Nicolas Niggli

Co-Founder - Oⁿ Venture Studio

Nicholas C. Niggli is a globally recognised expert in complex negotiation, high-stakes mediation, geoeconomics and institutional resilience. A former senior Swiss diplomat and public-sector executive, he chaired the renegotiation of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, led accession negotiations involving China, mediated sensitive international disputes, and later served as Director General and Deputy Secretary General of the Republic and State of Geneva. He also chaired the WTO Pension Plan Management Board through the global financial crisis, leading major governance and institutional finance reforms.

For over a decade, as Guest Faculty at the Geneva Graduate Institute, he has developed and led advanced negotiation simulations for leaders and students. Designed as strategic laboratories rather than traditional role-play, they place participants in realistic environments shaped by pressure, incomplete information, shifting coalitions and power asymmetry.

Today, he is Co-Founder of Oⁿ Venture Studio, Co-Chairman of the Board of the Green Digital Finance Alliance, and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Institute for Sustainable Development. His work sits at the intersection of negotiation, emerging global risk, artificial intelligence and institutional adaptation, focusing on how leaders and institutions can build resilience and find pathways where conventional approaches are no longer enough.