At UBS Think Tank Y, young scientists are thinking about the future of the bank. Who are we? What can we hope for? What should we do? In ancient times, thinkers met under a tree, drew in the sand and tried to understand the world.

OCT. 21, 2016 | 5 MIN. READ

The modern mind workers meet in an office in the suburbs, surf the Internet, read blogs and scribble and sketch their thoughts on colorful Post-its. “In 2040, 9 billion people will live in the world. Sea levels are rising. And digitization is making work scarce.” Markus Iofcea sits at the meeting table in a black T-shirt and jeans and explains what he is doing. He is not apocalyptic. On the contrary, he heads UBS Y, a think tank that is intended to give the bank new impetus for the future.

“We can't predict the future, but we can think about it,” explains the IT engineer. The five-member team consists of the boss, an anthropologist, an economist with a cultural background, a designer and a communication designer—all from different countries. Their mission: to understand the needs of society in the 21st century from a global perspective.

They work in the premises of BlueLion, an idea factory for start-ups in Zurich-Schwamendingen. “We think networked and try to introduce new ways of thinking into the bank,” explains Markus Iofcea. This requires a suitable environment. The rooms in the former car dealership are reminiscent of the creative disorder at Google. There are meeting boxes and quiet zones. The walls are filled with little notes and posters. Since its foundation two years ago, the think tank has dealt with the topic of work. “We see ourselves as future archaeologists,” says Iofcea. The result is visions, concepts, blogs, and a publication. They show why more people will work as freelancers in the future and why creativity and design are crucial for tomorrow's economy.

In Schwamendingen, the future has only partially begun. At 11 a.m., all UBS Y employees sit concentrated in front of their monitors. Nobody is playing table tennis or doing the handstand in a corner. Is that the future of work? “Our working hours are classic, but the environment is not. Sometimes we go to the library, the university or the airport to be inspired.” The first think tanks were built in the USA at the beginning of the 20th century. Even then, it was all about thinking creatively away from operational constraints. Iofcea emphasizes: “We don't have to work on business models. We have to show in which direction the journey is going.” It also took the ancient thinkers a while for an idea to mature into a new technology.