This year’s Global Summit of Women (#GSW2019) heard about global megatrends from corporate leaders. Pia Tischhauser, Global Head of Insurance, Boston Consulting Group (Switzerland), says we are entering The Bionic Age, otherwise known as the fourth industrial revolution – a connected world of mobile super-computing, self-driving cars, artificial intelligence (AI) and genetic editing.
Unlike previous revolutions, such as the industrial revolution, it’s the speed of change that’s different today. Society faces challenges. The global elite is driving these tech-related changes, but many people feel left behind, said Tischhauser. According to the World Economic Forum, 65% of children who have started primary school will work in roles that don’t exist yet. Today, she says companies need to demonstrate these qualities: new intelligence; resilience; flexibility and readiness; strategic focus; and they must think differently. Companies need to achieve a personalised customer experience; machine-augmented operations; and start-up style innovation.
Tischhauser noted that women are at risk of losing their jobs to automation and that only 22% of women AI professionals are women. She urged the audience to invest in upskilling and to try AI tech to amplify their skills. “Let’s be the bionic women to foster bionic thinking,” she said.
In the Male CEO Forum session that discussed implementing gender diversity in a time of change, the five panellists agreed that many studies had shown that businesses with women in management positions perform better. Les Clifford, CEO, EY Switzerland, noted that it takes between three and six years to change the culture of a company. He told the story of his teenage son, who gave him a wake-up call one day. When asked what he thought of gender diversity, his son remarked: “Dad, we look at organisations and we want to see diversity – people of different backgrounds, ages, and that are 50% female. If you can’t get that right, how can you get the other things right?” (MJ Rabbit agrees.)
In the session led by female CEOs of global stock exchanges in Mexico and Thailand, the moderator, Marisa Drew, CEO, Impact Advisory & Finance, Credit Suisse (UK), revealed a new term she’d just heard: “manels”, meaning panels with all men. She said it was refreshing to see conference sessions full of women, rather than men. The Gender 3000 report from Credit Suisse, which sets out the business case for diversity in business, is out soon. (Marisa, please send me a copy.)
The Women Entrepreneurs Forum heard from many high-powered women – including Daniele Henkel, founder and President of her own beauty and wellbeing brand, who stars on the Dragon’s Den TV series in Canada. Henkel noted the competitive nature of the beauty industry and the need for her cosmetics brand to stand out from the crowd.
Marketing Your Business in the Age of Disruption heard from the inspirational Swiss-born executive, Kathrin Amacker, Chief Communications Officer and Management Board Member, SBB, the Swiss railway company. Amacker talked about the effect on her daughter of her job. If a train was late, her daughter would hear about it at school in the morning. (MJ Rabbit has written about the impressive array of food and drink onboard SBB trains for PAX International magazine, the leading voice of news and analysis for the passenger services industry.)
Carol Dominguez was a standout speaker at the session titled The Art of Persuasion in the World Business, where I discovered where I’d been going wrong for all these years. Dominguez is President & CEO of John Clements Consultants in the Philippines. She’s a legend. If you need a good speaker, ask her. She’s super-busy, so you’ll have to persuade her!
The Global Women’s Leadership Awards Gala Dinner saw three award recipients: Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, OXFAM International (Uganda); Professor Muhammad Yunus, founder, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh; and Doris Leuthard, former President and Federal Councillor, Switzerland.
Not forgetting the amazing contributions of Sung-Joo Kim, Chair and Chief Visionary Officer, Sungjoo Group (South Korea) and Irene Natividad, President, GlobeWomen Research and Education Institute (USA). Read all about Mrs Kim (www.kimsungjoo.com) on this blog: 66 blog posts and counting…
