Annalena Baerbock – A Global Leader for a New Era
- Professor of Professional Practice & Co-Director MPA Program in Global Leadership, Columbia University, New York (2026 onwards)
- President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (2025-2026)
- Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Germany (2021–2025)
Annalena Baerbock has been where the world’s most consequential decisions are made – at G7 summits, in NATO councils, and on the podium of the United Nations General Assembly. Drawing on firsthand experience and an extensive international network, she helps business leaders and decision-makers navigate an increasingly fragmented world with confidence and strategic clarity.
Annalena Baerbock – Firsthand insight from a leader who has been at the table as the international order is being reshaped.
“Plenty of voices can describe the crisis. I refuse to admire it. If you lose the willingness to look for the constructive path forward, you have no business leading—whether in diplomacy or in business. Even when progress stalls, the task remains the same: to find a way through.” – Annalena Baerbock
Annalena Baerbock – Foresight. Insight. Clarity.
Annalena Baerbock is a trusted voice global executives turn to when geopolitical uncertainty reshapes the business landscape. Drawing on first-hand experience from the highest levels of international diplomacy, she offers rare insights into the negotiations that are defining the emerging global order, from geopolitical realignment to the governance of artificial intelligence (AI).
Annalena Baerbock Keynote Topics
- Leading in a Fragmented World – What does the renegotiation of the global order mean for your business, your supply chains, and your long-term strategy.
As the geopolitical landscape is being fundamentally reshaped, the assumptions that have guided business for decades are no longer reliable. Markets are shifting, alliances are evolving, and new rules for trade, technology, security, and artificial intelligence are emerging. Drawing on first-hand experience from the highest levels of international diplomacy and global negotiations, Annalena Baerbock provides an insider’s perspective on the forces redefining the world economy. She translates geopolitical complexity into strategic clarity, helping business leaders understand not only what is changing, but why it matters for their organizations. Rather than offering predictions, she equips executives with a practical framework for making sound strategic decisions in an era of persistent uncertainty, enabling them to navigate disruption, identify opportunities, and lead with confidence when the rules of the game continue to evolve.
- Governing the Machines: What Global AI Rules Mean for Business – How the emerging global framework for artificial intelligence (AI) will reshape business, governance, and competitive advantage.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer advancing faster than regulation is becoming one of the defining geopolitical and economic issues of our time. The decisions being made today by governments and international institutions will shape the future of innovation, competition, and corporate responsibility for decades to come. Drawing on her leadership in establishing the first global forum bringing together all 193 UN Member States to advance international dialogue on AI governance, Annalena Baerbock offers a unique insider perspective on how the global rules for artificial intelligence are taking shape, and what they mean for business leaders. She explains the regulatory, political, and strategic forces that will influence every industry, helping executives anticipate change rather than react to it. Beyond compliance, she explores how responsible AI governance can become a source of resilience, trust, and long-term competitive advantage.
- Decisions Under Fire – How leaders make high-stakes decisions when time is short, information is incomplete, and the consequences are far-reaching.
The greatest leadership challenges rarely unfold under ideal conditions. They emerge in moments of crisis, when geopolitical conflict, economic disruption, energy insecurity, or difficult negotiations force leaders to act before all the facts are known. Drawing on first-hand experience from international crisis diplomacy and negotiations at the highest level, Annalena Baerbock offers a rare insider perspective on how critical decisions are made when the stakes are exceptionally high. She takes audiences behind the closed doors where governments respond to war, energy shocks, and rapidly changing global realities, revealing not the politics, but the leadership principles that determine effective action. The keynote explores how leaders can remain clear-headed under pressure, balance competing priorities, build trust in uncertain environments, and make decisions despite ambiguity. Rather than recounting political events, it distills transferable lessons for executives leading organizations through volatility and transformation.
- First Woman in the Room – What it takes to lead where there is no blueprint, and where every decision sets a precedent.
Being the first is never just about breaking barriers. It means leading under heightened expectations, navigating constant scrutiny, and making decisions that shape the path for those who follow. As Germany’s first female Foreign Minister and only the fifth woman in the history of the United Nations to serve as President of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock reflects on leadership in environments where tradition, power, and global responsibility converge. Her experiences offer a compelling perspective on resilience, credibility, and influence in institutions where change is often slow, but leadership matters profoundly. The result is a powerful conversation about authentic leadership, courage, and responsibility, relevant to anyone who has ever had to lead through change, uncertainty, or transformation.
- Shifting Trillions — Bridging Macroeconomic Realities and Geopolitical Strategy
In an interconnected world, isolationism is a costly illusion. A crisis in one region is felt in almost every corner of the globe, through disrupted supply chains, soaring energy prices, or increased migration flows. Drawing on her extensive multilateral experience, Annalena Baerbock compellingly demonstrates why international cooperation remains more vital than ever, particularly in advancing climate resilience, energy security, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Such cooperation is essential not only to mitigate the negative effects of global crises, but also to unlock future market opportunities, especially in emerging economies. Addressing these interconnected vulnerabilities, and capturing the immense opportunities they present, requires a modern model of cooperation between the public sector, institutions, and private capital. The critical bottleneck is not a lack of funds, but a profound structural mismatch: substantial pools of investment remain stagnant because of perceived risks in developing markets. Annalena Baerbock offers a distinctive perspective on the immense opportunity to bridge macroeconomic realities with geopolitical strategy, helping to unlock, mobilize, and redirect trillions of dollars toward future-ready infrastructure and sustainable growth.
Annalena Baerbock: “Leadership at the Intersection of Diplomacy and Global Challenges”
Annalena Baerbock speaks from within the highest levels of global decision-making. Her perspective combines first-hand geopolitical insight with strategic clarity, helping leaders understand how international developments translate into business risk, competitive advantage, and long-term opportunity.
Drawing on her experience negotiating at the center of global diplomacy, she cuts through complexity to reveal the forces shaping markets, industries, and leadership. Rather than offering political commentary, she provides executives with the context, foresight, and decision-making frameworks they need to navigate uncertainty with confidence.
In a world defined by geopolitical fragmentation, technological disruption, and rapidly evolving global rules, Annalena Baerbock equips leaders to anticipate change, make better strategic decisions, and lead with clarity when the future is anything but predictable.
In an era of geopolitical uncertainty, Annalena Baerbock brings firsthand leadership experience from some of the defining challenges of our time. As Germany’s Foreign Minister, she led a G7 foreign ministry through war in Europe and an unprecedented energy crisis.
As President of the United Nations General Assembly, she presided over the international community at a pivotal moment when global principles for governing artificial intelligence began to take shape.
From September 2025 to September 2026, Annalena Baerbock served as President of the 80th session of the United Nation’s General Assembly. Prior to that, from December 2021 to May 2025, she served as Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Olaf Scholz, former Federal Chancellor, the first woman to hold that office. From 2013 to 2025, Annalena Baerbock was a member of the German Bundestag. In the 2021 federal election, she ran as the Green Party’s candidate for chancellor. From January 2018 to February 2022, she served as co-chair of her party alongside Robert Habeck.
Annalena Baerbock is the first woman from the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) to serve as President of the United Nations General Assembly and only the fifth woman to hold this office in the organization’s 80-year history. Previously, she made history as Germany’s first female Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs.