SwissCham hosted a thoughtful CEO Talks breakfast on the human side of digital transformation, welcoming Rosanna Terminio of Asecorp China.

Rosanna framed digital transformation as a matter of survival rather than choice. The convergence of robotics, AI and automation is reshaping every industry, and China's fifteen year plan places AI powered robots at the centre of its priorities. For companies operating here, the pressure to adapt is no longer theoretical.

The heart of her talk was the individual. People rarely resist change for its own sake. What they resist is the threat that change poses to their professional identity and their sense of worth. When a new system arrives, the real question employees ask is not how does this work, but who am I now. Successful adoption answers that question in a way that strengthens competence and autonomy rather than eroding them.

This is why the human factor matters so much in hybrid teams of people and machines. The technology may be identical across two companies, yet outcomes differ widely because of how individuals experience the shift. Rosanna argued that organisations building strong hybrid teams gain a real advantage when they empower their workforce instead of replacing it. Wellbeing and identity are not soft extras. They are the conditions that make sustainable adoption possible.

Leadership came under the same lens. Leaders move people, and the modern leader carries a heavier brief. The role now includes leading mixed teams of people and technology, acting as an architect of identity who helps employees rebuild their roles with dignity, and protecting psychological safety so people feel secure enough to learn and adapt without fear.

The discussion that followed was candid and practical. A few themes stood out:

• China subsidiaries need to find their own path on digitalization and AI adoption while still meeting headquarters compliance rules on AI.
• Company culture, more than country culture, tends to explain why large digitalization projects fail.
• There is no single recipe. Honest gap assessment and clear goals matter more than copying someone else's model.

Participants also raised open ethical questions about the right speed of implementation, and exchanged real cases and methods across companies. The honesty in the room was a reminder that these are shared challenges rather than solved problems.

What lingered afterwards was a simple reframing. Digital transformation is often sold as a technology project, yet its success or failure is written in human terms. Leaders who treat identity, dignity and trust as core design choices, rather than afterthoughts, are the ones most likely to come out ahead.

Our thanks to Rosanna Terminio, Senior Consultant and Partner at Asecorp China and PhD candidate at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, for a frank and generous session, and to everyone who joined for a conversation that was as practical as it was thought provoking.