Write the world anew!
The big questions for the society of tomorrow: How are the Millennials dealing with digitization? What opportunities are they facing? What are their challenges?
Ali Mahlodji once fled Iran with his family. Today, he is the EU Youth Commissioner, offering new perspectives to adolescents with his platform watchado.com and, as a business consultant, is fighting for a better understanding between the generations in these times of digital transformation.
"People and Their Potentials" is the subject of Ali Mahlodji’s keynote addresses to entrepreneurs, politicians and leaders across Europe. "Everyone has some very special ability that other people don’t possess," he says. "People in today's younger generation need to recognize and follow their own talents. Digitization helps them do this better than any previous generation was able to.
“We have to learn to bridge the generations and meet each other on an equal footing.”
Companion instead of teacher
As Ali Mahlodji understands it, dealing with the younger generation is about accompanying them on their way into the future, not about giving them advice from your own past. "Young people are carrying around the complete knowledge of the world on the smartphone in their pocket," he says. “We have to guide them in how to use this knowledge the right way.”
"For an adult, the most important thing is to admit that there is a lot you can learn from children."
Old thinking vs. digital future
“Young people have to say goodbye to the security-centered way their parents think and learn to break new ground.” Ali Mahlodji urges young people to "rewrite the world".
Our great sense of curiosity at Vontobel means we are attentively following scientific research in many key areas. This helps us recognize new investment opportunities early on. That’s why our thematic portfolios and thematic investments also reflect megatrends such as digitization, as we consider companies that are making valuable contributions to solving global challenges.
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Who are we? How do we live today? And how will digitization change our lives? How the future will unfold is preoccupying society more than ever, with engineers, doctors, politicians – each one of us, in fact – seeking answers. This conversation with Ali Mahlodji is one of many contributions that shed light on the theme “Digitized Society” from a new, inspiring perspective. We are publishing them here as part of our series “Impact”.
