What's Next! with Tiffani Bova

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova.    This week, I'm joined by Liat Ben-Zur. Liat has spent more than three decades leading innovation and transformation at companies including Qualcomm, Philips, and Microsoft. At Microsoft, she helped revive Edge and led the launch of the first commercial GPT-4 experience with Bing. Today, she's an AI strategy and governance advisor, board director, and author of the forthcoming book The Bias Advantage.   THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…leaders navigating AI transformation who want to rethink how they lead, build trust with their teams, and turn AI adoption into meaningful business change.   TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…AI can now do much of the work that organizations have traditionally used to measure competence, but that doesn't make leadership less important. Liat explains why judgment, curiosity, and the ability to question assumptions are becoming essential, and why people who have been overlooked by traditional systems may have an advantage.    KEY TAKEAWAYS: AI is changing which leadership skills matter most, putting greater value on judgment and questioning assumptions. AI adoption won't deliver business results unless companies rethink how work gets done. Employees need to understand how AI will affect their roles and what opportunities it creates for them. AI is shifting who has access to information and the ability to influence decisions. Successful AI transformation requires a culture where people feel safe challenging AI and speaking up about risks.   WHAT I LOVE MOST…AI may be changing the work, but it's also revealing what leadership has always needed: good judgment, the courage to question assumptions, and the ability to make room for perspectives that might otherwise be overlooked.   Running Time: 29:52   Subscribe on iTunes   Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X    Find Liat Online: LinkedIn Website   Liat's Book: The Bias Advantage: How Unconventional Leaders Gain Power in an AI-Driven World

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova.    My guest today is Rob Snyder. He's a serial entrepreneur, Harvard Innovation Labs fellow, former McKinsey consultant, investor and author of The Power of Pull. Rob has spent years studying why some ideas seem to get pulled into the market while other seemingly great products have to be pushed every step of the way. And his argument challenges some pretty fundamental assumptions about customers, product market fit, and even how we think about demand itself. I'm excited to have him on the show!   THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…founders, product leaders, and marketers who want to understand what customers will actually buy and build products that generate real demand.   TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…customers may say they like your idea, but that doesn't mean they'll pay for it. Rob explains why companies need to look beyond surveys and focus groups to understand what customers are actually trying to do, where their current options fall short, and what they're willing to buy.    KEY TAKEAWAYS: Customer interest isn't the same as demand. Look for evidence that people are willing to buy. The strongest opportunities come from understanding what customers are trying to do that their existing tools can't help them accomplish. Sales should be a learning engine, not just a function responsible for convincing people to buy. Product-market fit often emerges through listening, observing, and adjusting what you bring to market. Leaders need to get closer to real customer conversations and use what they hear to challenge assumptions and guide product decisions.   WHAT I LOVE MOST…you don't find product-market fit by convincing people to want what you've built. You find it by understanding what they already want to do and building something that helps them do it.   Running Time: 26:04   Subscribe on iTunes Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X    Find Rob Online: LinkedIn The Physics of Startups Substack Website   Rob's Book: The Power of Pull: What You Need to Know About Customer Demand to Build a Successful Startup        

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova.   This week I'm reflecting on a conversation I had with Gretchen Carlson a while back. Gretchen is a journalist, author, and empowerment advocate who paved the way for the #MeToo movement with her historic 2016 sexual harassment complaint against the chairman of Fox News, Roger Ailes. Named one of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World," Carlson is one of America's most successful news anchors, as well as a globally recognized advocate for female empowerment–her TED Talk on the subject garnering almost 2 million views.  She is also the celebrated author of the New York Times bestseller "Be Fierce," and a main character in the 2019 film, Bombshell, where she is played by Oscar-winner, Nicole Kidman. In December 2019, Carlson founded the organization "Lift Our Voices" with former Fox News colleagues Julie Roginsky and Diana Falzone. Its mission is to end the practice of Non-Disclosure Agreements, confidentiality provisions and forced arbitration clauses that have prevented employees from publicly discussing and disclosing toxic workplace conditions, including sexual harassment and assault. An honors graduate of Stanford University, Carlson was valedictorian of her high school class and studied at Oxford University in England. A violin prodigy, she performed as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra at age 13, and in 1989 became the first classical violinist to win the Miss America crown.    THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…anyone and everyone looking to build their courage, stand up for what's right and feel safe in telling your own story.   TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…Gretchen shares her story of moving from opportunity to opportunity and witnessing her life work in mysterious ways. She impresses upon us the importance of being prepared to rise to the opportunity and building your courage along the way. Throughout her storied career, Gretchen says she was building courage–the courage that would ultimately serve her in her advocacy for women. She shares her experience in journalism and television and her advocacy work to help lift the voice of other women and keep them from being silenced. If you don't tell the truth, who will?   WHAT I LOVE MOST…I love talking to Gretchen about courage, taking chances, and standing up for what you believe in!   Running Time: 36:43 Subscribe on iTunes   Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X    Find Gretchen Online: LinkedIn Website   Gretchen's Book: Be Fierce: Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova.    This conversation is a little personal for me because one of my guests is someone I've known and have had the pleasure of working with for many years. Brian Solis and I worked together at Salesforce and if you know Brian, you know he's been asking some version of the same question throughout his career: what happens when technology changes faster than organizations do? Today, Brian is Head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow, he's a Futurist, nine-time best-selling author and someone who has spent decades studying digital transformation and business reinvention. He's joined by his colleague and co-author, Dave Wright, Chief Information Officer at Service Now who brings nearly 30 years of experience turning emerging tech into actual operating models inside enterprises. Brian and Dave have a new book out, Infinite.   THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…leaders looking to move beyond AI adoption and rethink how their organizations work, grow, and create value.   TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…AI can make existing processes faster, but that doesn't mean a company is actually transforming. Brian and Dave explain why leaders need to stop asking how to automate what already exists and start asking what they would build differently if they were starting today. They share how AI can free up resources, reshape workflows, create new business models, and help people do better work when leaders are willing to rethink the way the organization operates.   KEY TAKEAWAYS: Using AI to automate existing processes isn't the same as transforming the business. AI strategy should start with a business objective, not with the technology itself. Leaders need to decide how freed-up time and resources will be used to create new value. Reimagining workflows across the organization can uncover opportunities that siloed teams miss. Employees need a clear vision, honest communication, and room to question whether AI is actually the right solution.   WHAT I LOVE MOST…the biggest risk with AI may not be moving too slowly. It may be moving quickly in the wrong direction. The real opportunity is to ask whether we would design the business the same way if we were starting today.   Running Time: 33:14   Subscribe on iTunes   Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X   Find Brian Online: LinkedIn  Website   Find Dave Online: LinkedIn   Brian and Dave's Book: Infinite: How Visionary Leaders Transform Today's Businesses into AI-Forward Companies

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova.    This week, I'm welcoming Alice Sesay Pope to the show. Alice is a Fortune 100 executive and former Global Vice President at Amazon, where she led a 10,000 person global organization across devices, Alexa and Prime Video. She's held senior leadership roles at Visa, Capital One, Microsoft, USAA, and Johnson& Johnson. She has a new book, out The Trust Algorithm.   THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…leaders navigating AI transformation who want to build trust with their customers and employees while making technology work better for the business.   TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…AI may be changing what businesses can do, but technology alone doesn't create better customer experiences or stronger businesses. Alice explains why leaders need to start with the friction they're trying to solve, involve employees in the process, and build a clear strategy for governance, data, and change. She also shares why trust has become one of the most important parts of AI transformation and what leaders can do to protect it.   KEY TAKEAWAYS: Start with customer and employee friction instead of leading with new technology or features. Employees need a voice in AI transformation because they see problems and opportunities leaders may miss. Strong AI strategies require upfront planning around change management, governance, data, and accountability. Leaders need to be honest about how AI will change jobs while also creating a vision for the new opportunities it can create. Trust depends on knowing where AI can be used safely, what risks are acceptable, and where human oversight is essential.   WHAT I LOVE MOST…Alice brings the conversation back to something that can get lost in the rush toward AI: people. The technology may be new, but building trust still comes down to listening, transparency, good judgment, and putting people at the center of transformation.   Running Time: 27:02   Subscribe on iTunes   Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X    Find Alice Online: LinkedIn Website   Alice's Book: The Trust Algorithm: How Leaders Build Trust with Generative AI