Baratta Conference 2023

THE FUTURE OF GLOBAL BUSINESS: A CONNECTED YET DISENGAGED WORLD?

October 2, 2023

Lohrfink Auditorium

Rafik B. Hariri Building

Georgetown University

McDonough School of Business

Washington, D.C.

Dear Colleagues and Guests,

It is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to Georgetown University and the McDonough School of Business for the Future of Global Business Conference, hosted by the newly named Baratta Center for Global Business. The conference brings together senior executives from the international business community, policymakers, societal representatives, Georgetown faculty, students, and alumni for a far-reaching discussion on the future of global business in the coming years, especially in an increasingly “disengaged” world.

Earlier this year, through the generosity of Joseph (B’93) and Abigail (SFS’96) Baratta, we received an $11 million commitment to name our center and support our mission to become the world’s premier destination for global business. Their multifaceted gift endows and enhances the Global Business Fellows program, bolsters new center initiatives, and establishes the Baratta International Business Curriculum Endowed Innovation Fund. We are grateful to the Baratta Family for making our center – and today’s inaugural global conference – possible.

For this year’s Future of Global Business Conference, we will focus on global value chains, cross-border investing, artificial intelligence, and the future of globalization. The event will feature speakers from across several industries, including remarks by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo on the current state of globalization and a fireside interview with former Minister of Trade and Industry of Venezuela Moisés Naím on what to expect in the future of global business, trade, and investing.

We are pleased to offer this as the first of many engaging events designed to bring together thought leaders through the Baratta Center for Global Business, and we hope to see you again at future events. In the meantime, please contact us if you’d like to further engage with our center.

Best Wishes,

Anil Khurana Executive Director, Baratta Center for Global Business Research Professor Georgetown University McDonough School of Business

Center Welcome

• Joseph Baratta (B’93), global head of private equity, Blackstone

• Paul Almeida, dean and William R. Berkley Chair, McDonough School of Business

• Ricardo Ernst, Baratta Chair in Global Business, McDonough School of Business

• Anil Khurana, research professor and executive director, Baratta Center for Global Business

Future of Global and Cross-Border Investing

• Joseph Baratta (B’93)

• Kevin Warsh, fellow, Stanford Hoover Institution; former Federal Reserve governor

• Stephanie von Friedeburg (SFS’87), managing director of capital markets, Citi

Moderated by Jennie Bai, professor of finance, McDonough School of Business

Coffee Break

Future of Global Value Chains

• Andrés Gluski, CEO, AES

• Jennifer Morgan, head of portfolio operations, Blackstone

• Amer Battikhi, senior vice president, platforms, technologies, and software solutions, Jacobs

Moderated by Ricardo Ernst

AI, People, and the Future of Global Business

• Michael C. Bush, CEO, Great Place to Work

• Dan Diasio, global artificial intelligence consulting leader, EY

Moderated by Alberto Rossi, professor and director of the AI, Analytics, and Future of Work Initiative, McDonough School of Business

Coffee Break

Future of Globalism and Globalization

Fireside interview with Moisés Naím, distinguished fellow, Carnegie Endowment and former minister of trade and industry, Venezuela

Moderated by Nuno Limão, Wallenberg Chair Professor, Walsh School of Foreign Service

Synopsis and Future Plans

Announcement of the annual Global Citizen Award

Remarks on Globalization

Gina M. Raimondo, U.S. Secretary of Commerce

Closing Remarks and Reception

Gina M. Raimondo

U.S. Secretary of Commerce

Gina M. Raimondo serves as the 40th U.S. Secretary of Commerce and was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on March 3, 2021. As secretary, she is focused on a simple but vital mission — to spur good-paying jobs, empower entrepreneurs to innovate and grow, and help American workers and businesses compete.

Secretary Raimondo was formerly the 75th Governor of Rhode Island and its first woman governor. She grew up in Smithfield in a tight-knit Italian-American family, the youngest of Joseph and Josephine Raimondo's three children. Her family history and her childhood experiences shaped her core beliefs in hard work, opportunity for all, and the importance of financial security.

Joseph Baratta (B’93)

Global Head of Private Equity, Blackstone

Joseph Baratta (B’93) is the global head of private equity and a member of Blackstone’s Board of Directors. He also is a member of the firm’s management committee and serves on many of the firm’s investment committees.

Baratta joined Blackstone in 1998, and in 2001, he moved to London to help establish Blackstone’s corporate private equity business in Europe. Since 2012, Baratta has served as the firm’s global head of private equity and is located in New York.

Baratta has served on the boards of many past Blackstone portfolio companies. He serves as a member or observer on the boards of Ancestry, Candle Media, First Eagle Investment Management, Medline, and Merlin Entertainment Group. He also is a member of the Georgetown School of Business Board of Advisors.

Before joining Blackstone, Baratta was with Tinicum Incorporated and McCown De Leeuw & Company. Baratta also worked at Morgan Stanley in its mergers and acquisitions department. Baratta graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University.

Moisés Naím

Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Endowment, Former Minister of Trade and Industry, Venezuela

Moisés Naím, a distinguished Carnegie Endowment for International Peace fellow, is a best-selling author and internationally syndicated columnist. He is known for his influential books, such as Illicit, The End of Power, and The Revenge of Power, and his innovative weekly television program on global affairs, Efecto Naím.

Naím gained international recognition as the editor of Foreign Policy magazine for 14 years, turning it into an award-winning publication on global politics and economics. He has served as Venezuela's Minister of Development, director of its Central Bank, and executive director of the World Bank. He also is a board member of several major corporations and philanthropic organizations and holds a Ph.D. from MIT.

Amer Battikhi

Senior Vice President Platforms, Technologies, and Software Solutions, Jacobs

Amer Battikhi is Jacobs’s senior vice president of platforms, technologies, and software solutions. He brings over 20 years of experience in the engineering consultancy and advisory business focused on large-scale capital programs. Under his leadership, the unit is focused on expanding Jacobs’ position in clients’ digital ecosystems by creating next-generation solutions with software platforms, technologies, and platform-enabled services. Battikhi develops strategies and innovative solutions to drive focus on commercialized digital solutions for the critical infrastructure and national security markets, helping Jacobs clients create value from data securely to better serve their customers globally. Most recently, Battikhi was responsible for developing the Jacobs 2022-2024 Corporate Strategy.

Previously, Battikhi served as vice president for growth and sales for the People & Places Solutions (P&PS) group in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), as well as the chair of its Sales Council. Battikhi worked on several large and iconic projects, including the Cadiz Aquifer Storage Program in Southern California, the Water Sector Reconstruction Program in Iraq, Qatar 2022 FIFA World CupTM program, and Masdar, the world’s first carbon neutral, zero waste, and full powered by renewables smart city. He holds a master of science degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University and has held several board of directors positions for CH2M Joint Ventures and holding companies.

Michael C. Bush CEO, Great Place To Work

Michael C. Bush is the CEO of Great Place To Work, the global research and analytics firm that produces the annual Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, the World’s Best Workplaces list, the 100 Best Workplaces for Women list, and dozens of other distinguished workplace rankings around the world.

Driven by a love of business and an unwavering commitment to fair and equitable treatment, Bush joined Great Place To Work as CEO in 2015, bringing 30 years of experience leading and growing organizations. This includes serving as CEO of Tetra Tech Communications, which he grew from $40 million to $300 million in revenue. Bush is a former member of President Obama’s White House Business Council and a founding board member of the private equity seed fund Fund Good Jobs, which invests in small inner-city businesses. Bush was a member of the Board of Directors at Workday, Inc. until September 2021, when Great Place To Work was acquired by UKG, Inc.

Featured

Dan Diasio

Global and Americas Consulting Artificial Intelligence Leader, EY

Dan Diasio is a seasoned technology executive currently serving as EY’s global and Americas consulting artificial intelligence leader. In this role, he is responsible for building a broad business that excels in infusing AI to power the core of EY’s clients’ businesses. He oversees setting the strategy of the consulting business powered by AI, driving strategic partnerships and ecosystem relationships, deploying compelling transformative offerings, supporting EY’s most prominent clients in their AI transformation, and upskilling over 55,000 of EY’s U.S. professionals to master AI.

Diasio has established a reputation as a trusted advisor to EY’s most important clients, helping to align executives with compelling narratives for the future, advising and educating boards on both the transformative power and emerging risks from AI and generative AI, and working with policymakers and standard setters on regulation in AI. Additionally, Diasio is a member of the NIST Generative AI Public Working Group and the representative of EY in the ITI AI Futures Initiative Task Force. He is responsible for launching the EY AI Risk Center of Excellence. Additionally, he focuses on supporting clients with governance, reliable AI policies and procedures, and thought leadership with major tech providers.

Andrés Gluski President and CEO, AES Corporation

Andrés Gluski was named president and CEO of the AES Corporation in 2011. Under his leadership, AES has become one of the world’s leading renewables and clean technologies companies. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, in both 2021 and 2022, AES signed more contracts with corporations for renewable energy than anyone else globally.

Gluski serves as chairman of the Council of the Americas/Americas Society and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of EEI. He is also on the Board of Waste Management and the U.S.-India and U.S.-Brazil CEO Forums. Gluski has been named among the 100 Most Influential Latinos by Latino Leaders Magazine every year since 2017. He earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia.

Jennifer Morgan Global Head of Portfolio Operations, Blackstone

Jennifer Morgan is the global head of portfolio operations at Blackstone. She leads the firm’s operating executives and advisors, who partner closely with Blackstone’s portfolio companies to accelerate, create, and safeguard value. Since joining the firm, Morgan has expanded the caliber and breadth of the firm’s capabilities, adding industry expertise and experience in leadership and talent development, ESG, brand strategy, data science, sales and marketing, operations, technology, and product. She also has grown programs that leverage Blackstone’s scale to benefit portfolio companies and their employees in healthcare and spending management.

Before joining Blackstone, Morgan served as SAP’s co–chief executive officer, becoming DAX company’s first female CEO. She also held various additional leadership roles at SAP over 16 years, including serving on its executive board between 2017 and 2020 and overseeing many of the company’s largest and most important strategic growth initiatives.

Morgan holds a B.A. in business administration from James Madison University and is a board member at Candle Media, Bumble, UKG, and the National Academy Foundation. She is on the Board of Advisors at James Madison University’s College of Business. She has been named one of the Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune and Most Powerful Women in the World and Technology by Forbes.

Panelists

Stephanie von Friedeburg (SFS’87) Managing Director, Citi

Stephanie von Friedeburg (SFS’87) is a managing director at Citi, leading efforts to scale DFI strategic partnerships. Friedeburg is leveraging her extensive infrastructure/project finance background and ESG-aligned financing to support sovereign clients’ national agendas and private client needs. She is a respected partner and trusted advisor to a global network of senior decisionmakers in governments, public and private corporations, and non-governmental entities. Friedeburg’s extensive knowledge of international affairs and emerging markets informs her assessment of investment opportunities in fluid economic environments.

In 2022, she completed a successful 30-year career with the World Bank Group. As a chief operating officer at the International Finance Corporation, she oversaw global investment and advisory operations across 100+ country offices, a $1 billion annual operating budget, and 2,200+ staff. Friedeburg led commercial and investment banking, venture capital, and private equity services for clients in emerging markets, generating more than $30 billion in new business annually.

In recognition of her work, Friedeburg was named to Yahoo’s 2021 Heroes 100 List for driving change and increasing gender diversity in the workplace and CIO Magazine’s CIO 100 Award for Outstanding Business Technology Leadership in 2015/2017. Friedeburg earned a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, an M.A. from the Lauder Institute, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kevin Warsh

Shepard Family’s Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Stanford Hoover Institution; Former Federal Reserve Governor

Kevin Warsh serves as the Shepard Family’s Distinguished Visiting Fellow in economics at the Hoover Institution and lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a partner of Stanley Druckenmiller at Duquesne Family Office LLC and serves on the board of directors of UPS and Coupang, the leading Korean e-commerce company. Warsh is a member of the Group of Thirty (G30) and the Panel of Economic Advisers of the Congressional Budget Office.

Warsh conducts extensive research in the field of economics and finance. He issued an independent report to the Bank of England proposing reforms in monetary policy conduct in the United Kingdom. Parliament adopted the report’s recommendations.

Warsh served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2006 until 2011, as well as the Federal Reserve’s representative to the Group of Twenty (G20) and the board’s emissary to Asia’s emerging and advanced economies. In addition, he was the administrative governor, managing and overseeing the board’s operations, personnel, and financial performance.

From 2002 until 2006, Warsh served as special assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council and executive secretary of the White House National Economic Council. Previously, Warsh was a member of the Mergers and Acquisitions Department at Morgan Stanley in New York, serving as vice president and executive director. He received an A.B. from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.