XAVIER SALA I MARTÍN

Beyond the Hype: The Indispensable Role of Humans in AI

In the current boom of artificial intelligence, Xavier Sala-i-Martín reveals why, after 60 years, ChatGPT has consolidated itself as the first successful AI product on the market. Sala-i-Martín guides us through the essential link between humans and machines, highlighting the unique challenges that AI faces: from bias in data to the threat of misuse of data by hackers.

With the premise that machines, despite their advanced technology, lack the ability to explain their processes and adapt their skills beyond their initial programming, Sala-i-Martín argues argues the importance of incorporating human criteria and values into the development of AI. This approach not only strengthens our relationship with technology, but also emphasizes the irreplaceable human intelligence and values in the digital age.

In this keynote, Sala-i-Martin:

• Demystifies the apocalyptic vision of AI, emphasizing its role as a powerful prediction tool, rather than an intelligence capable of emulating human judgment.
• Invites us to consider AI from an opportunity perspective, underscoring the importance of successfully adapting to these technological changes.
• Highlights the need for prudent implementation of new technologies to really strengthen competitiveness.
• With a focus on ethical and economic aspects, proposes an integration of AI that complements and enhances human work, challenging the notion that technology replaces workers.  

Global Economic Radar 2023

What are the factors that will have the greatest impact on the economy and business (especially in Latin America), in the coming months and years? Although  these factors vary according to the sector, country and moment (especially during these months of great global turbulence), these are the 7 factors to monitor:

1. The Covid 19 virus, its successive mutations and possible new curfews. Until the virus becomes completely harmless, the pandemic will remain on the economic radar. Of special importance is the Covid-zero policy and its massive lockdowns in China, due to its implications in the global value chain, causing (among other consequences), the general rise in prices (inflation).
2. The war in Ukraine, the sanctions against Russia and the disruption that this entails in the global supply of energy and food. The resulting scarcity contributes to global inflation.
3. The resulting inflation can even be accelerated through expectations (e.g.: workers who do not want to lose purchasing power and ask for wage increases; companies that respond by raising prices even more). To avoid this, central banks are going to have to abandon their debt purchase policy (Quantitative Easing) and are going to raise interest rates, causing an economic slowdown. This will have dire consequences for heavily indebted economies and companies.
4. Hyper-globalization is coming to an end, due to geopolitical and economic reasons. This is creating a new trend towards re-shoring and near-shoring to have industries geographically closer to the United States and Europe. The countries that know how to take advantage of this trend will create a lot of wealth and employment. Latin America has a unique historical opportunity.
5. The Chinese economy shows signs of weakness, especially in the financial and construction sectors with the possible bankruptcy of large companies and banks sunk in debt. The Covid-zero policy creates doubts that the Chinese economy is infallible. A crisis of confidence could usher in the first recession since Mao, and will have an impact on countries that depend on their exports to China.
6. The cryptocurrency bubble is showing signs of a possible implosion. The leading currency, bitcoin has lost 60% of its value since November. Algorithmic “stable” currencies (such as TerraUSD-Luna) have crashed leaving thousands of bankrupt investors. Is the crash going to infect the crypto universe? Would this possible general collapse also affect the financial system and traditional banks?
7. The technological revolution that already existed before the Covid (the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution) is following its course and new technologies (from bio-technologies to artificial intelligence through fintech, nanotechnologies, robotics, 3D printing , or disintermediation) will continue to shape the future of our countries and our industries.

The Roaring Twenties

Moments of disruption have never come without precedent and the crisis generated by Covid 19 is not an exception. The example of the Spanish Flu shows us that, even when the future seems doomed, there are reasons to be optimistic. The crisis of 1918 gave way to a true economic boom and an era of progress: the world we know today was forged in the famous decade of the Roaring Twenties. What lessons can we learn from the Spanish Flu as we are about to bounce back?  Xavier Sala-i-Martín analyzes the current context and invites us to take advantage of the inevitable economic, social and cultural rebound that is coming. Those who understand and make the most of it will be leaders for the years to come. 

Five reasons to be optimistic:

1. Global productivity will increase as a result of the acceleration in the introduction of digital technologies related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
2. The pandemic demonstrated the power of the “global brain”: for the first time, millions of interconnected scientists and thought leaders found the solution to a great global problem with surprising speed.
3. The successful development of Covid vaccines showed the benefits of public-private collaboration, as a powerful instrument for global action.
4. The acceleration of the decoupling process (or deglobalization), in which some economies will remain in the Chinese orbit and others in the American, will represent a great opportunity for those countries in Latin America.
5. Humans are social beings; when the pandemic ends, the economic sectors that have suffered the most (those that live off human contact) will recover at high speed.

Fourth Industrial Revolution: How to better understand AI and new technologies

Xavier Sala-i-Martin is recognized as the world’s leading expert on innovation and competitiveness. As Director of the WEF´s Competitiveness Index, he is one of the pioneering intellectuals who has most studied the possible effects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution at an individual and business level. His vision and focus on the opportunities brought by this new era and on how to successfully adapt to the changes (never seen before), allows us to better understand this moment.

An underlying concern to world leaders, CEOs and business executives is that amid the fourth industrial revolution, the acceleration of innovation and the speed of disruption are hard to anticipate (and fully understand). Across all countries and industries, there is clear evidence that the new technologies are having a major impact on our lives and reshaping our economic, social, and cultural environments. Thus, we are all called to understand the rapid changing environment, and now –more than ever– relentlessly innovate.

In this conference, Xavier begins by explaining the Hummingbird Effect (when an innovation that occurs in one sector ends up having enormous effects in sectors that have no evident correlation), and the consequences of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (where developments in the physical, biological, digital and mental worlds are converging from the appearance of dozens of new technologies in fields such as robotics, AI, big data, disintermediation, nanotechnologies, uberization of capital, fintech, among many others). Finally, he explains how we can adapt from a micro level (as individuals) to a macro level (at a business and government level).

Innovation & Adaptation: Pivoting into a New Model

In this conference Xavier Sala-i-Martin analyzes the keys to success of a leading S&P 500 company in a very competitive sector, as well as its adaptive capacity throughout the years. Based on this case study, he will emphasize on those attributes that are transferable to other companies that want to keep up with competition, new technologies, reinventing its business model, enhancing talent, and developing new skills. 

Innovation & Adaptation: Insights from the WEF´s Global Competitiveness Index Author

In this conference, Xavier Sala-i-Martin analyzes how the best business ideas in history came to life, explaining what companies (in all sectors and countries), can and should do to avoid being left behind in the innovation race. Likewise, he demystifies the idea that innovation only occurs in rich countries or in cutting-edge sectors that formally invest large sums of money in research and development (R&D) and exposes how some of the best recent innovations in history have occurred in traditional sectors, generating new business models, such as Netflix (in the entertainment industry), Nespresso and Starbucks (in the coffee industry), Zara (in clothing and retail), among many others. others. In this keynote, he places special emphasis on how educational systems must be transformed to guarantee the creativity of workers and how companies must manage their human resources to optimize their innovative capacity.

Due to his experience at the World Economic Forum as the author of the Global Competitiveness Index, Sala-i-Martin has had the privilege of monitoring (for almost two decades) the economic growth of all countries and industries worldwide. Consequently, he has a unique perspective on innovation and competitiveness, being able to identify the successful practices of those who have made progress, as well as the practices and policies of those who have lost competitiveness. His conference is an invitation to capitalize on new business opportunities to achieve real economic growth.

Four Leadership Lessons

This entertaining 60-minute conference explains the four key leadership lessons from Sala-i-Martin´s experience at FC Barcelona. The first lesson is renew to succeed. The first move Pepe Guardiola did as couch was to remove Ronaldinho (Barça´s previous star) from the team. For ongoing success people and companies should renew. Nokia, Blackberry and Kodak are best examples of companies that failed because they did not renew.

The second lesson is teamwork. The success of the best Barcelona team in history was that everyone worked as a team and how all the members were thrilled with it: the way players got paid, the way the team built confidence, etc. This is why talent management is so important. The third lesson from Barcelona FC is to have confidence in the DNA. The mission and vision statements are not empty phrases to be included in a business plan; they are actual guides that help people make difficult decisions. When business schools analysis indicate the opposite Joan Laporta (Barcelona’s FC former president), decided to take the sponsor from UNICEF instead of BetandWin, likewise he decided to hire Pepe Guardiola instead of Mourinho as couch for Barcelona. Finally, the fourth lesson is, to be competitive you should innovate!