After Davos 2020
Interview with Ricardo Viana Vargas
Executive Director of Brightline Initiative
Managing Partner at PMOotto.ai
Past Chair, Project Management Institute
Interviewed by Ipek Sahra Ozguler
International Correspondent
Istanbul, Turkey
Ricardo Viana Vargas is a specialist in project management and strategy implementation. Over the past 20 years, he has been responsible for more than 80 major transformation projects in several countries, covering an investment portfolio of over 20 billion USD. He is currently the Executive Director of the Brightline Initiative™, a coalition of leading global organizations from business, government and not for profit sectors, dedicated to providing a knowledge and networking platform that delivers insights and solutions to successfully bridge the gap between strategy development and strategy implementation. Ricardo is co-founder and managing partner of PMOtto.ai, a cutting-edge virtual assistant that aims to revolutionize how users manage their projects and initiatives and interact with project management software by using chatbots, machine learning and artificial intelligence. From 2012 to 2016, Ricardo was Global Director of the Infrastructure and Project Management Group with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Vargas has written fifteen books on the subject of project management, and also hosts one of the most relevant podcasts in the field, the 5 Minutes PM Podcast, with more than 4 million views.
Ipek Sahra Ozguler (Ozguler): Good morning Ricardo. Thank you for accepting the interview invitation of the PMWJ. The World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos Klosters is the foremost creative force for engaging the world’s top leaders in collaborative activities to shape the global, regional and industry agendas at the beginning of each year. The theme of the 2020 meeting is Stakeholders for a Cohesion and Sustainable World. Overall, how was the Davos 2020: WEF for you this year?
Ricardo Viana Vargas (Vargas): World’s top academics, politicians, business, and civil society leaders meet in Davos to engage in address the most important issues on the global agenda. Their vision about how to make the world a better place was released as the Davos manifesto 2020.
The WEF this year also focused on putting ideas into practice, for example, the Annual Meeting was carbon neutral and focused on reducing event-related emissions. The event used local food suppliers, sourced renewable energy and introduced more electric vehicles.
Ozguler: What were the highlights from Davos 2020?
Vargas: The world is changing fast, and the challenges that surround us demand immediate and focused action. One of these challenges, Climate change dominated this years’ conversations. Social agenda, doing good while doing well was the key part of this years’ discussion at Davos.
For organizations, transforming to adapt to the changes in the digital age is no longer an alternative, it is a daily reality. The second important thought we heard at Davos, was how to “re-skill” and “upskill” the human work force so that we can face the challenges of the future.
More…
To read entire interview, click here
How to cite this interview: Ozguler, I.S. (2020); After Davos 2020: Interview with Ricardo Viana Vargas; PM World Journal, Vol. IX, Issue III, March. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/pmwj91-Mar2020-Ozguler-Interview-with-Ricardo-Vargas.pdf
About the Interviewer
Ipek Sahra Ozguler
Istanbul, Turkey
Ipek Sahra Ozguler graduated from the Istanbul University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering and from Middle East Technical University with an MSc degree in Software Management. As a project manager, she has more than 10 years’ experience in various areas such as portfolio management, program management, project management, software management, business analysis. She became a certified PMP in January, 2012 and a certified SCRUM Master in 2014.
She has managed a variety of projects across manufacturing, defence, FMCG (Cola Cola), insurance (Euler Hermes), audit (Deloitte), telecommunication, ICT and aviation sectors and gained broader insights. In addition, she has worked as international correspondent for the PM World Journal since 2014.
Ipek is based in Isanbul and can be contacted at ipeksahra@gmail.com. Her portfolio is published at the http://ipeksahra.strikingly.com/.
To view other works by Ms. Ozguler, visit her author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/ipek-sahra-ozguler/
