“Lead as if your children are watching from the future—and smiling.” For Jürgen Paulus, Chairman of Lab X Holding, this is more than a guiding quote, it’s the heartbeat of a decades-long mission to reshape how systems, industries, and identities transform. Whether he’s engaging with policymakers in Brazil, mentoring CEOs across Asia, or co-building high-tech legacy frameworks like XLegacy2100, Jürgen doesn’t just lead; he redesigns.
His influence extends far beyond boardrooms and balance sheets. It’s woven through the fabric of cross-sector ecosystems: rare earth platforms in India, neuro-coaching in Europe, and next-gen leadership incubators in the U.S. With over 350+ CEO transformation and executive search projects across five continents, Jürgen builds bridges where most see boundaries—cultural, technological, generational. His model is human-centric, emotionally intelligent, and rooted in deep, trusted global relationships. From China to Switzerland, from Indigenous leaders in the Amazon to supply chain pioneers in Korea, he activates transformation as a long-term legacy, not a quarterly strategy.
In this edition, we honor not just a Chairman, but an architect of coherence in an age of disruption.
Lab X– Bridging AI, Rare-Earth Investments, and Leadership Development
Lab X Holding’s investment strategy is driven by transcendence with tangibility, where material innovation, digital intelligence, and human leadership converge to shape the future.
Jürgen sees special/ rare-earth minerals like Niobium and Lithium as strategic assets and enablers of energy sovereignty and next-generation mobility. AI, in his view, is more than technology. It represents the evolution of human decision-making. Leadership, he emphasizes, is no longer about hierarchy but about preparing individuals to work through an increasingly convoluted and interdependent world.
His experiences across the U.S., Brazil, Europe, China, India, Korea, and Japan have taught him a core truth: trust is the only lasting currency in transformation. From performing jazz in America in 1985 to forming long-term bonds with strategic leaders in Asia, Jürgen has always approached new markets with cultural humility and emotional intelligence. “You can’t build lasting change without roots in the culture,” he explains. Whether advising governments, speaking at summits, or working with the COO of Motherson Group in India for over 15 years, he believes relationships outlast results. Transformation, in his view, begins not with a business model, but with being invited into the camp.
The Roadblocks
Being named one of “2025’s Top 25 Influential People in Transformation” didn’t happen overnight for Jürgen. It has been a winding road rather than a straight shot to success. But with his hands firmly on the wheel, he stayed focused on what lay ahead. One challenge stood out: balancing performance-driven capitalism with value-driven sustainability. This becomes even trickier when working across regions with vastly different economic climates, societal expectations, and technological ecosystems.
Another significant hurdle? Turning global transformation strategies into local operational excellence without watering down cultural nuances or losing an organization’s true essence. Jürgen believes real transformation is about understanding identity, reshaping mindsets, and rewriting narratives for both individuals and organizations. To tackle these challenges, he and his teams developed MVPs of Legacy: agile, iterative models that generate immediate traction while anchoring transformation in long-term value. Above all, they see trust as a foundation built through resonance, authenticity, cross-disciplinary thinking, and system literacy. Through this, Jürgen asserts, “We help leaders and organizations navigate complexity, not with control, but with coherence.”
As one of the few strategists to work across three of the world’s most pivotal transformation zones, India, China, and Europe, Jürgen has built a multi-decade portfolio of human-centered innovation. Since 2010, his Global Industry Transformation program has worked across ministries, universities, and industry leaders to tackle challenges in critical minerals, energy transition, and sustainable innovation. From CBMM in Brazil to virtual summits in India, his work has been less about scaling companies and more about scaling trust, identity, and resilience.
The Evolving Arena of Modern Leadership
Leadership is evolving. Clinging to outdated models or past successes only stifles progress. Modern leaders need fresh perspectives, constant adaptability, and the courage to ditch what no longer serves them. So, what defines a great leader in today’s fast-changing business world? Jürgen feels they simplify complexity, lead from within their teams, nurture a culture of innovation, and pave the way for future generations. They set ego aside, blend intuition with logic, plan with a long-term vision, and embrace leadership like jazz—fluid, adaptive, structured, and soulful.
Responsibility, Novelty and Tradition
At Lab X Holding, Jürgen and his team apply what he calls the GeoX Trifecta—a framework uniting responsibility, ingenuity, and long-term prosperity. It begins with Metaphysical Consciousness, awakening a profound sense of duty. Then comes Geopolitical Innovation, ensuring competitiveness aligns with global and supply chain dynamics. Finally, the Future Legacy Lab merges stakeholder strategy with intergenerational execution. Together, these pillars generate triple wealth: for owners, society, and the unborn future.
Jürgen’s work in wealth creation isn’t a solitary pursuit. Instead, it is a dedication to promoting financial growth that could be passed down, strengthening families through time. When asked why this matters, he responds, “Wealth without meaning is just accumulation.” His mission is to help leaders transition from a capital-driven legacy to a conscious one. Through platforms like X Legacy2100.me, he and his team mentor CEOs and their children in building futures beyond financial success, nurturing courage, coherence, and creative agency.
Shaping the Future of AI-Human Synergy
Lab X Holding isn’t just adapting to AI—it’s actively shaping its awareness. In 2024, the company pioneered Human Artificial Intelligence Consciousness (HAIC), a groundbreaking methodology integrating ethics, neuroscience, and identity into AI systems. Jürgen explains that through Soundscape-based neural coaching, they mentor both CEOs and Gen Z, preparing minds for a future of blended realities – applied Neuroplasticity. Partnering with NanoTech firms, circular economy pioneers, and top universities, Lab X Holding co-creates AI-humanity platforms designed to elevate and renew human potential.
For Jürgen, the Chairman of Lab X Holding, “innovation” and “technology” aren’t just fancy gadgets or software updates. He sees them as entirely new terrains, rich with possibility and the power to reshape our world fundamentally. It’s no wonder, then, that their impact on Lab X Holding’s journey has been so noteworthy. Under his leadership, the firm has developed avant-garde quantum-tech alliances (Nb, Nano, Li), forming the foundation of next-generation computing, communication, and digital sovereignty. The company’s reach spans global borders, with MVP pilots running in Brazil, India, China, the EU, and the U.S. At the heart of this vision is Digital Metaphysics Labs, where AI, soundscapes, and deep learning converge to redefine possibilities. Jürgen describes Lab X as operating like a jazz ensemble—technology sets the rhythm while purpose carries the melody.
Vision for Lab X Holding: Building for the Future in a Changing World
What does Jürgen aspire for the company? He says, “My vision is to build an investment and innovation ecosystem that synchronizes consciousness, competitiveness, and cross-generational wealth creation.” For him, Lab X Holding isn’t a typical investment firm. It backs ventures that merge technology, strategic capital, and socio-ecological impact.
The company is deliberate, not impulsively chasing quick wins. Their commitment is to building conscious infrastructure, globally competitive, locally rooted, and aligned with 2050 sustainability goals and the deeper systemic shifts required by 2100. Lab X invests in circular transformation, where geopolitics, ecology, and human intelligence intersect to create empowering ecosystems.
Rather than working in isolation, Lab X connects industries and expertise. From rare-earth materials like Niobium and Lithium batteries to AI-driven governance and leadership development, it’s about big-picture progress, across industries, continents, and generations.
What sets Lab X apart? According to its Chairman, it’s the deep, hands-on partnerships. The firm works closely with leading institutions like Stanford, Tsinghua, INSEAD, ETH Zurich, London Business School, and the Fraunhofer Society to turn cutting-edge research into practical solutions. Jürgen considers major shifts like digital sovereignty, AI-human convergence, and geopolitical transformations as opportunities. Lab X is designed to meet these complexities with agility.
A Testament to Connection and Impact
Jürgen’s most significant achievement isn’t merely the global network he’s built across 35+ countries — it’s the people within it. Along his journey, key mentors shaped his leadership, values, and strategic instincts: Alfred Zimmer (Excelsior, US), Dr. Peter Harf (Reckitt Benckiser, now Coty, Franklin Feder (Alcoa), Peter Soliman (Booz Allen Hamilton), and Edward Tse (Gao Feng Advisory). Their influence anchored his ethical foundation and sharpened his ability to navigate complexity across cultures and industries. These relationships were not transactional—they were transformational. Equally impactful were deeply human exchanges with football legends Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) and *Ronaldo Nazário (The Phenomenon), shared during long-haul travel across continents—conversations grounded in humility, reflection, and clarity. They spoke not of fame, but of rhythm, resilience, and the cost of greatness. Each of these individuals left a lasting imprint—guiding Jürgen through defining decisions that have shaped his legacy as a strategist, leader, and builder of human systems.
From jazz sessions to boardrooms, Jürgen has cultivated a community of pioneers, students, and leaders. If pressed to name a single professional milestone, it would be the co-creation of The CEO Legacy Platform in 2012 with IMD Business School in Lausanne and the Dom Cabral Foundation in Belo Horizonte — involving more than 100 cross-industry CEOs to date.That foundational work evolved into something deeper: the transformation and launch of the XLegacy2100.me platform by Lab X Holding in 2024 — built to guide leaders into a new era of Human–AI Consciousness and to serve the generations yet to come. This is where leaders and their children thoughtfully collaborate, crafting legacy contracts. These initiatives bring financial aspects and spiritual and strategic considerations. “My greatest joy isn’t what I built—it’s who I helped awaken,” Jürgen shares, understanding that the future of any system rests with the generations who choose to inhabit and morph it.
Looking Through the Future of Business
This visionary leader foresees a business world shaped by geopolitical AI alliances, tech-material sovereignty, and the rise of digitally blended identities. He indicates that quantum leadership, zero-carbon cities, and metaverse economies will redefine industries, while large-scale migration and nature-human resilience will necessitate fresh approaches to shelter and sustainability. To stay ahead, he and his team are building X Legacy Labs. It’s an ingenious space where simulation, coaching, and prototyping intersect across generations, algorithms, and art.
Pioneering Transformation: Agile Innovation and Global Industry Shifts
Change is driven by visionaries with persistence and the courage to challenge convention. Jürgen together with his team bring this to life through two groundbreaking cases that reflect Lab X Holding’s commitment to shaping the future. One illustrates agile platform innovation, while the other maps a sweeping global transformation journey.
Manta Aircraft demerged from the Formula Air Grand Prix, a project Jürgen co-initiated with the Founder Christian Mendez Carmona and Co-Founder Michael Mesaric, and close ties of long term cooperation and associated membership with Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in 2018. Originally designed to integrate 5G, AI, and electric propulsion into a new tech-sport format, the initiative evolved after a strategic realignment of its executive and technical vision. Now led by CEO Lucas Marchesini, alongside co-founders Juanjo Espinosa and Michael Mesaric, Manta focuses on hybrid-electric V/STOL vehicles for regional mobility. Supported by the Italian government, Politecnico di Milano, and Chinese investors, the company ranked among the top eight global innovations at the 2023 China (Shenzhen) Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition, securing first place in Aviation & Mobility.
Jürgen describes Lab X Holding’s flagship transformation initiative as the Global Industry Transformation (GIT) 2010–2030 project. This cross-sector program reshapes low-carbon innovation, industrial value chains, and material sovereignty across Brazil, India, China, and South Korea. At its core is a leading Brazilian company in high-tech special metals, recognized globally for its pioneering role in Niobium-based technologies. He credits the initiative’s foundation to a long-term vision of aligning advanced material innovation with global sustainability goals. Under new leadership, the company scaled significantly — expanding its innovation platforms across markets, industry applications, and strategic partnerships. According to Jürgen, this shift represents a rare blend of profit-driven clarity and legacy-driven consciousness, transforming the company from a raw material supplier into a vital high-tech materials leader, active in more than 50 countries.
The strategic transformation framework and foresight architecture were designed, initiated, and co-led by Lab X Holding in collaboration with more than 40 public and private institutions — including ministries, city mayors, universities, and industrial leaders across Brazil, China, India, and South Korea. A customized, negotiated ecosystem of researchers and foresight experts contributed across the value chain, including Stanford University, State University of Campinas, Fudan University, University of Michigan (Shanghai), Xiamen University, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore.
The result, he explains, is a globally scalable model demonstrating how special materials, geopolitical readiness, and conscious leadership drive low-carbon, high-performance impact. He concludes, “It’s not just a case of transformation—it’s a living blueprint for what legacy industrial leadership looks like in the 21st century.”
Fostering Learning, and Tenacity
A follower and a leader define success differently, and Jürgen firmly belongs to the latter. He sees success not as a personal milestone but as the value one contributes to a team or organization. Through presence and provocation, he cultivates a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and adaptability. For him, asking the right questions holds greater weight than delivering perfect answers.
He shares that their approach to fostering learning and novelty unfolds through three disruptive methods. First is Soundscape Neuroscience Theaters, immersive environments that train entrepreneurial teams and develop Human-AI-Conscious (HAIC) leadership. Then come Meta-Philosophical Dialogues, which challenge assumptions and expand strategic thinking. Lastly, Weekly Geopolitical Innovation Labs anticipate global shifts using collective intelligence.
In Jürgen’s view, resilience isn’t about toughness but about staying open, adaptive, and aligned under pressure, without losing humanity.
Trust and Co-Creation: Uplifting the Generation Next
This prescient executive envisions an inheritance where leadership is defined not by control but by trust, alliance, and foresight. He hopes to leave behind a living system of souls and structures that says, “We prepared. We co-created. We cared. We transcended.” His ultimate success isn’t about saving the world but empowering future generations to shape their own. What will make Jürgen feel his life’s work resonate? If, in 2100, a young MetaHuman smiles and says, “They didn’t save the world. They trusted us to co-create a new one,” then Jürgen knows his mission is fulfilled.
One of the key shifts he expects for the next generation is moving from chasing success to seeking resonance. Jürgen urges them to reflect deeply—leading from the soul rather than fear, building lasting Human-AI-Conscious (HAIC) systems instead of fleeting stories, and considering whether their grandchildren would one day be grateful. True impact, he believes, comes from embracing the cycle of building, failing, loving, and rebuilding. Jürgen summarizes, “Legacy isn’t a result—it’s a rhythm. It is a continuous process of shaping the future with intention and integrity.”
