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Imagine This...

Imagine This...

Boston Consulting Group BCG

Take a trip into the future that will challenge the way you think and act today. In each episode, BCG's Patricia Sabga and her AI co-host GENE delve into disruptive scenarios that could define the coming decades. BCG experts join the conversation, probing the possibilities and implications for leaders. Human and machine work together to explore the very real actions CEOs could take today to prepare.
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Top 10 Imagine This... Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Imagine This... episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Imagine This... for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Imagine This... episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Imagine This... - Joy as a Business Strategy?
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03/06/24 • 29 min

Some worry that AI will eliminate jobs. But what if we found ourselves in 2030 with 50% more job openings than people to fill them? BCG’s Debbie Lovich imagines a world where top companies must wow workers—or risk losing essential talent (and profits) to competitors. How would CEOs extend their companies’ customer-facing strengths to attract the best of the talent pool? By deploying deep research, segmentation, and personalization to create the kind of workplace that talent buys into. Those that spark joy will clean up in the marketplace.

Help Us Imagine the Future--Send Us Your Ideas or Questions

What major changes or disruptions do YOU see on the horizon?

Please email us the future scenario you’d like us to explore. Or, send us a question you might have for GENE or about working with GENE.

Email it to: [email protected].

We will pick our favorites and explore them with GENE in an upcoming episode of Imagine This.

Learn More:

Enjoying Work Matters More than You Realize: https://on.bcg.com/3uTN5bh

BCG’s People Strategy: https://on.bcg.com/3IeXUIk

Debbie Lovich: https://on.bcg.com/42Xo3Vl

GenAI on GenAI: https://lnk.to/bcg-genai-on-genai-series-link04

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Imagine This... - When Software Writes Itself
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03/20/24 • 25 min

Some argue that self-generating software will be a revolutionary development for businesses, others contend that it may be unwieldy. BCG’s Vladimir Lukic believes that it will be a playful thought partner for business leaders to steer and sanity-check. It will make nimble exploration and innovation possible so that every company can have the bespoke and custom programs it needs. What should leaders do until the unknown point in the future when self-writing software is a reality?

Help Us Imagine the Future--Send Us Your Ideas or Questions

What major changes or disruptions do YOU see on the horizon?

Please email us the future scenario you’d like us to explore. Or, send us a question you might have for GENE or about working with GENE.

Email it to: [email protected].

We will pick our favorites and explore them with GENE in an upcoming episode of Imagine This.

Learn More:

More about what BCG has to say on GenAI: https://on.bcg.com/3P3JmyN

Turning GenAI Magic into Business Impact: https://on.bcg.com/3uYvgrB

Vladimir Lukic: https://on.bcg.com/48vMXfT

GenAI on GenAI: https://lnk.to/bcg-genai-on-genai-series-link04

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Imagine This... - The End of Middle Management (For Real)
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04/03/24 • 32 min

Middle management. Senior leaders say it’s a sticking point; individual contributors say it’s not meeting needs; middle managers themselves say the role is a source of burnout. Julia Dhar, founder and leader of BCG’s Behavioral Science Lab, imagines a future in which AI takes over aspects of middle management. Among the most beneficial outcomes: companies keep their employees doing what they do best and senior leaders communicate their vision directly to the frontline.

Help Us Imagine the Future--Send Us Your Ideas or Questions

What major changes or disruptions do YOU see on the horizon?

Please email us the future scenario you’d like us to explore. Or, send us a question you might have for GENE or about working with GENE.

Email it to: [email protected].

We will pick our favorites and explore them with GENE in an upcoming episode of Imagine This.

Learn More:

Julia Dhar: https://on.bcg.com/49ifruf

How to Create a Transformation that Lasts: https://on.bcg.com/3J0cbJg

More on what BCG has to say about behavioral science: https://on.bcg.com/49lRpOO

Julia’s TED Talk: How to disagree productively and find common ground | Julia Dhar (youtube.com)

Gitte Frederiksen’s TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ7ySrDVqOs&t=2s

GenAI on GenAI: https://lnk.to/bcg-genai-on-genai-series-link04

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Imagine This... - The Next-Gen CEO

The Next-Gen CEO

Imagine This...

play

04/17/24 • 31 min

Peering into the future, BCG’s Judith Wallenstein paints a picture of organizational leadership upended by AI, global volatility, and blurring boundaries between companies that work together. She muses that the chief executive officer role may morph into a chief ecosystem orchestrator role and demand leadership traits and backgrounds far different than we see today. How would top executives deploy influence, foster trusting relationships, and welcome and accept challenges that enhance corporate decision making?

Help Us Imagine the Future--Send Us Your Ideas or Questions

What major changes or disruptions do YOU see on the horizon?

Please email us the future scenario you’d like us to explore. Or, send us a question you might have for GENE or about working with GENE.

Email it to: [email protected].

We will pick our favorites and explore them with GENE in an upcoming episode of Imagine This.

Learn More:

Judith Wallenstein:on.bcg.com/3Ub1UQH

For CEOs, It’s About Time: https://on.bcg.com/3xw9oVE

The CEO’s Guide to the Generative AI Revolution: on.bcg.com/3QkfbEr

Imagine This: on.bcg.com/3VSiDJG

GenAI on GenAI: https://lnk.to/bcg-genai-on-genai-series-link04

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Imagine This... - The End of Free Trade

The End of Free Trade

Imagine This...

play

05/01/24 • 32 min

How should business leaders prepare to do business in a new new world order? BCG’s Nikolaus Lang prepares executives to completely rethink trade in a multipolar future, in which they must navigate different geopolitical, social, and environmental considerations. Finding the least expensive place to manufacture a product to sell to customers across the globe won’t work anymore. Instead, companies will have to operate within new trade blocs. Organization structure, supply chains, customer expectations...much will have to change.

Help Us Imagine the Future--Send Us Your Ideas or Questions

What major changes or disruptions do YOU see on the horizon?

Please email us the future scenario you’d like us to explore. Or, send us a question you might have for GENE or about working with GENE.

Email it to: [email protected].

We will pick our favorites and explore them with GENE in an upcoming episode of Imagine This.

Learn More:

Nikolaus Lang: on.bcg.com/3JF4CYD

International Trade: https://on.bcg.com/3QnA4hS

Which Economies Benefit the Most from Free Trade Agreements?: on.bcg.com/4dfwhgn

Jobs, National Security, and the Future of Trade: https://on.bcg.com/3xXY050

GenAI on GenAI: https://lnk.to/bcg-genai-on-genai-series-link04

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Imagine This... - BCG Presents: CEO Digest
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05/15/24 • 15 min

Listen to BCG's brand new podcast!

Join BCG AI conversational agent GENE and editor in chief Paul Michelman as they discuss the ideas that GENE has identified as the BCG insights most relevant for CEOs this month. In May, GENE wants to make sure you are up to speed on the value of transforming before performance stalls, an unexpected opportunity to realign your organization around purpose, and the critical intersection of AI and water management—and what you can do about it.



LEARN MORE

After you listen, dive deep into the details in these bcg.com publications:

Consumers Know More About AI Than Business Leaders Think (https://on.bcg.com/3WvC6QY)

Five Truths (and One Lie) About Corporate Transformation (https://on.bcg.com/3JOOJPx)

The Purpose-Driven Digital Transformation (https://on.bcg.com/44NwrrH)

How to Manage AI’s Thirst for Water (https://on.bcg.com/4bmKmrb).

Find CEO Digest here: https://lnk.to/ceo-digest-general-series-link04

And you'll find even more of BCG's informative insights and experts at The So What from BCG podcast at https://lnk.to/so-what-general-show10

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Imagine This... - When AI Comes for Knowledge Workers
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05/29/24 • 31 min

Will a coming generation of AI bots be able to generate and iterate ideas as well as or better than people? Will knowledge workers be replaced by machines? BCG’s Matthew Sinclair imagines a future where technology could replace writers, software engineers, and, yes, consultants–although he’s not convinced that businesses should lose the human touch. There are inherent risks in handing over the most creative elements of your business to bots–including perpetuating what Matthew calls “the tyranny of the banal.”

Learn More:

Matthew Sinclair: https://on.bcg.com/4btUGgN

AI at Scale: https://on.bcg.com/44Y6pSu

Matthew Sinclair on Medium: https://matthewsinclair.medium.com/

GenAI on GenAI: https://lnk.to/bcg-genai-on-genai-series-link04

CEO Digest: https://lnk.to/ceo-digest-general-series-link04

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Imagine This... - Strip Malls in Outer Space
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06/26/24 • 33 min

What would you do with access to a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites that can provide real-time access to data and surveillance and seamless connectivity? BCG’s Troy Thomas imagines a future where businesses use satellites to guide autonomous vehicles or use satellites to research and manufacture new materials that can be formed only in zero gravity. But, Thomas says, these satellites come with risks, such as privacy and security, heightened cyber risk, the proliferation of space junk, and the possibility of a major solar storm that could disrupt service around the world.

Learn More:

Troy Thomas: on.bcg.com/3xhife1

Strategies for Space Agency Success in a Commercial Era: on.bcg.com/3VmXFAP

Governments Need a New Approach to SATCOM: on.bcg.com/4aY1F0F

Space Sector Consulting and Strategy: on.bcg.com/3RuN5H4

GenAI on GenAI: https://lnk.to/bcg-genai-on-genai-series-link04

CEO Digest: https://lnk.to/ceo-digest-general-series-link04

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Some argue that self-generating software will be a revolutionary development for businesses, others contend that it may be unwieldy. BCG’s Vladimir Lukic believes that it will be a playful thought partner for business leaders to steer and sanity-check. It will make nimble exploration and innovation possible so that every company can have the bespoke and custom programs it needs. What should leaders do until the unknown point in the future when self-writing software is a reality?

Learn More:

More about what BCG has to say on GenAI: https://on.bcg.com/3P3JmyN

Turning GenAI Magic into Business Impact: https://on.bcg.com/3uYvgrB

Vlad Lukic: https://on.bcg.com/48vMXfT

GenAI on GenAI: https://lnk.to/bcg-genai-on-genai-series-link04

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Imagine This... - A Bot in the C-Suite?

A Bot in the C-Suite?

Imagine This...

play

02/21/24 • 26 min

By 2030, the best CIO might be a CIB: a chief intelligence bot. And the human CEO might be bolstered by a swarm of CEO bots, able to harness a vast diversity of perspectives. Can you imagine? In this episode, BCG’s Mickey McManus envisions a future where top leaders share the corner office with AI—blending the logical with human intuition. Mickey, a BCG senior advisor and a pioneer in human-centered design, considers how a company like this would function. Hint: he recommends an approach much like jazz improvisation.

Help Us Imagine the Future--Send Us Your Ideas or Questions

What major changes or disruptions do YOU see on the horizon?

Please email us the future scenario you’d like us to explore. Or, send us a question you might have for GENE or about working with GENE.

Email it to: [email protected].

We will pick our favorites and explore them with GENE in an upcoming episode of Imagine This.

Learn More

You’ll find more of what BCG has to say about generative AI here:

https://on.bcg.com/3UNqoQB

Listen to more of GENE, BCG's AI bot here:

GenAI on GenAI: https://lnk.to/bcg-genai-on-genai-series-link04

Also, in this episode, Mickey recommends an entirely new reading list for the C-suite, including:

-Iain M. Banks’s Culture series: https://www.amazon.com/The-Culture-9-book-series/dp/B07WLZZ9WV

-Joy Buolamwini’s Unmasking AI [https://www.amazon.com/Unmasking-AI-Mission-Protect-Machines/dp/0593241835]

-Safiya Umoja Noble’s Algorithms of Oppression [https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Oppression-Search-Engines-Reinforce/dp/1479837245]

You can find the podcast on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpecNh11jKY&list=PLMJgyXjV5gMLbR8vIRdKaCAMmAJhzcRa8

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FAQ

How many episodes does Imagine This... have?

Imagine This... currently has 24 episodes available.

What topics does Imagine This... cover?

The podcast is about Podcasts, Technology and Business.

What is the most popular episode on Imagine This...?

The episode title 'Imagine This...: Peer into Possible Futures' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Imagine This...?

The average episode length on Imagine This... is 29 minutes.

How often are episodes of Imagine This... released?

Episodes of Imagine This... are typically released every 14 days.

When was the first episode of Imagine This...?

The first episode of Imagine This... was released on Jan 28, 2024.

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