Built for Change

These days, many consumers are finding buying decisions overwhelming and walking away from interactions online. It’s getting harder to tell what’s real – from product reviews to descriptions – which can lead to hesitation and confusion in people’s shopping habits. This poses a real challenge for organizations engaged in digital commerce. In this episode, we’ll hear from Corie Barry, C.E.O. of Best Buy, and Baiju Shah, Global Chief Strategy Officer at Accenture Song. 

For this episode, our hosts Josh and Elise take us on a journey into the future of air travel. For the airline industry, the demand for operational resilience in the face of disruption has never been higher. Looking ahead, aviation companies need to reinvent themselves to build a future that is sustainable, innovative and more convenient for the customer. We’ll speak to Emily Weiss, Global Travel Industry Lead at Accenture and Decius Valmorbida, President of Travel at Amadeus.

If there was ever a time for organizations to get better at managing change, that time is now. Leaders have a love-hate relationship with the idea of change. And it’s easy to see why: Accenture research shows that 90% of organizations have gone through two or more major transformations in the past three years. In this episode, we’ll explore what it means to embrace reinvention as a long-term strategy. We’ll speak to Patrick Apostolo, Director of Corporate Operations and Business Transformation for EMEA at the Radisson Hotel Group; Karalee Close, Global Lead, Talent and Organization at Accenture; and Fred Oswald, Professor and Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences at Rice University and Member, National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC).

Making meaningful progress toward a net-zero transition requires a new era of collaboration between global stakeholders — from oil, gas and power providers to heavy industry such as steel, metals and mining, cement, chemicals, freight and logistics, to light industry that includes pulp and paper, aerospace and defense, automotive, industrial equipment, life sciences and consumer goods. This episode highlights the critical need for innovation, investment and cooperation across industries to drive the energy transition forward. Working together, industry leaders can flip a vicious cycle of inaction into a virtuous cycle of action. We’ll speak to Emily Shults, Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Low Carbon Solutions at Sempra Infrastructure and Stephanie Jamison, Global Resources Industry Practices Chair and Sustainability Services Lead at Accenture.

Across industries, innovators are building technologies and systems that can understand people better than ever before. Wearability, portability, convenience and other features of consumer-oriented devices are driving transformation anywhere people and technology interact. It’s time for leaders to ask how these latest developments might help their enterprises. In this episode, we’ll speak to Moha Bensofia, Chief Evangelist at Mendi; Mary Hamilton, Lead of Accenture Technology Innovation Technology for North America and Latin America; and Prof. Xuanhe Zhao at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Spatial computing is about to hit its stride. A medium is emerging that can create new value in the form of augmented and virtual realities, enabling the digital world to reflect what it means to be human and in a physical space. In this episode, we’ll explore how open source technology — developed in the entertainment industry — is helping enterprises build immersive new environments. And we’ll take a look at how new spatial technologies could have profound impacts on our everyday experiences. We’ll speak to Steve May, Chief Technology Officer at Pixar; Adam Burden, Global Innovation Lead at Accenture; and Kyle Rand, C.E.O. of Rendever.

With the rapid acceleration of innovation, many people are feeling that technology is happening to them rather than for them. In fact, according to Accenture research, 41% of frequent tech users say that technology has complicated their lives just as much as it has simplified it. Because of this, businesses should not hide from the oncoming tide of people seeking control over their relationship with technology. The best approach for many organizations is to become part of the solution. In this episode, our guests will be Joe Hollier, Co-Founder of Light (creators of the Light Phone); Katie Burke, Global Thought Leadership Lead for Accenture Song; and Kenneth Schlenker, Founder and C.E.O. of Opal.

In this episode, we delve into the evolving landscape of text-based generative AI and its widespread implications for businesses. With increasing attention being paid to how AI systems are trained and implemented, leaders must learn how to use AI technology responsibly and in ways that are beneficial to the world around us. We’ll explore ways businesses have attempted to address these questions, from staying ahead of the technology by “outsmarting” AI’s learning models to working with them in ways that are open and transparent for users, customers and employees. Our guests will be Alex Cui, Co-Founder of GPTZero; Arnab Chakraborty, Senior Managing Director, Responsible AI Lead at Accenture; and May Habib, CEO and Co-Founder of Writer. 

The manufacturing centers of the future use every technology at their disposal, from automation to digital twin networks and proprietary cellular networks. Advances in technology will allow enterprises to predict and respond quickly to problems before they arise. In this episode, we’ll examine what a resilient supply chain looks like — and discuss the new technologies that can help create manufacturing processes that remain stable amidst disruption. We’ll speak to Eric Green, VP of User Experience at Dassault Systèmes; Sef Tuma, Global Engineering and Manufacturing Lead at Accenture; and Manish Bhatia, Executive VP of Global Operations at Micron Technology. 

We are in the midst of an era defined by constant change. Many organizations are rising to the challenge, transforming faster than ever and embracing new technologies. But research shows that some companies are truly leading the way, embracing a strategy that Accenture calls Total Enterprise Reinvention. So what does it mean to be a Reinventor? In this episode, our host Josh Klein leads a roundtable discussion with Jack Azagury, Group Chief Executive, and Penelope Prett, former Chief Information, Data and Analytics Officer and now lead for the Workday Business Group at Accenture. We’ll also speak with David Puente, Global Head of Client Solutions at BBVA.