CEO Jack Ma shared his visions on globalization, technology, the future of work, and the forces shaping the world today.
When facing globalization, some CEOs know their business.
Such is the case of Jack Ma, who believes globalization cannot be stopped.
The founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group believes globalization has done a fantastic job in the past 30 years, however, it needs to improve.
On his outtake during the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in early 2018, he said:
“We are very lucky because the world is in a big transformation because of technology. This new technology will create a lot of successful people, interesting careers but honestly every new technology will create social problems.”
“The first technology revolution”, he continued, “caused the First World War and the second technology revolution caused the Second World War – and now we have the third (…) if there is a Third World War I think that should be a war against disease, pollution and poverty, not a war against ourselves.”
“If we don’t align, we’re going to continue fighting each other, because each technology revolution makes the world unbalanced.”
If trade stops, the world stops
[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”3,4,5,6″ ihc_mb_template=”3″ ]
When speaking about trade, the CEO warns about putting a pause on it, as this opens the door for many changes that can alter everything and not particularly in the best direction.
“No-one can stop globalization, no-one can stop trade. If trade stops, the world stops. Trade is the way to dissolve the war, not cause the war.”
As this matter becomes a constant shift, Jack Ma turned to question generational responsibilities regarding the global issue.
He sentenced: “It’s our generation’s job – we have better technology and better knowledge of globalization and it’s our generation’s responsibility or opportunity to improve it. Tell me, how can you stop it?”
Teamwork and responsibilities
Automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and a transition to digital is on the doorstep of companies.
Seeing this as an inevitable future, Jack Ma seized the WEF opportunity to question corporate responsibilities and speak about the value of teamwork as we face an inevitable change.
The CEO said: “You don’t need to know a lot of things, but you need to find the people who are smarter than you are. My job is to make sure smart people are working together.”
He took a moment to speak on behalf of a symbolic education, one that teaches kids something unique, not only competing against machines who clearly surpass our intelligence.
On tech responsibilities, Ma was strict on saying his company, “Google, Facebook and Amazon are the luckiest companies of this century. But we (they) have the responsibility to have a good heart, and do something good.”
He ended his collaboration at Davos, Switzerland with words to live by, as he concluded: “Make sure that everything you do is for the future”.
Attention to environmental
Environmental issues took centre stage in Davos 2019.
The Global Risks Report 2019 declared that humanity was ‘sleepwalking its way to catastrophe’ as extreme weather, failure to act on climate change, and natural disasters topped the list.
The report also painted a worrying portrait of the deep interconnections between these environmental risks and the level of human health, economic growth, and security.
Click here to read more on the World Economic Forum site.
