Monica Defend is the head of the Amundi Institute, a Paris-based investment research unit of Amundi, the only European firm listed in the global asset management Top 10, with some two trillion euro in assets under management. In this podcast interview with Investment Officer's international editor Raymond Frenken, she speaks about investing in a restless world, navigating geopolitical uncertainty, opportunities in emerging markets and on the impact of artificial intelligence on economic forecasting and investment decisions. The Amundi Research Institute was created in 2022 to deepen the firm’s strategic dialogue with clients. The institute sits at the heart of the global investment process at Amundi, which manages some two trillion euro in assets. Defend, who joined the firm as a quant analyst in 1997, has been in charge since its launch.  Investment Officer is an editorially independent media platform in the Benelux countries providing industry news and insights to investment professionals working for asset owners, asset managers and asset servicing companies. The Netherlands: http://www.investmentofficer.nl Belgium: http://www.investmentofficer.be Luxembourg: http://www.investmentofficer.lu