INSEAD Business Sustainability Series

26 April 2023

Sustainability has quickly risen to the top of the strategy agenda of firms around the world. Many companies and their management are eager to pursue sustainability initiatives and make a difference to society, but are very often overwhelmed by the scope of the sustainability demands and the potential negative impact on the bottom line. Sustainability initiatives and strategy decision making can very well be aligned provided sustainability initiatives are prioritized. Leading companies that understand this, have discovered that sustainability is one of the biggest strategic opportunities ever and a base for powerful competitive advantage.

During this session, Prof. Karel Cool will provide key insights into aligning sustainability and business performance. In their presentations, Georgina Grenon MBA'99J and Stéphane Germain MBA'94J illustrate and discuss sustainability as a business performance solution.

8 June 2023

Environmental sustainability is becoming a global imperative with far reaching consequences for businesses. Despite the growing interest in creating a sustainable future, there are important regional differences linked to cultural, economic, and political differences.

Join us on June 8th for an inspiring discussion led by Katell Le Goulven, Executive Director of the INSEAD Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society, Jared Koh, Regional Director Americas at the Singapore Economic Development Board, Aron Cramer, CEO at BSR, Eunice Sampson, Director EY West Africa, Elisa Dierickx (MBA 21J), Associate at SYSTEMIQ and Board Member Fundação Maio Biodiversidade, and Patricia Ellen da Silva (MBA 05J), Managing Partner Brazil at SYSTEMIQ, to better understand the Forces and Trends at play and the Impact they have on the Business Ecosystem.

28 September 2023 | Online

Sustainability is an opportunity for society and for business when business models can be innovated that align the needs and incentives of both. Entrepreneurs Pierre-François Thaler (MBA 99D) and Frédéric Trinel founded in 2007 EcoVadis, pioneering a service that assesses the sustainability of supply chains around the world, a key need for making businesses operate more sustainably. It is now a hugely successful platform with active service to more than 100,000 companies across 160 countries. 

Join us in September for an in-depth discussion with both Founders of EcoVadis about how technology allowed them to scale and provide accurate and reliable assessments of supplier sustainability – and grow a successful business.

26 October 2023 | Online

The race against climate change, growing end-consumer expectations, and increasing regulation is making clear that the business world needs to invent and reinvent many products and services - if not their entire business model. INSEAD Alumni are at the forefront of this wave of innovation, both in start-ups and large companies.

Join us for a vivid panel discussion with entrepreneurs, innovators, and intrapreneurs to learn and explore insights on how to play an active part toward more sustainable products and services - and a more sustainable world.

10 November 2023

From April to November, we have been on a journey to discover and learn from passionate and innovative INSEAD Alumni who dedicated their career to pushing the boundaries toward the creation of new business models that ensure a more sustainable world. Our research brought us to the five continents - learning about topics as varied as the protection of birds on remote islands, the urban transportation of parcels, the production of mining tires,...and much more.

On November 10th, we had the pleasure to announce the winners of the first INSEAD Business Sustainability Award at the Americas Conference Sustainable Resilience - Catalyzing Innovation at our INSEAD San Francisco Hub for Business Innovation. 

13 June 2024

This webinar, part of the second INSEAD Business Sustainability Series, explored how cutting-edge technologies are being combined to tackle environmental challenges with unprecedented precision and impact.

Our distinguished speakers were:

Zach Brown (GEMBA 22 Jan), CTO and Co-Founder of Creattura, will reveal how the synergy of satellite data and low-tech sensors is transforming rice production and reducing methane emissions.

Koen Verweyen, CEO of Aquarius Spectrum, will explain how the integration of sensors and AI is being used to dramatically cut water waste by analyzing acoustic data.

Stephane Germain (MBA'94J), CEO at GHGSat, and Winner of the INSEAD Business Sustainability Award 2023, will share the technological progress his company has made since last year and how its scaling journey is unfolding.
 

12 September 2024

An inspiring session on how new materials can accelerate the transition to a more sustainable economy. This webinar, part of the INSEAD Business Sustainability Series, explored the groundbreaking potential and role of new materials in addressing environmental challenges and promoting sustainable practices.

Our distinguished speakers were:

• Michel Van Hoey (MBA’ 02D), Senior Partner at McKinsey and Head of the New Material Hub, will reveal the crucial role that materials play in the energy transition and why we need more sustainable materials.
• Dr. Molly Morse, CEO at Mango Materials, will share insights on how methane from waste facilities can be stored and transformed into biodegradable plastics by bacteria and replace traditional plastics across industries.
• Bates Marshall, CEO at Ambient, will explain how world-leading ‘indoor solar power’ technology is changing the design and use of electronics with the promise to do away with batteries for many uses.
• Mark van Nieuwland, VP at Bovaer®, a division of DSM- Firmenich, and TIME100 Climate Leader, will speak about the food additive that substantially reduces methane emissions from livestock, thus addressing a major sustainability problem of the dairy and meat industry.

10 October 2024

AI and GenAI are sparking important discussions about how these technologies can create value for businesses and society.
Join us for this TECH TALK as part of the INSEAD Business Sustainability Series, where we’ll explore how AI and GenAI can accelerate the transition to a more sustainable economy.

• Kaixiang Lin, Co-Founder and CEO at Chemix, will discuss how GenAI is improving the discovery and development of advanced battery designs.
• Paul Manwell (MBA ‘04D), Founder at TC Labs, will explain how AI can help the manufacturing sector reduce utility consumption and share his experience on what it takes for a tech start-up to succeed in this space.

The session will be moderated by Karel Cool and Peter Zemsky, both Professors of Strategy at INSEAD.

Why join?

• Hear about practical applications of AI and GenAI from industry experts.
• Learn how these technologies are supporting sustainability efforts in different sectors.
• Get strategic insights on the future role of AI and GenAI in promoting sustainable business practices.

Don’t miss the chance to hear from experts at the intersection of AI, GenAI and sustainability.

14 November 2024

Join us for the last webinar of the INSEAD Business Sustainability Series - Season 2. 
Professors Karel Cool and Atalay Atasu will take a deep dive into how Consigli, a groundbreaking construction engineering company from Norway, is revolutionizing the industry with the power of AI and GenAI. Discover how this company is dramatically reducing the cost, time, and materials required for building projects, leading the way towards a more sustainable future.

• Janne Aas-Jakobsen, CEO of Consigli, will share her inspiring journey in building one of Norway’s most innovative companies and explore the transformative role AI and GenAI are playing in the construction sector.

Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights into the future of construction and sustainable innovation!