Leadership Next Fortune

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.
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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.

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