Over 1,200 business leaders from the food, feed, and sustainable mobility and materials sectors gathered at Bühler’s headquarters in Uzwil, Switzerland, to address the urgent challenge of building successful businesses that feed and move 10 billion people sustainably by 2050. Many key solutions are in place that meet these challenges. What is needed now is to multiply their impact at scale. On June 23 and 24, representatives from industry, business, and academia exchanged practical solutions to ongoing and emerging sustainability challenges at the event – a unique platform designed to advance innovative approaches, foster meaningful partnerships, and put a spotlight on education and leadership. With the theme “Multiplying impact together,” the Networking Days 2025 highlighted the courage to navigate uncertainty and the solutions available now to build successful companies that bring positive impact at massive scale.
Speaking at the event, Bühler Group CEO Stefan Scheiber described the power of collaboration and cooperation to multiply the impact of innovation. “Every breakthrough, partnership, and bold decision has the potential to create ripples – spreading knowledge, inspiring action, and driving progress,” he said. “But their true power lies in the multiplier effect: when these ripples connect, they create waves of change. By working together, businesses and industries don’t just add incrementally to progress – they accelerate it by compounding their influence and scaling solutions far beyond what any single effort could achieve.”
Ian Roberts, Bühler Group CTO said: “It is so clear now that we must act with focus and collaboration to bring the impact necessary to preserve the healthy state of our planet. I am energized by the potential and willingness shown by our 1,200 guests – not to simply talk, but to build concrete actions and to share what they have already achieved to accelerate group learning and impact multiplication.”
The Networking Days 2025 was the fourth Bühler Group Networking Days event. The Swiss-based technology group has convened leaders from the industries it serves once every three years since 2016. Attendees at this year's event traveled from 90 countries and six continents.
Big change needs bold leadership
In a year marked by political and economic turbulence, keynote speakers emphasized the urgent role of industry in tackling the world’s most pressing challenges. In such times, it is easy for business leaders to retreat into caution, but building resilient, future-ready businesses requires courage and decisive action. “The currency to survive in an era of uncertainty is courage,” said Ranjay Gulati, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, in his keynote address. “Uncertainty causes fear, and fear can be paralyzing. But to survive and thrive, you must be bold and take action.” Gulati explained that in unpredictable environments, companies cannot eliminate uncertainty. Instead of resisting it, he urged leaders to adopt an agile mindset, one that allows for experimentation and learning to navigate the path forward.
Sustainable business success
The key message at the event was that sustainability is a sound business strategy that drives profitable growth and long-term resilience, and is the outcome of strong leadership. Professor Johan Rockström, a leading expert on global sustainability and Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, highlighted the urgent need for industry to operate within Earth’s safe limits. As the architect of the Planetary Boundaries framework, he stressed that sustainability is no longer optional – it is essential to resilience, competitiveness, and future success. He encouraged leaders to speak openly about the business value of sustainability: “We must think of sustainability as central to competitiveness, security, stability, and health,” he said. “When a decision improves your performance, attracts talent, opens new markets, or enhances resilience, communicate that clearly: show that sustainability is not a burden – it’s a competitive advantage.”
Transformation through collaboration
Thomas Zurbuchen, Leader of ETH Zurich | Space, and former Head of Science at NASA, spoke about the importance of collaboration between science and industry in addressing climate and environment-related challenges. “Industry has the ability to take scientific ideas and transform them into innovative solutions that make a real difference,” he said. “Sometimes the future is already here, you just need to scale it.” As an example, Zurbuchen highlighted recent developments in satellite imaging technology: “We can now use new technologies to analyze data from space with a resolution of millimeters and make it useful to inform decisions on the ground,” he said. “A farmer can use satellite images to decide exactly which fields need fertilizer and which do not.”
Many speakers echoed the message about the power of collaboration to drive sustainable business success, mitigate climate change, protect and restore nature, create jobs, and ensure food security.
Julia Binder, Professor at IMD, encouraged guests to think about the circular economy as “a means to unite profitability, growth, and sustainability.” She asked them to take a bold approach to rethinking their business models by following circular principles. “The circular economy is an ecosystem play – it’s very customer-centric, it’s extremely collaborative,” she said. “The companies that really make money in the future will be those that use the license to innovate. I encourage you to start from the future back: envision one or two transformational innovations that could redefine your business, then define the steps you need to take to get there.”
Sustainable mobility and materials
As always, the Networking Days was not just about food. Experts held deep-dive discussions on a range of topics around sustainable mobility and materials, including vehicle weight reduction and the development of a European advanced battery industry.
Bühler announced that it had recently reached a new milestone with the order of its 50th Carat megacasting solution, underscoring its role as a key enabler of megacasting for large structural components in the automotive industry. As megacasting reshapes the industry, global carmakers are accelerating its adoption and rethinking their manufacturing strategies.
Innovation in action
Leaders attending the event also had the opportunity to see innovative technologies at work in Bühler's extensive research and training center facilities in Uzwil. Technologies on display included new solutions for milling, AI process optimization tools, digitally-controlled die casting, and energy-efficient technologies for grain puffing, food extrusion, and the production of plant-based proteins.
Bühler Networking Days 2025 set a new benchmark, bringing together the largest number of industry leaders and the broadest range of sectors in the event’s history. Guests left Uzwil with fresh insights, new strategic connections, and a strengthened commitment to driving progress within their organizations. In his closing remarks, CEO Stefan Scheiber thanked participants their ideas and active engagement, urging them to act boldly: “We need the courage to take decisive action – action that accelerates growth and drives the sustainable transformation of businesses, value chains, and entire industries. By doing this, we will shape a better future for our businesses and our societies, and truly multiply impact together.”
