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Leaders Unplugged
Future readiness
“It’s time for a complete reset” – Maria Vassalou on the future of investing
August 7, 2025 • by David Bach in Leaders Unplugged • 
Podcast available
Global shifts in AI, trade, and aging demand bold strategy. Hear Maria Vassalou’s insights on how leaders must rethink the future to stay ahead....
Apple SpotifyGlobal rules are being rewritten. Pictet’s Maria Vassalou joins David Bach to discuss BRICS, AI, aging societies – and why leaders must rethink everything they thought they knew.
As global trade rules unravel, AI accelerates, and demographics shift dramatically, what should business leaders do? What do they need to rethink, and where should they invest?
Listen to this thought-provoking episode of Leaders Unplugged with the Head of the Pictet Research Institute, Maria Vassalou, and learn how to challenge your assumptions – from China’s long game and the rise of BRICS, to what aging societies and AI mean for future growth.
In conversation with IMD’s president David Bach, Maria Vassalou shares a powerful message: Globalization, free trade, and world peace – the principles most of us have built their decisions on – are all being challenged, she says. “And the idea that we can continue doing what we have been doing seems… not a very good idea.” Her advice: The winners of the next three decades will lead with “strategic investments in demographics, technology diffusion, and production efficiencies.”
If you want to understand where the world is headed – listen to this episode.
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