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Something big is happening in the world of business. CEOs increasingly say their jobs have become less about giving orders, more about inspiring, motivating, setting a north star. They are taking the lead on big issues like climate change, worker retraining, and diversity and inclusion. They are under pressure from employees, customers and investors not just to turn a profit, but to prove they are doing good in the world. And in the process, they are fundamentally redefining the relationship between business and society. Join Fortune Executive Editorial Director Diane Brady and Editorial Director Kristin Stoller as they engage global leaders on the insights, experiences and issues you need to know.
218 Episodes
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In this episode of Leadership Next, recorded live at Deloitte University’s Next Generation CEO Conference, hosts Diane Brady and Kristin Stoller sit down with Qualtrics CEO Zig Serafin for a deep dive into the future of experience management, the transformative power of AI, and the importance of defining your “why” as a leader. Serafin reflects on his 18-year tenure at Microsoft, his leadership journey at Qualtrics, and how the company navigated SAP’s $8.5 billion acquisition, went public, and later returned to private ownership. He also explores the rise of agentic AI, customer experience lessons from Delta Airlines, and what today’s leaders can learn from the early skeptics of the iPhone.
Oura is more than just a sleep tracker—it’s a cultural phenomenon. In this episode of Leadership Next, Oura CEO Tom Hale joins Diane and Kristin to discuss how the smart ring has become a symbol of well-being, embraced by everyone from high-profile figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Kim Kardashian to everyday users looking to optimize their health. Hale explores Oura’s expansion into activity readiness and women’s health, the importance of accuracy in wearables, and the growing consumer demand for data privacy—especially in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned. He also shares compelling stories of how Oura has helped athletes, cancer patients, and even non-drinkers make informed lifestyle choices and develop healthier habits. Plus, hear his take on whether too much health data can be a bad thing—and what Oura is doing to remain a trusted companion in personal health.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
1When Bill Anderson became CEO of the German pharmaceutical conglomerate Bayer AG in 2023, he found a company with a long history and a robust corporate bureaucracy. The company handbook was 1,300 pages, and layer after layer of management too easily stifled innovation. Anderson, who worked at Genentech earlier in his career, wanted to instill more of an ownership culture, where decisions and information moved more nimbly. Almost two years in, the changes have been significant: The entire company now runs on 90-day review cycles—allowing for quicker course correction and more of a startup feel for the 161-year-old firm. Anderson is this week’s guest on Leadership Next. He spoke to Diane and Kristin about the current state of the health care system, the U.S. regulatory environment, and Bayer’s newest advancements in Parkinson’s treatment, as well as the company’s own complicated history.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
Can success run in a family? For serial entrepreneur Naveen Jain, the answer is clearly yes. This week's guests on Leadership Next are Jain and his son, fellow entrepreneur Ankur Jain. Naveen Jain made a name for himself in the 1990s as the founder of InfoSpace. These days he's hard at work on other endeavors, including his personalized medicine company Viome. Meanwhile Ankur, whose earlier company Humin was acquired by Tinder a few years ago, is already on to his next endeavor, a platform called Bilt Rewards, which allows users to pay their rent online, and helps them earn rewards by doing so. Diane and Kristin speak to Naveen and Ankur about the differences in their leadership styles, how Naveen put entrepreneurship front and center for his children, and innovation driven by AI.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
Beauty is a crowded space with tons of entrenched players. But stiff competition hasn’t slowed the growth for e.l.f., the popular drugstore beauty brand founded in 2004. Tarang Amin is e.l.f’s CEO and this week’s guest on Leadership Next. The company and its popular products, including its flagship Halo Glow Liquid Filler, are lower-cost than industry competitors, says Amin. That value proposition, savvy social media marketing partnerships with celebrities like Jennifer Coolidge and Judge Judy, and early moves onto popular tech platforms like TikTok, Twitch, and Roblox, have made the company a Gen Z darling. Amin speaks to hosts Diane Brady and Kristin Stoller about the importance of DEI in beauty, the brand’s focus on sustainability, and its strategy for dealing with the current U.S. political environment.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
Trust is the lifeblood of business. That makes Edelman's annual Trust Barometer a must-read for leaders. This week's guest is Richard Edelman, the CEO of global communications firm Edelman. This year marks Edelman's 25th year doing the Trust Barometer. Richard Edelman talks to hosts Diane Brady and Kristin Stoller about why trust is more important today than ever, and gives an update on which sectors are gaining or losing on the trust scale. The conversation also highlighted a generational divide around trust, and touched on the importance of business leaders working together where possible to help address some of society’s most intractable issues.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
2025 promises to be the year of AI for global business. The change will go beyond applications like the popular chat tools that can answer questions and sort data. For Deloitte US CEO Jason Girzadas, this week's guest on Leadership Next, AI is front of mind for him and the CEOs he speaks with. Girzadas believes 2025 is the year of the full-time digital assistant, with advancements like Agentic AI deploying across a range of functions, driving both efficiency and growth. Along with hosts Diane Brady and Kristin Stoller, Girzadas also discussed the shift from proof of concept to practical implementations, and how AI is reshaping workforce dynamics and enabling legacy brands to stay competitive.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
Salesforce has been at the epicenter of several tectonic shifts in tech over the 25 years of its history. The company, and its CEO and founder Marc Benioff, rightly anticipated that rapid advancements in computing power and bandwidth would usher in a new era of work-from-anywhere technology built on cloud computing. Today, Salesforce, and its powerful suite of software tools have become among the most ubiquitous for business at large. The company’s next big bet is called Agentforce, making it easier for customers to set up agentic AI tools to increase business efficiency. On this special bonus episode of Leadership Next, Diane speaks to Benioff about the new era of AI agents, his leadership mentors, and how San Francisco, his hometown, has shaped Salesforce’s values.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
If purses are your bag, chances are you're familiar with the classic luxurious silhouettes that made Coach into a global powerhouse brand. The luxe leather goods are but one brand owned by parent company Tapestry, which also has Kate Spade and bootmaker Stuart Weitzman in its portfolio. Joanne Crevoiserat is Tapestry's CEO and this week's guest on Leadership Next. She talks to Diane about what luxury means in 2024, how Gen Z shoppers are sending shock waves through retail, and about AI in fashion.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
AI promises to upend almost every industry in the coming years. SAP, the German software behemoth, is no exception, although the company has already been investing heavily in AI for more than a decade. On this week’s episode of Leadership Next, Diane talks to Christian Klein, the 44-year-old CEO of SAP. Klein grew up at SAP, starting as an intern, and spent years climbing the ranks before being named solo CEO in 2020. The wide-ranging interview covered the need for regulation in the field of AI, the intersection between sustainability and technology, and SAP’s culture.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
Pharmaceutical companies are often the poster children for what's wrong with the health care system. New drugs can take decades of development and cost billions of dollars in R&D, and once they clear the FDA, consumers are too often met with sticker shock and high prices for their meds. Dave Ricks, CEO of drugmaker Eli Lilly, this week's guest on Leadership Next, says drug development is very hard—so hard that most of the thousands of Lilly employees who work on R&D for the company may never work on a drug that's actually released. Diane spoke to Ricks about how AI will impact drug development, why health care shouldn't be a political football, and the company's smash-hit obesity drug Tirzepatide.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
In 2000, Malcolm Gladwell published The Tipping Point, identifying the key players and small, seemingly inconsequential decisions that together can make ideas, products, and behaviors spread like a virus. Gladwell was hailed as a guru whose concepts were embraced as a how-to guide for marketers and policymakers. In his latest book, Revenge of the Tipping Point, Gladwell revisits the themes from his original book to examine how they’ve held up and also been manipulated to create negative impacts. In this week’s episode of Leadership Next, Diane Brady speaks to Gladwell about his perspective on The Tipping Point today, as well as on topics from leadership to the decline of local news.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
How do you create an online community that can foster in-person connections? That's what Nextdoor, the social network for neighbors, has been trying to do since its 2008 founding. This week's guest on Leadership Next is current—and former—CEO Nirav Tolia. Tolia, a longtime entrepreneur, talks to Diane about returning to the company he cofounded, what people gain by getting to know their neighbors, and what it's like to be on Shark Tank.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
When Patti Poppe took over as CEO of the massive California utility Pacific Gas & Electric in 2021, the company had gone through a very rough period. It was found liable for multiple California wildfires, dealt with a bankruptcy, and paid billions of dollars in settlements to fire victims. Poppe says the size and importance of the opportunity at PG&E is what drew her to the turnaround. On this week’s episode of Leadership Next, Poppe, the first woman to lead two separate Fortune 500 companies, talks to Diane about PG&E’s progress towards going carbon-free, its massive safety overhaul, and how love has shaped her leadership philosophy.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
When T-Mobile burst on the scene in 2002, the wireless market was already saturated with big players like Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T. To make inroads, the company became “The Uncarrier,” famous for customer-centric contracts with better pricing and more user-friendly terms and features. Twenty-two years later, T-Mobile today is one of the biggest telecom companies in the world. On this week’s episode of Leadership Next, Diane speaks to CEO Mike Sievert, who took over for John Legere in 2020. Sievert, a longtime technology executive, has interests that go way beyond wireless. He’s also a pilot. Topics covered include innovation in the wireless space, how AI will change telecom, and what happens when a company goes from startup to incumbent.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
Hiring is always high stakes for CEOs. The right hire can help drive an organization to new heights, and the wrong one can take years to recover from. So, most business leaders are keenly aware of how important it is to hire well. Yet, there's no silver bullet. On this week's episode of Leadership Next we speak to Indeed CEO Chris Hyams. According to Hyams, demand for in-person jobs is way up, while remote jobs, which gained in popularity during the pandemic, have seen fewer openings recently but continue to be sought after by job seekers. In addition, Hyams provided interesting perspective on the impact of generative AI on jobs, and shared insights from Indeed’s treasure trove of data.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
Climate change will force almost every industry to move away from dependence on fossil fuels. Automotive is no exception, where EVs are gaining in popularity in certain sections of the United States and across the globe. This week on Leadership Next, Diane speaks to Bill Nash, CEO of CarMax, one of the nation’s largest car resellers. Nash started his career at electronics retailer Circuit City, which was at that time CarMax's parent company. The episode is a wide-ranging conversation about trends in the car industry, the impact of high interest rates on consumers' buying habits, and the Tesla effect on the EV market.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
The climate crisis will require a whole host of solutions—spanning technology, investment, and policy. It’s this intersection that is now the focus for Tom Steyer, who’s had a hugely successful career as an investor, and more recently a Democratic political candidate. Through his company Galvanize Climate Solutions, Steyer is now investing in firms on the forefront of the climate fight. On this episode of Leadership Next, he spoke to Diane about the future of EVs, investing in infrastructure to combat climate change, and China’s climate opportunity.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
Technology has fundamentally altered retail shopping habits, as savvy customers know they can buy almost anything they want with a single tap of their smartphones. But JCPenney, the iconic American department store brand, says customers still value in-store shopping. For Marc Rosen, who had a long career at Levi Strauss & Co. and Walmart before taking over as JCPenney CEO in 2021, customer focus has been key. On this week’s episiode of Leadership Next, Rosen talks to Diane about back-to-school shopping, why customers don’t like to buy clothing where they get groceries, and about how technology continues to shake up retail.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
Can lessons learned in the world of sports translate in the world business? Jim Kavanaugh, CEO of the tech behemoth World Wide Technology, ought to know. Long before he cofounded World Wide Technology in 1990, he represented the United States as a member of the 1984 Olympic soccer team. On this week's episode of Leadership Next, Kavanaugh talks to Diane about the AI boom, the benefits of running a tech company from the Midwest, and the surge in popularity of soccer in the United States.
Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.
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