Prof. Heike Bruch, Director of the Institute for Leadership and Human Resources Management (IFPM-HSG), welcomed the participants and introduced the topic. She spoke of an «epochal upheaval» in the world of work that is taking place globally. Artificial intelligence is about to tremendously accelerate work – even more profoundly than the industrial revolution once did. This could lead to people «burning out». It is all the more important that one finds their work meaningful and enjoys it. Emotional successes such as recognition are important. «Emotions are the opportunity and responsibility of the future.» It is important to better balance emotions and to foster the emotional skills of employees.

In the evening, the St.Gallen Leadership Award was awarded for outstanding leadership initiatives. Participants were able to vote for one of the three candidates who had previously been selected by the jury. The candidates had five minutes to convince the audience. This was best achieved by the company Festo from Esslingen am Neckar (DE) with its inclusive leadership program, which was rolled out worldwide. This includes modern approaches such as in-house coaching by AI agents. Second place went to Vorarlberg and third place to AXA.