The Reboot Chronicles with Dean DeBiase

Behind the scenes of the world’s biggest companies lies a powerful, often invisible engine: high-stakes B2B transactions that move billions across borders. These deals are the lifeblood of global commerce—and when they go wrong, the ripple effects can be seismic. That’s why insuring and protecting them isn’t just smart—it’s essential.

On this episode of The Reboot Chronicles Show, we sit down with someone who doesn’t just understand this world—he’s reshaping it. Meet Artur Wisniewski, COO Allianz Trade Americas, part of the global powerhouse Allianz Group. With over $900 billion in assets under management and 156,000 employees across 70 countries, Allianz is one of the largest insurers and asset managers on the planet.

Artur has spent the last two decades modernizing financial infrastructures across continents. From rebooting legacy systems to pioneering automation, AI, and data intelligence, he’s been at the forefront of helping businesses navigate risk, scale smartly, and future-proof their operations.

Listen in as Artur pulls back the curtain on; How trade credit insurance quietly powers our global economy, how AI and automation are transforming financial ecosystems, and what it takes to lead billion-dollar investments that reboot industries. It’s a strategic blueprint in resilience, reinvention, and the art of safeguarding the world’s most critical transactions. Join us as Artur guides us through the future of financial protection—and why it matters to all of us—now more than ever.

The global economy is constantly evolving with forces like Automation, Robotics and artificial intelligence redefining the global workforce and how businesses drive growth and innovation at scale.   As the Magnificent Seven Tech giants lay off tens of thousands of people leveraging AI to drive out repetitive, mundane tasks, the labor force is challenged to broaden their skillset and redefine their value to stay relevant.  Getting an understanding of what is happening in the economy on both a global and a national level has never been more important. In this episode of The Reboot Chronicles Show, we’re joined by economist and commentator Peter Morici to help make sense of the forces driving today’s economic landscape.

Peter is one of America’s most unfiltered and respected economic voices. He has served as Chief Economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission, authored 18 books, and is a familiar guest on CNN, Fox Business, CNBC, and Newsmax. He brings perspective with a historical lens towards economic cycles that infuse logic and experience to help navigate uncertain times.  This is precisely why we wanted Peter on the program. To unpack what’s really happening beneath the headlines. To gain insights on how to advance during this consequential AI moment and take advantage of the tremendous opportunity to Reboot to stay relevant. 

Artificial Intelligence and the potential productivity benefits continue to be an area of focus across industries, yet AI’s influence now extends into our culture. From deepfakes and cloned voices to AI-generated art and virtual influencers, a new wave of synthetic content is transforming media and testing our ability to trust what we see and hear.

In this episode of The Reboot Chronicles,  Henry Ajder,founder of Latent Space Advisory and program lead of Generative AI and Business at the University of Cambridge joins us to discuss this shift. Henry has spent the better part of a decade decoding how synthetic media will alter trust and creativity. He is with us today to help understand what a synthetic age of media really means for business, leaders, governments, and everyday people. 

Launching a startup is daunting—especially when you're navigating the journey without guidance or mentorship. Even well-funded ventures struggle, and those that beat the odds are so rare they're dubbed "Unicorns." Our next guest on the Reboot Chronicles Show has helped countless start-ups become successful and redefined what we here at the Reboot Chronicles believe to be key components in rebooting organizations. 

Brad Feld is a legendary figure in the startup world whose influence runs deep and wide. As co-founder of both the Foundry Group and Techstars, Brad has helped shape the very ecosystem that fuels innovation today. He was an early investor in breakout successes like Zynga and Fitbit, spotting potential long before they became household names. Beyond investing, he's also a prolific author whose books have become essential reading for founders navigating the rocky-road highs and lows of entrepreneurship.

Through his success and headline investments, Brad has built a legacy through his philosophy of giving first, radical honesty about mental health, and a pursuit of personal and professional rebooting. Join us for a deep dive into Brad Feld’s remarkable journey, as we uncover the stories, insights, and hard-won lessons that can help you—and continue to shape the future of business.

Most businesses are rapidly deploying AI to be more competitive, but some are struggling to adapt, or worse, think Microsoft Co-Pilot is enough adaptation. Sectors like consulting, accounting, and law firms, are in big trouble and many are facing an Opportunity Crisis. Our next guest is reaching that point in their evolution, but instead of being disrupted, they are choosing to reboot themselves as the disruptors who can create and lead the next generation of business.

Jim Peko is CEO of Grant Thornton, part of Grant Thornton International, an $8 billion group with 76,000 employees in hundreds of offices worldwide. Jim is making no small plans for their reboot; they have brought in a top private equity partner to think bigger and accelerate Jim's plans. Listen in as we unpack this ambitious reboot and how, through a billion-dollar investment from New Mountain Capital, they plan to supercharge the AI-enabled services sector—and how you can be an AI disruptor.

From Olympic runways to boardroom breakthroughs, Simon Arkel knows how to raise the bar—and clear it. On this episode of The Reboot Chronicles, we’re joined by this two-time Olympian and five-time NCAA All-American whose journey is a masterclass in reinvention. 

 Simon’s pole vaulting career was built on grit, resilience, and relentless pursuit—qualities that now define his impact in the healthcare industry. Simon has served as CEO across multiple ventures, most notably steering DeepLens, a pioneering platform for clinical trial patient-matching, through its successful acquisition by Paradigm Health.  Today, he’s at the helm of Ryght Inc., where he’s harnessing generative AI to revolutionize Biopharma site selection—making it faster, smarter, and more cost-effective. 

 Simon’s journey is one of ongoing evolution from early promise to Olympic excellence, and now a visionary leader reshaping healthcare through technology.  Join us as we unpack the many reboots that shaped his path—and explore what’s next on his horizon. 

You know the song MMMBop. You probably danced to it. But do you know the man behind it? Taylor Hanson went from topping charts in 27 countries to brewing up a business empire.  In an industry that often trades authenticity for applause, Taylor and his two brothers chose ownership over dependency—when he was just nine years old! Celebrity guests often bring star power—but few bring the depth of reinvention and a journey that includes global fame, entrepreneurial grit, and a mission-driven future.

On this episode of the Reboot Chronicles Podcast, Taylor shares his remarkable musical career journey, where they have sold 16 million records, with eight Top-40 Albums, three Top-40 singles, and three Grammy nominations. This musical fame was only their beginning. Today, Taylor is the co-founder of Hanson Brothers Beer Company, a craft brewery rooted in community and creativity, and is actively developing a nonprofit initiative focused on civic engagement and social impact. In a business that often sidelines authentic voices, Taylor’s path underscores the power of speaking up, standing firm, and creating ventures that reflect your values. Listen in for some fun stories and a few surprises.

Long before brand-building became a buzzword and athletes were expected to be media-savvy moguls, our guest on this episode of the Reboot Chronicles Show, Jan Stephenson, was already rewriting the rules.

Born under the sun-drenched skies of Sydney, Australia, she stepped onto the LPGA Tour in 1974 with a swing as fearless as her spirit—and a vision that would forever change the face of women’s golf. In a sport steeped in tradition, Stephenson brought charisma, controversy, and championship grit, capturing 16 LPGA titles, including three majors, and earning Rookie of the Year honors in her debut season.

But her legacy isn’t just etched in scorecards—it lives in the way she turned golf into a stage, and herself into a story of inspiration, resilience and lasting impact by transforming reboot moments into opportunities.  Having beat cancer twice, she is fierce in the face of adversity; showing no signs of slowing down as she shares her passion with her foundation, as an entrepreneur and a champion for the sport of golf around the world. 

David Butler’s life is a classic reboot story, from the courts of NBA Basketball to Wall Street Titan and co-CEO of Dimensional Fund Advisors. A powerhouse in the boardroom and on the court, David’s career has been anything but conventional. A Rhodes Scholar candidate and Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor inductee, he was an All-American at UC Berkeley and drafted to the Boston Celtics. When his NBA career was sidelined by a strike and injury—David was faced with a serendipitous moment in his life that many would have missed—and pivoted with purpose, launching a remarkable Reboot journey shaped by discipline and a vision.

A powerful force on the court, David has Rebooted Dimensional into a $850B powerhouse to become a leading global financial services group. Long before the me-too AI train, instead of chasing hot stock tips, they redefined the financial advice model with a systematic, research-based investment approaches that have outperformed their competitors. Listen in as we unpack David’s remarkable personal journey and how a former pro baller became a Wall Street Trailblazer.

When a CEO steps into a company with the mindset of initiating a full-scale reboot, it’s not just a refresh—it’s a renaissance. My best reboots have been built on three foundational pillars: People - Platform - Passion. Platform (my favorite) often becomes the keystone of growth, especially when you reimagine it not just as infrastructure, but as a conduit—an engine of connection. Think of Amazon as the digital bridge between consumers and merchants, or Facebook as the social circuitry linking lives across the globe. Platforms, in their purest form, are the connective tissue of modern enterprise—rebooting how ideas, services, business models, and relationships flow between entities. And when done right, they don’t just support the business—they redefine it.

Bestselling author, Sangeet Choudary - CEO of Platformation Labs, joins us to unpack all of this. A platform guru, he is an advisor to Fortune 50 CEOs, a Scholar at Dartmouth, a Fellow at UC Berkley, and holds key advisory roles in the Indian Government, World Economic Forum, Standard Bank, ING Bank and GPA—the largest food retailer in Latin America.

Listen in as we explore his latest book, Reshuffle: Who Wins When AI Restacks, and explore what I write about in Forbes: how AI is transforming knowledge economies, shifting expertise to AI tools—fundamentally altering our workflows and organization power dynamics.