At Summa, we believe great leadership and adaptable strategies are essential for solving global challenges. That is why we invest in the CEO Learning Journey, bringing portfolio company leaders together to learn, reflect, and build the capabilities needed to create lasting impact.

This year, Summa brought its portfolio CEOs together at INSEAD in Fontainebleau for the second CEO Learning Journey. Building on last year’s program at Harvard Business School, the focus was clear: how do leaders set direction, build resilience, and lead transformation in a world where uncertainty is no longer temporary?

The backdrop matters. Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, energy disruption, tariffs, geopolitical fragmentation, demographic shifts, and instability in the Middle East are reshaping the environment companies operate in. On top of this sits AI, one of the largest disruptions of our time.

Over the program, CEOs worked through sessions on strategic agility, scenario planning, paradox leadership, organizational design, sustainable performance, and AI-enabled transformation. INSEAD faculty included Loïc Sadoulet, Antonio Fatás, Antoine Duvauchelle, Ella Miron-Spektor, Kaisa Snellman and Bernard Dewamme, followed by a Summa Day featuring Summa Advisors, Professor George Serafeim and Ian Vännman.

Key takeaways

AI must move to the core of the business.
The question is no longer whether AI matters, but where it can create the most value. CEOs left with a clear conviction to move faster and apply AI to core workflows, not only at the edges.

Leadership attention matters.
In uncertain times, leaders need to identify the most important transformation, focus the organization around it, and lead it personally with clarity and conviction.

Scenario planning builds agility.
Companies cannot rely on a single forecast. Scenario planning helps leaders identify signposts, no-regret moves, and the capabilities needed to act before certainty arrives.

Paradox thinking strengthens leadership.
Performance and wellbeing, agility and coordination, short-term delivery and long-term value are not always either/or choices. Leaders need to build the ability to hold competing demands at the same time.

The program brought together practical learning, new perspectives, and valuable connections across the portfolio. From faculty sessions and coaching to peer discussions and CEO reflections, participants left with concrete ideas to bring back to their businesses.

As one participant put it:

“Exceptionally delivered, transformative in impact, a clear bridge between research and practice.”

The event was hosted by the Via Summa Team, which supports Summa’s portfolio companies through daily follow-up, leadership development, value creation, and impact. Thank you to our CEOs for their engagement, to the faculty for their expertise, to the coaches for their guidance, and to the Summa Team for making the program a success.

Best,
Stephanie Caspar, Partner, Head of Portfolio & Via Summa

Carine Beer, Chief People Officer to Via Summa

Caroline Dehlimarken, Senior Manager, Via Summa