AI is a double-edged sword for the environment. Its growth requires masses of energy, water, and rare earth metals. The LLMs of tomorrow may even require the world to bring old power plants, powered by fossil fuels, back online. On the other hand, AI has the potential to accelerate sustainable transformation by providing innovative approaches to energy production and consumption. So, is AI a groundbreaking innovation or an environmental burden? Might it one day save our planet? Today on the IMD ...
Jul 21, 2025•26 min•Ep. 53
What got you here won’t get you there. But that’s not all, says Kevin O’Brien, CEO of Gammon Construction in conversation with Professor Ric Roi. You’re also going to need to really unpack the detail of your new brief, marshal the data to spot the opportunities, figure out how to unlock future potential, and bring everyone with you on the journey.
Jul 14, 2025•33 min•Ep. 52
Richard Baldwin delves into the Trump administration, and what to glean from months of economic madness. Looking ahead, Richard discussed how trade and tariffs will directly impact businesses, from small enterprises to large corporations, and what business leaders can do to mitigate risk potential regional variations and sector-specific impacts.
Jul 07, 2025•28 min•Ep. 51
Historian-turned-business-professor Martin Gutmann talks to IMD’s Howard Yu about busting the “hero” myth, how Churchill really won WWII, and the silent strategist who conquered both poles while the flashy explorers froze. Along the way he reveals humility as the ultimate power-skill and hands leaders a playbook for quietly, predictably winning.
Jun 25, 2025•40 min•Ep. 50
Richard Edelman, CEO of the communications firm Edelman, explores in a conversation with Cynthia Hansen, Managing Director of Adecco Group’s Innovation Foundation, why so many people are dissatisfied with authority and institutions.
Jun 11, 2025•20 min•Ep. 49
This interview with Ruchita Sinha, partner at AV8 Ventures, explores her journey from science to venture capital and her approach to early-stage investing. She discusses AV8’s focus on AI-driven innovation in healthcare, enterprise tech, and financial services, and shares insights on evaluating founders, what distinguishes a good company builder, navigating tough situations, and making impactful investment decisions beyond just picking winners.
Apr 10, 2025•18 min•Ep. 48
Leaders are under pressure to project certainty and to know all the answers. In this interview podcast, Julie Linn Teigland, a Managing Partner at EY, tells IMD’s Howard Yu why it’s better to admit you’re unsure and collaborate to find a solution. ***** Read our magazine, I by IMD, here: https://www.imd.org/ibyimd/ Discover IMD's leadership programmes here: https://www.imd.org/leadership-programs
Mar 21, 2025•33 min•Ep. 47
Didier Cossin discusses the latest edition of his book "High Performance Boards," a comprehensive guide to transforming boards and achieving best-practice governance in any organisation. **** Didier Cossin is Chaired Professor of Governance and Finance at IMD, and Founder and Director of the IMD Global Board Center . He works with owners, boards, and senior leaders to help them improve organizational performance through best-in-class governance and decision-making. He also holds the UBS Chair in...
Dec 18, 2024•31 min•Ep. 46
Michael Watkins , Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change and author of the international bestseller The First 90 Days , speaks to IMD President David Bach about how he has found the transition to his new role. Also available as a video on imd.org here **** David Bach began his term as IMD President in September 2024, and is focused on making IMD the world’s most impactful business school. Together with his leadership team and the entire IMD community, he is working to broaden and deep...
Nov 29, 2024•33 min•Ep. 45
Join this IMD Founder Series talk with François Randin, a trailblazer in electric mobility, as he shares his experience as a pioneer in the EV marketplace. Randin was an early believer in the demand for Electric Vehicles and decided his entry point was charging stations, in 2009. Was that too early? How did he make it to two successful exits in 2021 and 2023? What went wrong and what went right? With his passion for cutting-edge product design and large charging network architecture, he ultimate...
Sep 20, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 44
Hamilton Mann, a top executive at European defense group Thales tells Michael Wade why creating objectives that take people out of their comfort zones is vital to driving collaboration and transformation at scale. ***** Read our magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Aug 12, 2024•37 min•Ep. 43
Jason Price, Founder and Chairman of the Board at NXTHVN, tells David Bach about the national arts model he has inaugurated which empowers artists, curators, and the community through education and access to a vibrant ecosystem. ***** Read our magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Jul 02, 2024•30 min•Ep. 42
The boundary between the physical and digital worlds is dissolving, says Joseph Bradley , CEO of TONOMUS, a world-leading technology enterprise powering the world’s first ecosystem of cognitive technologies at NEOM in Saudi Arabia. Harnessing the power of data, while addressing the risks, will be key to an enhanced integrated future. ***** Read our magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Jun 26, 2024•27 min•Ep. 41
Long treated as a photo opportunity for the leaders of Western democracies, the G7 has had a new lease of life ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. With so many G20 members at each other’s throats, the G7 has proved to be a useful vehicle to align against military aggression and the economic threats to Western business and technological primacy. At this weekend’s Summit, G7 leaders will issue a stinging critique of China’s trade practices, following the announcement of new EV tariffs levi...
Jun 13, 2024•13 min•Ep. 40
Chris Tung is President of Strategic Development at Alibaba Group, a Chinese multinational specializing in e-commerce, retail, and technology. He tells IMD's Amit Joshi how the company is integrating AI to optimize... -- Read our magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Mar 25, 2024•34 min•Ep. 39
Morra Aarons-Mele, author and host of the Anxious Achiever podcast, discusses the strategies to help turn anxiety into a leadership superpower. -- Read our new magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Mar 22, 2024•39 min•Ep. 38
Sophie Bacq speaks to António Calçada, Executive Managing Director of the Repsol Foundation, on how the model of corporate philanthropy is shifting from charitable giving towards investing in entrepreneurial ventures that can create positive social and environmental impact. -- Read our new magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Nov 29, 2023•49 min•Ep. 37
Alexa Firmenich is one of a new wave of philanthropists seeking to transform the way societies operate through purpose-led, professional interventions. In this interview, Peter Vogel explores how philanthropy has shifted from traditional charitable giving to a bolder vision. ------------- Read our new magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Oct 24, 2023•12 min•Ep. 36
For too long, citizens of countries blessed with stable institutions have taken democracy and freedom for granted, the Head of the Center for Civil Liberties tells Professor Niccolò Pisani. -- Read our new magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Oct 17, 2023•28 min•Ep. 35
Jay Mehta, owner of the Metha Group, sits down with Misiek Piskorski Dean of IMD Asia and Oceania. -- Read our new magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Sep 25, 2023•21 min•Ep. 34
French entrepreneur and mountain guide Marion Chaygneaud-Dupuy explains to Professor of Sustainable Innovation and Business Transformation Julia Binder how she made a profitable business model – climbing Mount Everest – more sustainable. ------- Read our new magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Sep 19, 2023•33 min•Ep. 33
Olympian Rebecca Wardell tells Heather Cairns-Lee how a 20,000 km bike ride from Lausanne to New Zealand taught her the importance of managing her mindset, resilience, teamwork, and the kindness of strangers. ------- Read our new magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Sep 13, 2023•41 min•Ep. 32
Inspired by electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla, Mate Rimac, CEO of the electric supercar company Rimac Automobili, is helping to drive a revolution in the automotive sector. He sits down for an interview with IMD's Didier Bonnet. ------- Read our new magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Sep 08, 2023•30 min•Ep. 31
IMD's Julia Binder how Judith Wiese, Chief People & Sustainability Officer at Siemens, effectively combines two roles at the German technology and industrial group. ------- Read our new magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here ....
Sep 06, 2023•22 min•Ep. 30
Globally, firms are coming under increasing pressure to weigh profit-making against their social and environmental responsibilities. The trend, which breaks with a long tradition of shareholder primacy, requires business leaders to understand the needs, interests, and expectations of a diverse array of stakeholders. At Rio Tinto, no one has a greater awareness of this than Isabelle Deschamps. As the mining group’s Chief Legal Officer, Deschamps is not short of responsibility. Her remit includes ...
Apr 27, 2023•28 min•Ep. 29
90% of startups fail. For all sorts of different reasons. And few people want to talk about it. But WiReD Magazine co-Founder and IMD Executive in Residence Ian Charles Stewart and Aike Festini, Founder and CEO of logistics startup Luckabox AG, are more than happy to. In our latest IMD ACE Founders Series podcast interview Stewart and Festini discuss what happens when things go wrong, how to spot the signs of an ailing business, and lessons that can be learned for next time. ***** Aike Festini i...
Apr 13, 2023•50 min•Ep. 28
As the FinTech arena moves beyond smoothing back-office processes and facilitating relationships between existing players we are seeing a new generation of B2C players rise to take on the incumbent institutions. With the rise of challenger banks, we also see hybrid organizations seeking to use new technologies and the resulting processes and public awareness thereof to slice up markets a little differently. Alpian is one such nascent institution, with both new aspects and old backers, seeking to...
Feb 16, 2023•45 min•Ep. 27
Raffaello D’Andrea co-founded warehouse automation company Kiva Systems, which was sold to Amazon in 2012 for $775m and rebranded as Amazon Robotics, and then Verity, the autonomous indoor drone company now growing quickly in Zürich. He is also a Professor of Dynamic Systems & Control at Switzerland’s leading technology university ETH, in Zürich and was formerly an Associate Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University in the US. In conversation with Ian Charles ...
Feb 02, 2023•47 min•Ep. 26
Oyster began with a question: How can we make global employment easier for companies and talented workers? Building an all-star team shouldn’t be limited by borders. Now, the company is on a mission to make it easier than ever for growing companies to hire, pay, and take care of brilliant employees - wherever they are in the world. Tony Jamous, the founder of Oyster, is a tech entrepreneur and angel investor. He is currently building the future of work through the distributed talent enablement p...
Jan 19, 2023•47 min•Ep. 25
In this episode of IMD's "The Interview" podcast, Sarena Lin, Chief Transformation & Talent Officer at Bayer, speaks with IMD's Professor Misiek Piskorski about digital transformation and leadership. Bayer is a global enterprise specializing in a range of life sciences fields including pharmaceuticals, consumer health, and crop management. Sarena Lin has been a member of its Board since 2021 and, as CTTO, she is responsible for human resources, strategy, and business consulting. Lin is also ...
Dec 06, 2022•32 min•Ep. 24
