In this episode of Independent Minds by Pictet, we sit down with Eve Laurier, Global Head of Marketing and Communications at Bombardier, one of the world’s most iconic private aviation companies.

Bombardier designs, manufactures and services some of the most advanced business jets in the world, flying in over 100 countries and serving ultra high net worth individuals, global CEOs, governments and leading corporations.

Eve shares what it really takes to market and sell in one of the most exclusive industries in the world, and how Bombardier successfully rebuilt its reputation after a major transformation.

We explore what luxury truly means at the highest level, how billionaires make purchasing decisions, and why service, trust and long term relationships matter more than the product itself.

From leadership and confidence to brand storytelling, career risk and building world class teams, this conversation offers rare insight into both private aviation and the mindset required to operate at the top.

This episode is about leadership, confidence, resilience, reputation and learning to figure things out without trying to do it alone.

In this episode you will learn:

• What Bombardier does and how private aviation really works
• How billionaires and ultra high net worth individuals buy private jets
• What luxury actually means beyond products and price
• How Bombardier rebuilt its reputation after years of transformation
• Why service and customer experience matter more than aircraft specs
• How complex private jet manufacturing and supply chains really are
• Eve’s career journey from advertising to global leadership
• Why “figure it out” is a critical leadership mindset
• How to build confidence through risk taking and responsibility
• Why the best leaders learn to get out of their own way

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro Who is Eve Laurier and what Bombardier does

01:10 What Bombardier builds and why business jets matter

02:20 Eve’s role as Global Head of Marketing and Communications

03:40 The challenge of marketing to ultra high net worth individuals

05:00 What luxury really means at the highest level

06:30 How billionaires actually buy private jets

08:10 Inside the private jet customer experience

09:50 How private jets are manufactured and why it is so complex

12:00 Craftsmanship interiors and aircraft customisation

13:40 Eve’s career journey and the “figure it out” mindset

16:00 Rebuilding Bombardier’s brand and reputation

18:10 Leadership lessons and building world class teams

20:00 Confidence risk taking and career growth

22:40 Why successful leaders do not do it alone

24:50 The explosion of demand in private aviation

27:30 Why private jets are growing faster than ever

Follow Independent Minds by Pictet

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LinkedIn: The Pictet Group

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Follow Bombardier

Instagram: @bombardier_jets

Website: https://bombardier.com/

In this episode of Independent Minds by Pictet, Rushil, co founder of Urban Greens, shares how three friends left successful corporate careers to build one of London’s most recognisable healthy fast food brands.

Urban Greens was created to change how people think about fast food by proving that healthy, fast and great tasting food can coexist on the high street. What started as an idea during their corporate years became a carefully built brand focused on quality, experience and long term sustainability.

We explore how Rushil balanced a demanding finance career while building Urban Greens, why the founders waited years before going all in, and what it really takes mentally to become an entrepreneur in the food and beverage industry.

From branding and customer experience to pricing strategy, digital growth and social media awareness, this conversation goes deep into what it means to build a food brand designed to last rather than chase hype or exits.

This episode is about patience, calculated risk, resilience and creating something meaningful in a highly competitive market.

In this episode you will learn

What Urban Greens is and how it redefined healthy fast food in London

Why fast food in the UK has traditionally been associated with unhealthy choices

How the founders built the brand while working full time corporate jobs

When and why Rushil decided to leave finance and go all in

The mental pressure and resilience required to be an entrepreneur

Why grit often matters more than having a perfect product

How Urban Greens approached branding store design and customer experience

Why UK consumers respond differently to food brands than US consumers

How social media builds awareness rather than instant revenue

Why Urban Greens prioritised steady growth over fast expansion or exits

TIMESTAMPS AND CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro Who is Rushil and what is Urban Greens

00:35 What Urban Greens is and why healthy fast food was missing in London

01:40 Why fast food in the UK had a negative reputation

02:55 Finding inspiration from Europe the US and Scandinavia

04:10 Building Urban Greens while working corporate jobs

05:20 Using networks instead of consultants to build the business

06:45 Balancing finance careers with startup calls and negotiations

07:40 When the idea shifted from side project to full commitment

09:05 Deciding to leave stable careers to build a salad brand

10:30 The mental toll of entrepreneurship and uncertainty

12:05 Why grit and resilience matter more than perfection

13:40 Educating the market and pricing healthy food confidently

15:20 Branding psychology differences between the UK and the US

17:05 Designing Urban Greens as an experience not just a product

19:00 Influences from Scandinavia Japan South Africa and California

21:15 Social media awareness versus direct sales

23:00 Why Urban Greens prioritised steady sustainable growth

24:30 The problem with exit driven entrepreneurship culture

26:10 Fulfilment money and redefining success as a founder

28:00 Risk taking calm decision making and long term thinking

30:00 Final reflections on building something that lasts

Follow Urban Greens

LinkedIn: Urban Greens

Website: https://www.urbangreens.co.uk

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In this episode of Independent Minds by Pictet, Dominic Ponniah, co founder of Cleanology, shares how he scaled a family run cleaning business into a £25 million national facilities management company serving blue chip corporates, law firms, broadcasters, car brands and even the Royal Household.

We discuss how Cleanology grew from a small London operation into a nationwide provider across 17 cities, what it really takes to scale a labour intensive services company, and why the biggest challenge in facilities management isn’t operations, it’s people.

From early Google Ads hacks and strategic acquisitions to running 120 hour workweeks, surviving Dragons’ Den, and now stepping into the Chairman role after 22 years, Dominic explains the full journey of building a company that can operate without the founder.

In this episode you will learn:

What Cleanology does and why blue chip clients trust them

How the company won the Royal Household contract through Google search

Why scaling nationally requires new systems, people and structures

How a single acquisition transformed the company’s profitability

The real challenges of hiring, retention and evolving the team as you grow

Why founders must learn to let go if they want their company to mature

How Dominic expanded into Manchester and why it worked

What Dragons' Den taught him about resilience, rejection and PR

Why Cleanology moved from founder led to professionally managed

What Dominic plans next: writing a book, learning to fly, and new ventures

Timestamps

00:00 Intro: Who is Dominic and what is Cleanology

00:32 What Cleanology does and how they serve blue chip clients

02:10 How the Royal Household found them on Google

04:28 The family origin story and working with his mother

06:45 Early growth, Google Ads and £80 per click competition

09:12 The acquisition that changed the company’s trajectory

11:05 Expanding from London to Manchester, the pivotal moment13:18 Launching 17 cities in 12 months after COVID

15:40 Scaling challenges, people, culture and evolving roles

17:28 Hiring by instinct, team buy in and hard lessons

19:40 Dragons’ Den, why Dominic was rejected

23:10 The rickshaw startup and 120 hour workweeks

26:50 Why he never worked for anyone else and why founders value freedom

28:15 On being “unemployable” and hiring entrepreneurial personalities

30:04 Building teams, autonomy and internal entrepreneurs

31:42 Advice for young founders entering traditional industries

33:20 Stepping down as CEO after 22 years, why now

35:55 Preparing the business to run without the founder

37:25 What’s next, book, pilot licence, new ventures and possibly politics

39:10 Final reflections on leadership, scale and legacy

Follow Cleanology LinkedIn: CleanologyWebsite: https://cleanology.com

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GroupWebsite:https://www.pictet.com

In this episode of Independent Minds by Pictet, Bilal, co-founder of Moneco, shares how his Y-Combinato-backed-neobank is building a cross border financial platform for French speaking Africa and its diaspora.

We discuss why so many African economies are still cash based, why traditional banks have struggled to serve the mass market, and how neobanks, stablecoins and hard currency accounts can open up global opportunities for freelancers, entrepreneurs and families across the continent.

From private banking in Geneva and strategy consulting at BCG to building infrastructure and compliance rails that actually work for emerging markets, Bilal explains what it really takes to launch and scale a regulated neobank for Africa.

In this episode you will learn:

What a neobank is and how Moneco works in practice
Why banking in French speaking Africa is lagging behind and how that affects growth
How inflation, fees and lack of trust push people toward cash and away from banks
Why Moneco started with the African diaspora and built growth around word of mouth
The business model behind Moneco and how the company makes money
How stablecoins can simplify cross border payments and investing for emerging markets
What it takes to get into Y Combinator and raise a pre seed round for a fintech
How Bilal and his co founders divide roles, make decisions and handle conflict
The next chapter for Moneco from B2C to B2B2C and investment products

Timestamps

00:00 Intro - Who is Bilal and what is a neobank
00:40 Why Moneco focuses on French speaking Africa
01:20 Cash based economies, trust issues and why banks missed the mass market
02:40 Inflation, hard currencies and building trust with African customers
03:40 Why most neobanks ignore Africa and how Moneco got licensed
05:05 Who uses Moneco today - freelancers, e commerce and Airbnb hosts
06:04 Cash vs cards - how customers spend locally and abroad
06:55 Typical Moneco user profile and average transaction volumes
07:27 Pricing, subscriptions and why Moneco is more expensive than Revolut
08:24 User numbers so far and early traction
08:43 Bilal’s story - from Geneva private banking to energy, BCG and Africa
10:06 Seeing the service gap between private banking and African retail banking
10:52 Deciding to become a founder and refining the idea
11:21 Meeting co founders and splitting roles in a three person team
12:42 Bootstrapping, getting into Y Combinator and raising a pre seed round
13:56 From serving diaspora in France to opening accounts directly in Africa
14:52 Why Moneco took its license in Canada and had to build its own stack
15:44 Team structure today - tech, support and compliance
16:12 Growth targets and why 50,000 active users is the next milestone
16:41 Building a private bank style experience for emerging markets
17:11 Stablecoins explained and why they matter for cross border value
18:04 Using stablecoins to move money outside SWIFT
18:31 Education, diaspora and how financial knowledge travels back home
19:14 Remittances, P2P transfers and the waterfall acquisition effect
20:05 Influencer marketing, referrals and word of mouth growth
21:30 The hard part of scaling - compliance and customer support
22:27 Where chatbots help and where they still fail
22:54 Raising the seed round and making infrastructure more robust
23:23 Moving into B2B2C with African financial institutions
23:50 Bilal’s advice for founders applying to Y Combinator
24:38 Why passion for the problem matters more than money

Follow Moneco

LinkedIn - Moneco
Instagram - @moneco.app

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LinkedIn - The Pictet Group
Website - https://www.pictet.com

Tucker George is the founder and CEO of Rebel Internet, a UK broadband challenger taking on legacy giants like BT, Virgin and Sky. In this episode, Tucker explains why the UK broadband system feels broken and how Rebel is rebuilding trust with smarter technology, fibre infrastructure and proactive customer support.

From outdated copper cables to fibre, from WiFi dead zones to intelligent networks and from call centre frustration to proactive service, this conversation explores how technology, regulation and customer expectations are transforming broadband in the UK.

In this episode:

• Why broadband in the UK feels broken
• Why copper cables fail and why fibre matters
• How Rebel delivers smarter WiFi for modern homes
• Why proactive support builds trust
• The role of UK regulation in driving innovation
• How legacy providers shaped the current market
• Why Rebel avoids price competition
• How trust, transparency and values shape the brand
• Tucker’s founder journey from BT executive to challenger CEO
• How Rebel hires and builds a principled team

Chapters:

00:00 Intro and who is Rebel Internet

01:00 Why UK broadband feels broken

02:30 Internet as an essential service

04:00 WiFi dead zones and how Rebel fixes them

06:00 Copper vs fibre

07:30 Why smart homes need smarter WiFi

09:00 Why big broadband customer service fails

10:30 Proactive support

12:00 Regulation and fibre rollout

14:00 The business model behind new networks

16:00 Why fibre rollout outpaced adoption

17:30 The education and trust opportunity

19:00 Why Rebel avoids the race to the bottom

20:00 Delivering a reliable premium service

22:00 Pricing and transparency

24:00 The “no contract” challenge

26:00 Referrals, churn and growth

28:00 Competing with legacy giants

30:00 Tucker’s career path

33:00 What big companies get wrong

35:00 Values, hiring and team building

37:00 Maintaining brand integrity

39:00 Final reflections

Follow Rebel Internet:

Website: https://www.rebelinternet.uk

LinkedIn: Rebel Internet

Follow Independent Minds by Pictet:

Instagram: @independentminds.pod

LinkedIn: The Pictet Group

Website: https://www.pictet.com

Ideja is the 21-year-old founder of Edvance AI, an AI consultancy helping businesses and individuals build literacy, confidence and real-world applications with AI. From a science degree to launching a startup through a women-in-STEM accelerator, she’s now training global teams to bridge the gap between tech and people.

In this episode:

👉 How Edvance AI helps companies implement AI tools the right way

👉 Why AI literacy matters more than the tools themselves

👉 Starting a business at 21 through an accelerator programme

👉 What older generations get wrong (and right) about learning AI

👉 The real opportunity in AI training, not products

👉 Navigating hype, misinformation and the future of regulation

👉 The role of AI in education, healthcare and society

👉 Why prompting is a literacy, not just a hack

👉 The mental health cost of AI training data

👉 How to thrive in an AI-driven world without fear

📌 Ideja also shares how AI is changing education, creativity, and work. She opens up about the myths holding people back and why we need to teach critical AI thinking, not just tools, from the age of four.

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – Introducing Ideja and Edvance AI

01:20 – From cell biology to AI consulting

02:30 – Building a business at 21 via a startup accelerator

04:00 – Why AI literacy is the real challenge

06:00 – Older generations and the fear of AI

08:00 – How Edvance AI trains corporate teams

09:30 – The problem with AI “wrappers” and hype

11:00 – Prompting as the new digital literacy

13:30 – Gender, bias and personifying AI

16:00 – Healthcare, education and the role of humans

18:30 – What AI can (and can’t) replace

20:00 – What’s really behind AI training data

22:00 – AI in the creative industries and legal grey areas

24:30 – Sustainability and data centres

26:00 – The pre-CASM phase and what’s next

28:00 – Misinformation, media panic and regulating AI

29:30 – The rise of quantum computing

31:00 – 3D printed organs and bio-AI futures

34:00 – Behind-the-scenes labour of AI model training

36:00 – Fear, opportunity and the role of thought leadership

🔗 Follow Edvance AI:

LinkedIn – Edvance AI

🔗 Follow Independent Minds by Pictet:

Instagram – @independentminds.pod

LinkedIn – The Pictet Group

Website – https://www.pictet.com

What if we could fight climate change and improve crop yields with a single product?

Alex is the co-founder of Black Bull Biochar, a startup developing carbon-rich soil additives that store carbon and boost agricultural productivity. In this episode, he shares the journey from policy think tanks to commercialising sustainable innovation in the UK and Denmark.

In this episode:

👉 What biochar is and why it matters

👉 How carbon removal can scale affordably

👉 The challenge of funding green innovation in an AI-dominated world

👉 Pivoting the business model from hands-off to hands-on

👉 Building a climate tech startup from idea to industrial scale

👉 The science of farming, carbon credits, and decarbonised heat

👉 How to hire for jobs that don’t exist yet

👉 The pros and cons of informal hiring and building teams like families

📌 Alex also shares how government programmes, Danish subsidies, and farmer relationships shaped the business. He opens up about building in a new category, and why the future of sustainable agriculture might start in a pub.

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – Intro and what is biochar

01:30 – Why carbon storage matters for the climate

03:00 – How biochar compares to other carbon removal tech

04:10 – Who Black Bull's customers are

06:10 – Building the business with a co-founder

07:30 – The UK’s support for early-stage sustainability innovation

09:30 – Early pivots and what didn’t work

12:00 – The team’s commercial transition

13:30 – The funding environment post-COVID and post-AI boom

16:00 – Proving product-market fit with trials and farmers

18:00 – Expansion to Denmark and scaling internationally

20:00 – Why farmers talk to other farmers, not just brands

21:30 – The regional roots of Black Bull Biochar

23:00 – Biggest hurdles: breaking into industry and hiring

25:00 – Net zero jobs and building new skillsets

26:30 – Team culture and how to spot great talent

28:00 – The value of adaptability and curiosity

🔗 Follow Black Bull Biochar:

Website – https://www.blackbullbiochar.com/

🔗 Follow Independent Minds by Pictet:

Instagram – @independentminds.pod

LinkedIn – The Pictet Group

Website – https://www.pictet.com

In this episode, Ed shares how he went from exiting a medical cannabis company for £400M to building Clean Food Group, a food-tech start-up creating sustainable oils through precision fermentation.Ed is the co-founder of Clean Food Group, an ingredients company transforming the global food supply chain using lab-based production to create healthy, scalable, and sustainable alternatives to palm oil. In this conversation, he shares:▪️ Why supply chain volatility and deforestation demand urgent innovation▪️ How precision fermentation can scale in retrofitted breweries▪️ The real cost of re-educating consumers about lab-grown products▪️ What most founders get wrong when raising capital▪️ The surprising downside of selling your company▪️ Why emotional resilience matters more than spreadsheets▪️ His rules for picking the right co-founders, teams and investors▪️ The link between anxiety, performance and entrepreneurial drive📌 Ed also reflects on building mission-led businesses that balance purpose with profit, what most people misunderstand about being your own boss, and why the best entrepreneurs stay addicted to the journey and not the exit.⏱️ Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:24 What is Clean Food Group01:17 Why palm oil is unsustainable03:09 The global food oil crisis05:22 Scaling sustainable oils with fermentation07:08 Regulatory barriers and past cannabis experience09:01 Why taste and texture matter10:00 Partnership strategy and industry demand11:17 Working with Mondelez and major retailers13:09 Raising capital and why ideas fail15:04 What makes a credible founder and product17:36 Why brand building is misunderstood19:25 Childhood entrepreneurship and capital risk21:12 Salary, stress and sensible investing22:11 Why investors bet on the person23:37 Red flags in startup pitches24:59 The wrong people for the CEO job26:22 What great founders really look like28:12 Investment timing and valuation30:26 What Ed looks for in a founding team31:27 How to scale without losing your values32:56 The founder as driver, mechanic and ticket-taker34:24 Why entrepreneurship is misunderstood35:08 Selling a company and feeling lost36:05 The addiction to building, not arriving37:58 How anxiety helps under pressure39:17 The real value of business is experience40:10 When failure forces your next breakthrough42:18 Visualising success and manifesting outcomes44:11 Why early belief matters more than certainty45:33 Addressing needs versus creating them47:27 Building sustainable products that still turn profit48:20 What re-education really costs🔗 Follow Clean Food Group:Website – https://www.cleanfood.group🔗 The Independent Minds Podcast:Instagram – @independentminds.pod🔗 Follow Pictet:Website – https://www.pictet.comLinkedIn – The Pictet GroupInstagram – @pictetgroup