"Classic into Gold" Goes Live on the 24th, 21 and IBM Jointly Explore New Pathways for Enterprise Breakthrough

Southern Finance, 21st Century Business Herald Reporter Li Yinong

In a time of rapid technological iteration and reshaping global patterns, companies stand at the crossroads of a new wave of transformation.

On one side, new technologies continuously break boundaries, reconstructing industry division of labor and competition rules; on the other side, the complexity of geopolitical, market, and policy environments continues to rise, making corporate decision-making more difficult than ever.

As digital transformation enters the “deep water zone,” AI reshapes industry logic and globalization paths evolve, more and more companies are realizing: what is truly scarce is not information, but the judgment ability to penetrate complexity.

Based on this, 21st Century Business Herald, in partnership with IBM, is launching “The Golden Standard — Chief Strategy Hall.” The first season will officially premiere on March 24, 2026 (Tuesday).

In an era full of noise and divergence, this program aims to do something more challenging and valuable — to extract verifiable and learnable cognitive frameworks from complex viewpoints, providing companies and decision-makers with a more certain judgment coordinate.

A High-Density “Viewpoint × Empirical” Dialogue

“The Golden Standard — Chief Strategy Hall” is a high-end roundtable dialogue program jointly created by 21st Century Business Herald and IBM. This program focuses on core issues in global business transformation, aiming to provide forward-looking wisdom through high-density, intense intellectual exchanges to help decision-makers anchor their direction amid complex changes. The program features a “powerful complement of viewpoints and empirical evidence,” inviting a strategic thinker to share insights and a practical expert to analyze in-depth cases, forming a high-concentration, high-density cognitive resonance.

In an environment of increasing uncertainty, the show hopes to offer decision-makers a clearer path: how to anchor direction amid complex changes.

Three Key Topics, Confronting Real Business Challenges

This season’s program revolves around three of the most pressing current issues.

Breaking Through the “Deep Water Zone” of Digital Transformation

Currently, digital transformation has entered the “deep water zone.”

Most companies have passed the initial technology popularization stage but are generally stuck in a bottleneck of “huge investments with vague results.”

Technological tools emerge endlessly but often create new data silos;

Localized efficiency improvements are significant but difficult to shake traditional business models and organizational inertia.

CEOs face a common question:

How to make digital investment strongly correlated with core business growth?

As the transformation enters a new stage of “cognitive intelligence + automated decision-making,”

How can companies truly achieve the leap from technology application to business restructuring?

【Guest Speakers】

Li Min, Vice President of IBM Greater China

Yang Jigang, Vice President of IBM Greater China

AI + Innovation, the Breakthrough Path in the Greater Bay Area

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is transitioning from a “manufacturing base” to an “international science and technology innovation center,” forming a technological innovation engine (Shenzhen), an industrial and commercial hub (Guangzhou), an international financial and capital gateway (Hong Kong), and a cultural tourism and regional cooperation window (Macao).

Under policy support and industrial clustering, the Greater Bay Area has become the best testing ground for enterprise digitalization, AI application, and cross-border collaboration.

IBM regards the Greater Bay Area as a highland for AI + industry integration and innovation, using the “Client Zero” model to position itself as the first practitioner of AI implementation, validating technological and commercial value.

From technology deployment to business transformation, how can enterprises verify the innovative value in real scenarios?

And how can the advantages of the Greater Bay Area be transformed into catalysts for industrial development?

【Guest Speakers】

Zhang Xinyi, Partner at IBM Consulting Greater China, General Manager of Greater Bay Area Consulting Services

Hu Yi, Partner at IBM Consulting China, Enterprise Systems Division

Chinese Enterprises Going Global 2.0: From “Going Out” to “Going In”

Globalization is being redefined.

Against the backdrop of geopolitical restructuring and profound evolution of globalization forms, Chinese companies’ overseas expansion has entered a new stage.

The previous “product going out” is upgrading to “systematic going out” and “capital going out,” encompassing comprehensive globalization of brands, operations, supply chains, and talent systems.

Meanwhile, compliance networks are becoming more complex, localization challenges are intensifying, and global operational resilience is under test.

Enterprises need not only to “go out,” but also to “go in” and “integrate.”

In this new stage of going abroad, how can Chinese companies truly become multinational corporations?

【Guest Speakers】

Dong Haijun, Partner at IBM Consulting Greater China, General Manager of Strategy and Transformation Consulting

Yu Chen, Partner at IBM Consulting Greater China, General Manager of Talent and Transformation Services

Finding Clearer Answers in Complex Issues

From the deep challenges of digital transformation,

to AI-driven regional innovation,

and the comprehensive upgrade of the “going out” logic—

“The Golden Standard — Chief Strategy Hall” aims to present not just trend judgments but also the choices and paths companies take in real environments. At the intersection of viewpoints and practice, problems are clarified, and answers gradually emerge.

March 24, 25, 26

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Watch Season One of “The Golden Standard — Chief Strategy Hall”