Global Lecture Series: Empowering Innovation
17 December 2025 -?What drives innovation forward? Petra Ehmann, a leading digital shaper and ETH alumna with global experience, joins Stefano Brusoni, ETH Professor and Vice Rector for Continuing Education, for a deep dive into the forces shaping tomorrow. Moderated by Chris Luebkeman, ETH Foresight Hub.
How do companies turn bold ideas into tangible innovation? What does it take to embed creativity into corporate culture? And how can emerging technologies like AI create real value rather than hype — while ensuring people have the skills to keep pace?
In this ETH Global Lecture, Petra Ehmann, digital shaper and ETH Alumna formerly with Google and Ringier, joins Stefano Brusoni, ETH Professor of Technology and Innovation Management and Vice Rector for Continuing Education, for a thought-provoking conversation on innovation. Moderated by Chris Luebkeman from the ETH Foresight Hub, the dialogue will explore how organisations can foster innovation from within, why continuing education is critical in the era of digital transformation, and how to harness AI to create meaningful impact and sustainable value.
Empowering Innovation: Thriving in the Age of AI, with ETH Alumna and digital shaper Petra Ehmann and ETH Professor Stefano Brusoni
Date: Wednesday 17 December
Time: 17:30-18:30 Lecture + Q&A; 18:30-19:30 Networking Reception
Location: HG F30 Audimax, R?mistrasse 101
Registration is required: Please click external page here to register.
Speakers
- external page Petra Ehmann, digital shaper and ETH Alumna
- Stefano Brusoni, Professor of Technology and Innovation Management and Vice Rector for Continuing Education, ETH Zurich
Moderated by
- Chris Luebkeman, Head of the Strategic Foresight Hub, Office of the President, ETH Zurich
Speaker Profiles
Petra Ehmann
Petra is a global, visionary and innovative executive who shapes the future in her roles as member of the board of directors of two companies and as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She was Ringier’s Chief Innovation and AI Officer for over three years, held various leadership positions at Google for almost 9 years previously and worked for an internet startup in Brazil before that. She is the youngest member of the board of directors at the publicly listed Swiss company Bossard and the privately owned German company DKV Mobility. She used to work and live on four continents, speaks four world languages fluently and also brings together both the technical and the business side. She was awarded the Top 100 Digital Shapers of Switzerland by Switzerland’s most prominent business media, twice the Top 100 Women in Business, once the Top 25 Millennials of Europe of the Europa Forum. She is a graduate from ETH Zurich in Mechanical Engineering and from Stanford University in Management Science and Engineering.
Find out more in the ETH Globe article published earlier this year: /en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2025/06/its-about-finding-the-courage-to-take-the-first-step.html
Stefano Brusoni
Stefano Brusoni is Professor of Technology and Innovation Management at ETH Zurich and serves as the university’s Vice Rector for Continuing and Executive Education. He helps individuals and organizations adapt, grow, and innovate in times of rapid technological change. He’s been following “digital transformation” since the days when it still meant a dial and a display — through the rise of the internet, digitalization, automation, blockchain, 3D printing, and now AI. A scholar and entrepreneur, Stefano’s work connects strategy, innovation, and learning, and appears in leading journals such as Strategic Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, and Organization Science. Beyond academia, he’s been a consultant (less and less), founder (still going), and board member (increasingly).
Chris Luebkeman
Chris Luebkeman is Head of the Strategic Foresight Hub in the Office of the President at ETH Zurich. In all of his collaborations, he intertwines practical optimism, insatiable curiosity, and a profound commitment to the planet. Chris' career to date has spanned various professions and locations. His path led him to Vanderbilt, Cornell and ETH Zurich, among others. Prior to his role as Head of Foresight at ETH Zurich, he worked at the global engineering consultancy Arup in London, where he led the research and development group and later founded the foresight, innovation and incubation teams.