Bold Agendas

Bold Agendas Podcast
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Over three decades of collaboration with some of the brightest minds in business reveals the simple truth that the most influential principals and policy makers consistently use innovative approaches to drive transformative change, while also reimagining and redefining human work. This series features forward-looking, provocative 360-degree conversations with industry experts on the digital transformation that continues to disrupt companies and the marketplace. We focus on organizational, leadership, and labor challenges as technology reshapes organizations and redefines human work.

  1. 3d ago

    Beyond Innovation: Geoffrey Moore on Leadership, Value, and the Next Era of Competitive Advantage

    As competitive advantage becomes harder to sustain, the challenge facing leaders is no longer simply how to drive innovation, but how to recognize where new value is emerging and deliver it to customers at scale. In this episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi Brooks is joined by returning guest Geoffrey Moore to explore how the sources of value are shifting and what organizations must do to compete in the next era of business. Geoffrey is an internationally recognized author, advisor, and venture partner, and one of the most influential thinkers on innovation strategy and market development. Together, Mimi and Geoffrey discuss why the only value that ultimately matters is the value customers experience. They look at how AI and other emerging technologies are reshaping the value chain and making speed of response a defining dimension of competitive advantage. They also consider why, for many organizations, the greatest challenge lies not in generating new ideas but in carrying innovation beyond the idea stage and delivering it at scale. Drawing on the Zone to Win framework, they examine how leaders can distinguish between infrastructure, operating model, and business model change. They also discuss why genuine transformation depends on sustained executive leadership and a clear sense of purpose, and what effective organizational change management requires when value must flow across silos. They close with how boards and leadership teams can prepare for organizations in which people and intelligent agents work side by side, and what that may require of leadership and management in the years ahead.  To learn more about Geoffrey's work, follow his blog on LinkedIn, where he writes regularly on Zone to Win, The Infinite Staircase, and many of the ideas discussed in this episode. You can find all of Geoffrey's books on his website. 00:00 – Introduction: Leadership, Value, and the Next Era of Competitive Advantage 03:42 – How AI Is Reshaping the Value Chain 05:08 – Time to Value: An Overlooked Dimension of Competitive Advantage 07:06 – Starting with the Customer Experience 09:45 – From Incubation to Scale: Where Innovation Stalls 11:55 – Revisiting the Four Zones 13:42 – Crossing the Chasm Inside the Enterprise 14:47 – What Transformation Really Means 17:19 – Why Transformation Requires CEO Commitment 20:39 – Leading with Purpose and the Voice of the Customer 25:16 – Orchestrating Change at Scale 27:54 – Three Types of Change: Infrastructure, Operating Model, and Business Model 33:03 – From Silos to End-to-End Value Delivery 34:44 – The Use Case Manager: Connecting Value Across the Organization 40:37 – Why Command-and-Control Cultures Struggle with Disruption 43:05 – Leading Responsibly: AI and Society 48:25 – The Questions Boards Should Be Asking 52:19 – Managing Organizations of People and Agents 55:53 – Rethinking Apprenticeship for the AI Era 59:24 – Where to Find Geoffrey's Work

  2. Aug 28

    Leading in the Age of AI: Timeless Wisdom for a Machine-Driven World

    As AI becomes more capable, the questions facing leaders are no longer just about what technology can do, but how we choose to use it. In this episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi Brooks is joined by Surinder Lall, author of Leading in the Age of AI: Timeless Wisdom for a Machine-Driven World, global technology executive, and leadership advisor, to explore what ancient philosophy can teach us about leadership in a rapidly changing technological landscape. Together, Mimi and Surinder examine the Stoic virtues of wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance as a framework for navigating the AI era. They discuss the importance of reflection and restraint, the long-term human consequences of decisions made today, and why leaders must look beyond immediate productivity gains to consider their responsibility to future generations. It’s a conversation about exercising judgment, preserving what makes us human, and leading thoughtfully as technological capability continues to accelerate. 00:00 – Leading in the Age of AI: Timeless Wisdom for a Machine-Driven World 03:24 – The AI Awakening: What Leaders Need to Understand Today 09:30 – The Four Stages of Leadership in the Age of AI 12:53 – What Human-Centric Leadership Really Means 17:56 – Leading Through AI-Driven Change and Uncertainty 22:54 – Timeless Principles for the Age of AI 27:00 – The Four Stoic Virtues: Wisdom, Courage, Justice, and Temperance 35:43 – Leading on Human and Machine Timescales 39:31 – Balancing AI Progress with Human Impact 44:56 – Justice and Temperance: Responsibility and Restraint in the Age of AI 50:44 – Building Reflection into Leadership Practice

  3. Jun 4

    Winning the AI Race: Why Execution Speed Matters More Than Perfect Strategy

    Winning with AI requires more than adopting new technology—it requires organizations to learn, adapt, and execute at a different pace. In this episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi Brooks is joined by returning guest Charlene Li, keynote speaker, strategic advisor, bestselling author, and co-author of Winning with AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success, to explore what differentiates organizations that are succeeding in the AI era and why speed matters more than perfect strategy. Together, Mimi and Charlene discuss why strategic clarity matters, how organizations can move beyond optimization to create new value, why AI is fundamentally a leadership challenge, and why adaptability, commitment, and imagination are becoming essential capabilities for leaders seeking competitive advantage in an environment defined by accelerating change. To learn more about Charlene and her work, visit https://charleneli.com/ or connect with her on LinkedIn. You can find Winning with AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success wherever books are sold and learn more at https://winningwithaibook.com/. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: Why Execution Speed Matters More Than Perfect Strategy 03:44 – Why This AI Era Is Different for Leaders 07:10 – A 90-Day Blueprint for Winning with AI 09:21 – AI Is a Leadership Problem, Not a Technology Problem 13:29 – Beyond Optimization: Creating New Value 22:17 – What Differentiates Successful Organizations 29:41 – AI as a Leadership Problem: The Challenges of Leading Here and Now 36:16 – The Board's Role in AI Leadership and Strategic Change 41:27 – The Human Side of AI: Strategic Workforce Planning 1:01:15 – Leadership, Imagination, and Hope: New Strategic Capabilities for the AI Era 1:04:41 – Where to Find Charlene and Her Work

  4. Apr 16

    From Strategy to Structure

    What happens when strategy and technology move forward but the structure of the enterprise doesn’t keep up? In this episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi Brooks is joined by Whynde Kuehn, founder of S2E Transformation and a leading voice in business architecture, to explore how organizations translate strategy into real operational change. Together, Mimi and Whynde unpack how organizations still default to technology-first thinking, the role of a clear business blueprint in grounding decisions, and how business architecture helps connect strategy to execution through capabilities, value streams, and operating models. In a landscape increasingly shaped by agentic systems influencing decisions and workflows, Mimi and Whynde explore how governance, control, and decision rights are becoming a central part of enterprise architecture. Whether you're leading transformation or navigating AI-driven change, this conversation will reframe how you think about the relationship between strategy, structure, and governance. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: When Structure Can’t Keep Up with Strategy 03:58 – Strategy Execution Gets Harder in the AI Era 07:16 – The Reality of AI and Transformation Today 09:46 – Why AI Is Still Being Driven by Technology 13:07 – The First Step: A Business Blueprint for Decision Making 18:59 – From Change Management to Organizational Readiness 25:11 – Architecture as Governance 30:42 – Designing Governance as a Control Structure 40:45 – Understanding How Decisions Actually Get Made 43:46 – Who Owns Organizational Design and Change

  5. Apr 2

    Control at Machine Speed

    As organizations begin delegating decisions to agentic systems, control can no longer rely on oversight after the fact. In this episode, Mimi Brooks is joined by returning guest Mike Carroll—an expert in industrial innovation, applied AI, and system strategy—to explore what it means to maintain control when decisions happen at machine speed. Together, they unpack why traditional governance breaks down, how causality and decision-making logic shift how decisions are made and governed, and what leaders must rethink about architecture, accountability, and enterprise agency in an increasingly autonomous world. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: Control at Machine Speed 03:34 – AI, Productivity, and Why Work Isn’t Decreasing 10:50 – Why Governance Breaks at Machine Speed 14:42 – Less Experience, More Data, Higher Decision Burden 23:14 – How Agentic AI Changes Decisions, Permission, and Control 33:00 – Causality and the Shift to Decision-Relevant Data 35:50 – Looking Beyond Symptoms to Understand Performance 40:01 – How Agentic AI Enables Enterprise Agency and Decision-Making 48:25 – When Decisions Still Require Human Judgment and Accountability 52:31 – Embedding Principles and Values into AI Decision Systems 55:55 – Rethinking Knowledge and Application in the Enterprise 58:38 – How AI Is Reshaping Organizational Structure and the Enterprise 01:03:46 – Enterprise Agency and Rethinking AI Strategy

  6. Feb 19

    Enterprise Architecture 4.0: Agentic Governance and the Leadership Mindset for the Age of Autonomy

    Agentic systems are reshaping the foundation of the enterprise faster than most organizations can adapt. In this episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi Brooks is joined by Jesper Lowgren—Agentic Enterprise Architect Lead at DXC technology and creator of the Enterprise Architecture 4.0 framework—to explore how enterprise architecture, governance, and leadership must evolve for the agentic era. Together, they examine Enterprise Architecture 4.0, the new governance requirements of agentic systems, and why leaders must shift from reactive oversight to governing through real-time guardrails and conditions. Jesper shares the mindset shifts leaders need, the risks of operating between legacy and agentic systems, and what sets organizations up for success as autonomy and uncertainty redefine the enterprise. If you’d like to reach out to Jesper, you can find him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesper-lowgren/) or on his website (https://www.jesperlowgren.com/) Jesper’s Books: - Design or Be Designed: The Agentic AI Survival Guide - Agentic Governance: Governing the Space Between Timestamps: 00:00 – The Agentic Shift: Rethinking Architecture, Governance, and Leadership for Real-Time Enterprise 10:03 – Governance as Strategy: Designing Constraints for Agentic Systems 14:10 – Redefining Enterprise Architecture for the Agentic Era 18:38 – How Legacy Enterprises Begin the Shift Toward Agentic Systems 23:37 – Understanding Emergence: Why Traditional Architecture Can’t Support Agentic Systems 27:16 – Understanding Micro and Macro Governance in Agentic Systems 29:13 – Shifting Leadership Toward Governance Embedded in the System 31:07 – Embedding Governance into Transformation Strategy for the Agentic Era 36:49 – Avoiding the Gray Zone: The Danger of Operating Between Legacy and Agentic Systems 40:40 – The Challenge of Living in Transitional States During Transformation 43:20 – The Five Mindset Shifts Leaders Need for the Agentic Era 48:02 – Connecting AI Maturity Models to Leadership Mindset Readiness 55:59 – The Challenge of Technical and Cultural Debt in an Agentic World 57:48 – What Sets Leaders Up for Success in Agentic Transformation 01:02:39 – Where to Find Jesper’s Work on Agentic Governance and System Design

  7. Jan 22

    Reinventing Industrial Operations: Digital Twins, Agentic Intelligence, and What 2025 Clarified

    An important lesson emerged in 2025: incremental transformation is no longer enough. In this episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi Brooks is joined by Pieter van Schalkwyk—CEO of XMPRO, author of Building Industrial Digital Twins, and a leader in the Digital Twin Consortium—to explore why today’s operating models are reaching a breaking point. Together, they unpack the systemic pressures reshaping operations—aging infrastructure, rising complexity, talent loss, and unsustainable work models—and why technology alone can’t fix them. From the cognitive burden on frontline workers to the fragility of legacy systems, Pieter makes the case for agentic intelligence, human-centered design, and rethinking productivity itself. It’s a conversation that spans intelligent digital twins, organizational modeling, decision intelligence, and the call to move from experimentation to action. Read Pieter’s article with co-author Michael Carroll, “Obituary for 2025: The Year We Buried the Copilot Dream and Discovered What Intelligence Actually Requires” Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: The Strategic Case for Reinventing Operations 03:15 – Why Operational Models Need Reinvention, Not Incremental Fixes 08:20 – People as the Point of Rationalization in Complex Systems 15:53 – Leadership’s Awareness and Urgency Gap 18:34 – System Experts and the Knowledge Gap in Industrial Transformation 21:48 – Common Mistakes Leaders Make in Transformation 29:00 – Priorities for Redesigning Your Ops Model 35:05 – The Value of Digital Twins in Future Operating Models 39:51 – A Practical Roadmap to Operational Autonomy 45:18 – The Real Transformation Challenge: People, Not Tech 47:34 – Digital Twins of the Organization: Modeling Culture, Strategy, and Decision-Making 51:33 – Relational Dynamics: A New Lens on Organizational Context 56:15 – Lessons from 2025: Letting Go, Designing for Humans, and Looking Ahead

  8. 12/18/2025

    Acceleration as the New Normal: Lessons from 2025 & the New Road Ahead

    As we close out 2025, one thing is clear: this has been a year of acceleration. We saw the promises of AI tested against operational reality, watched composable enterprises take shape, and saw governance, trust, and resilience move from the edges of strategy to its center. In this year-end episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi is joined once again by Frank Diana—global futurist, thought leader, and Managing Partner and Principal Futurist at Tata Consultancy Services—to reflect on what 2025 revealed about the changing nature of transformation and explore what leaders must be prepared for as 2026 begins. It’s a timely conversation about acceptance, acceleration, and adaptability, and a powerful reminder of a new truth: transformation is no longer a destination, but a continuous state of becoming. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: Reflecting on 2025 and Accelerating Toward 2026 02:43 – Big Movements in 2025: Acceptance, Acceleration, and Systemic Adaptation 07:52 – What Successful Companies Did Right in 2025: Open-minded Leadership, Workforce Inclusion, and Collective Intelligence 10:41 – Lessons Learned from 2025: Adaptable Governance and Simulation 15:57 – Frank Diana’s Strategy Framework: Pathways, Possibility Chains, and Systems Thinking 25:55 – Actioning the Strategy Framework 30:39 – Leading Through Orchestration, Unlearning, and Human Adaptability 33:26 – Accelerated Learning and the Culture of Experimentation 35:42 – The Core of the Strategy Framework: Convergence and Possibility Chains 38:26 – Activating Purpose through Human-Centric Pathways 43:29 – Emerging Global Priorities 44:45 – The 2026 Road Ahead: AI, Robotics, Synthetic Biology, and Policy Innovation 49:06 – Composability and the Fall of Hierarchies in Organizational Design 51:43 – The Reality of Predictions Meeting Plausibility 53:05 – Leadership Advice for a Changing World: Acceptance, Sense-Making, and Ambient Learning

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About

Over three decades of collaboration with some of the brightest minds in business reveals the simple truth that the most influential principals and policy makers consistently use innovative approaches to drive transformative change, while also reimagining and redefining human work. This series features forward-looking, provocative 360-degree conversations with industry experts on the digital transformation that continues to disrupt companies and the marketplace. We focus on organizational, leadership, and labor challenges as technology reshapes organizations and redefines human work.

Information

  • Creator
    Bold Agendas Podcast
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    31
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Bold Agendas