FREE Strategy Imagination Forum Webinar!
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This is a Strategy Imagination Forum (SIF) webinar, part of the SMS webinar series and aligned with the Berlin 2026 conference theme: “Strategy in a Fragmented Geo-Economic Landscape.”
The fragmentation of the global economy into competing geopolitical blocs, divergent regulatory regimes, and contested domains of technology and data governance is reshaping the conditions under which firms make strategic decisions and manage risk. This Strategy Imagination Forum panel pairs a senior strategy practitioner with a leading AI technologist to examine how artificial intelligence both intensifies and helps address these pressures. Donatello Gassi (AWS) anchors the discussion in current technological capabilities, from agentic AI to data sovereignty, while Bruce Delteil (McKinsey) examines cross-border strategy and M&A, where geo-economic fragmentation most directly conditions corporate choice. Moderated by Francesco Castellaneta (SKEMA and Université Côte d’Azur), the session considers not only how firms navigate these divides but how AI might help bridge them, a research and policy agenda to which strategy scholarship is especially well-positioned to contribute.
Key Takeaways
- How AI is reshaping strategic decision-making as the global economy splinters into competing regulatory blocs.
- Why data sovereignty has become a core strategic constraint, and how firms can respond.
- How firms navigate strategy and cross-border M&A under geo-economic fragmentation.
Panelists
- Bruce Delteil, Managing Partner, McKinsey Vietnam
- Donatello Gassi, Head of Solutions Architecture, Telecom (EMEA), AWS
Moderator: Francesco Castellaneta, Full Professor in Strategy, SKEMA Business School – Université Côte d’Azur (GREDEG)
Bruce Delteil leads McKinsey’s Strategy Service Line across Asia and serves as Managing Partner of the Vietnam Office, helping organizations sharpen their competitive positioning through cutting-edge approaches to strategy formulation and implementation. Across the region, he advises C-suite leaders from local conglomerates to multinationals, guiding them through complex business landscapes to unlock value and achieve sustainable growth.
Donatello Gassi is Head of Solutions Architecture, Telecom (EMEA) at AWS. MIT-educated, he advises global companies on reinventing their business through cloud and AI, with current work spanning agentic AI and data sovereignty.
Francesco Castellaneta is Full Professor in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at SKEMA Business School and Université Côte d’Azur (GREDEG). He served in the leadership of the SMS Competitive Strategy Interest Group (2023–2026) and researches strategic management in the age of AI.