WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.200 --> 00:00:05.040 I'm Edie Lush and I'm here with Christoph Schweizer, CEO of BCG. 2 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:06.200 How are you today? 3 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:08.360 Well, good morning, Edie. It's great to see you. 4 00:00:08.360 --> 00:00:10.480 I am very well still at this moment, 5 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:14.840 but it is literally minus 15 degrees Celsius as we stand on this terrace here. 6 00:00:14.840 --> 00:00:17.760 I'm not sure I'm going to be still unfrozen by the time we finish this, 7 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.760 but it's great to see you. I'm well, I'm excited. I'm energized. How are you? 8 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:23.240 Good. I'm good. I am worried about your lack of gloves though. 9 00:00:23.240 --> 00:00:25.080 So am I , but we are going to be fine. 10 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:28.640 All right. So you came into Davos with four themes. 11 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:30.560 Just remind me what those are. 12 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:31.680 Well, 13 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:36.280 I came to Davos with the four themes that I believe are top of mind issues for 14 00:00:36.400 --> 00:00:40.360 CEOs and other leaders at this moment in time - resilience, 15 00:00:41.080 --> 00:00:45.360 digital and artificial intelligence, climate and sustainability, and people, 16 00:00:45.360 --> 00:00:49.080 people, people. What do we mean by that? I mean, first of all, 17 00:00:49.080 --> 00:00:50.840 there's a lot of uncertainty out there. 18 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:55.560 Any organization needs to be resilient to the many shocks, changes, 19 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:58.680 disruptions that are happening, and the massive uncertainty that's out there. 20 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:03.360 I think this week was a perfect confirmation that there is a lot of uncertainty 21 00:01:03.360 --> 00:01:06.880 and that there will be shocks for sure also in 2023 and beyond. 22 00:01:07.240 --> 00:01:09.800 Then on digital and AI. Well, 23 00:01:09.800 --> 00:01:12.760 we heard a lot of talk about ChatGPT and a lot of other things. 24 00:01:12.880 --> 00:01:16.200 I think actually we heard too much about ChatGPT because there are so many other 25 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:21.160 applications and use cases and real things around AI. But 26 00:01:21.440 --> 00:01:24.880 of course it's starting to have a real impact on how businesses operate. 27 00:01:24.880 --> 00:01:28.640 And we think that's now settling in with many leaders. Third, 28 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.800 climate and sustainability, of course, 29 00:01:30.800 --> 00:01:33.600 that's the biggest challenge for mankind and for our planet, 30 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:38.320 as always at Davos in the last years that has been top of mind. 31 00:01:38.320 --> 00:01:40.840 I think we talk a lot, we see less progress than we would like to. 32 00:01:41.160 --> 00:01:45.560 I did sense some meaningful progress on some of the energy transition topics, 33 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:49.520 which is great and urgently needed. And finally, people, people, people. I mean, 34 00:01:49.520 --> 00:01:49.880 this is still... 35 00:01:49.880 --> 00:01:51.120 The talent discussion is still there. 36 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:54.840 This is still so real. The war for talent is not over. Of course, 37 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:58.000 some companies, in the tech sector, in the banking sector, et cetera, 38 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:01.440 have started to reduce workforce, but talent is still super scarce, 39 00:02:01.440 --> 00:02:05.760 and they are still so many companies that are limited in what they want to do 40 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:09.240 because they do not get the right talent into their organizations. 41 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:10.800 I think that's still top of mind. 42 00:02:11.160 --> 00:02:15.920 So I wonder what surprised you that you heard in the discussions this week? 43 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:18.720 So, what surprised me, Edie, 44 00:02:18.720 --> 00:02:22.680 is if you talk to people individually behind closed doors, 45 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:25.760 I think everyone more or less admits that they do not really know where things 46 00:02:25.760 --> 00:02:29.800 are going. Then you bring 3,000 people together, you create discussion, 47 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:31.080 settings. You have... 48 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:32.040 A lot of hot air. 49 00:02:32.040 --> 00:02:34.240 Yeah, absolutely. You have a lot of hot air, 50 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:37.840 and all of a sudden everyone starts suggesting with great precision where the 51 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:42.520 world is going economically in 2023. I still believe that even after Davos, 52 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:45.120 we might have a tiny bit of a sentiment change, 53 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:48.360 that people are a bit more optimistic than when they landed here and it was all 54 00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:50.520 gloomy, but we still don't know, 55 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:52.760 and this is going to be a year with many surprises, 56 00:02:52.760 --> 00:02:54.480 hopefully more good ones than bad ones. 57 00:02:56.040 --> 00:02:59.760 I do think it's also a bit of a strength to admit that you do not really know, 58 00:02:59.760 --> 00:03:03.280 because then you need to run your business or your government in a very adaptive 59 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:07.680 way. And I felt we were over-suggesting, a little bit, 60 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:08.760 how much we know where things are going. 61 00:03:08.760 --> 00:03:13.120 That's interesting. So I wonder, did anything disappoint you this week? 62 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:16.520 Did you come away with sense of 'I wish that was different?'. 63 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:21.920 People who have been to Davos for years know that, 64 00:03:22.200 --> 00:03:23.080 appropriately, 65 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:26.440 for many years there was a lot of conversation about what's happening in 66 00:03:26.600 --> 00:03:29.720 emerging markets in Latin America, in Africa, in parts of Asia, 67 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:33.120 because that's an important part of the global economy, 68 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:35.960 and it's a very important part for so many challenges for mankind. 69 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:40.120 We are not going to solve climate change if we do not involve emerging markets. 70 00:03:40.160 --> 00:03:44.680 We are not going to solve migration if we don't... et cetera. And, in a way, 71 00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:48.560 emerging markets were absent from the conversation this week. Why? 72 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:51.480 Because everyone talks about the recession, yes or no in the US, 73 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:55.120 everyone talks about what's happening in China, the energy crisis in Europe. 74 00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:59.760 I found it quite disappointing that there was little talk about the 75 00:03:59.920 --> 00:04:00.840 emerging markets. 76 00:04:00.840 --> 00:04:05.240 And I do think there are major challenges there also on the economy side. 77 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:09.280 And in a way it felt like a lost opportunity to have a truly global perspective 78 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:09.960 here. 79 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:13.600 Let's end on a note of optimism. What excited you this week? 80 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:19.519 One thing that excites me in general is that we have a 81 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:21.959 generation coming into the workforce, 82 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:26.800 the 25 year-old college and university graduates, the 30 year-olds. And, 83 00:04:26.960 --> 00:04:27.480 well, 84 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:32.360 this generation comes with an incredible orientation around 85 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:36.040 purpose. They are very driven, very committed, very passionate, and you know, 86 00:04:36.080 --> 00:04:40.400 they are so talented when it comes to digital and artificial intelligence. 87 00:04:40.400 --> 00:04:42.800 They are very educated on climate and sustainability. 88 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:47.560 They do not need major upskilling efforts as the more senior parts of workforces 89 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:47.920 do. 90 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:52.640 And I'm just excited about their connectedness and how global they also are. 91 00:04:52.640 --> 00:04:57.440 If I look at some of the people who have now just joined BCG in the last year 92 00:04:57.600 --> 00:04:59.280 out of university, I mean, 93 00:04:59.280 --> 00:05:02.800 if they could listen to our people here in Davos talk about decoupling and 94 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:04.760 de-globalization, et cetera, they would say, 95 00:05:04.760 --> 00:05:07.920 we have no freaking idea what you're talking about . Because for them, 96 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:11.280 I mean, they had a very global setting. In university, 97 00:05:11.280 --> 00:05:12.880 they have friends all over the place. 98 00:05:12.880 --> 00:05:16.760 They connect with FIFA 23 and whatever games they play. 99 00:05:16.760 --> 00:05:21.600 And they would be really disturbed had they listened to some of the dialogue 100 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.400 here. I think we have a wonderful talent base, an excited talent base. 101 00:05:25.400 --> 00:05:30.360 And in a way I do think we as leaders need to convey to 102 00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:32.800 them that this is going to be an exciting world to work in. 103 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:34.840 It's going to be an exciting world where you can make a difference. 104 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:37.560 And I'm genuinely very passionate about that. 105 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:42.360 And I hope we'll be able to translate that. For sure, in my role as CEO of BCG, 106 00:05:42.520 --> 00:05:46.560 I'll go back home and make sure that everything that was discussed here turns 107 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:47.760 into an opportunity for us. 108 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:52.360 Thank you so much for sharing those thoughts with us, Christoph. Thank you. 109 00:05:52.360 --> 00:05:54.560 That's all from us here on the balcony here in Davos. 110 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:58.280 Thanks, and we made it at minus 15 degrees Celsius. Edie, thank you so much. 111 00:05:58.280 --> 00:05:59.320 Absolutely. Thank you.