The So What from BCG

BCG's Matt Kropp explains why productive AI use, not just access, is becoming the biggest lever for growth. Companies using AI purposefully are growing three times faster than those that aren't. So why are many still stuck? The winners aren't substituting people with AI — they're augmenting them and arming them with AI tools, building an advantage that compounds over time.You’ll Learn:Why “token-based competition” is emerging as the next growth advantageWhat Matt learned from building — and shutting down — an all-AI companyThe real reasons employees still aren't adopting AI at scaleLearn More: The Era of Token-Based Competition Is Here. Is Your AI Strategy Ready?: https://on.bcg.com/4ARAa79BCG’s Latest Thinking on AI: https://on.bcg.com/4hZqpw1Matt’s Substack: https://mattkropp.substack.com/AI Costs a Fortune. Mismanaging AI Will Cost You More: https://lnk.to/so-what-BCG-Goydan-Lukic-AI-Cost12Chapters0:00 Equal AI Access, Equal Results?1:00 What Is Token-Based Competition?1:39 Token-Based Competition vs. Token-Maxing3:50 Inside a Zero-Human Company5:35 Lessons from An All-Agent Company10:03 How To Win in the Token Economy11:06 Is AI a Substitute for Labor?12:21 Token Use and Company Performance14:38 What Is Return on Intelligence?15:06 What ‘Intelligence’ Really Means15:41 Getting Your Team On Board17:00 Why AI Adoption Still LagsMeet the ExpertName: Matt Kropp, CTO, BCG XBio: https://on.bcg.com/4s2FuRbLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kropp/Follow BCGWebsite: https://www.bcg.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boston-consulting-groupThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

BCG’s Daniel Kuepper and Laura Juliano explain why AI is rewriting the economics of where and how the world manufactures.Daniel Kuepper, who co-leads BCG's Manufacturing and Physical AI team, and Laura Juliano, BCG's North America Operations Practice Lead, unpack why the factory of the future is no longer a distant vision. Physical AI, agentic systems, and a shared data backbone are converging to expand what's automatable and changing the math on where companies should manufacture. Do leaders still need to separate where to produce from how to produce?You'll Learn: What actually separates a genuine “lights-out factory” from a partially automated one.The biggest mistakes leaders make when starting an AI-led manufacturing transformation.How new hires are showing up already fluent in AI, changing what factory training even looks like.Learn More:BCG’s Latest Thinking on Manufacturing: https://on.bcg.com/46rlzRTHow the Factory of the Future Is Reshaping the Economics of Manufacturing Competitiveness: https://on.bcg.com/4y7h7DWHow Physical AI Is Reshaping Robotics Today—and What Comes Next: https://on.bcg.com/4rgBawWThe CEO’s Guide to Physical AI: https://on.bcg.com/4AoTg4kChapters(00:00) Is Factory of the Future Here?(01:20) What Is Different This Time?(04:19) How Significant Are Recent Shifts?(04:49) Are Lights-Out Factories Realistic?(07:54) What Industries Are Leading in Robotics?(09:09) Where Should Factories Double Down?(11:58) Physical AI's Impact on Companies(14:55) Leaders’ Costliest Mistakes in Robotics(18:53) The First-Mover Factory Edge(21:15) What Should Manufacturing Leaders Do Now?Meet the ExpertsDaniel Kuepper, Managing Director and Senior Partner: https://on.bcg.com/4Am2e27Laura Juliano, Managing Director and Senior Partner: https://on.bcg.com/4AlXp8ZListen to Other Episodes of The So What from BCG podcastYouTube | https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMJgyXjV5gMI9JV-GcF_D1Y6zyf1Eab_0&si=plXqe7-YNzbG56U8Apple | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-so-what-from-bcg/id1591194141Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/show/2NSVR7qrAyZ4CaGsnknbBk?si=1d846c2af8784923Other platforms | https://lnk.to/so-what-general-show12Follow BCGhttps://www.bcg.com/LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/boston-consulting-groupThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Bryan Gauch, Leader of BCG’s Commercial Tech Topic, explains why CRM isn’t disappearing even as agentic AI reshapes how customers are served. He argues that CRM will keep serving as the data backbone while agents take over the interface. He also lays out the cost and resourcing questions CEOs need to answer before scaling their AI investment.You’ll Learn:Why agents are quietly replacing the screen, not the system, behind every customer interaction.Why cost is the real constraint on agentic AI, not the technology itself.How CEOs should align cost, resources, and innovation before deciding what CRM keeps and what agents take over.Learn MoreBCG and Salesforce: https://on.bcg.com/4zTgNKlBCG’s Latest Thinking on Marketing and Sales: https://on.bcg.com/4zVIMsPChapters(0:00) What Does CRM Actually Do?(1:29) What CRM Means for Customers(2:02) Could AI Agents Replace CRM Entirely?(6:44) The Real Cost of Agents(8:52) ROI of AI Agents(10:45) How Will Agents Impact Employees?(12:55) Where CRM Is Headed in 3 Years(14:33) How Should CEOs Approach CRM?(15:53) What Role Will Consultants Play?Meet the ExpertBryan Gauch, BCG Managing Director & Partner: https://on.bcg.com/4iI7fLVListen to Other Episodes of The So What from BCG podcastYouTube | https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMJgyXjV5gMI9JV-GcF_D1Y6zyf1Eab_0&si=plXqe7-YNzbG56U8Apple | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-so-what-from-bcg/id1591194141Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/show/2NSVR7qrAyZ4CaGsnknbBk?si=1d846c2af8784923Other platforms | https://lnk.to/so-what-general-show12Follow BCGhttps://www.bcg.com/LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/boston-consulting-groupThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Vlad Lukic, BCG’s global leader for tech and digital advantage, and Paul Goydan, global leader of BCG’s cost offer, explain why so many companies spend more on AI than they get back. What is the fix? They argue it isn’t simply cutting AI spend, but assigning clear ownership, categorizing costs correctly, and tying every dollar to a business outcome.You’ll Learn:Business owners, not IT, should be accountable for AI’s return, like any other investment.Many companies give routine tasks to their most powerful and expensive AI models, when a simpler tool could do the job.Instead of focusing on banning unauthorized AI tools, leaders should turn towards educating employees on sanctioned options.Learn More:How Leaders Build an AI-First Cost Advantage: https://on.bcg.com/4c3KrSWWhy We Still Need a CIO in the AI-First Era: https://on.bcg.com/46bBbIVChapters0:00 AI's Bottom-Line Problem1:01 Why Your AI Costs Don't Add Up2:16 Can Promoting AI Use Promote Waste?4:02 Are AI Costs an IT Problem?4:48 How to Prioritize AI Spend6:18 How Do CEOs Pay for AI?7:14 How to Categorize AI Costs?8:02 Who Owns the AI Budget?8:30 How Leaders Know AI Is Paying Off10:50 Strategy vs. FOMO13:49 Turning FOMO Into Action14:27 Winners in the AI Era16:28 Handling Hidden AI Risk18:05 Now What: Next StepsListen to Other Episodes of The So What from BCG podcastYouTube | https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMJgyXjV5gMI9JV-GcF_D1Y6zyf1Eab_0&si=plXqe7-YNzbG56U8Apple | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-so-what-from-bcg/id1591194141Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/show/2NSVR7qrAyZ4CaGsnknbBk?si=1d846c2af8784923Other platforms | https://lnk.to/so-what-general-show12Follow BCGhttps://www.bcg.com/LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/boston-consulting-groupThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Kristy Ellmer and Julia Dhar, co-authors of How Change Really Works and founders of BCG’s Behavioral Science Lab, explain why so many transformations fail and what the science says separates success from failure. They break down the “messy middle,” why people resist being changed rather than change itself, and how giving employees real agency turns resistance into momentum.What You’ll Learn:Why “false alignment” among leaders, not resistance from employees, derails most transformations before they start.Why giving employees real ownership, not just participation, turns resistance into momentum.What makes AI transformations distinct from other kinds of organizational changeLearn More:Read How Change Really Works: https://on.bcg.com/3SpBPzdYour AI Change Is Actually a People Change: https://on.bcg.com/3RKUp4JThe False Alignment Trap: https://on.bcg.com/45R9ULHCEOs Are Betting Big on AI Transformations. Science Is How They Win: https://on.bcg.com/4bGy1jGWe Found the Real Reason 70% of Transformations Fail: https://on.bcg.com/4xqmOMqChapters(0:00) What Is Transformation?(1:54) Why Leaders Need a New Playbook for Change(3:42) Where Do Most Transformations Fail?(5:37) What Does the “Messy Middle” Look Like?(6:28) What Makes AI Transformations Different?(9:25) Where Is the "End Point" in an AI Transformation?(11:51) Why “Just Get on the Bus” Isn’t Good Advice for AI Change(13:03) When to Walk Away from a Change Effort(15:42) What Should Leaders Do When Momentum Fades?(16:49) Why Giving Employees Ownership Matters(21:06) What Should Leaders Do in the “Messy Middle”?(22:37) How Do You Make Change Successful?Meet the Experts Kristy Ellmer: https://on.bcg.com/4xvpgBgCo-Author, How Change Really WorksBCG Managing Director & PartnerNorth American Leader, BCG’s Transform PracticeCo-Founder, BCG’s Behavioral Science Lab:https://on.bcg.com/4z9WhVsJulia Dhar: https://on.bcg.com/45ec8VjCo-Author, How Change Really WorksBCG Managing Director & PartnerNorth American Leader, People and Organization PracticeCo-Founder, BCG’s Behavioral Science Lab: https://on.bcg.com/4z9WhVsListen to Other Episodes of The So What from BCG podcastYouTube | https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMJgyXjV5gMI9JV-GcF_D1Y6zyf1Eab_0&si=plXqe7-YNzbG56U8Apple | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-so-what-from-bcg/id1591194141Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/show/2NSVR7qrAyZ4CaGsnknbBk?si=1d846c2af8784923Other platforms | https://lnk.to/so-what-general-show12Follow BCGhttps://www.bcg.com/LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/boston-consulting-groupThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp