OREANDA-NEWS. Sberbank’s CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board Herman Gref delivered a speech at the panel discussion “Business and State: Models of Partnership in a Digital Age” of the Gaidar Forum.

The discussion focused on such issues as global trends triggering the rapid development of digital technologies, how companies and states will overcome new challenges, and the most promising models of partnership between the business community and state.

“The contradiction between linear thinking and the exponential growth of the world is the key trend that will determine the development of all other things,” said Mr Gref.

“Today’s winners are those who are capable of prioritising and concentrating their efforts, those who realise there is no company that can tackle all the trends alone,” said Sberbank’s CEO.

According to Mr Gref, the key competencies of companies and managers today are the ability to hear clients, competitors, partners and those people who buck trends.

“Our potential in the area of artificial intelligence and blockchain has just started to take shape,” said Mr Gref. “We have a chance, but are hindered by a gigantic deficit of staff. This is a huge problem in the area of artificial intelligence.”

The Gaidar Forum is an annual international conference dedicated to scientific and applied issues in the area of economics. It has been held since 2010. The conference is organised by RANEPA, the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, and the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia.