From the Horse's Mouth: Intrepid Conversations with Phil Fersht
As technology rapidly evolves, the world has undergone a significant transformation. Society has shifted from being human-centered to a complex web of digital automation, AI, and human workers who support it. This rapid innovation outpaces regulations and threatens social mobility. The rise of AI presents a critical challenge: how can businesses and policymakers ensure that AI enhances, rather than hinders, human creativity and innovation? Automating routine tasks could free up people for roles requiring creativity, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence, but it demands a focus on continuous learning and digital literacy. The first season of From the Horse's Mouth: Intrepid Conversations with Phil Fersht explores the intersection of AI, work, and society, aiming to shape the future.
Episodes
There will be AI winners and AI losers. There will be no middle ground.
In this candid and wide-ranging episode of From the Horse’s Mouth, Phil Fersht is joined by Tiger Tyagarajan to unpack why 2025 was the beginning of the services industry finally moving beyond AI talk to AI action.
If you’re an AI ‘fast follower’, this is one you don’t want to miss.
What you’ll hear in 30 minutes:
- Why 2025 was the beginning of a great separat...
Agentic AI. Culture wars. Rewiring leadership. In this electric conversation, Phil Fersht, CEO of HFS Research, sits down with Karthik Krishnamurthy, CEO of Ascendion, to explore why the future of work isn’t just being automated, it’s being reimagined.
From building trust in AI-powered enterprises to rethinking capital allocation and redefining what it means to be a services firm, this episode dives into the seismic shifts shaping t...
What happens when a Gen Z podcast host from New York City goes head-to-head with a seasoned analyst on AI, economic angst, and the generational wealth gap?
In this episode of The Horse’s Mouth, Phil Fersht sits down with Ed Elson, the Gen Z co-host of the Prof G Markets podcast with Scott Galloway. Ed brings his sharp, fast-talking take on why Gen Z feels economically betrayed, why AI is fueling more layoffs than we think, and why A...
What happens when America’s bluntest business voice meets its sharpest industry analyst?
In this unfiltered and high-voltage conversation, HFS CEO Phil Fersht sits down with NYU Professor, best-selling author, and media provocateur Scott Galloway (aka Prof G). Together, they pull no punches unpacking the anxiety and opportunity in today’s America—from broken capitalism and boomer-fueled burnout to the tech monopolies shaping o...
How do you drive transformation when every global signal is flashing red, yellow... and green?
In this episode of From the Horse’s Mouth, Phil Fersht sits down with Manish Sharma, Chief Strategy and Services Officer for Accenture, to talk about navigating talent, geopolitics, trust, and transformation in an age of relentless change.
They delve into the "rebalancing" of globalization, exploring how the future of service delivery is sh...
Global alliances are shifting. Tech stacks are splitting. And social media is reshaping democracy in real time. In this electrifying episode, Fareed Zakaria, a renowned journalist, CNN host, and global affairs analyst, joins Phil Fersht to unpack the messy intersection of politics, AI, and power.
What You’ll Hear in 30 Minutes
- Why Fareed says global allies are hedging their bets on America
- The new Cold War o...
Ron Walker, Head of Global Managed Services at KPMG, sits down with Phil Fersht to unpack how AI is reshaping services—and why enterprise leaders can’t afford to wait.
They explore the “Kodak moment” facing traditional tech firms, the critical shift from vendor to value partner, and why platform-enabled services are rewriting the outsourcing playbook. This is not your typical vendor chat—Ron gets candid about contracts, c...
When you spin out of one of the world’s largest agribusiness supply chains with the ambition to reimagine enterprise services, people take notice.
In this episode, Suresh Sundararajan, CEO and Co-Founder of Mindsprint, joins HFS CEO Phil Fersht to unpack what it really means to be an AI-first services firm, and how legacy becomes leverage when you’re bold enough to build.
From training 3,000+ employees on AI tools to launchin...
Are we stuck iterating when we should be innovating?
Brian Solis, Head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow, joins Phil Fersht on From the Horses' Mouth to unpack the AI paradox. Why is AI maturity declining even as capabilities explode? The answer lies in mindset—not models.
Brian argues that leaders must stop using AI to simply optimize yesterday’s processes and start reimagining what’s newly possible. It's not ju...
Are we outsourcing too much of our thinking to AI?
In this thought-provoking episode, Phil Fersht sits down with HFS’s own Dana Daher, a trained anthropologist and research leader, to talk about how GenAI is subtly reshaping how we think, work, and show up.
Dana explores the idea of cognitive erosion—what happens when we rely so heavily on GenAI that we stop building our own creative, critical, and strategic muscles. She...
We don’t need more dashboards—we need more listening.
In this episode, Phil Fersht sits down with Sandeep Dadlani, the Executive Vice President and Chief Digital and Technology Officer at UnitedHealth Group, to explore what fundamental healthcare transformation looks like in the age of AI.
Sandeep dives into how UnitedHealth is deploying ambient AI and agentic systems to reduce clinical burnout, improve access to ...
From Recipes to Reasoning: Rethinking Enterprise Orchestration for AI
“We’re not futzing around with chatbots anymore. We’re bringing AI to the core.” — Vijay Tella
In this episode, Vijay Tella joins HFS CEO Phil Fersht to challenge the outdated patterns of enterprise integration. As generative and agentic AI systems demand richer context and execution capability, Vijay explains why orchestration needs a foundational reth...
The Agent Economy Is Coming—with Blockchain as Its Backbone.
“This is not about crypto hype. It’s about solving trillion-dollar problems.” — Paul Brody
What You’ll Hear in 30 Minutes
• Why blockchain is thriving quietly—through real enterprise use cases
• The new agent-to-agent economy and its AI + blockchain foundation
• How stablecoins could collapse cross-border fees and reinvent payroll
• Why security and privacy are prerequisites, n...
Lead Like You Mean It with Ethan Mollick, Professor at Wharton and Author of Co-Intelligence “You don’t need an AI course. You need to get your hands dirty.” — Ethan Mollick What You’ll Hear in 30 Minutes - Why AI is exposing leadership gaps more than technical ones - How LLMs are reshaping research, training, and decision-making - Why interns and junior roles are being replaced before we’re ready - What makes an effective internal...
Rewrite the Rules or Be Left Behind
with May Habib, CEO & Co-founder of Writer
“This is GenAI’s COVID moment—don’t waste the crisis.” — May Habib
What You’ll Hear in 30 Minutes
• Why enterprises are still miles away from building real agentic systems
• How Writer’s Palmyra X5 enables self-evolving AI agents with memory
• What smaller firms can teach enterprise giants about speed and scrappi...
Hands-On Leadership in the Age of AI
with Pascal Bornet, author of Agentic Artificial Intelligence
“If your C-suite isn’t using large-language models to make decisions, you’re already behind.” — Pascal Bornet
What You’ll Hear in 30 Minutes
• Three competencies every leader needs now – AI-readiness, change-readiness, and uniquely human skills
• Why 15–20 % “experiment time” should be baked into every employee’s week
• How AI agent...
Redesign Your Operating Model — Before AI Redesigns You
with Nigel Vaz, CEO of Publicis Sapient and author of Digital Business Transformation
"What you don't want is faster caterpillars; you want real butterflies." — Nigel Vaz
What You'll Hear in 35 Minutes
- Why AI is a chain of "sequential watershed moments," not a single leap
- The S-P-E-E-D framework (Strategy, Product, Experience, Engineering, Data & AI) behind Publicis Sap...
Inflection AI’s CEO, Sean White, takes us behind the scenes to explore why trust is the cornerstone of the AI revolution. With boardrooms and tech leaders demanding an “AI-first” strategy, he reveals how building human-centered, conversational systems isn’t just about technology - it’s about forging genuine trust and empowering people. Drawing parallels to the transformative shifts of the 90s and the rapid innovations seen today, h...
In this conversation, Phil Fersht and Todd Lohr discuss the evolving landscape of technology consulting, particularly in the context of AI and ecosystems. Todd shares insights on KPMG's strategic shift towards ecosystem partnerships, the impact of AI on business models, and the importance of addressing workforce concerns amidst technological advancements. They explore the future of services, the trend towards onshoring, and the nec...
In this intrepid conversation, Phil Fersht and Kathryn Stein discuss the evolving landscape of customer experience, the impact of AI on service delivery, and the cultural challenges faced in the workplace. Kathryn shares her insights from her career journey, emphasizing the importance of driving change within enterprises and the need for a strategic shift towards a more integrated approach to operations. They explore the future of ...
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