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‘I’ll show you a real leader’ - Platon, the photographer of power, on finding humanity in all of us

Meet The Leader

Release Date: 04/22/2025

How can we harness human creativity in an AI age? Chanel culture exec weighs in show art How can we harness human creativity in an AI age? Chanel culture exec weighs in

Meet The Leader

In her role as President, Arts, Culture & Heritage at CHANEL, Yana Peel thinks deeply about the value of the arts across society and what’s needed to amplify a range of voices. She talks to Gayle Markovitz, the Head of Written and Audio Content at the World Economic Forum, about how technological shifts could boost the value of human creativity and why collaboration with artists has never been more essential to a host of sectors. She also takes us through her unconventional background, one that includes study at the London School of Economics and a turn on the Goldman Sachs trading floor...

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Meet The Leader

Space has become a junkyard, a mess of millions of pieces of debris that pose big risks to spacecrafts, complicating astronaut safety, research and even our own connectivity back home. Daniel Faber is the CEO of Orbit Fab, a company whose technology will allow for satellites to refuel once in orbit. He’ll explain why this solution can be critical to tackling space debris while also helping to save lives, boost research and even supercharge the space economy. About this episode:  Orbit Fab: Transcript: Related report: Report: Space: The $1.8 Trillion Opportunity for Global Economic...

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Cyber readiness, deep fakes and social engineering: Key questions to stay ahead of the next attack show art Cyber readiness, deep fakes and social engineering: Key questions to stay ahead of the next attack

Meet The Leader

As cyber threats and geopolitical risks intensify, how can organizations be nimble and outsmart the next cyber attack? In this episode, seasoned data protection and cyber law expert Vinod Bange breaks down the threats that are still overlooked – including a new understanding of influence in social engineering – and the questions that leaders should ask themselves to ensure their teams are truly nimble and cyber ready. This Baker McKenzie partner also shares the unique methods that business and government are employing to work together to share best practices and strategies, all while...

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AI will reshape knowledge work. What leaders should ask, do and learn now show art AI will reshape knowledge work. What leaders should ask, do and learn now

Meet The Leader

Software development and software engineering could be the first major economically valuable capability that closes the gap between humans and AI, says Eiso Kant, the CTO of frontier AI company poolside. He shares what these changes mean for technology and the sector, and for knowledge work generally. Eiso stays cautious about tech forecasts and predictions, but breaks down how worry and fear can be a motivator to drive true learning and understanding in a fast-moving era, sharing and questions we should ask and mindsets we should apply to understand how we can uniquely contribute to societies...

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Former Microsoft Supply Chains Exec: What’s needed to drive culture change for sustainability show art Former Microsoft Supply Chains Exec: What’s needed to drive culture change for sustainability

Meet The Leader

Sustainability goals take more than will -- they take culture change and block and tackle approaches. Microsoft announced a host of big commitments in 2020 for the decade ahead, including a goal to be carbon negative and another to reduce emissions by 55%. Procurement and supply chains played a key role in these goals and former supply chain exec Donna Warton shares the moves that have helped secure leader buy-in, drive proactive thinking and help make sustainability a business imperative and not just a "one-off" project. She’ll also explain the role an internal carbon tax has played in...

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Remembering Jane Goodall and her legacy of hope show art Remembering Jane Goodall and her legacy of hope

Meet The Leader

This pioneering researcher-turned-climate activist who died this week reshaped how we see the natural world and how humans understand their place on this earth. We revisit our 2021 interview with Jane and the unique way she approached climate communications to find common ground, broach difficult topics and inspire millions. We also talk to Gill Einhorn, head of the World Economic Forum's 1t.org, who explains how Jane worked with that restoration and conservation initiative, sharing how Jane collaborated and forged connections behind the scenes, what leaders can learn, and how we can take her...

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2 simple questions help this carbon removal CEO focus on what matters: Charm Industrial show art 2 simple questions help this carbon removal CEO focus on what matters: Charm Industrial

Meet The Leader

What’s needed to deliver the carbon removal needed to meet key emissions targets in the years ahead? Charm Industrial CEO Peter Reinhardt helps explain what carbon removal and sequestration are and what’s needed to scale these further – including the incentive gaps that must be bridged for progress. He’ll also share how he and his three roommates from MIT became startup founders together – and how they’ve stayed friends and partners since, and how they leveraged each person’s unique skillsets. He also explains how key moments have helped him sharpen his focus and priorities, and...

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This company launched with $600 a decade ago. How it’s using data and AI to boost yields for millions of small-scale farmers show art This company launched with $600 a decade ago. How it’s using data and AI to boost yields for millions of small-scale farmers

Meet The Leader

Getting the right information at the right time is critical for any sector but especially small-scale farming. Losing a yield could mean a farmer has no income for a year while weakening food security and local economies. To bridge these gaps, company Farmerline has created AI-powered tools, including one that acts like a “911 for farmers,” bringing critical information on weather, crop diseases and more on demand to people who need it, all in 34 languages. The company has also developed ways alternative data can be used to develop credit scores for farmers, helping prove the investing...

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The web is ‘fragile.' How to protect the world’s most important information - and how crypto could help show art The web is ‘fragile.' How to protect the world’s most important information - and how crypto could help

Meet The Leader

Most of the world’s information is stored digitally in a way that’s vulnerable to disappearing without warning thanks to everything from link rot and server changes, to someone not paying their web hosting bill. Some information might even disappear because bad actors have removed or changed it. Civil liberties lawyer and Filecoin Foundation president Marta Belcher explains why the modern standard for how we store information is so vulnerable and why protecting data is a human rights issue. She breaks down a fundamentally new approach (leveraging crypto and decentralized databases to...

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‘Woeful’ data can hold tech and AI back: What’s needed to save lives, prevent catastrophes: Gecko Robotics show art ‘Woeful’ data can hold tech and AI back: What’s needed to save lives, prevent catastrophes: Gecko Robotics

Meet The Leader

Robots that fold our laundry might sound futuristic, but don’t justify a new way of operating. And AI that reads our email or searches the web in new ways, won’t tackle the world’s biggest problems. Jake Loosararian, Gecko Robotics Co-founder, explains how technologies such as AI and robotics could do more to tackle stubborn challenges – such as infrastructure failure, to protect lives and prevent catastrophes – if only they had the right data. He breaks down: how big data gaps have held back innovation for the physical world, and how smarter approaches to infrastructure can improve...

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More Episodes

Platon has made over 20 Time magazine covers with his portraits of people such as Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, George Clooney, Silvio Berlusconi, Mohammed Ali, Adele and Sinead O'Connor.

But he has also photographed people who are the opposite of famous and powerful - and recently published a book called The Defenders: Heroes of the Global Fight for Human Rights - which contains work done over 15 years around the world telling the stories of refugees and other oppressed people.

He tells us what makes a true leader, and how the meaning of a photograph can change over time, and depending on who is looking at it.

Video version of this interview: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIUGFUza2ec&t=37s

Links: 
https://www.platonphoto.com/

Platon is a World Economic Forum Cultural Leader
https://www.weforum.org/communities/artsandculture/

Transcript: 
https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/platon-power-photography-humanity
 
Related Podcasts:
Meet The Leader - Adam Grant: Future leaders won't succeed without this key trait https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVVIpttzUA

Ballerina Misty Copeland: Unlocking potential and a leader’s most ‘vital’ role:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNwmJJMRt4o&t=337s

 

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