Swiss Economic Forum focuses on resilience and AI
Published: Tuesday, Jun 4th 2024, 11:10
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From Thursday, the Bernese Oberland tourist resort of Interlaken will once again be the venue for discussions about margins, growth and profit. The 26th Swiss Economic Forum (SEF) will bring together leading minds from the worlds of business, science and politics - from Switzerland and abroad. This year, everything revolves around resilience in tough times - and the use of AI.
President Viola Amherd opens the event under the motto "When The Going Gets Tough" early on Thursday afternoon. It is traditional for a member of the government to be present at the opening. However, a traditional opening speech is not planned; instead, the President of the Swiss Confederation will be available to answer questions in a discussion.
A total of 60 speakers from Switzerland and abroad are on the program. Former US Secretary of State and current board member of the Ukrainian mobile communications company Kyivstar Michael "Mike" Pompeo and former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin are expected in Interlaken. Swiss political representatives on stage alongside Viola Amherd include National Councillor and Ypsomed CEO Simon Michel (FDP).
However, the event, which was founded in 1998 and held in Thun for the first few years, focuses more on business than politics. The event is seen as a counterpoint for Swiss SMEs to the Davos World Economic Forum (WEF), where the world's business and political elite meet every January.
Focus on heads of large corporations and start-ups
Several high-caliber speakers from the world of business will also be appearing at the forum. UBS Switzerland CEO Sabine Keller-Busse and Swisscom CEO Christoph Aeschlimann, for example, will take part in a panel on "Deep Tech Nation Switzerland". The CEO of the agrochemical group Syngenta, Jeff Rowe, will explain how to ensure sustainable nutrition for a growing world population.
The program also includes a speech by Breitling CEO Georges Kern on transformation and ambition in the watch industry and On co-founder Caspar Coppetti will talk about how young companies survive tough times. The head of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Thomas Schäfer, will give an insight into the electric revolution in the automotive sector and ask in his presentation whether it is already over.
Another highlight of the program will be the presentation of the SEF Award, where young companies will be honored in the categories of services, deeptech/life sciences and production/industry. Three start-ups per category are in the running for the three prizes worth CHF 25,000.
Learning from athletes and futurists
Sport is also widely represented at the event. For example, long-distance runner Dominic Lobalu and his coach Markus Hagmann explain how he made it from refugee to top athlete. Professional footballer Lia Wälti will introduce the audience to her crisis management strategies and explain how to deal with setbacks.
The presentation by US financial mathematician and risk researcher Nassim Taleb is also eagerly awaited. The New Yorker with Lebanese roots will talk about the weaknesses of our world today. Taleb specializes in identifying uncertainty and errors in human knowledge and explaining how to deal with unpredictability and profit from it.
Business philosopher Anders Indset, who has written several bestsellers on the future of business and was also a successful handball player, will also be speaking. He argues that companies need to think much more in terms of future scenarios rather than reacting to existing circumstances.
The entire work of former Open AI manager Zack Kass, who is also speaking at the SEF, also revolves around the future. He is regarded as one of the leading minds in applied AI and sees great opportunities for humanity in it. At the same time, however, he warns against relying too much on artificial intelligence.
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