The Next Five

With the transcendence of digital money and technology, trade and trade finance is experiencing a major overhaul. A $5.2 trillion global trade finance ecosystem exists today, worth 6% of global GDP, so the sector's performance affects the health of the future world economy. In the latest episode of The Next Five, we look at how emerging technological developments across the financial system, such as tokenisation and the emergence of digital currencies are changing how the world trades. Karin Flinspach, Managing Director and Regional Head, Transaction Banking Europe & Americas at Standard Chartered Bank, joins us to offer insight into trade finance and the outlook for large organisations in a digital trade landscape. Tim Davis, Global & US Risk & Financial Advisory Blockchain & Digital Assets Leader at Deloitte & Touche LLP, digs deeper into the emergence of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and what they could mean for trade. Jason Thompson, CEO of Partior, a blockchain powered value exchange, gives his expertise on the role of blockchain and what it means for the whole value chain of trade exchange and transactions. Our sources for the show: FT Resources, Mckinsey, OECD, UNCTAD, IMF, Finance Feeds, Trade Finance Global. This content is paid for by advertisers and is produced in partnership with the Financial Times' Commercial Department. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The way we work has changed since the pandemic. The modern workforce now, more than ever before, enjoys flexibility in where and when they work. But businesses, leaders and employees are still experimenting with how best to work. In this epsiosde of The Next Five we explore the shifting sands of desk based work, looking at the effect of technology on traditional structures, employee productivity, communication and wellbeing, and ask how the technology led digital HQ might help solve some of the current challenges. Sheela Subramanian, Founder of Future Forum and VP at Slack, shows us how business leaders and companies can build a flexible, productive digital workforce that puts employees at the centre of the strategy. Dennis P. Stolle, JD, PhD and Senior Director of Applied Psychology, for the American Psychological Association offers insight into employee wellbeing and how a digital first approach to working can benefit a workforce and the role that technology plays. Vladimir Lukic, Managing Director & Senior Partner; Global Leader, Tech and Digital Advantage, Boston Consulting Group also extols the benefits of technology in helping business growth and discusses how business leaders can scale in a new digitally led world. Our Sources for the show: FT Resources, Mckinsey, Randstad Work Monitor, KCL, G&A Partners. This content is paid for by advertisers and is produced in partnership with the Financial Times' Commercial Department. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Global supply chains are near breaking point. The pandemic showed their weaknesses and geopolitical tensions, like Ukraine, have exacerbated the issue. And yet the biggest issue facing our world is climate change - and supply chains have a big part to play in the solution. But with complex global supply chains comes challenges - mainly maintaining net zero agendas across multiple partners. Arco Berkenbosch, VP Innovation and Development at Smurfit Kappa tells us how collaboration and experimentation are key to success and that sustainable packaging can make a big difference to our climate goals. Abe Eshkenazi, Chief Executive Officer, Association for Supply Chain Management also extols the virtues of technology to offer visibility across partners and calls for consumer demands to change to help make supply more sustainable. And finally, Stanton Thomas, Senior Vice President of Sustainability Solutions at o9 solutions, joins to show how AI and machine learning can help organisations track and test their supply chain sustainability like never before.Our Sources for the show: FT Resources, Mckinsey, Gartner, Morgan Stanley, Meteorspace, CNBC, Harvard Business Review, Climate Partner.This content is paid for by advertisers and is produced in partnership with the Financial Times' Commercial Department. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The sportswear sector is expected to be worth half a trillion dollars in 2026, up from $366 million in 2021, showing that our appetite for its products is growing. Whether you gym, run, climb, hike, cycle, box, kick, power walk, power lift or simply relax in comfy sportswear, you might not be aware of what makes up your specialist attire, and where it goes after you've thrown it away. In this episode we explore the impact the clothing industry, and the sportswear sector specifically, is having on our planet and how we can make it more sustainable. Niels Altrogge, Head of Technology Innovation at sportswear brand, ON, inspires us with bold innovations, like shoes made from CO2, that can make products fit for a greener future. Jules Lennon, Fashion Programme Manager at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, joins us to offer her expertise on how we can stamp out our take, make, waste culture and switch to a circular economy before it's too late. Our sources for the show: FT Resources, McKinsey, United Nations, Greenpeace, US Government strategic oil reserve, Forbes, Carlin Creative, Fibre2Fashion, FDRA, makefashionbetter, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Climate Council, Bloomberg. This content is paid for by advertisers and is produced in partnership with the Financial Times' Commercial Department. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Warren Buffett famously heralded cybercrime as a bigger threat to humanity than nuclear weapons. Whether you agree or not, cybercrime is becoming the number one concern for companies worldwide. In a time of rapid digitalisation, spurred on by the global pandemic, we discuss how vulnerable organisations are to cyber attacks and how they can shore up their defences in the face of sluggish government legislation and ever-advancing cyber adversaries. Mitch Scherr, CEO of Assured Cyber Protection, shares his industry-insider perspective on the most common threats and impacts faced by business at large and gives context to what the next five years in a cyber future looks like. Alongside Mitch, Brian Holliday MD of Siemens Digital Industries UK & Ireland, shines light on the potential competitive advantage to be had in the cyber security environment and Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK, gives a call to arms for awareness amongst the manufacturing sector as both technology and human factors play their part amid rapid digitalisation.Our sources for the show: Statista, Forbes, UK Government, IBM, Accenture, The Guardian, WEFThis content is paid for by advertisers and is produced in partnership with the Financial Times' Commercial Department. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Future energy technologies like fusion and hydrogen promise to be ‘game changers’ that could power our world and fuel our future. Both solutions have been talked about for decades yet remain just out of our grasp - but for how long? Current renewables like wind and solar can’t get us all the way to net zero while decarbonising carbon heavy sectors. Therefore, inventing, innovating and investing in future low carbon energy solutions such as fusion and hydrogen is key to success. But getting new technologies to commercial scale in time will require rapid collaboration on a global scale. So, what does the future of energy look like and what will the next five years hold?Here to help navigate the topic are a series of industry experts. Bob Mumgaard, CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems joins to extol the exciting potential of fusion energy, and what the technology means for the future of human development. Founding partner of AP Ventures, Kevin Eggers explains how to unlock the hydrogen economy and Lisa Rebora, Senior Vice President of Emerging and Future Business at Equinor discusses how to fund, support and foster future solutions.Show sources and credits: FT resources, UNFCCC, Politics and Prose Bookstore, The US State Department (DOE), BloombergNEF, ITER, CSPAN, IEA, UK Government. All soundbites used with permission. This content is paid for by advertisers and is produced in partnership with the Financial Times' Commercial Department. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1972, with Nixon’s visit to Beijing, the world watched as the political and economic landscape between China and the US changed dramatically. Four decades later, new political heads of state redefined the relationship once again, as Xi Jinping and Donald Trump took power – and aim at each other’s economies. This time, the world is watching ever more eagerly and apprehensively as the top two economic powerhouses vie for supremacy; whatever happens in the next five years will affect everyone in the world.Here to help explain the relationship between the US and China is Andy Rothman, an Investment Strategist at Matthews Asia and an expert on China. He spent 14 years as CLSA’s China Macroeconomic Strategist and, prior to that, 17 years in the US Foreign Service, including his role as Head of the Macroeconomics and Domestic Policy Office of the US Embassy in Beijing. In total, Andy has lived and worked in China for more than 20 years. He now lives near San Francisco.Our sources for the show: FT resources, US State Department, Richard Nixon Foundation, C-SPAN, Nikkei Asia, Reuters, The Washington Post. The Biden soundbites were taken from C-SPAN open content, and the Nixon soundbite was used with permission from The Richard Nixon Foundation.This content is paid for by advertisers and is produced in partnership with the Financial Times' Commercial Department. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A decade ago, ESG was a term deployed as social lip service; now, it’s part of daily boardroom discussions, and top of the agenda for G7 leaders, financial institutions and businesses. The Paris Agreement propelled the conversation to the forefront of everyone’s minds, and today ESG credentials are key to securing anything from bank loans to equity investment. While progress has been made, the sector is still in its infancy and, with new regulation coming in seemingly every month, with its concomitant challenges, there’s still plenty of work to be done. However, get it right and the future should still look bright.To help us navigate the subject, Amanda Young, Global Head of Responsible Investment at abrdn joins us on the show. Amanda is a board director for Social Investment Scotland’s SIS Ventures fund. She served on the board of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association for six years, and now chairs the FTSE Russell ESG Advisory Committee.Our sources for the show: FT resources, United Nations, Reuters, Forbes, Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, IFC World Bank Group. Mark Carney soundbite is taken from a UN climate change interview series.This content is paid for by advertisers and is produced in partnership with the Financial Times' Commercial Department. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Artificial Intelligence used to be the stuff of fantasy movies and comics. Now it’s a part of every industry and everyday life. Our use of it is only going to increase in the future as AI becomes more and more intertwined with our day-to-day activities and industries recognise it's boundless potential. However, so far the finance sector has lagged in terms of uptake compared to other industries. Harish Sundaresh joins to discuss the adoption of AI in the finance sector, drawing on comparisons with the healthcare and transport sectors to argue for its benefits while warning of its pitfalls. Harish is leading the development and management of quantitative trading strategies in the multi-asset space at Loomis Sayles and Director of the firm's Factor-Based Investment Group. He also holds an MSc in applied mathematics (computational engineering) from MIT.Our sources for the show: FT resources, BBC, Reuters, Forbes, IDC, Electronic Design, CAR Magazine.This content is paid for by advertisers and is produced in partnership with the Financial Times' Commercial Department. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our world changes quickly. In the past five years alone, the Paris climate agreement was signed, Donald Trump won (and lost) the US presidency, and a global pandemic transformed the planet. A lot can happen in a short space of time – so what lies ahead? In this series, Tom Parker from the FT Partner Studio asks industry experts how their worlds will change over the next five years, and what impact it will have on our lives.This content is paid for by advertisers and is produced in partnership with the Financial Times' Commercial Department. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.