In Episode 26, host Matthias Catón is joined by Lewis Sage-Passant, Global Head of Intelligence at Novo Nordisk and founder of EncyclopediaGeopolitica. Matthias and Lewis delve into the intricacies of how multinational corporations navigate geopolitics and international relations.

Matthias and Lewis investigate how the changing responsibility of security intelligence teams and how, in a corporate environment, this is transforming into a strategic direction – how does geopolitics work? What implications does this have on a business?

Empirically, Lewis explains how geopolitic events affect different sectors of a business, such as supply-chains, access and affordability to raw materials; and as globalisation evolves, more types of industries have had to internationalise, and therefore, pay more attention to geopolitical events. Interestingly, Lewis and Matthias also look into the idea of “opportunity intelligence” and how geopolitics should not only be viewed from a “risk” perspective, but also a business development angle.

This episode is a must listen for business leaders and policy makers to understand how to incorporate geopolitical intelligence in their corporate strategy and utilise this as both a risk, and opportunity.

About the guest

<figure class="alignright size-full is-resized"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Lewis Sage-Passant</figcaption></figure>

Dr Lewis Sage-Passant is the Global Head of Intelligence at Novo Nordisk, and is a researcher in the field of intelligence and espionage focusing on the private sector. Lewis holds a PhD from Loughborough University in intelligence studies, and is an adjunct professor in intelligence at Sciences Po Paris and EMLyon Business school.

He has extensive experience working and living in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions in a variety of geopolitical analysis and intelligence roles, working for some of the largest corporations in the energy industry, the financial sector, and technology sector. He is also the founder and editor of EncyclopediaGeopolitica.com, a website discussing geopolitical issues, where he hosts their podcast on dangerous topics in the security, intelligence, and geopolitics field, “How to get on a Watchlist”.

Lewis has appeared in numerous media outlets, including the BBC, France24, CNBC, Harvard Business Review, The New Arab, El Mundo, GQ, and others, discussing intelligence, geopolitics, and security matters.

Executive Briefing – what you should read now

• Political Risk: How Businesses and Organizations Can Anticipate Global Insecurity – Condoleezza Rice and Amy B. Zegart (2019)
  





• Bloc by Bloc: How to Build a Global Enterprise for the New Regional Order – Steven Weber (2019)