Operations Leadership

In this episode, Gautam looks into the future of operations. He digs deep into the six forces that will reshape operations in the next 5 years and why 89% of organizations are still running industrial age operating models, while 1% are lapping the field; what science tells about the new unit of work, and why …

Continue reading "Episode 40: Future of Operations: Outlook 2031"

This episode’s guest is Michael Hardy (PwC Deals Partner) based in Helsinki. In our conversation, we dive deep into the M&A due diligence process, linkages between the finance and operations in a transactions environment, deal risks, working capital, and the impact of AI on due diligence. Accessibility transcripts for podcast episodes can be found from …

Continue reading "Episode 39: Behind the Numbers: Insights from M&A Due Diligence"

In this episode, we cut through the AI hype to ask the question most vendors don’t want answered: why are 80% of supply chain AI deployments still invisible on the P&L? Drawing on fresh 2026 research, we diagnose the four root causes behind the scaling failure, from the data foundation gap to the leadership skills …

Continue reading "Episode: 38: Field Notes – AI ROI Reckoning: Why Most AI Deployments Still Aren’t Hitting the P/L"

This episode’s guest is Wayne Marhelski, a former US Air Force veteran and operations executive with over three decades of experience transforming manufacturing businesses across defense, aerospace, and nuclear industries. Wayne shares why private equity’s value creation gap lives on the shop floor and not in the spreadsheet, why the AI pilot is the new …

Continue reading "Episode 37: Manufacturing Operations Leadership in Private Equity"

In this episode, we analyze the strategic shift from resilience to Total Value. Leading organizations are moving beyond disruption management toward enterprise-wide value maximization. The practical vehicle is supply chain network redesign at scale. We examine the internal politics and financial barriers that stall transformation, the real economics of nearshoring, and what distinguishes leaders who …

Continue reading "Episode 36: Field Notes – Network Redesign from Resilience to Total Value"

In this episode, Gautam unpacks the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the largest disruption to global energy supply since the 1970s oil crisis. This crisis has profound implications for chokepoint exposure, commodity dependency, and logistics network resilience, examining how single-corridor concentration risk, seasonal supply irreversibility, and the collapse of just-in-time assumptions are forcing a …

Continue reading "Episode 35: Field Notes – Chokepoint: Hormuz, World’s Most Dangerous 21 Miles"

In this episode, we analyze the recent case of Anthropic AI solution being designated as a supply chain risk by the US Pentagon. This case has profound implications for vendor dependency, contract governance, and supply chain resilience, analysing how single-source concentration risk, asset-specific investments, and ethical red lines in procurement design. Accessibility transcripts for podcast …

Continue reading "Episode 34: Field Notes: AI Supply Chain Showdown: Pentagon vs Anthropic Saga"

In this episode, we have returning guest William Bundy (Partner at McKinsey & Co). We discuss how private equity firms have evolved their operating groups into structured capabilities that systematically drive value across their portfolio companies, optimal balance of specialist vs generalist operating partners, & how AI is starting to amplify operational performance across their …

Continue reading "Episode 33: Operating Partner Groups, Carveouts, & AI in PE Value Creation"

This episode’s guest is Hadi Ghanbari (Assistant Professor at Aalto University’s Business School). In this interview, we discuss cyber-attacks which target supply chains, including the types of attackers, motivation, techniques, exploited vunerabilities, targeted assets, impacts of these attacks, along with real life cases. Accessibility transcripts for podcast episodes can be found from the podcast page:https://www.aalto.fi/en/podcasts/operations-leadership-with-gautam-basu-podcast

Our guest for this episode is Sami Miettinen (author, investment banker, & host of the Neuvottelija podcast). In this interview, Sami dives deep in the art & science of negotiation and why negotiation is a superpower especially in these current times of accelerated change & uncetrainty. Accessibility transcripts for podcast episodes can be found from …

Continue reading "Episode 31: Negotation as a Superpower"