Gabriel Zalzman, a mainstay of Mattel's international business activities since 2000, has been at the forefront of numerous changes in the toy and retail industry having culminated his career as the Chief Commercial Officer, International. He spoke with us in this session about what it takes to resonate with global youth (and their parents), how the industry has changed, as well as how international strategies have had to change — and how leaders need to be agile in their outlook to win in the international competitive environment today. 

With technologies like AI, blockchain, drones, and IoT poised to remake the commercial and professional landscape in coming decades, many are wondering how this will affect work in general around the world, social wellbeing, and even international stability when topics like populism, immigration, and corruption enter the equation. Sanjeev Khagram, the newly appointed Dean of Thunderbird School of Global Management takes us on a tour of these issues, and how Thunderbird will prepare leaders for the challenges and opportunities ahead. 

With the recent release of his book, Digital Influence, Joel Backaler has written the most comprehensive look into the world of influencers and how companies are interacting with them — successfully and unsuccessfully. Listen to this podcast for insights into how your company can leverage influencers, whether you're in B2C, B2B, or even B2G industries. Backaler is a managing director at Frontier Strategy Group and is also the author of China Goes West.

Patrick Moran, who is currently Global Head of Growth Marketing at Spotify and with previous runs at Netflix and eBay, gives us a preview of some of the topics he'll discuss at GetGlobal 2018 (Nov 7-8) including a run-down of key markets, using machine learning for marketing insights, and how to catalyze growth-generating subscriber engagement.

We welcome Humphrey Ho, US Managing Director of Hylink Digital, the largest independent digital agency in China. In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss a variety of China-related cross-border issues, from the needs and strategies of internationally expanding Chinese companies, to the keys for foreign companies to unlock the digital consumer landscape in China, to the surprising motivations of China's ultra-wealthy. 

In this edition we speak with Erik Huberman, the CEO of Hawke Media. Hawke is a small but rapidly growing marketing agency that helps companies of all sizes with their digital marketing campaigns. We discuss in this episode some of the issues that come up when dealing with foreign clients, intercultural communication, and some of the interesting challenges for foreign entrants to the US market.

Lifelong Africa specialist Witney Schneidman shares the experiences, insights, and deep knowledge he has gleaned in his illustrious career as one of America's senior-most Africa watchers. We discuss his early lessons, adventures through business and senior roles in government, and his observations of modern Africa after ~40 years of experience on the continent.

Malaysia concluded an election on May 9, 2018 with surprising results. Nearly all analysis pointed to a win for the powerful but controversial Najib Razak, but instead veteran Malaysian political leader Mahathir Mohamed won decisively. We ask longtime former General Electric ASEAN CEO Stuart Dean and esteemed Malaysian trade expert and former senior official Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria for their views on what this means for Malaysia and for business. 

In this in-depth discussion with Nisha Biswal — US-India Business Council president and former Assistant Secretary for South & Central Asian Affairs at State Dept — we explore the case for why ambitious companies can't afford to wait on going into India. We also examine some of the recent news in India's reform process, economic performance, social change for women, and key issues in the US-India business agenda, as well as look forward to where India's progress can and likely will go.

Anuradha Das Mathur is a leading advisor, executive, and analyst on Indian business who is the founder of an MBA program for young women. Anirudha Dutta is an analyst and author of the Half a Billion Rising... India's women are changing their orientation toward society in profound ways, with girls, professionals, and mothers demanding more for themselves with more confidence than previous generations. The impact of this change will have major effects on the economy, politics, business environment, and culture.