Sasha Baillie seeks to use her experience to help promote the Luxembourg economy. Prior to joining Luxinnovation, Baillie was deputy chief of staff at the economy ministry and director of international economic relations and European affairs at the foreign affairs ministry.

She also chairs the steering committee for foreign trade and investment, which is in charge of developing and implementing the country’s economic development strategy.

“Thanks to this experience,” she said, “I have gained a good understanding of our country’s interests, especially in the economic field. I aim to use this insight to optimise the work of Luxinnovation and ensure that we work coherently with our various partners in government and in the private sector.”

In her opinion, it is vital to “understand the interests of all our partners and to find a common ground in order to move things forward together.”

Baillie describes her management style as “network leadership”. She explained that this means “taking account of specific individual concerns, understanding the broader common interest and joining forces to avoid a compartmentalised manner of working.”

In her new role, Baillie would like to “ensure that our partners and the companies that we serve are more aware of the tremendous expertise and support the team at Luxinnovation can provide.

I would like companies to realise that working with Luxinnovation will bring real added value to their innovation projects and considerably help them to succeed.”

Going forward she wants to motivate Luxembourg-based companies to “innovate and grow in a smart, sustainable way and help them prepare for the future challenges that new, and sometimes disruptive, technologies bring about.”

This article was first published in the June 2018 edition of Delano Magazine.