Leadership Next

Climate change will force almost every industry to move away from dependence on fossil fuels. Automotive is no exception, where EVs are gaining in popularity in certain sections of the United States and across the globe. This week on Leadership Next, Diane speaks to Bill Nash, CEO of CarMax, one of the nation’s largest car resellers. Nash started his career at electronics retailer Circuit City, which was at that time CarMax's parent company. The episode is a wide-ranging conversation about trends in the car industry, the impact of high interest rates on consumers' buying habits, and the Tesla effect on the EV market. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

The climate crisis will require a whole host of solutions—spanning technology, investment, and policy. It’s this intersection that is now the focus for Tom Steyer, who’s had a hugely successful career as an investor, and more recently a Democratic political candidate. Through his company Galvanize Climate Solutions, Steyer is now investing in firms on the forefront of the climate fight. On this episode of Leadership Next, he spoke to Diane about the future of EVs, investing in infrastructure to combat climate change, and China’s climate opportunity. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Technology has fundamentally altered retail shopping habits, as savvy customers know they can buy almost anything they want with a single tap of their smartphones. But JCPenney, the iconic American department store brand, says customers still value in-store shopping. For Marc Rosen, who had a long career at Levi Strauss & Co. and Walmart before taking over as JCPenney CEO in 2021, customer focus has been key. On this week’s episiode of Leadership Next, Rosen talks to Diane about back-to-school shopping, why customers don’t like to buy clothing where they get groceries, and about how technology continues to shake up retail. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Can lessons learned in the world of sports translate in the world business? Jim Kavanaugh, CEO of the tech behemoth World Wide Technology, ought to know. Long before he cofounded World Wide Technology in 1990, he represented the United States as a member of the 1984 Olympic soccer team. On this week's episode of Leadership Next, Kavanaugh talks to Diane about the AI boom, the benefits of running a tech company from the Midwest, and the surge in popularity of soccer in the United States. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

What does a duck know about selling insurance? Nothing, unless you're Aflac. The famous duck has been the company's mascot since 2000. On this episode of Leadership Next, Diane talks to Aflac CEO Dan Amos about running the company started by his family, shifts in the insurance landscape, and, of course, the duck. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Cybersecurity is front and center for business today, regardless of industry. That fact has helped fuel Palo Alto Networks’ growth in recent years. According to CEO Nikesh Arora, this week’s guest on Leadership Next, data security is no longer just a problem for the IT department—it impacts decision-making across all levels of an organization. Diane spoke to Arora about his long career in tech and finance, the security implications of the AI boom, and how growing up the son of an Indian Air Force officer prepared him to be a leader. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops and Raisin Bran. These are just a few of the popular cereals that made the Kellogg Company a global leader in breakfast. But over the decades Kellogg's has expanded far beyond cereal into a snack powerhouse as well, with brands like Pringles, Pop-Tart's and the fan favorite Cheez-It crackers. Trouble is, while its snack business was growing quickly, its cereal business was in decline. Last year, Kellogg's split in to two companies. Its North American cereal business is now a standalone company called WK Kellogg Co, and its snack brands and international cereals are run out of the newly formed Kellanova company. On this week's episode of Leadership Next, Kellanova CEO Steve Cahillane talks to Diane about the tough choice to separate the companies, why Pringles are a hit overseas, and the love affair between Cheez-It and Taco Bell. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Kendra Scott started her jewelry company with $500 in 2002 out of her house in Austin. Today it’s a billion-dollar jewelry brand with both mass-market and premium lines and hundreds of retail stores across the country. On this week's episode of Leadership Next, Diane Brady talks to Kendra Scott CEO Tom Nolan about the company's growth plans, his unlikely path to the CEO role, the process of taking over for a founder, and what being CEO of a female dominant company has taught him about leadership. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have become key drivers for trends in the beauty space in recent years. The power of beauty influencers shows no sign of slowing down, according to president and CEO of Sephora North America Artemis Patrick, this week’s guest on Leadership Next. After spending the bulk of her career at the LVMH-owned company, Patrick, who became North America CEO in April, is now the first woman to lead the brand. She talks about Sephora’s push to modernize its stores, industry trends, the importance of DEI at Sephora, and how her time in foster care as a child helped her become an empathetic leader. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

If you shop on the internet, you’ve probably seen Klarna—and its buy-now, pay-later installment offers—when shopping at major retailers like Bloomingdale's, Foot Locker, or Sephora. The company’s plans allow shoppers to break up purchases into four equal payments, with no interest. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski says installment plans fill a gap in the market, allowing customers some payment flexibility without the interest and fees found with typical credit cards. But Klarna does much more than just installments. On this week’s episode of Leadership Next, Michal and Diane Brady talk to Siemiatkowski about Klarna’s early adoption of AI, why the company also offers credit cards, and its growth plans. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa started Warby Parker as a business school project in 2010. The premise was simple: shake up the old-line optical business by selling frames online, and at a lower price than traditional retail. Today, Warby Parker is one of the biggest players in optical, a robust online business leveraging e-commerce but with a growing retail footprint of some 250 stores as well. On this episode of Leadership Next, Michal talks to Neil and Dave about Warby Parker's founding story, changing consumer behavior, and how to remain innovative as a company matures beyond startup mode. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

GE Appliances started making products for cooking and heating way back in 1907. Today, it’s one of the largest manufacturers of appliances in the U.S. On this episode of Leadership Next, Alan and Michal talk to GE Appliances president and CEO Kevin Nolan about the company’s culture of entrepreneurship, keeping up with changes in consumer behavior, and why “nugget ice” has become a game changer. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Its origin story dates back to the birth of the United States. Today, some 240 years later, Bank of New York—the bank founded by Alexander Hamilton—is a global giant that powers large swaths of the worldwide financial system. On this week's episode of Leadership Next, Alan talks to BNY CEO Robin Vince about cybersecurity, how to build an enduring company culture, and how a 240-year-old firm innovates for the future. A note for listeners: This interview was recorded before BNY Mellon rebranded as BNY. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

In 1922, 25 military veterans came together to start USAA. At the time, military families were having difficulty getting car insurance. Fast-forward to today, and USAA provides insurance and financial services to millions of veterans and their families. This clear mission, says CEO Wayne Peacock, has actually helped the 102-year-old company remain innovative. On this episode of Leadership Next, Peacock talks to Alan and Michal about inflation’s impact on the insurance and housing sectors, hiring military veterans, and how early investments in technology gave USAA an advantage during the pandemic. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

When David Risher became CEO of Lyft in 2023, he realized the ridesharing company had a speed problem. At the time, it took Lyft cars on average four extra minutes to arrive compared to wait times for cars from Uber, its main competitor. A year later, thanks to onboarding many more drivers onto the Lyft platform, the difference is down to 10 seconds. On this episode of Leadership Next, Risher chats with Alan and Michal about innovation in ridesharing and Lyft's customer-centric focus, including new features designed to make women drivers and passengers feel safer when they use the platform. For Risher, transparency isn't just a buzzword: His work email is readily publicized and drivers often reach out directly with feedback. He also makes a habit of driving Lyft cars every six weeks, an opportunity to hear from customers directly as well. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Volvo Cars has an ambitious goal of going all electric by 2030. But, according to CEO Jim Rowan, the EV push won't be linear. Major population centers are way ahead of rural communities, both in the U.S. and globally when it comes to things like charging infrastructure, critical for the move away from gas-powered cars. Rowan became CEO of Volvo Cars in 2022 after a long career in tech, including stints as the CEO of Dyson and COO of Blackberry. He says Volvo's market position as a premium brand gives it a distinct advantage in a crowded field. On this episode of Leadership Next, Alan and Michal talk to Rowan about innovation in automotive, China's EV-manufacturing infrastructure, and Volvo's 70-year history bringing Scandinavian design sensibility to the U.S. car market. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

None of Jackie Reses’s fintech contemporaries were surprised that she bought a bank. A former Square executive, Reses bought Lead Bank to address compliance and technology challenges facing fintechs. She discusses with Michal how she’s turning a 95-year-old family-owned banking institution into an innovative provider of banking infrastructure for fintechs; the importance of consistent culture across NYC and Kansas City headquarters; the spirit of entrepreneurialism in her family; her experience at Square; and what she learned from Jack Dorsey. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Medical-device maker Masimo has been embroiled in a legal battle with Apple over alleged patent infringement and trade-secret theft—resulting in a temporary import ban on some Apple Watch models late last year. But before the medtech company was going up against tech giants in court, Masimo was a quintessential startup story running out of CEO Joe Kiani’s garage. Kiani himself is every bit the prototypical American dream success story. He emigrated with his family from Shiraz, Iran, to Huntsville, Ala., attended college at 15, and started his career as an electrical engineer. He speaks with Michal Lev-Ram about both his and his company’s origin stories; how he’s managed to navigate Masimo’s legal disputes; how he’s stayed ahead of the AI curve; and more. Note: Apple continues to deny Masimo’s IP claims. Additionally, Apple defended its standards for suppliers, telling Fortune it conducted thousands of assessments and audits last year to ensure healthy labor practices. Apple disputes Kiani's characterization of its App Store commissions.

The media industry has seen a lot of turbulence in the last several decades, but Jim VandeHei managed to cut through the noise and found not just one but two successful news organizations—Axios, where he still serves as CEO, and Politico. As a student, VandeHei says, he struggled academically, but found his calling as a political journalist before ultimately stepping up to be a media entrepreneur. He speaks with Alan and Michal about his unconventional path to success; lessons he’s learned as an industry-disrupting leader; his thoughts on the media landscape at large; how AI will radically shape newsrooms; his turn as a lifestyle and wellness guru; and more. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Everyone is talking about AI and jobs. Will AI take jobs? Will it add jobs? What skills do I need to sharpen as AI continues to impact work? Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn, talks with cohosts Alan and Michal about what he’s seeing in the data. Roslansky explains why he is transforming LinkedIn into an AI company, and what that will look like for users as well as employees. He also discusses how he feels the education system needs to evolve to accommodate the rapidly growing AI boom; the edge LinkedIn benefits from by being under the Microsoft umbrella; and how he has changed as a leader over the last 10 years. Leadership Next is Powered by Deloitte.

E-commerce is a notoriously competitive landscape—but online pet retailer Chewy has managed to not just survive, but thrive. Since joining the company in 2018, CEO Sumit Singh has shepherded Chewy through its IPO in 2019 and its debut on the Fortune 500 list in 2021. He talks with Alan and Michal about Chewy’s obsession with customer loyalty; his background in e-commerce and supply chain, with top leadership positions at Amazon and Dell prior to joining Chewy; what he learned from Jeff Bezos; the company’s expansion into veterinary health care; and more. Plus—the guest and hosts have a chance to share a little bit about their own furry friends. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Autodesk is a 1980s software company that continues to reinvent itself. CEO Andrew Anagnost attributes this to the company’s ability to be the first to “kill our own businesses.” Anagnost goes into detail about how he sees AI impacting architecture, specifically when it comes to sustainable construction. He and cohosts Alan and Michal also discuss AI regulation; his “problematic” teenage years; what he learned from former Autodesk CEOs Carol Bartz and Carl Bass; and industrial fungus. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Alan sits down with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins at a Fortune CEO Initiative dinner in NYC, to have a conversation focused on his new role as chair of the Business Roundtable. Robbins discusses the challenges facing business today, and what he hopes the BRT can accomplish during the next presidential administration, including improvement to trade and immigration, and better policy around tech. He also shares why he believes Cisco continues to be at the top of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. This conversation was recorded on March 20, 2024. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Alan sits down with Judy Marks at Deloitte University in Westlake, Texas, to have a wide-ranging conversation about Judy’s career in front of an audience of next-generation CEOs. She recalls Otis’s 2020 spinoff from United Technologies; what she learned as CEO of the newly independent company during COVID; Otis’s growth in the last four years, boosted by its innovation and service business; geopolitics and Otis’s business in China; sustainability; how tariffs impact consumers’ pocketbooks; and what’s next for the 170-year-old company. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Priscilla Almodovar, CEO of Fannie Mae, is the only Latina on the Fortune 500. She talks to Michal and Alan about how she uses her platform as CEO to make housing more equitable, and recalls her Puerto Rican parents buying their first home on Long Island, N.Y., and how important a piece of the American Dream that was for them. She also discusses her experience as a woman on Wall Street; how Latinos are becoming a bigger percentage of U.S. homeowners; what she learned from Jamie Dimon; her 2024 housing outlook; and tips for first-time buyers. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

BILL CEO and founder René Lacerte is a fourth-generation entrepreneur. In 2009 he sold his first company PayCycle, to Intuit. He shares with Michal how being in a family of entrepreneurs has shaped him as a founder and a leader. He also talks about the unique responsibilities a CEO has versus a founder. He gives advice to future founders about how to navigate potential challenges, especially when taking your company public. He also shares thoughts on how to keep a healthy work-life balance. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Seifi Ghasemi began his career in energy by attending a school in the middle of a refinery in Iran. Now, at nearly 80 years old, the Air Products CEO believes hydrogen is the only option for fighting the effects of climate change. “There is no other source of energy,” he says. He discusses with Alan and Michal why he believes Air Products has a responsibility to push markets toward clean energy solutions like hydrogen; whether or not hydrogen-based fuel will be ready for our 2050 net-zero goals; the moment he started paying attention to climate change; and why he hasn’t been on a vacation in 20 years. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

As CEO of the energy giant, Woods is leading the third largest U.S. company through the energy transition. While Exxon Mobil is investing in low-carbon solutions like hydrogen and carbon capture, he is not yet convinced the world as a whole has what it takes to achieve its decarbonization goals. He discusses in depth with Alan and Michal the roadblocks to net zero; the company’s challenges with activist investors; inflation reduction act subsidies; and, of course, what he does to relax. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

G-P, founded by CEO Nicole Sahin, is an AI-driven global employment platform that enables companies to hire anyone anywhere. Sahin, who came up with the idea for G-P while living in the mountains of Guatemala, shares how her passion for anthropology led her to start the company. She chats with Alan and Michal about emerging talent markets; how AI empowers G-P to onboard workers in 187+ countries; how best to include remote employees as part of company culture; and how globalization is evolving—not retreating Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Narrative attacks can be generated from an actual event that is then exploited by bad actors or can be completely fabricated using advanced technology like generative AI. Blackbird’s goal is to fight disinformation and misinformation and sharpen the line between truth and lies. Blackbird.AI cofounder and CEO Wasim Khaled discusses a number of topics with host Alan Murray, including the recent attacks on Taylor Swift; weaknesses that bad actors might exploit in the upcoming presidential election; and why generative AI continues to hallucinate. Khaled also announces a product from Blackbird called Compass, which leverages AI to help people check the validity of a post, video, or photo. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

After leaving PayPal, Roelof Botha went on to help Sequoia nurture some of the world’s most influential tech companies, including YouTube, Instagram, and Square. Sequoia has been an investor in the AI space for a long time. The firm was an early investor in OpenAI, the company that has accelerated the current AI wave with its groundbreaking generative AI technology, which Botha sees as a foundational shake-up for business. He tells Alan and Michal that he doesn’t think this wave of AI is hype, and that it will be transformational. He shares his thoughts on what sectors he believes this tech will be most impactful in; why it rivals the previous waves of internet, cloud, and mobile; and whether we will see an AI bubble. He also provides insight into the current state of the venture capital industry. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Amazon is not just the “everything store,” it is the “everything company.” No. 2 on the Fortune 500, the e-commerce giant impacts our lives in many ways. It delivers our groceries, entertains us with Prime Video, provides us health care with One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy, and plans to provide the planet with broadband internet. Alan sits down with Amazon president and CEO Andy Jassy at Fortune’s annual Davos dinner to discuss all the above topics and more, including how generative AI will challenge and transform business, Jeff Bezos’s leadership, and the FTC’s antitrust case against the company. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

A lot of tough decisions come your way when you’re a CEO – particularly in today’s world where there are no shortage of challenges. In Leadership Next's final episode of the season, hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram look back at 2023, highlighting how some of their favorite guests from the year are navigating these challenges. Hear from LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman on AI; Vicki Hollub of Occidental Petroleum on climate; CVS Health's Karen Lynch on women in leadership; and Ken Frazier of General Catalyst - plus former Merck CEO - on how to lead with purpose in an increasingly divided world. Also featured in this episode, CEO of Deloitte US, Jason Girzadas.

As business continues to search for ways to harness the incredible power of AI, it's becoming more clear than ever before that the technology requires some level of regulation. But how much is too much? How do you design laws for something that's evolving so quickly? And what happens if you get it wrong? In an effort to get these questions right, the United Arab Emirates created the world's first government position solely dedicated to AI. The goals for this role extend far beyond regulation however, as we hear in this episode of Leadership Next. Host Alan Murray sits down with His Excellency Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence for the UAE. In addition to talking about his job responsibilities, His Excellency explains why he believes the UAE can become a major player in the global AI ecosystem and he describes his goals for the country's University of Artificial Intelligence. Also in this episode, hear from the woman who is President Biden's key advisor on AI-related topics, Arati Prabhakar. She’s Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy - and perhaps the closest thing the U.S. has to a Minister of AI. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

While KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have their roots in the U.S., the restaurants have a big fan base in China. Yum China, which spun off from Yum! Brands in 2016, runs 14,000 restaurants in over 1,900 cities and - under CEO Joey Wat - is growing fast. Wat told Leadership Next host Alan Murray the company is opening several new locations each day. Unlike their American counterparts, the majority of these restaurants are not owned by franchisees. But the differences don't stop there as Wat explains. (Durian pizza, anyone?) Also in this episode: Wat's journey to the C-suite, what she looks for when hiring, and how she thinks about building sustainability into the business.

Ancestry - the company best known today for analyzing user DNA to help build out family trees - actually started almost 40 years ago as a publishing entity focused on genealogy. CEO Deb Liu, who took the reins in 2021, is now charged with finding new ways to expand Ancestry's offerings. She's well-prepared for that task, Liu told hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram, after 11 years as an exec at Facebook. "I think part of what makes Facebook really special is that it really believe(s) in actually building products and having product-lead growth," Liu said. "And I think that that's really important." In this episode of Leadership Next Liu shares what brought her to the CEO role at Ancestry, the challenges women leaders continue to face in the workplace, and how growing up in a small Southern town impacted her leadership style. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

It's become increasingly clear that lithium-ion batteries are key to a sustainable future. Is it too late for the U.S. to become a power player in this industry? That's the question Leadership Next host Alan Murray has for today's guest, a woman he calls "The Battery Queen" because she is one of the pre-eminent experts on batteries in the world. Currently founder and CEO of battery technology company Cadenza Innovation, Christina Lampe-Onnerud previously founded and led Boston-Power. That company was sold to Chinese investors in 2011. Now, Lampe-Onnerud is part of Li-Bridge, a public-private partnership working to create a robust manufacturing base and supply chain for lithium-ion batteries in the United States. Recorded in front of a live audience at Deloitte's Next Generation CEO event (Deloitte is also a sponsor of this podcast), Lampe-Onnerud details the rise of the global battery industry, explains why her first company wound up going to the Chinese, and lays out what needs to happen in order for the U.S. to compete in this space. She also talks about growing up in Sweden and how she became interested in a career that revolves around batteries. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Ken Frazier is currently Chairman, Health Assurance Initiatives, at General Catalyst, which is just the most recent leadership position on an impressive resume. Frazier served as CEO of pharmaceutical giant Merck for 10 years, stepping down in 2021. He is also co-founder and former CEO of the OneTen initiative - aimed at connecting underrepresented talent with corporate jobs - and, until last year, was the Lead Independent Director of the ExxonMobil Board of Directors. Frazier has also become known for standing by his principles. He first made a name for himself as a young lawyer in the early 1990s, when he represented a wrongfully-convicted death row inmate and worked to get his conviction overturned. In 2017, he resigned from former President Trump's Manufacturing Advisory Council after the president's ambivalent comments following the Charlottesville rally. The move prompted a number of CEOs to follow in his footsteps. And in 2021, spurred by a new law in Georgia, Frazier urged corporate America to vocally fight for voting rights for all Americans. In this episode of Leadership Next, recorded live in Washington D.C. at a Deloitte Next Generation CEO event, Frazier tells host Alan Murray why these decisions were a matter of principle not politics and why he thinks CEOs can and should stand for every American's right to vote regardless of their political views. He also discusses the challenges he faced in his first few years as CEO of Merck and the shareholders who trusted his vision enough to support him. Finally, Frazier talks about starting the OneTen coalition after the murder of George Floyd and the need to find a common language to talk about ESG and DEI. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

L'Oréal is a longstanding giant in the consumer beauty industry. And despite being 114 years-old, the company shows no signs of slowing down. The L'Oréal group has a portfolio of 37 international brands, more than 87,000 employees and 20 research centers across 11 countries around the world. In 2022, the L'Oréal group generated $42 billion in revenue, a 10% year-over-year increase. Nicolas Hieronimus, who first joined the company in 1987, took over as CEO of L'Oréal in 2021. He is only the sixth person in the company's history to hold the title, and he is keenly focused on keeping the century-old beauty company relevant in a rapidly changing world. In this episode of Leadership Next, Hieronimus sits down with host Michal Lev-Ram to talk about L'Oréal's evolution into a "beauty tech" company and how it uses tech both in its consumer-facing products and in its internal R & D operations. He also discusses the luxury brands responsible for L'Oréal's historic 2022 revenue growth and how L'Oreal goes about strategically acquiring brands. Additionally, Hieronimus shares more about L'Oréal's sustainability efforts, using TikTok to gather consumer feedback and track beauty trends, and how he works to keep L'Oréal's core culture in place despite having employees scattered all over the world. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Fortune's 2023 Most Powerful Women Summit took place on October 10th-12th in Laguna Niguel, CA. Over the three days, women across a wide variety of industries (healthcare, politics, entertainment, retail, and tech - just to name a few!) took the stage to share their perspectives on the state of their respective businesses, what it means to be a woman in leadership and how to address global tumult while also running a business. In today's episode of Leadership Next, you will hear excerpts from conversations with three women who especially embody many of the MPW values like leadership, tenacity, vision and creativity. Leadership Next Hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram share their perspectives on the Summit throughout the episode. Up first, we hear from Senator Laphonza Butler who joined Fortune's Emma Hinchliffe onstage just one week after she was sworn in as a California senator, filling the seat vacated by Dianne Feinstein who passed away in September. Senator Butler discusses being an example of economic empowerment for women and girls and the power of coalition building across parties and the business sector to affect real change. In the second conversation of the episode, Lev-Ram sits down with #35 on the 2023 MPW list, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Starbucks and Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson. Hobson shares how she initially became interested in strategic decision making and how to keep DEI a priority in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action. Hobson also dives deeper into the origin of the idea for Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan to complete a six-month barista immersion. Finally, we hear excerpts from Lev-Ram's conversation with #53 on the 2023 MPW List, Netflix Chief Content Office Bela Bajaria. Bajaria discusses how the company chooses which content to produce and acquire, plus the importance of balancing the use of algorithms versus trusting her gut in that process. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

The Fortune CEO Initiative was formed in 2016 as a membership organization bringing together CEOs of purpose driven companies that are committed to addressing business excellence, diversity, and major societal issues as a core part of their business strategies. Each year since then, members have gathered for a one of two day conference to exchange ideas and discuss best practices. The 2023 conference took place last week in Washington D.C., with sessions that focused on topics like: staying committed to social impact programs in a tough economic environment, generative A.I. and sustainable business practices. In this week's episode of Leadership Next, you will hear two conversations from CEOi. First up, Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell sits down with Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato. The two discuss why Duato thinks J&J is in its "golden era", as well as the potential of J &J's consumer brands to compete with companies like L'Oreal. Duato talks about J&J's ongoing R&D in the areas of robotics and A.I. Duato also shares his thoughts on how he approaches leading through the tumult of crises like the baby powder lawsuit and the pulling of J&J's COVID-19 vaccine from American markets. In the second half of the episode, Fortune CEO Alan Murray talks to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen about the current state of the economy. They discuss the narrow avoidance of a full government shutdown, U.S. and global investment in industrial development of things like semi-conductors, and generative A.I. and how it may affect productivity. Yellen also shares her predictions for interest rates, job creation and the economy as a whole. Leadership Next if powered by Deloitte.

Laxman Narasimhan is six months into being CEO of the world’s most ubiquitous coffee shop. Narasimhan took over Starbucks from Howard Schultz in March of 2023. Before stepping into the CEO's office, he completed a six month immersion in Starbucks cafes around the country, where he learned the ins and outs of making each customer’s favorite drinks while also constructing a vision for the future of the company. In April of this year, Narasimhan sent out a letter with a revised company mission statement highlighting the need to nurture human connection while also promising big returns for shareholders. Those big returns may come in part from the company's plans to open 10,000 more stores across the globe by 2025. In this episode of Leadership Next, Narasimhan joins hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram to talk about how his six month immersion is informing his leadership of Starbucks. He also shares more details about Starbucks' plans for growth and why this is the right time to open thousands of new stores around the world. Additionally, Narasimhan gives his take on the state of Chinese and Western relations, and how that affects Starbucks' business. Woven throughout the conversation is how his personal story of growing up in India impacts his approach to leadership. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Julia Hartz started the event management and ticketing platform Eventbrite in 2006 alongside her then fiancée. The goal: bring the world together through live events. Hartz took over as CEO in 2016 and led Eventbrite through its $230 million IPO in 2018. The years following this promising IPO were rocky for Eventbrite. When the Covid-19 pandemic decimated the live events industry, Eventbrite lost 90% of its revenue and laid off 45% of its workforce. Yet as the world reopened and the live events industry bounced back, so did Eventbrite. In 2022, it pulled in $3.3 billion in gross ticket sales and made $261 million in revenue, an almost 40% year-over-year increase - all while maintaining an average ticket price of $40. In this episode of Leadership Next, Hartz joins hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram to discuss how the company navigated the challenging early days of the pandemic and how it bounced back alongside the return of live events. Hartz also talks about why Eventbrite is different than other ticketing platforms and how Eventbrite is democratizing live events for both organizers and attendees. Additionally, Hartz shares her perspective on the the post-pandemic state of live events, including why events are currently so expensive (even if you're not going to see Taylor Swift of Beyoncé). Finally, Hartz talks about the challenges and advantages of starting a company with her now husband, the reality of being one of the few women who have taken a tech company public and why women are uniquely suited to lead a company through a crisis. Leadership Next is Powered by Deloitte.

Paula Kerger has been the CEO of PBS for 18 years, making her the longest-serving CEO in the broadcaster's history. Kerger oversees 330 member stations across the country and led the transformation of PBS from a broadcaster to a multiplatform digital media organization that boasts a slate of podcasts, a YouTube channel, and programming on streaming services like Amazon Prime and Hulu. According to the company, PBS reaches 42 million adults through linear television each month and another 15 million through streaming platforms, with another 56 million people viewing PBS content on social media. In this episode of Leadership Next, hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram sit down with Kerger to talk about why public access media is still relevant in an increasingly digital, and increasingly divided, world. Kerger shares more specific details about the opportunities and challenges of PBS' digital transformation and what leadership lessons she learned in the process. Kerger also discusses PBS' commitment to climate and civic programming, the enduring power of PBS Kids, how PBS is affected by the ongoing SAG and WGA strikes and the politics of PBS' funding. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Diane Hoskins and Andy Cohen have been co-leading global design and architecture firm Gensler for 18 years. Gensler has 53 locations and 6,500 designers distributed across the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Gensler has designed some high profile projects including airport additions like SFO's T2 terminal, office redesigns like the Marriott HQ in Bethesda, MD and sports stadiums like the New York Mets' Citi Field. Hoskins and Cohen believe great design is researched-based and responds to the crises and innovations transforming our world. In fact, they've written a book about the need for great design, entitled “Design for a Radically Changing World,” set to publish in February 2024. In this episode of Leadership Next, hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram chat with Hoskins and Cohen about the return to work trends revealed in Gensler's 2023 Workplace Report and how the design of office spaces should change to accommodate these trends. They also discuss the opportunities and challenges of converting empty office space into housing, the demand for sustainable design, and how they've been able to successfully navigate being co-CEOs for 18 years. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Due to deep disruptions caused by global crises like Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine, the supply chain has been top of mind, and top of the media cycle, for more than three years. Even the most casual business news observers now have a basic knowledge of how the supply chain works, and how it breaks. But none of us are quite the expert that Dave Clark is. Clark is probably best known for his 23 year stint at Amazon. He joined Amazon in 1999 and is credited with building out its current logistics infrastructure and ended his tenure there as the CEO of Worldwide Consumer Business. He left Amazon in June 2022, and soon after he became the CEO of freight forwarder Flexport. In this episode of Leadership Next, Clark joins host Michal Lev-Ram to discuss his plan to transform Flexport from a freight forwarder into an end-to-end supply chain platform. He also reflects on how this moment in Flexport's history feels very similar to when he joined Amazon, and what elements of Amazon's culture he is bringing to Flexport- and which elements he isn't. Additionally, he shares his advice on building a team to lead the business you want, rather than the business you have. Clark also gives his take on the current state of the supply chain and what it means for this year's holiday shopping. Leadership next is powered by Deloitte.

The great crypto crash of 2022 was spectacular, to say the least. $2 trillion evaporated seemingly overnight. FTX collapsed. The price of Bitcoin fell to $18,000 in June 2022 just one year after it reached an all time high price of $69,000. The stablecoin company Circle was not also not spared. It lost half its valuation, had to delay going public, and was impacted by the SVB collapse. But things have turned around for Circle. It's USDC stablecoin regained its dollar peg in March and there is $26 billion of it in circulation. In today's episode of Leadership Next, Circle CEO and co-founder Jeremy Allaire joins hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram to discuss how Circle, and the entire crypto industry, is pulling itself out of last year's wreckage. He compares the crypto crash of 2022 to the dot com bust of the late 90s and predicts that crypto will one day be as ubiquitous as the internet. Allaire also discusses the underlying value of crypto beyond being a speculative asset and how Circle's focus on stablecoins sets them apart. He also shares his take on the importance of the regulation of crytpo, both by the U.S. government and global bodies. Additionally, Allaire talks about the increasing role of traditional finance institutions in the crypto market and Circle's partnership with the UN to make USDC usable by Ukrainian refugees Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

In 2021, the popular mediation app Headspace merged with the enterprise teletherapy provider Ginger. The merger created a $3 billion mental health care company that serves both enterprise and consumer customers. The company says it now serves 4,000 employers across 200 countries and that several million people actively use the Headspace app each month. Headspace Health is keenly interested in the growing need for mental health support in the work place. A May 2023 Headspace Health survey of over 4,000 workers found that 49% of respondents felt a sense of dread at work at least once a week. That number climbed to 59% for CEOs. In this episode of Leadership Next, Headspace CEO Russ Glass joins host Michal Lev-Ram to discuss how the provider's services can help address these dreadful feelings and why he thinks these feelings have persisted beyond the pandemic. He also talks about how the company's approach differs for its enterprise and consumer customers, and why those differences matter. Additionally, Glass shares what he thinks business gets wrong about mental health and offers his advice to leaders on how they can support their employees' mental health while also protecting their own. Glass also discusses how meditation changed his life and why he stepped back from his career for over a year to raise his three daughters. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

We are more than three years into a pandemic-altered way of working. Many companies have decided to stay fully remote or offer their employees hybrid work options, which means workers across the world have become very familiar with ever-present apps like Zoom and Slack. But there is a new remote work tool that claims to have identified the shortcomings of these existing applications, and promises to make hybrid work more efficient and connected- a tool that claims to cut down meeting times to an average of eight minutes and includes a digital floor plan to see whose in the office and who isn't. Founded by co-founder and former CEO of Yext Howard Lerman, Roam is a "cloud HQ" for distributed teams. Roam launched in November 2022 with $40 million in Series A funding and 40 initial corporate clients. In this episode of Leadership Next, Lerman joins host Michal Lev-Ram to discuss why he was inspired to start Roam. He also shares how Roam cuts down meeting times, makes communication between colleagues more seamless and how it differs from its competitors. Lev-Ram and Lerman also discuss employees' wariness of the surveillance implications of remote work tools like Roam. They also chat about why Lerman moved the company to Miami and his take on tech hubs outside Silicon Valley. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Kara Nortman fell in love with women's soccer at the Women's World Cup in Vancouver in 2015. She promptly went out to buy a jersey to show her support ... and couldn't find one. She struggled to find a way to watch more women's games. And eventually, this led her to join other investors to bring a women's soccer team to her hometown of Los Angeles. The Angel City FC inaugural season was 2022. Then, in March of 2023 she - along with business partner Jasmine Robinson - launched the Monarch Collective. With an initial raise of $100 million, the fund invests in women's sports, from teams and leagues to adjacent revenue streams like media and gaming. Today on Leadership Next, Nortman tells hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram what prompted her to leave her long-time job as a tech investor and dive headfirst into the world of women's sports. She lays out the opportunity she sees and plainly states the challenges that accompany her work. Finally, she offers advice to anyone else who is considering making a big career move.