Add to my list
Videos

XAVIER SALA I MARTÍN

Professor of Economics at Columbia University; author of the Global Competitiveness Index

  • The world’s leading expert on innovation and competitiveness 
  • Jerome H. and Matthew S. Grossman Professor at Columbia University 
  • Chief Advisor of the Global Competitiveness Report at the World Economic Forum
  • Best seller author of several books including: ‘Economic Growth‘ (with Robert Barro), ‘Economy in Colors’ and ‘The Robots Invasion’, as well as dozens of academic articles published in the best scientific journals in the world
  • Pioneer in analyzing the effects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in terms of innovation, employment, education and its ethical implications
  • Treasurer and President of the FC Barcelona Economic Commission between 2003 and 2010 
  • Screenwriter and anchor of “Economics in Colors”, an award-winning economics TV show in Spain

Professor Sala-i-Martin is recognized as the world leading expert on innovation and competitiveness. He is the author of WEF´s Global Competitiveness Index, which annually measures and ranks the competitiveness of all the countries. Professor Sala-i-Martin’s GCI is the most closely followed index on global economic and business competitiveness in the world (as it upgraded and modernized the former approaches to measuring competitiveness developed by Michael Porter and Jeffrey Sachs); governments and business leaders use it to evaluate and design current and future strategic competitiveness policies for their countries and corporations.

From 2003 to 2010 he was also a member of the Board, Treasurer and President of the Economic Commission of FC Barcelona and, therefore, contributed to the creation of what many experts have considered the best soccer team of all history. In 2009, FC Barcelona won all 6 championships in which it participated. No other team in history had ever achieved this impressive record. Hence, besides economic topics, based on his practitioner experience he also speaks about leadership and change.

Prior to joining to Columbia University, Sala-i-Martin taught at Yale and Harvard, and was a researcher at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London. He studied economics in Barcelona and holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He has received several awards including the Rey Juan Carlos Prize in Economics awarded by the Bank of Spain to the best economist in Spain and Latin America, and the Arrow Prize awarded to the best economist in the world by Health International Economics Organization. Recently, he was awarded the Zapping Prize to the most innovative TV program (for his show "Economics in Colors", aired on primetime to explain economic issues that affect our daily lives).  This prize demonstrates that, besides being a great scholar on innovation, he also puts his ideas in practice. He truly walks the talk.

With a career spent teaching, researching, and consulting professor Sala-i-Martin is in the privileged position to be able to offer decision makers (wishing to do business in today’s volatile markets) essential information on how to be competitive and innovative. Additionally, being an experienced teacher, he clearly explains complex ideas in a simple and entertaining format.

Although there are many brilliant economists in the world, few can explain and analyze in such clear and passionate way like him. With a reputation for humorous and enlightening presentations, Xavier is in great demand as a conference speaker at leading events around the world.

Xavier tailors each presentation to the needs of his audience and is not limited to the topics listed below. Please ask us about any subject that interests you:

  • Global Economic Radar: Outlook
  • Innovation and Competitiveness
  • A.I. Impact
  • Economic Development and Growth Strategies
  • Economy and Global Markets
  • Fourth Industrial Revolution
  • FC Barcelona Business and Sport Success
     

Beyond the Hype: The Role of Humans in the AI era

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 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.
  • Proposes an integration of AI that complements and enhances human work, challenging the notion that technology replaces workers
  • Analyzes how, so far, the implementation of AI has led to a reduction in production costs, but there is still a need for entrepreneurs to revolutionize the way of working, truly impacting productivity and boosting competitiveness. This is, what he calls: the grand challenge.

Global Economic Outlook 

In this conference, Xavier Sala-i-Martin analyzes the factors that will have the greatest impact on the economy (especially in Latin America) in the coming months and years. Thanks to his experience at the World Economic Forum as 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, which makes his analyses essential for decision makers.

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.  

FC Barcelona: a success case

The story of FC Barcelona depicts one of the most extreme, impressive and successful organizational transformations in sports history; after half a decade of economic and competitive drought, a new board of directors led by Joan Laporta took over the club in 2003.

Seven years later, the club had won four Spanish Leagues, two UEFA Champion Leagues, three Spanish Supercups, a European Supercup, a King's Cup, and a World Club Cup; by 2010 it was "the best sports club in the world" for second consecutive year, and had an accumulated economic surplus of over 131 million Euros.

In this powerful presentation, Professor Sala-i-Martín explains how the most important and controversial decisions made by the club in the last few years -such as hiring Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola, making a strong bet on the low-tier teams, and the "crazy" decision to be the only club without a commercial sponsor on its shirt- turned out to be the right ones.

Four Leadership Lessons

In this entertaining 60-minute keynote, Sala-i-Martin explains four key leadership lessons from his experience at FC Barcelona:

  1. Renew to succeed. The first move Pep Guardiola did as coach was to remove Ronaldinho (Barça´s previous star) from the team. For ongoing success people and companies should renew. Nokia, Blackberry and Kodak are the best examples of companies that failed because they did not renew.
  2. 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.
  3. Have confidence in the DNA. The mission and vision statements are not empty statements to be included in a business plan; they are actual guides that help people make difficult decisions. When business schools analysis indicated the opposite Joan Laporta (Barcelona’s FC former president), decided to take the sponsor from UNICEF instead of BetandWin, likewise he decided to hire Pep Guardiola instead of Mourinho as coach for Barcelona. 
  4. Innovation: To be competitive you should innovate

"Colombia´s Annual Banking Conference is without a doubt the most demanding event (in the country) in terms of speakers. At this event, Sala-i-Martin masterly spoke to more than 1,500 national leaders, managing to delight them with an extraordinary conference in which he managed to skillfully combine intuition with academic rigor. This balance, allowed him to relate day-to-day funny examples with solid academic insights, as well as bold political approaches with practical business advices. He is, undoubtedly, one of the best speakers that we have had in recent years".

Jonathan Malagón - Vice-president ,

Asobancaria (Colombia´s National Baking Association)

“Xavier Sala-i-Martin is truly inspiring. Certainly, if we have a second chance, we would invite him to entertain us and teach us about competitiveness and innovation.”

Alquería (Dairy Company)
Carlos Enrique Cavelier, CEO

“Having Xavier Sala-i-Martin as the keynote speaker at the 2017 Industrial Forum was the most positive and enriching experience. He explains novel and complex concepts, in such a clear, simple and illustrative way that he manages to widely spread his concepts, generating a noticeable impact on the audience. It's a real pleasure to work with him.”

Sociedad Nacional de Industrias (Peru´s Industry Association)
Rosa Asca, Director

RELATED SPEAKERS

JEFFREY SACHS

Global Authority on Economic and Sustainable Development

MOISÉS NAÍM

Internationally awarded columnist and thought leader. Former Editor of Foreign Policy (1996 -...

RICARDO HAUSMANN

Founder and Director of Harvard’s Growth Lab and Professor of the Practice of International...