Expert research interviews

“There’s a huge difference between the financial crisis in 2008 and this health crisis, which has led to so much economic uncertainty. Today, most banks are in a much stronger capital position than they were in the financial crisis. This has enabled the sector to respond very quickly to the needs both of individual customers and businesses through the provision of essential lending, mortgage and capital repayment holidays.”

Jennifer Tippin, Group Chief Transformation Officer, NatWest

“What is AI? It’s making decisions based on very large amounts of data. I’ve been hearing about AI for 30 years… but it was always a future promise. What’s different now? First, the underlying compute capability is so much faster, meaning systems can crunch through a deluge of data almost instantaneously. Two, the ability through software to manage and analyse that data is so much better… All of this data is being instantly rendered useable and actionable”

Safra Catz, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Oracle

“Innovation is critical. In an increasingly volatile world, with new markets emerging, established business models being disrupted, a climate challenge, and the immediate impact of the pandemic, innovation is vital for global companies to succeed.”

Carsten Knobel, Chief Executive Officer, Henkel

“A lot of inactivity around sustainability comes from the fact that there are legacy solutions that no longer work. And it’s that change from the legacy to the future model that causes the challenges from a financial perspective. You’ve got to get over that hump, then typically a sustainable solution uses less resources, so almost inevitably it’s less expensive.”

Chris Daly, VP of Sustainability, PepsiCo

“Developing blockbuster drugs should not be about making a billion dollars. It should be about serving a billion patients. That’s when you have equity in global healthcare.”

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Founder and Executive Chairperson, Biocon

“I think this Covid crisis has been a real wake-up call for all social and financial systems to respond with more urgency and ambition to the climate crisis. Ultimately, is much bigger in every way and will stay with us over a much longer period of time if not addressed.”

Dr Barbara Buchner, Global Managing Director, Climate Policy Initiative

“Good C-suite leaders will recognize that you can’t forge a path forward with one part of the organization—the technology, the tools, or the strategy— without bringing the rest of the organization along.”

Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Diageo Professor in Organisation Studies, University of Cambridge