Insights from Chemical Summit 2025: Culture, Agility, and Technology - Ep. 237

People and culture are at the heart of transformation in an AI-enabled world—especially for chemical industry leaders navigating rapid change. Host Victoria Meyer recaps the highlights from The Chemical Summit 2025, where leaders gathered in Houston to share perspectives on business strategy, workforce evolution, technology, and sustainability. The central themes included the critical role of organizational culture, the need for strong collaboration and business agility, and how digital tools and AI are reshaping work across the sector.

STAY CONNECTED ALL YEAR: Join the Chemical Executive Mastermind.  New cohort starting in November.  Check it out HERE. 

Listeners get insights from keynote speakers and panelists on purpose-driven leadership, the realities of upskilling talent, and the impact of new technology on daily operations. Victoria explores how companies are building resilience in supply chains, creating customer value beyond price, responding to economic volatility, and implementing AI not as a job-taker, but as a growth engine.  

Victoria discusses the following topics: 

1. How leaders are reshaping workplaces to thrive in the AI-powered chemical industry.   
2. The strategies and collaboration driving chemical companies to stay nimble and deliver value.   
3. Real stories of AI and digitalization fueling industry innovation and trust.   
4. Data-driven trends in employee satisfaction, well-being, and skill development.   
5. How executives are steering their companies through disruption and towards lasting success. 

 "People and culture are the backbone of transformation in an AI enabled world." - Victoria Meyer 

Creators and Guests

Host

Victoria Meyer

Host of The Chemical Show; founder and President of Progressio Global

What is The Chemical Show: Where Leaders Talk Business?

Looking to lead, grow, and stay ahead in the trillion-dollar global chemical industry? The Chemical Show - the #1 business podcast for the chemical industry - is your go-to resource for leadership insights, business strategies, and real-world lessons from the executives shaping the future of chemicals. Grow your knowledge, your network, and your impact.

Each week, you'll hear from executives from across the industry - from Fortune 50 to midsize to startups. You’ll hear how they're tacking today's challenges and opportunities, their origin story (what got them here!), how you can take and apply these lessons and insights to your own business and career.

We talk:
- Business Transformation
- Innovation
- Digitization of business
- Strategy
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- and so much more

Founder and host Victoria King Meyer is an expert interviewer - who brings out the best in each guest. She gained her industry experience at leading companies, including Shell, LyondellBasell and Clariant. Today, she is a high-performance coach and advisor to business leaders in chemicals and energy, as well as the host of The Chemical Show podcast, and founder of The Chemical Summit.

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Websites:
https://www.thechemicalshow.com
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Speaker 24: Welcome to The Chemical Show,
the podcast where Chemical means business.

I'm your host, Victoria Meyer,
bringing you stories and insights

from leaders driving innovation and
growth across the chemical industry.

Each week we explore key trends,
real world challenges, and the

strategies that make an impact.

Let's get started.

Victoria: Welcome back to The Chemical
Show Where Leaders Talk Business.

Today's episode is focusing
on insights and highlights

from The Chemical Summit 2025.

So just two weeks ago on
September 30th and October 1st,

chemical leaders gathered in hu.

Chemical leaders gathered in
Houston for the Chemical Summit.

Two powerful days of panels and speakers.

Lots of audience engagement, networking,
connection building, and building insights

that these leaders are taking back to
their companies to influence strategy,

culture, and direction over the next year.

Today I am sharing some of the key
themes plus some clips from speakers

from this year's Chemical Summit.

And I'm just gonna say there was so much
energy and engagement and enthusiasm

in the room for these topics and more,
and, and the buzz is palpable because

one of the things that happens at the
Chemical Summit, it's not just what

People are saying on stage, it's also
what the audience is talking about

and they are talking and engaging
with each other over all of these big

topics, topics that you're probably
working on in your company as well.

So I'm bringing you some insights today
and, um, hope that it's valuable to you.

So to sum it all up,

if you take one.

Statement away from what the overall
theme and the reflection of the

Chemical Summit is, is that people
and culture are the backbone of

transformation in an AI enabled world.

That's it.

Um, is that new and novel?

No, because people and culture
have always been the backbone of

transformation, but it's the way in
which we're manifesting it today.

So we covered a lot of topics
at the Chemical Summit.

Everything from business
transformation to startups, supply

chain, talent, pricing psychology
and customer value, the business of

sustainability, digitization, and AI.

Global economics and geopolitics.

So a lot two days action packed with
all the topics that a leader needs to

know as they are going about influencing
strategy, influencing business

direction, and leading their companies.

Um, the underpinning theme.

Throughout every conversation
virtually was about AI, and the reality

is AI is influencing everything.

You guys aren't surprised by that.

You kind of maybe have to be living
under a rock if you are not aware about

how AI influenced our world is on a
personal level and on a business level.

At the same time, people are still
grappling, companies are still grappling

with what does that mean for me?

How do I do this?

How do I make this work for my company?

Um, and we're gonna talk about that more.

So, um, recognizing we are
in an AI enabled world.

We are going through some tough
times across much of the industry.

Good times in other places.

, It's definitely a mix, but we're, um,
we're gonna be talking about that today.

Three big themes, um, that I'm
gonna bucket these insights in.

The first is people and culture.

The second is business agility and
alignment, and the third theme is

technology as a transformation engine.

So I'm gonna start with people.

So much conversation about the
importance of people and culture.

Your people, your business,
your stakeholders.

They all want to matter.

They want to matter.

They want to succeed.

They want to contribute to a
strong business and a culture

that drives success and longevity.

The first keynote speaker of day
one of The Chemical Summit following

me was Todd Nelmark, who is the
CEO of Verdant Specialty Solutions.

And Todd talked about transformation
and the transformation journey

that he has seen in companies
throughout his career and that he

is currently leading Verdant on.

Um, and this whole piece
that he really stressed was

transformation is about alignment.

And it's about people.

Um, and one of the things he specifically
said is, purpose is why we exist.

Strategy is where we play and how we win.

And culture is how we
behave when no one's.

So I'm gonna introduce a clip
from Todd here, um, so that you

can hear, uh, from him directly.

The other piece around this that Todd
really emphasized, um, as part of the pay

playbook for transformation is getting the
right people on the bus, getting people

in the right seats on the bus, and being
able to act quickly when change is needed.

So.

Getting the right culture, getting the
right people in the right places, um,

to use that as a way of driving your
business and your business transformation.

Todd Nelmark: If there's one lesson
I learned from the lab bench, the

control room, and the boardroom, it's
this purpose, strategy, and culture

are the same decision made three ways.

They only move at pace when the
right people are in the right seats

and they communicate effectively.

When you know why you exist,
you'll know where to play.

When you know where to play, you'll know
how to behave, behave that way long enough

and performance tells the story for you.

The music of a healthy
company isn't an accident.

It's a choice you make every day on
the plant floor in the r and d lab,

in the boardroom, where the customer
who needs you to be a little better, a

little faster, a little more dependable.

Make these choices with purpose.

Anchor them in strategy and
protect them with culture.

Power them with people and
you'll build something that lasts

Victoria: Milan Taylor
from Mercer brought data.

He brought a lot of data in
about people and culture and

talent in the chemical industry.

Mercer is a premier.

People, strategy, risk management,
consulting, organization.

They work with companies
all across the world.

Milan specifically focused his
insights around, um, surveys that

they've done in extracting data
around the chemical industry and

chemical industry participants.

So, super interesting facts.

Here's a few factoid for you.

Um, first of all.

Chemical employees are have high levels
of engagement and job satisfaction.

Like 71% of chemical employees say that
they are very satisfied or satisfied or

very satisfied and engaged in their jobs.

Great.

Awesome.

Super wonderful to hear.

However, over 60% say that they
are worried about their health,

both physical and mental.

So you could think, is this a
function of workplace safety?

I think we've gone a long way with that.

So I, it's the dialogue was actually,
maybe it's a little bit less than that.

It's a bit about, um, the
aging workforce, which on.

General basis across the industry.

We've got an aging workforce, um, but
also just the change in the stress.

And there's a lot of stuff going with
on with everybody's companies right now.

You guys know that.

So 60% worried about their health,
50% actively looking for a new job.

So you're like, hang tight.

71% said that they are highly
satisfied with their jobs and

yet 50% are actively looking.

I don't know.

I, you know what?

Maybe somebody can respond.

'cause we all, we had some
speculation about why that was.

Um, is it a demographic shift?

Is the fact that the industry is going
through such a major transformation?

I don't know.

But it's also around this
fact of we need to continue to

upskill our workforce, right?

The work that we do every day is changing
whether you're in the office, whether

you're working in manufacturing, whether
you're out in logistics, helping move

product around the work is changing.

One of the things that's changing
work, and again, we talked about AI

being an underpinning theme throughout
the conference, is the need to both

upskill and communicate while doing so.

And this was an interesting factoid.

So you know, again, people
are a bit uncertain, right?

They're a little stressed out, um, about
Their roles, while they're very satisfied,

they're also a little stressed out.

Um, and something like one third of
employees that were on this Mercer

survey reported that no one in their
organization has spoken to them

about the impact of AI on their job.

Surprising.

Again, a lot of dialogue.

Why would that be?

Well, maybe because we
haven't figured it all out.

We're still in this
experimentation phase of ai.

Yes.

But if you have one takeaway, go talk
to your team members about how are you

using AI, what does it mean for your job?

Um, and I think the collective
conversation was that.

AI is not taking away jobs.

It is changing the way we work.

It's enhancing the way we work.

Maybe we're working on different things
because we're using AI to do other things.

, But people are still critical
in our industry in the roles

that we have to your culture.

So that's, that's another tidbit.

Milan Taylor: So I think that adoption
curve of what technology looks

like as you transform is critical.

But if we go back and a third of
employees have not heard from leaders,

from anybody in their organization
about what this does, speaks to that

level of anxiety and that, uh, challenge

Two in three employees tell us that
they trust, they trust all of you,

that if their job goes because of
AI, you will find them another one.

Now, I'm not so sure that in the current
economic climate you will do that,

and I have no data to evidence that,
but I suspect the compelling call of

improving the profit line is going to be
the ascendant factor in that decision.

But two and three of your employees
trust you that you will re-skill

them or find them another job.

31% of employees, we've talked a
bit about this, are reluctant to try

any new technology in the workplace.

Uh, and I think that's something
you're gonna have to really work with

your, uh, chief technology officers
and your HR leaders to get over.

So I think the next frontier as
you bring all this together is

trying to figure out what does AI
actually mean in a work environment?

What does it mean for your employees?

How do you redesign work?

Because I think at the end of
the day, putting in AI into your

organizations is not about technology.

It's about trust.

You can implement technology
pretty well in the industry.

This is all about what does
the future workforce look like.

And you need, I think, to think
about, uh, how you develop

your organizational structure.

Victoria: Finally, in this people
and culture space, we had a panel on

talent that included people from across
the industry representing different

levels and different participants
in the industry, manufacturing and

people working on the shop floor,
executive leadership, et cetera.

Um, and one of the things that we
really talked about that stood out

to me in particular and that stood
out to others is the importance of

being deliberate with your culture.

Right.

So culture is gonna happen, but being very
deliberate in your culture is critical.

And in fact, we talked a little bit about
this in the context of M&A and we've got

a lot of changes in the industry, right?

Companies buying and selling people,
moving companies, maybe there's

some m and a work in combinations.

Um, bringing the culture
conversation earlier is critical.

Um, and being very specific about.

What your culture is
and naming your culture.

So The Chemical Show way, the Olin
culture, um, Kelly Soudelier from

Olin was one of our executives
that were on, was on the panel.

the Verdant culture,
your company's culture.

Point to what it is, who you are.

It's part of your identity.

What is your culture?

I think if we look across, um, not just
the chemical industry, other industries,

every company has a culture, some of whom
you can point to and you're like, oh yeah.

I see that.

I see that all wrapped up in how you
approach things, how you talk about

things, how you do business, what's
your company culture, what is the

culture that you want to be able to
succeed and thrive as we go through

these industry transformations.

Culture is everyone's responsibility
and people is everyone's responsibility.

So we need to kind of embrace that
vernacular because clearly as we

continue to go into this next decade
of chemical industry, we're going

through a transformation right now.

Right?

Arguably the longest down
cycle we've seen in decades.

Cultural shifts are happening,
business transformation is happening,

and getting people to embrace
it and recognize it is critical.

Theme number two that came through of
those two days of the chemical summit.

Business agility, alignment,
and collaboration.

Right?

So I've talked about this recently
about where we are as an industry, um,

and what is critical to success here
in Q4 as we go into 2026 and beyond,

and it's around strategic discipline,

Aligned processes and
fundamentally collaboration.

So I'm, I'm grouping in some
comments from three different panels.

Um, one was the supply chain panel
and just how we're harnessing

supply chain resilience to
drive business in the future.

And.

Abdul Salam.

Hagar from Clariant was
one of our panelists.

Brilliant guy.

So we talked about just the
importance of supply chain.

Companies Started to understand that
supply chain is not just about execution.

Supply chain needs to be
integrated from the get go.

Your business and your
long-term strategic planning.

Right.

So again, this gets to not just execution,
but also alignment and collaboration.

Um, we also talked about the
fact so much of supply chain is

influenced by technology, right?

And the technology and digital
tools that are available today for

visibility, for planning, for integration
across partners are not optional.

They're necessary.

They're necessary.

They're a standard state of business.

This provides alignment.

It's around getting strategic discipline
and ensuring business agility.

Speaker 12: I think what is
becoming really important is, you

know, I think you usually really
focus on the customer, right?

We want to deliver our goods on time,
and we want to have the right stockpiles

for our customers so we can also execute
our production on time and deliver.

What becomes more and more
important is that we actually

also look backward, right?

That we, from an integrated perspective,
involve our procurement departments,

involve our logistics departments,
and make sure that we really

monitor, you know, first of all, the
developments in the market, right?

Especially now with, you know,
not just geopolitically, but

also, um, regarding tariffs.

But, um, really start monitoring
and holding also our, you know,

our suppliers accountable, right?

Um, I think this is becoming more and
more, uh, at the, at the, or becoming

more and more at the forefront, and
digitization actually helps a lot there.

So, um, instead of, you know, your classic
communication patterns that you have.

Um, there are so many technologies out
there, some more advanced than others to

integrate with your suppliers directly,

Victoria: Right.

Um, when we talked about the business
case for sustainability, you know, we've

seen, you guys have seen, I've seen
a lot of announcements of these big

projects that are getting delayed and yet.

Are people still working
on sustainability?

Oh, yeah.

And we talked a lot about
that and ensuring that there's

an ROI for sustainability.

Sean Stephan from OxyChem, talked
about how, um, the engineers, their

plants, their manufacturing people
are submitting all kinds of projects.

All of which are efficiency gains and
all of which are sustainability gains.

These are the fundamentals to the
business case for sustainability.

Again, back to strategic discipline,
business agility, responding

where's needed, um, and aligning.

Speaker 2: I'm a Lean six
Sigma master black belt.

Okay.

Oh really?

The old school.

And so our job was to go in and save
money, so we were reducing gas energy

defects, waste everything a long
time ago, re-engineering things to

make him work better, more efficient.

That's something that was natural
and that's why it was easy for

me to come into this space.

And, and so everything that we do, so when
you have, we have engineers submitting

projects that are like switching out fan
blades, automation, variable speed drives.

Saving water tower automation,
software, all this stuff.

Yeah.

It all comes with less
chemicals to save money.

It drives a carbon down.

So now I have a low carbon
product that costs less to make.

Victoria: And then the third,
uh, piece on this topic was

really around customer value.

Um, and how customer value is
inherently, deeply cross-functional.

So we had a, a speaker on pricing,
pricing psychology actually.

And we had a panel on customer value
and how do we move beyond price?

How do we create better prices?

, How do we create better
value for our customers?

Really the panel, , which included
leaders from ExxonMobil, Sasol, and

Simon Kucher, , they emphasize that value
creation isn't just the job of sales.

This is not just one or two people's
job to make sure that you've articulated

value, that you've created value,
that you're getting the best price,

that you're securing the best.

Deals and contracts for your business.

, It exists at every organizational
layer, whether it's supply chain,

commercial r and d, your operations.

Everybody's got a, a piece of this.

Collaboration is critical to
creating maximum value appropriately.

I mean, I'm gonna say
appropriate maximum value.

'cause you don't always want
to create maximum value.

I might delete all this.

I mean, I do this.

So collaboration is key for creating
customer value, the right level of

customer value for your customers.

Mike: In order to grow, the first
thing it starts with is you have

to have an opportunity set that
is significant and valuable.

And so how do you get an opportunity
set in today's environment

that, that meets that criteria?

For me, the most important
capability is the ability to

collaborate with third parties.

Um, you have to be able to work with
customers, suppliers, consultants,

others in the industry, uh, to
come up with the best ideas.

Because the, the brutal truth
is none of our organizations

has all of the best ideas.

We all have a lot of good ideas,
but there's more good ideas outside

of our organization and inside.

So if we can bring multiple parties
together to collaborate, to develop

that opportunity set than the systems,
the processes, the people, the

technology has something to target.

Victoria: Our third theme that came
through, again, I already told you AI

and digitization, were ongoing topics
through every part of the conference.

Um, and this is that technology is
the transformation engine, right?

So if we think about where we are
today in 2025 and where we want to be

in 2030 or 2035, or heck even in 2026.

Technology is the engine and in
fact, halal Kaplan from Node.

Is a quote from him.

It's AI is like an
internal combustion engine.

It's not the result.

It's what powers everything.

And I think that is just
brilliant because, you know,

we've gone through this phase.

Maybe you're still in this phase
wondering like, oh, what about ai?

How is AI doing?

Is AI taking my job?

Is it not taking my job?

It's not, um, it's an engine.

It's a tool.

We need to absolutely need to harness it.

It.

But, but we, the people
need to harness it.

Um, and in fact, Milan, Taylor,
I'm going back to Milan.

He had so many great nuggets
in his speech about talent.

He talked about, it's not about the
technology, it's about the trust.

You can implement technology
pretty well in the industry.

Maybe you feel like you're behind, maybe
you feel like your head, but it's about

the trust, the trust in your workforce,
the training in your workforce to how to

monetize and how to use this technology.

Effectively, um, I think this
whole aspect of, um, fostering.

A culture of risk-taking.

Big, big conversations about the fact
that technology is moving so quickly.

We have to experiment.

We have to experiment,
we have to take risks.

We have to try things and
say, yeah, that was great.

Not gonna work again.

Um, and in fact, Charlie Laurie, who

was the moderator on
the digitization panel.

He talked about technology
experimentation a little bit like

we experiment in the lab, right?

So we try formulations, we do
experiments, we're creating new molecules.

They are not right the first time.

We go through dozens of
experiments, dozens of combinations

to get to the right solution.

And technology's a
little bit the same way.

We're in a period where it is rapidly
advancing, you need to give yourself

room to experiment, to figure out
what works, what doesn't work for your

company, your organization and the
tools themselves and the technologies

themselves are changing immediately.

Shabnam Najan from Evonik, who
is on our digitization panel.

She talked about digital transformation.

It's not about technology.

So again, even though we said technology
is a transformation engine, it is.

Um, but digital transformation,
it's about making things better and

being business first, technology
second, and then the people.

It's like this, this three things that go
together that I've already talked about.

People and culture, technology and
business agility and execution.

So critical to success and transformation.

Speaker 13: Jimmy you mentioned
yesterday a lot of, uh, chemical

industry is a very regulated market.

Yes, that's true.

I always say regulation is a
double-edged sword, but the regulations

such as REACH TSCA GHS, that needs
the AI to be adoptable, auditable,

traceable, aligned with the lots
of, um, governance, uh, rule.

And that will slow down the process.

Yeah.

But at the same time, the good part is.

You can trust the data, you
can get the high quality data.

And then the last one, which I
think the most important one,

we heard it all yesterday.

We heard it all today, is
about culture, is about people.

Yep.

Implementing new technologies easy.

You can implement as many technologies as
you want, but if you don't have the people

that they don't believe in technology
or more importantly, they drive this

technology, the technology will fail.

So I would say the chemical
is making a great change.

The, they put digitalization
as part of their strategy.

They are empowering the people, but
it is still a very uneven journey.

Victoria: All right, that is a highlight
of the themes coming out of two great

days of conversations, speakers, panels
and attendees at the Chemical Summit,

People and culture are the backbone of
transformation in an AI enabled world.

All three are needed to
work together, right?

People and culture, business agility and
alignment, which you can also translate

to strategy, process, and collaboration.

And then technology is
the transformation engine.

And it's an engine.

It's not the result.

It's helping us get where we need to go.

So, um, that's it for today.

Lots of great conversations and insights.

If you have any questions,
reach out and let me know.

And if you're feeling some fomo,
like, oh, I should have been there.

Yes, you should have been
there, be there next year.

We're working on finalizing our dates.

Um, The Chemical Summit will be
happening again in fall of 2026.

And in the meantime, if you are
looking for ongoing engagement,

thought leadership, with peers
across the chemical industry.

Stay tuned, uh, for the
Chemical Executive Mastermind.

In fact, you can join the wait list.

I will include the link in the show
notes so you can head straight there.

And that is where leaders connect
and meet together over the course of

a year to talk about key topics that
are affecting the industry, get some

connection and insight from peers.

Fundamentally grow their leadership
for themselves and their businesses.

So that's it today for the Chemical Show.

Thank you for joining us today.

Keep listening, keep following,
keep sharing, and we will

talk with you again soon.

Speaker 25: Thanks for joining
us today on The Chemical Show.

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For more insights, visit
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You can find me at Victoria King
Meyer on LinkedIn, and you can also

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Join us next time for more
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