Futuresinfocus

Manufacturing has historically been a laggard in the adoption of digital technologies and even the idea of digital transformation. In 2018 the percent of manufacturing corporations successfully transforming was less than the 28% average for companies in other industries (15%). Revathi Advaithi is the CEO of Flex was named one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business for two consecutive years (2020, 2019) and one of Business Today’s Most Powerful Women in India (2020).Revathi’s views on how complete supply chains can go from 90 days to instant moments by 2030 is a whole new perspective on the power of localized manufacturing, robotics, digital feedback loops, and maybe more importantly the fundamental re-skilling of workers inside today's manufacturing and not out of manufacturing.

A cloud based future world is one thing. It’s something we all probably experience most moments of every day. However, that is like the very out layer of the changes we are experiencing with technology in the world. A cloud world needs a radically different infrastructure too in order to deliver near latency free services to companies, people and machines.  Our guest today is building that infrastructure now around 5G for the second largest carrier in the world. Gartner estimates that 75% of the world will compute on that intelligent edge, cloud-based infrastructure by 2025 and Srini Kalapala talks about the future of these networks as being man and machine orientated in a way we have never seen before

It’s not rocket science to say that American malls are dying on the vine right now. Covid-19 has amplified a trend to the point that of the current 1,000 Malls in the US we might lose over 300 within the next year or so. Covid-19 is a great accelerator of a trend we are already seeing. Yet retail is going to be an essential part of what communities still need after the pandemic. Places to meet, create community, go on dates and much more. What got us here where retail is in crisis in itself a great lesson to learn from and our guest today. Courtney Hawkins is leading practitioner from clothing retail having managed over $1.5bn worth of retail activities in her career. This is a moment to talk to an insider about what has gone wrong and what needs to change because companies often find it difficult to reflect on their pasts and project a future.

The Seattle Aquarium is a microcosm of the battle we collectively face to protect the incredibly complex marine environments around us. Unlike many of the visionary stories we have talked about on this podcast that talk about new forms of technology, governance and society by 2030, the marine environment is rarely if even seen by each us unless you go to an Aquarium. 

My guest is Steve Raucher, the CEO of RapidDeploy a company looking to change the legacy dynamics so that by 2030 first responders could be remote at home, put information in the hands of first responders that will be as digital, if not more so than consumers. AI and multiple sources of information will be analyzed in real time for the most efficient in the moment experience.We also talk about the thesis of speed of the dog that prevents rapid change to occur, the story that led him from being banker to a man on a social mission that might affect each of us at least once in our lives.

This interview was done prior to the global pandemic. The ideas about how cities will be re-built for environmental beauty and experience are even more relevant than before as we look to re-engineer our world and living experiences going forward.Zauben is one of the few companies dedicated to the specific integration of green living spaces inside, outside and around buildings. The ideas are practical now and will likely present themselves even more so in the world of 2030 where these ideas of integrated space and green environments should be common-place. The generation that just became the largest portion of the world’s workforce (Millennial) and already have a different view of the world around living in green aware environments. By 2030 many of these Millennials will be leading corporations, designing communities and having their families live in these cities.·      There is clear evidence that green office environments reduce absenteeism by 15%·   &nb

Audrey Henson Founder and CEO, College to Congress ,Congress should represent its’ people, not just the elite in order to work. A discussion around the right way to align people and representation by 2030.

This conversation occurred before Covid-19 in the US. It’s ideas and messages feel even more appropriate than before with Anne’s focus on inclusion and diversity at its core. One thing that especially makes Anne stand out is the description of herself in her LinkedIn profile: Transformation executive, servant leader, diversity & inclusion champion, culture expert and blogger.AT&T’s construct of rotating executives is not unheard of elsewhere, bit it is still very common in most global leading brands. While AT&T is significantly ahead of its peer competitors there is still some way to go to have women and women of color properly represented in the halls of executive leadership. Anne’s own journey to be the CEO of a unit that would in itself be a Fortune 50 company should serve as a shining example of what is possible with some key variables.Think of these four facts and how they are going to affect our futures and out future leaders.In 2019 29% of management roles were held by women even although 5

Support services have never truly been the center of attention for companies in complex business to business segments. Historically getting high satisfaction (CSAT) or even sold Net Promoter (NPS) were great measure for how companies resolved challenge or serviced a customer in their moments of need. Our guest today from a forty-year old technology company focused on real time mission critical products might seem like and odd place to look to the future of customer success. However, the future of customer success in complex B to B worlds is going to be radically different by the year 2030 not because of the personal relationships we have but it will come from the intimacy around sharing data and amplifying value with Ai based tools. Real time living customer success is a long way from filled out surveys or three click NPS. Listen to Amit’s key life lessons from his national service in the Israeli military and his experiences with Operation Solomon evacuating 14,000 Ethiopian Jews on just 35 planes.

We don’t buy music we subscribe to Pandora, Spotify or iTunes. We buy less and less cars because we use Uber. We rarely if ever buy software anymore as we use it on the cloud with brands like Salesforce. Maybe one day we might not even buy our house but subscribe to the idea. Tien Tzuo is one of the founding parents of the subscription economy and was employee number eleven at Salesforce. His New York TImes and Amazon bestselling book Subscribed is as much a management strategy book as it is a future history perspective on the future of the global economies. In a wide-ranging conversation from Arbnb to Caterpillar he talks about the underlying dynamics that are driving the idea of subscription to the forefront of customer’s demands and the strategy for companies in banking, media and beyond. If your business does not embrace the ideas behind the subscription economy, then it might not be embracing the digital currency of the future.

Valerie Granoff, Psychotherapist – Managing life in the new norm of Covid-19 as we transition into new un-discovered worlds. Four strategies to apply right now as this evolves. Going back to the office will not be the same.We are about to move into new sets of normal. As leaders we will need to be very careful not to make assumptions about the new partially open work worlds. Shifting to a best practices model in leadership that could better help us thrive in this new world will change or maybe accelerate what management and leadership will look like for us all by 2030. We have bought back a three-decade experienced psychotherapist to walk us through new ways to think, feel and strategize around this new set of worlds. World’s where are partially in lock down and away from the office building or partially in the office in very new physical ways presents very different challenges.These EQ and AQ skills are going to be vital as adapt to uncertain and changing environments. 

This is part two of a two part interview. IKEA as we know it (the Ingka group now) is one of the most iconic global brands.  It is in essence and extremely physical experience, but nowadays 70% of their customers kick off their shopping experience with the brand online. Our guest today is Barbara Martin Coppola, Chief Digital Officer for Ingka group, the former IKEA group.  She is going to tackle some very interesting subjects with us as her company navigates a data centric, highly digital future, while at the same time expanding its vision about what it can do for communities and society overall: ·        How companies with a long history and legacy can stay relevant in this digital age ·        Making IKEA a digital brand for ten years’ time will involve a way to transition traditional values to a wider digital and community  ·        How AI is going to be used and

Covid-19 has been a wake-up call for a $100bn industry that has been locked into physicality, a few minutes or an hour of engagement with a trainer and or a group in a building. The CEO of Les Mills Media, Jean Michel Fournier talks to me about a radical idea that has been amplified by Covid-19 in China and the US where they service 7M users and deliver content to over 20,000 clubs. Les Mills has been in business over 50 years and they have seen many periods of transformative change but this Covid-19 moment is very different.The interview is extraordinary view into the mind of one of the world’s leading fitness brands and how Covid-19 has elevated a deeper strategy for a deeper plant.

The world is different 5.1%, used to work at home full time and 25% of us spent a day or two at home each working week. Now 93% are working from home. Assumptions have been questioned. The role of leaders (home and work) have needed to evolve. Skills for success are transforming in unfamiliar territories. This is a lot to absorb in one go.Valerie talks about three core principles for a revised lens for leaders to serve their people now and into a very different future by 2030.

This is part one of a two part interview. IKEA as we know it (the Ingka group now) is one of the most iconic global brands.  It is in essence and extremely physical experience, but nowadays 70% of their customers kick off their shopping experience with the brand online. Our guest today is Barbara Martin Coppola, Chief Digital Officer for Ingka group, the former IKEA group.  She is going to tackle some very interesting subjects with us as her company navigates a data centric, highly digital future, while at the same time expanding its vision about what it can do for communities and society overall: ·        How companies with a long history and legacy can stay relevant in this digital age ·        Making IKEA a digital brand for ten years’ time will involve a way to transition traditional values to a wider digital and community  ·        How AI is going to be used and

Citizenship always used to be all in and on one country. As people are more and more fluid in the services they get and where they get them from it is inevitable there is going to be a separation of digital, physical, healthcare and even government services. Imagine living in Fiji and getting services from Estonia with an e residency. A global fluidity in business and consumer freedom could become the norm. While the idea may not be completely new, the scale and scope of what our speaker today, the CIO of Estonia is suggesting is radical. This idea could make e-residency as much as 1%+ of the Estonian economy.   It is a vital recognition of the shift in how we think about the world in a digital way. Opening up a digital economy to global citizens re shapes the nature of government, economies and the ideas of citizenship.

Do not dismiss the crazy and celebrate failures like it’s your birthday. Keep a pipeline of ideas flowing

How do we overcome stasis in government thinking about the environment and at the same time give businesses real action plans or playbooks for handling the climate crisis? We are all equally responsible for actions on the planet (we all breath the same air) so waiting for somebody else to take a first step is not logical. The podcast today with Nigel Topping the CEO of Wemeanbusiness coalition is exactly about trying to break that Gordian know of thinking. Building a coalition for action sits at the core as Nigel gets to see the boards of major companies truly understand the need for reimagining capitalism and our roles in making it happen.Nigel covers everything from what will kick the zero emissions economy into play to the questions we need to answer for Gen XYZ and A when they interview with us for jobs about the environment.

The technology revolution has changed everything around us. In a world full of many levels of disruption we cannot apply old ways to think and feel and operate at work. We need new mindsets and frameworks to work together. The idea came up from working with Bono (U2) when building the Red products with Motorola and Bono.It is a great framework for thinking about the new world we are facing with a population hoping, expecting and open to very new ways of working. This mentality exudes self-confidence and curiosity because a great deal of the knowledge we need is available online. The Punk rock mentality best illustrates this as the movement called into questions assumptions around how music should be created. Through a set of stories from Bono and the Red program for solving AIDS in Africa Jeremy talks about parts of the eight principles of Punk Rock that are needed in today and tomorrows world.

It’s very difficult for this industry without a financial backbone. Even moving to a backbone requires an industry that is still being pigeon-holed into a cash 0 based industry when the world is becoming digital. Compliance issues still dominate industries like the alcohol industry, so these challenges are not new. Over 85% of cannabis transactions are still cash based Even in California that illicit market is over $10bn a year where the legal is just $2bn.Eric Kaufman is the CRO for one of the only financial backbone companies focusing on this industry, Dama Financial.