Biography
Ann Mettler brings over 25 years of experience in public policy, specializing at the nexus of technology, innovation, investment, and industrial policy. She has served as senior adviser to global leaders, including Bill Gates and Jean-Claude Juncker, former President of the European Commission (2014–2019).
Currently, Ann is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Columbia University's Center for Global Energy Policy, as well as an adviser to Kinnevik, a leading European investment fund.
From 2020 to 2025, Ann was Vice President for Europe at Breakthrough Energy, an organization founded by Bill Gates to accelerate the clean energy transition. Prior to that, from 2014-2019, she served as Director-General and Head of the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC), the European Commission’s in-house think tank.
While at the Commission, Ann chaired the European Strategy and Policy Analyses System (ESPAS), the EU’s inter-institutional process dedicated to strategic foresight and global trends. She is widely credited with elevating the role of foresight, anticipation and preparedness in EU policymaking.
Earlier in her career, Ann co-founded The Lisbon Council, a Brussels-based think tank focused on the knowledge economy, which she led as Executive Director for over a decade. Between 2000 and 2003, she worked at the World Economic Forum, most recently as Director for Europe.
A dual citizen of Germany and Sweden, Ann has lived and worked in Greece, the US, Switzerland and Belgium. She holds Master’s degrees in Political Science and European Law & Economics, graduating with distinction from the University of New Mexico and Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University in Bonn. In 2016, she completed the executive education program 'Innovative Technology Leader' at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.