Samar Héchaimé, Strategy Director working across Sustainability, Transformation, Innovation & Reinvention, has built her career around understanding how people, systems, and the environment shape one another. Her work revolves around shaping strategy, and long-term thinking, through systems thinking, behavioural sciences with a design-led mindest, always with a focus on impact on humans but also the planet. In her interview for WIL Europe, she shares what she has learned from working in different contexts and what she believes organisations need to prepare for the future by thinking differently.

Interviewed by Amra Zvizdic­­

You have built a remarkable career at the intersection of sustainability, innovation and global transformation, from designing and strategy shaping in the built environment, to co-founding Agora-Envisioning to leading strategy sustainability, transformation and business model reinvention at PwC and beyond. What originally inspired you to specialise in this field, and how has your vision of sustainability evolved over the years?

I grew up in Lebanon during the war and witnessed how destructive conflict can be to people and the environment. Fires, chemicals, and chaos leave both visible and invisible damage. I studied architecture and then design with a clear mission: to humanise the world we live in. For my final project in the late nineties, I proposed two ideas. One focused on materials and sustainability, which at the time was considered a fringe idea. The project I completed was a redesign of Beirut’s bus system as a brand and experience. By redesigning access, I realised, you redesign a city’s economics and citizens’ experience.

The first decade of my career was in wayfinding and experience design. I worked in New York, then Amsterdam, and later Chicago, building projects that still exist today. But I began to see the limits. Many problems were created by systems designed, for the benefit of those who designed them without most people in mind, especially not women and a mosaic of user  groups that inhabit places and spaces. That led me to focus on two core principles: people centricity and social and environmental impact.

I eventually moved into strategy consulting, bringing systems thinking,  behavioural sciences and the creative/ innovation mindset with me. In 2010, I began integrating sustainability and social impact into the boardroom. Two projects in 2007 and 2016, first with the Princess Noura Women’s University and second with Saudi Arabia’s Human Resource Development Fund showed me the power of long-term thinking and the ripple effect of intended and non-intended consequences. Women studying at the university and then entering the labour market were changing society. I saw how putting women inside the system, with their perspective, creates ripple effects.

Today, my vision is simple: we are shaping the world. We either integrate sustainable thinking at the core or face the consequences. People can destroy or save the planet. Our role is to give them the chance to choose wisely and be part of shaping the future.

Today, my vision is simple: we are shaping the world. We either integrate sustainability at the core or face the consequences. People can destroy or save the planet. Our role is to give them the chance to choose wisely.

Working closely with companies in Europe and internationally, what major shifts are you seeing as organisations navigate growing sustainability expectations, regulatory pressure and the need for business-model transformation?

We are in a backlash moment. Sustainability is often seen as just another number on a page, rather than what ensures longevity. Companies pursue longevity without understanding what actually creates it.

Regulation is necessary, and reporting can help us speak a common language. But too often it becomes a checklist that can be manipulated. Auditors should verify on the ground, without warning, to ensure nothing is hidden. Companies can exploit publicity and influence to control the narrative, as seen in examples like Shein.

Despite this, companies are reflecting on what a sustainable business truly means. Longevity comes from factors such as understanding impact and legacy, demographic shifts, and generational mindset changes as well as navigating geopolitical crises without being lost in the short term reactionary behaviour. We are therefore seeing the resurgence of family-owned business models as one example of an alternative business model. Wealth transfer across  genders, generations and in some cases cultures and areas of the world is shifting the influence and shaping priorities for example through the voice of younger generations, women etc.

Crises like 2008 and COVID disrupted mid-career progression for many Gen X leaders, and women in leadership have been particularly affected. Yet these challenges create opportunities for change. Younger generations, straddling analogue and digital worlds, need the right tools to navigate these shifts and steer companies towards long-term sustainability.

Recent analyses highlight how industries are being reshaped by AI, climate pressures and geopolitical dynamics, and identify new domains of growth across how we build, care, connect and power the world. Which of these domains do you believe leaders in Belgium and across the EU should prioritise to remain competitive by 2035 and why?

The failure of current systems and the rise of AI stem from siloed, mono thinking. AI forces a single answer, lacks nuance, and is fed by biased knowledge. Governance, medicine, architecture, and environmental studies all carry biases.

What organisations need is an ecosystem approach. Companies should consider the full ripple effect of their actions, from agriculture and water to clothing, transport, logistics, health, and well-being. Micro-level needs, like food and clothing, connect to broader systems such as health, mobility, and the built environment. Every physical manifestation of a company has an impact, and strategy should centre on people as the organisation not the organisation as a person and an abstract being.

This mindset enables cooperation across companies, fosters innovation in the spaces between, and eliminates outdated notions of the “box.” It also corrects historical exclusion, particularly of women, ensuring they are not just counted in today’s narratives but they are part of shaping them.

Organisations should approach growth like building a cathedral: long-term, multidimensional, and connected horizontally and vertically. Cathedrals brought people together, exchanged knowledge, and left lasting marks. Similarly, EU leaders should prioritise human-centric, ecosystem-driven strategies that link people, technology, and the environment for sustainable competitiveness by 2035.

Organisations should approach growth like building a cathedral: long-term, multidimensional, and connected horizontally and vertically .

You have worked across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, China and North America. How has this international exposure shaped the way you analyse risks and opportunities for organisations, and are there global approaches you believe the EU should adopt more strongly?

This is where I see a key challenge. Everyone is becoming so risk averse. Whether it is reporting or risk management, you’re looking backwards, and you don’t shape your future by looking backwards. Evidence-based? What does that mean? Oh, it worked before. Who guarantees it will work in the future? One day it works, the next it doesn’t.

We were in isolation during COVID, and suddenly digital work was possible. That’s how you shape the next thing—you ask, “what if?” Not enough people ask that. The old guard holds on, so sometimes something like a pandemic forces a reckoning.

You need long-term thinking. Growth is exponential, like forests nurtured by the mother tree: some seeds grow, some don’t, but the ecosystem thrives. We need to take risks, nurture, and adapt.

Look at countries under constant pressure, like the Eastern Bloc or Lebanon. They innovate and survive within constraints. Imagine if the EU applied that adaptability constructively. And Europe could lead on female and feminist leadership. Reconnect with the explorer mindset, stop being followers, and let curiosity, imagination, and collaboration drive companies, countries, and institutions.

You describe yourself as a futurist. Which emerging developments do you believe companies are still underestimating today, but that will significantly influence strategic decision-making within the next decade and what distinguishes organisations that are genuinely preparing for the future from those that remain locked in short-term logic?

For me, what people are missing is that it’s not about the technology. Technology is a tool. We pour way too much energy into tools rather than mindsets. What we need to rebuild is the mindset—it’s like the cathedral we talked about. The tools change with time, but the mindset stays the same.

And that mindset is about collaboration, being people-driven, understanding networks and their fluidity. Nothing is really new under the sun; it’s the stories we tell that change. The danger is putting the tool in control. AI, for example, is just large learning models—it only works with text, only sees causality, doesn’t understand context, history, or three-dimensional time.

When I work on transforming an organisation, I start with people first. Think ecosystems, think ripple effects. Have the courage and curiosity to ask, “What if?” and “What’s next?” That’s what distinguishes companies genuinely preparing for the future from those locked in short-term logic. The former innovate, pivot and adapt; the latter cling to fixed solutions, processes and tools.

It’s also about purpose. Companies need to focus on the impact they want to have, not just the solution to a problem. Even countries can adopt this mindset: Estonia, Moldova, parts of the Eastern Bloc are thinking this way at a national scale. Paris is building towards the 15-minute city. If we bring everything back together—companies, cities, ecosystems—we create something sustainable, innovative, and fun. And that’s the part we’re missing: having fun while we prepare for the future.

Have the courage and curiosity to ask, “What if?” and “What’s next?”. That’s what distinguishes companies genuinely preparing for the future from those locked in short-term logic. The former innovate, pivot and adapt; the latter cling to fixed solutions and tools.

Your leadership roles often involve navigating complex and demanding stakeholder environments. From your own journey, what is important in building credibility and influence as a woman in these spaces? And how does the WIL community support you in this path and help women gain visibility in strategic and future-oriented fields?

It hasn’t been an easy journey as a woman in the male-dominated industries and cultures I’ve worked in. Often, women are underestimated—“you’re only in sustainability” or “design doesn’t make you strategic.” But leadership isn’t about proving yourself; it’s about collaboration. No one knows it all, and a leader’s role is to bring the most interesting voices to the table, distill ideas, and create a vision that moves forward. It’s about the collective, not tunnel-visioned consensus.

Credibility comes from focusing on purpose and ecosystems. The community’s well-being is a direct benefit for the organisation. We must be scouts, reading landscapes together, helping each other navigate and move forward. This is where the WIL community is invaluable: it creates networks that give women visibility and influence in strategic, future-oriented fields. It’s about shaping your path while lifting others along the way.

A historical example that inspires me is Florence Nightingale. She transformed what was invisible—care—into an economic opportunity for women, convincing the Admiralty to pay nurses and training them to save lives. That’s the kind of strategic influence we need: turning challenges into lasting impact.

From this experience, my invitation to the WIL community is simple: start with one-on-one connections, expand into a fluid network, and collide multiple perspectives. Let’s create ecosystems where women have the visibility, credibility, and influence to lead in shaping the future. Leadership, in this sense, is less about position and more about vision and creating systems where everyone can thrive.