner

Co-Founder & General Partner, Planet A

Thomas Bergen

Co-Founder & CEO, getAbstract

Lin Yue

Executive Director, Goldman Sachs Asset Management

Martin Hecker

Founder & CEO, AmaliTech

Prof. Gudrun Sander

Co-Director, Competence Centre for Diversity and Inclusion, University of St. Gallen

Tycho Onnasch

General Manager, Trust Machines

Prof. Julia Binder

Professor of Sustainable Innovation and Business Transformation, IMD Business School

Andreas Neus

Managing Director & Vice President, Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions

Sunnie Groeneveld

CEO & Founder, Inspire 925

Prof. Simon Evenett

Professor of International Trade and Economic Development, University of St. Gallen

Prof. Heike Bruch

Director of the Institute for Leadership and HR Management, University of St. Gallen

Philippe Narval

Director, SQUARE, University of St. Gallen

Kristina Lunz

Co-CEO, Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy

Marcus Kink

Professional Ice Hockey Player

Sandra Klein

Partner, Dr. Bjørn Johansson Associates AG

Prof. Tomas Casas i Klett

Director, China Competence Center, University of St. Gallen

Aiko Doden

Senior Commentator & Senior Producer, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)

Prof. Guido Cozzi

Professor of Macroeconomics, University of St. Gallen

Prof. Naomi Häfner

Assistant Professor for Technology Management, University of St. Gallen

Stephan Lendi

Speaker and Moderator

Prof. Johanna Gollnhofer

Managing Director, Institute for Marketing and Customer Insight, University of St. Gallen

Prof. Damian Borth

Professor for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, University of St. Gallen

Priya Ragu

Singer & Songwriter

Ali Miraj

Broadcaster and Commentator

Prof. Claudia Franziska Brühwiler

Professor of American Political Thought and Culture, University of St. Gallen

Prof. James Davis

Director of the Institute for Political Science, University of St. Gallen

Ulrike Zimmermann

Project Manager, ZEIT Verlagsgruppe

Clémentine Robert

Project Manager Sustainability Curriculum Development, University of St. Gallen

Jochen Andritzky

Co-Founder, Zukunft-Fabrik.2050

Anne Snick

Member of the Club of Rome

John Gilmour

Member of the Club of Rome

Raad Sharar

Programme Coordinator, The Club of Rome

Cyril Flaig

Head of the International Students' Committee

Deborah Walt

Head of the International Students' Committee

Leo Legler

Head of the International Students' Committee

Linn Ehrbar

Member of the International Students' Committee

A selection of previous Speakers & Impacts

“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

“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

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
Aiko Doden

Senior Commentator
NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)

 Aisha Addo
Aisha Addo

Founder/Mentor
Power to Girls Foundation

Alain Dehaze
Alain Dehaze

Chief Executive Officer
The Adecco Group

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde

Winner FIS Alpine Overall World Cup Title in 2019/20

Contact our Programme Team