VIP Session with Rahaf Harfoush: Overcoming Information Overload with Adaptive Knowledge

Every day, the world creates 402 terabytes of data. For the average professional, this translates to consuming around 74 gigabytes of information daily, a figure estimated to rise to 100 gigabytes soon. While access to unlimited data might seem like an advantage, it has drastically changed our relationship with knowledge. Today, professionals are facing a […]

Kjell A. Nordström – Thriving on Wild Knowledge

For more than a century, modern corporations operated under a familiar operational rulebook. Leaders advised their children to study hard, earn professional credentials, and build analytical expertise. Business schools trained managers to construct vertical pyramids, direct functional departments, and extract maximum efficiency through standardized routines. That traditional formula delivered immense global prosperity. Today, however, the […]

Michael Beckley – The End of Easy Growth: How Leaders Can Navigate Geopolitical Volatility

For decades, global business operated under a comforting assumption: tomorrow will inevitably be better than today. That optimism was grounded in reality. From the mid-20th century until recently, the global economy experienced an unprecedented surge in wealth, cross-border trade, and living standards. In that environment of rapid growth, strategic missteps were easily forgiven. When the […]

Alison Wood Brooks – Conversation as The Operating System of Collaboration: Under Pressure

Every leader understands the feeling of stepping into a room or answering a phone call when high-stakes tension fills the air. A critical deal collapses, an employee underperforms, or two key executives lock horns over strategy. When these moments occur, the default corporate reaction is often avoidance or confrontation. Many leaders believe good communication is […]

Oprah Winfrey – Leading with Connection

Business has never had more tools to optimize performance. Companies automate operations, track endless metrics, and refine strategies in pursuit of greater efficiency. But beneath all that complexity lies a simple truth: businesses are built by people, run by people, and exist to serve people. When human connection disappears, engagement and trust eventually follow. At […]

Paul Polman – The Courage to Collaborate

For decades, the standard corporate playbook on sustainability treated responsibility as an exercise in damage control. Companies established dedicated corporate social responsibility (CSR) departments in the basement, produced glossy annual reports, and set incremental targets to reduce carbon emissions or plastic packaging by a few percentage points. Leaders congratulated themselves on doing less harm. Yet […]

Angela Duckworth – Finding the People and Places that Bring Out Your Best

For years, leaders and organizations have looked at extraordinary achievement through the lens of individual talent and grit. Individual effort undeniably matters. Yet every executive has seen hard-working employees burn out, stumble, or fail to reach their potential despite giving their absolute best. At Nordic Business Forum 2026 in Helsinki, Angela Duckworth offered a broader […]

Shawn Kanungo – The Most Dangerous Person in the Room: Decision-Making in the Age of AI

Over the last few years, business leaders watched artificial intelligence evolve from a curiosity into an everyday workplace utility. Between 2022 and 2025, most companies experimented with generative tools in three basic ways: polishing emails, rewriting social media biographies, and generating novelty images. Then, reasoning models advanced, opening the door to agentic workflows where software […]

Patty McCord – A Team, Not a Family

Many corporate leaders believe building an effective organization requires thick policy manuals, rigid approval chains, and complex annual performance reviews. Whenever a company doubles in size, management instinctively adds more rules, assuming control is the only defense against chaos. Over time, this mindset creates organizations paralyzed by bureaucracy. Talented employees spend their working hours navigating […]

Nando Parrado – Alive: How Trust Forges Unbeatable Teams

In business and in life, leaders often prepare for uncertainty by analyzing spreadsheets, consulting predictive algorithms, or building elaborate risk mitigation frameworks. Yet when a true catastrophe hits, balance sheets and forecasts cannot replace human character. When familiar structures collapse and conventional odds fall to zero, what keeps a team alive, focused, and moving forward? […]

Rahaf Harfoush – Rise of the Thinking Class: The Human Advantage in an Exponential World

Artificial intelligence can now produce intellectual work at unprecedented speed and scale, from reports and code to presentations and strategic plans. But as these tools become more capable, a critical question emerges: How do we ensure they elevate our organizations rather than erode our thinking? At Nordic Business Forum 2026 in Helsinki, digital anthropologist Rahaf […]

Steven Bartlett – Failure is Feedback. Failure is Knowledge. Failure is Power

Most business leaders believe that their company’s success depends on discovering one genius strategy, creating a groundbreaking product, or executing flawless multi-year roadmaps. Yet in a fast-moving world where technology, consumer behavior, and markets shift constantly, traditional strategic planning often fails. In a moderated session at Nordic Business Forum 2026 in Helsinki, entrepreneur, investor, and […]