Bold Names

4.3 (1.4K)
TECHNOLOGY
UPDATED BIWEEKLY

WSJ’s Bold Names brings you conversations with the leaders of the bold-named companies featured in the pages of The Wall Street Journal. Hosts Tim Higgins and Christopher Mims speak to CEOs and business leaders in interviews that challenge conventional wisdom and take you inside the decisions being made in the C-suite and beyond.

5D AGO

Are AI Agents the Future of Business? Salesforce Is Betting $8 Billion on It

Informatica isn’t a household name, but it plays a crucial role in helping companies like Toyota and Unilever manage and organize vast amounts of data. As artificial intelligence becomes more powerful, that data is like a gold mine. Customer relationship software company Salesforce recently struck a multibillion-dollar deal to acquire Informatica. On the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast, Informatica CEO Amit Walia speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins about why his company is worth $8 billion to Salesforce’s AI ambitions. Check Out Past Episodes: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and the AI ‘Fantasy Land’ Tariffs, EVs and China: A CEO Insider’s View of the Car Business How Microsoft’s AI Chief Defines ‘Humanist Super Intelligence’ Venture Capitalist Sarah Guo’s Surprising Bet on Unsexy AI Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at BoldNames@wsj.com Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column.Read Tim Higgins’s column. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

41 min
JUL 18

Encore: Could Amazon’s Zoox Beat Tesla and Waymo in the Robotaxi Race?

With Elon Musk’s Tesla piloting its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas and Waymo expanding, it’s the perfect time to revisit our interview with Zoox CEO Aicha Evans. She went deep with WSJ’s Tim Higgins and Christopher Mims on her decisions to sell the company to Amazon for over $1.2 billion and to keep Zoox’s radical design for a driverless car that looks like a lounge on wheels. As she and her rivals work to win customers’ trust, Evans’s insights into robotaxi safety are even more timely. Plus, in a brand-new segment Higgins and Mims dig into why this moment is so crucial for the robotaxi business to reach surprising new customers–like parents. Check Out Past Episodes: Tariffs, EVs and China: A CEO Insider’s View of the Car Business How Microsoft’s AI Chief Defines ‘Humanist Super Intelligence’ How Zipline’s Drones Are Taking Off in the U.S. and Rivaling Amazon Humanoid Robot Startups Are Hot. This AI Expert Cuts Through the Hype. Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at BoldNames@wsj.com Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column. Read Tim Higgins’s column. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

41 min
JUL 11

Tariffs, EVs and China: A CEO Insider’s View of the Car Business

For months, the complex global auto industry has grappled with the added challenge of navigating the Trump administration’s trade war. That gives Swamy Kotagiri, the CEO of Magna International, a first-hand perspective of how tariffs, trade negotiations and shifting supply chains are reshaping the future of the business, today. How is the largest auto parts manufacturer in North America adjusting its plans now that the industry’s traditional patterns have been disrupted? Kotagiri speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins on the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast. Check Out Past Episodes: This CEO Says Global Trade Is Broken. What Comes Next? What This Former USAID Head Had to Say About Elon Musk and DOGE ‘Businesses Don’t Like Uncertainty’: How Cisco Is Navigating AI and Trump 2.0 Why This Tesla Pioneer Says the Cheap EV Market 'Sucks' Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at BoldNames@wsj.com Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column. Read Tim Higgins’s column. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

41 min
JUL 9

Why José Andrés Says We Need Leaders Who Believe in ‘Longer Tables’

José Andrés knows what it’s like to work under pressure. From managing the chaos of restaurant kitchens, to running a global business empire, to helping feed people in disaster zones, the celebrity chef doesn’t like to sit still, especially when it comes to food. On a special bonus episode of the Bold Names podcast, Andrés speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins about his new book, why he’s investing in lab-grown meat and his belief that good meals and “longer tables” are the cure for what ails us. Check Out Past Episodes: Booz Allen CEO on Silicon Valley’s Turn to Defense Tech: ‘We Need Everybody.’ This CEO Says Global Trade Is Broken. What Comes Next? How Zipline’s Drones Are Taking Off in the U.S. and Rivaling Amazon What This Former USAID Head Had to Say About Elon Musk and DOGE Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at BoldNames@wsj.com Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column. Read Tim Higgins’s column. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

35 min
JUL 2

How Microsoft’s AI Chief Defines ‘Humanist Super Intelligence’

Few people developing artificial intelligence have as much experience in the field as Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. He co-founded DeepMind, helped Google develop its large language models and designed AI chatbots with personality at his former startup, Inflection AI. Now, he’s tasked with leading Microsoft’s efforts on its consumer AI products. On the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast, Suleyman speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins about why AI assistants are central to his plans for Microsoft’s AI future. Plus, they discuss the company’s relationship with OpenAI, and what Suleyman really thinks about “artificial general intelligence.” Check Out Past Episodes: Booz Allen CEO on Silicon Valley’s Turn to Defense Tech: ‘We Need Everybody.’ Venture Capitalist Sarah Guo’s Surprising Bet on Unsexy AI Reid Hoffman Says AI Isn’t an ‘Arms Race,’ but America Needs to Win Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and the AI ‘Fantasy Land’ Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at BoldNames@wsj.com Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column . Read Tim Higgins’s column. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

43 min
JUN 27

Booz Allen CEO on Silicon Valley’s Turn to Defense Tech: ‘We Need Everybody.’

Horacio Rozanski says he is obsessed with speed. As the CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton, a company that helps government agencies leverage the latest advances in technology used by the private sector, he has insight into the global race to develop artificial intelligence, especially in the realm of warfare. How does Rozanski see the relationship between the U.S. government and Silicon Valley evolving? He speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins on the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast. Check Out Past Episodes: This CEO Says Global Trade Is Broken. What Comes Next? Venture Capitalist Sarah Guo’s Surprising Bet on Unsexy AI What This Former USAID Head Had to Say About Elon Musk and DOGE Palmer Luckey's 'I Told You So' Tour: AI Weapons and Vindication Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at BoldNames@wsj.com Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column. Read Tim Higgins’s column. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

38 min
MAY 23

This CEO Says Global Trade Is Broken. What Comes Next?

Evan Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Altana, one of a few companies that have a global view and insight into the world’s supply chains. Think LinkedIn, but with the ability to track every step of a product’s movement from raw materials to store shelves. That lets him see firsthand how President Trump’s tariffs have thrown global trade networks into chaos as companies rush to rework every step of the manufacturing process. And Smith says this is just the beginning. Is the era of global free trade over? And if so, what comes next? Smith speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins on the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast. Check Out Past Episodes: Venture Capitalist Sarah Guo’s Surprising Bet on Unsexy AI What This Former USAID Head Had to Say About Elon Musk and DOGE ‘Businesses Don’t Like Uncertainty’: How Cisco Is Navigating AI and Trump 2.0 Palmer Luckey's 'I Told You So' Tour: AI Weapons and Vindication Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at BoldNames@wsj.com Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column. Read Tim Higgins’s column. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

38 min
MAY 16

This Company Has a Plan to Beat Neuralink at the Brain-Computer Interface Game

What if you could control computers with just a thought? Precision Neuroscience is one of several companies working to make that a reality. Michael Mager is the co-founder and CEO of the brain-computer interface company whose technology aims to give patients with severe mobility issues new ways to interact with the digital world. How does Precision plan to offer brain implants to millions of people who could benefit from them? And how is the company competing with rivals like Synchron and Elon Musk’s Neuralink? Mager speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins on the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast. Check Out Past Episodes: Why Elon Musk’s Battery Guy Is Betting Big on Recycling Venture Capitalist Sarah Guo’s Surprising Bet on Unsexy AI Could Amazon’s Zoox Beat Tesla and Waymo in the Robotaxi Race? Humanoid Robot Startups Are Hot. This AI Expert Cuts Through the Hype. Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at BoldNames@wsj.com Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column. Read Tim Higgins’s column. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

35 min

See All (50)

WSJ Special Access is a curated selection of interviews and conversations with top business leaders and newsmakers from The Wall Street Journal’s exclusive live events. Plus, go inside the C-suite with Executive Insights from WSJ Pro, a series that gives you essential context about industry news and trends. Special Access is available for WSJ subscribers only. To gain access as a subscriber, connect your account.

4.7 (24)

NEWS COMMENTARY

View Subscription FAQs

Alex Ossola

Host
Danny Lewis

Host
Evan Smith

Guest
Ayanna Howard

Guest
Christopher Mims

Guest
Tim Higgins

Guest
Reid Hoffman

Guest

4.3

out of 5

1,411 Ratings

Information and fun listen

08/25/2024

Ainge1983

Great show that inform on a variety of technical and business subjects. Even and unbiased, there is no proselytizing to a particular political viewpoint.
WSJ is now NPR

Jun 29

Eddo's IPOD

Why do I feel like I’m listening to NPR when I listen to your reports?
Nauseating bias

Apr 18

@hello-new-world

WSJ can do so much better - and should.
Radically liberal

Apr 18

James Tebow

Review the Amish vaccination data right next to the viral infection rates and viral deaths.

WSJ’s Bold Names brings you conversations with the leaders of the bold-named companies featured in the pages of The Wall Street Journal. Hosts Tim Higgins and Christopher Mims speak to CEOs and business leaders in interviews that challenge conventional wisdom and take you inside the decisions being made in the C-suite and beyond.