I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with our 4,000th Executive Program (EP) alumna, Lucie Bresova, who joined us from the Czech Republic. I wanted to understand her thoughts on the program and her learnings that she’ll take away from her week with SU. I was also curious whether her experience at EP might play a role in inspiring her plans for the future.I wanted to chat with her because inspiration is a common outcome of the EP. It's no surprise, considering the many thoughtful, in-depth discussions we have about exponential technologies like AI and digital biology and their implications, and the fact that we spend time contemplating what ethical leadership looks like in an exponential future. Program participants also get an opportunity to explore technologies first-hand in our UP Lab, such as 3D printers and scanners, robots, virtual reality headsets, drones, and a broad range of software and prototyping tools.In the end, these forward-thinking conversations, insights, and given tools combine to enable leaders to predict and evaluate how accelerating and converging technologies can transform their industry, organization, career, and life. I’m excited to share my conversation with Lucie, who shares how her SU experience has shaped her.
Happy to! I've known about Singularity University for more than seven years and had also visited SU in the past. Ever since I first found out about SU, I knew this was the place where I needed to be because it resonates so strongly with me. I've worked with startups now for nearly a decade, so SU is very close to my heart. Now I'm in a transition period in my own life, and I thought the EP would be a great place to start finding new challenges for the future.
I'm not sure I can even put it into words because it has been an overwhelming week. It helped me put together different aspects of what's coming into play—both from a technology perspective and its consequences on our society. I'm already familiar with something that is called Society 5.0. The Japanese Chamber of Commerce presented it. So in my mind, this program builds off of that. I will have to process it a bit more before I can draw any conclusions.
I already knew about many things happening in terms of technology, so I know change is coming. But for me, this is more about putting this information into the correct frame with regard to the role of the government, our role as change leaders in society, and the role of education for the next generation.
I didn't know about how we'll use our knowledge of the moon and space, or how imminent the changes in the human genome will be on societies today. I also had no idea that half of my body is made up of microbiomes, which was very revealing for me. I enjoyed that very much.
I certainly want to engage with some of my friends who are also innovators in the Czech Republic, to build a program for small children. Among other activities, I own a kindergarten in Prague. I want to develop a program for the children so they will understand that technology is something to play with and learn from. And if they have to learn biology or math at school, it's a tool that helps them understand how these technologies work, so that they can work on them in the future.
My pleasure. Thanks for a great week at SU!Lucie Bresova attended the Singularity University Executive Program in September 2019. We regularly feature posts by and about alumni and community members who share their perspectives and experiences.