The setting could hardly have been more perfect: glorious late-summer weather, coffee and croissants following a warm welcome, and a sweeping view over Zurich, the lake, and the Albis all the way to the snow-capped trio of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. This sweeping view perfectly complemented Fredrik Härén’s presentation, which offered a glimpse into a wide variety of creative cultures around the globe.

The IAA’s internal annual meeting had already taken place. At that meeting, Carsten Kollmus, Director of Tech & Product at Goldbach Media, was elected to the board. The industry network is thus deliberately building on its deep technology and media expertise, while Kollmus, for his part, aims to bring fresh perspectives to the dialogue and drive forward-looking industry solutions.

Andreas Widmer (Westhive) and Markus Ehrle (APG) stepped down from the IAA Swiss Chapter’s board of directors at their own request after more than 14 years, but will remain members of the association. Guido Trevisan, a former member of the IAA Board who has moved from Goldbach to APG, will take over Markus Ehrle’s APG seat on the IAA Board.

Following the annual meeting, IAA President Matthias Kiess and Executive Director Chantal Landis, along with other attendees, welcomed the guests in the hotel's long ballroom, where the Furioso by the Swedish bestselling author (The Idea Book) began.

Switzerland: Between Innovation Rankings and Skepticism

Although Switzerland consistently ranks among the top countries in global innovation rankings. But when Härén challenged the Zurich audience to name, using nothing but their imagination, ten things that are absolutely impossible, a certain Swiss predictability became apparent: Instead of coming up with entirely new scenarios, the participants drew on familiar concepts—from teleportation to time travel and eternal life, all the way to «walking on water».

Nine out of ten answers were already on his slides exactly as written. «You suck! You’re totally predictable!» Härén teased, amid loud laughter. The lesson here: «You used your knowledge, not your imagination.”. But in a world that is changing at breakneck speed, pure knowledge is losing its value, while imagination is becoming crucial."

He added the following to his message to the Swiss audience::

«Switzerland is one of the most creative countries on the planet, but imagine if you were even more creative. I even quoted a Swiss watchmaker, Mr. Gerber, who said: »The Swiss definition of creativity is something better than perfect.' I love that."

The formula for genuine ideas: Knowledge × Information × Combination

Härén's principle: There has never been a completely isolated, brand-new idea in the history of humankind. Every idea arises when a person (or, nowadays, a processor) links existing knowledge with new information and combines it in novel ways.

Those who remain only within their familiar surroundings always combine the same building blocks. Only genuine curiosity about the world and the deliberate combination of seemingly unrelated elements lead to true innovation – just as Härén once turned books and notebooks into his formula for success The Idea Book merged.

Härén's work was the subject of particularly lively discussion «10×10×10» Approach: People who struggle with a problem often get stuck because they've narrowed the scope of the question too much. Instead of simply asking, «How do I achieve Goal X?», you rephrase the question in ten completely different ways. If, for example, you use AI to expand these into 100 variations and listen to these questions while taking a walk, your subconscious will receive hundreds of new points of reference. And that's exactly what sparks creative thinking.

Quotes from the video: What the participants take away from it

One participant said, «It was an inspiring morning. My takeaway is this: We need to be bolder, and we need to be more creative again—not just think we’re creative.» One participant summed up her highlight succinctly: «My highlight today was: curiosity.» Another guest emphasized: «One takeaway for me: Ask questions! Ask, ask, ask—to make progress, to be creative, and to challenge yourself. That’s definitely what Fredrik Härén inspired in me.» One attendee added to this shift in perspective: «My takeaway is to step back for a moment and look at the whole thing from a different angle. Don’t always jump right in when you feel like you already know everything; instead, take a step back and look for another solution.» Another participant summed it up: «What I’m taking away from this: The world truly belongs to the brave. If you have an idea, go for it—don’t listen to others—and just follow your own path.»

IAA Executive Director Chantal Landis also expressed her enthusiasm about the response: They had seen Fredrik Härén perform in Milan the previous year and knew they had to bring him to the Swiss stage—the reactions in the sold-out hall fully confirmed this.

Conclusion: The view of the vast Alpine landscape perfectly captured the essence of the conference: Anyone who wants to thrive in the age of generative AI cannot rest on past laurels, but must embrace curiosity, humility, and bold combinations..