Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala—CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala, CEO of AC Mobility and one of the next-generation leaders at conglomerate Ayala Corp., is the sole Filipino included by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) in its Young Global Leaders (YGL) Class of 2024, marking another milestone for the 32-year-old executive.
The only son of Ayala chair Jaime Augusto joins nearly 90 other “dynamic and diverse” youth leaders from across the globe spanning various sectors, including politics, business and civil society, honored for their contribution to economic development and social welfare.
“This recognition celebrates Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala’s leadership in driving AC Mobility to lead the Philippines’ [electric vehicle] transition and become not only the country’s leading mobility ecosystem, but also one of the next growth engines for the Ayala group,” Ayala Corp. said in a statement on Thursday night.
The Zobel scion has been at the helm of AC Mobility, the Ayala Group’s mobility arm, since September 2023. Prior to that, he was co-head of Ayala strategy and development group and oversaw the capital deployment process for new ventures.
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He graduated from Harvard University with a concentration in government and a secondary concentration in visual and environmental studies. He also attended Columbia Business School, where he got his master’s degree in business administration.
Next-generation leaders
The young Zobel previously told the Inquirer that it was important for his generation of leaders to ensure that their initiatives were generating “genuine stakeholder impact.”
“For the present generation of family members and employees, we hope to follow in our forebears’ footsteps. We hope to continue along this path of impact and shared value creation, while making sure that the projects and businesses we launch are relevant and meaningful to the many people that we touch,” he said.
Jaime Alfonso was given the distinction for driving the Ayala group’s capital deployment into high-growth sectors “that have transformative impact on the Philippines’ economy and the communities.”
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He joins seven other new YGLs in Southeast Asia, including McKinsey and Co. Malaysia managing partner Vidhya Ganesan, Singapore-based Strategic Advocacy for Human Rights Inc. founder Natasha Latiff and Vietnam-based Beacon Fund CEO Shuyin Tang.
“They represent the future of leadership, and we are confident that their perspectives and innovative ideas will contribute significantly to addressing the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Ida Jeng Christensen, head of the Forum of Young Global Leaders.