Imagine This...

Imagine This...

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. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Episodes

October 28, 2025 34 mins

Many fear a future where huge swaths of the workforce are replaced by AI. But those concerns are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how companies can best unlock AI's profit-boosting potential, says Julie Bedard, a Fellow at BCG Henderson Institute. Instead of replacing people with AI, she says, companies should upskill workers with higher-order capabilities and put them in charge of AI tools—which will serve not as coworke...

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Sponsored and boosted content is a reality of web searches these days, making it harder for consumers to find agnostic product recommendations. Consumers who want to cut to the chase will increasingly use LLMs. Chatbots can quickly comb the web to help consumers research products and serve up recommendations that fit personal needs and tastes. BCG’s Andrej Levin explores how consumers will use LLMs to transform the car buying exper...

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AI is creating greater customer personalization, but a far more fundamental change is coming. Over the next decade, it will break down silos across organizations and give CMOs always-on access to better, deeper, and far more comprehensive information. In this episode, BCG’s Janet Balis explores how this will fundamentally change CMOs’ decision making. They will no longer focus exclusively on marketing campaigns; rather, they’ll bro...

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Too often, a company’s sales strategy is limited by finite resources. Even the largest multinational corporations have to make tough decisions about where to deploy their sales teams. But as they grow more sophisticated, AI agents are expected to be capable of reaching and interacting with not only your largest and most valuable clients and customers, but also small businesses most sales teams simply didn’t have the bandwidth to en...

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September 2, 2025 24 mins

Who Wants to Be a CEO? 

The role of the CEO is both powerful and punishing. Christine Barton, BCG’s CEO Advisory lead in North America, explores how to make the job more fulfilling. It starts with clarity of purpose, building the right leadership team, and minimizing activities that are time and energy sinkholes.  

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The So What from BCG: https://lnk.to/so-what-general-show10

Christine Barton: https://on....

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Quantum computers harness the almost mystical properties of subatomic particles to solve problems that are beyond even the most powerful “classical” computers available today. Will these computers usher in a new generation of custom pharmaceuticals and sustainable materials—or will they be used to crack every password and create global chaos? BCG’s Antoine Gourévitch imagines the coming age of quantum computers and dives deep into ...

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August 5, 2025 15 mins

While discussions of US tariff policies dominated Q2 earnings calls to an unprecedented degree, another equally important trend is bubbling just under the surface in C-suites and on trading floors: concern that the economic uncertainty caused by tariff turmoil may lead to a downturn. That’s the conclusion of the third edition of the CEO Radar—a tool to help CEOs determine which issues truly deserve their time and attention. It unpa...

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By the year 2035, we will likely be able to utilize AI to crunch complex data sets and produce far more accurate predictions of the future, for everything from stock market fluctuations to consumer trends. Already, meteorologists are using AI to improve weather forecasting—for instance, by more accurately predicting when a hurricane will make landfall. But BCG’s Alan Iny says this does not mean that business leaders will be able to...

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July 8, 2025 27 mins

What can ancient Greek myths teach us about modern leadership? 

Kirsten Rulf has spent her career at the intersection of tech, policy, and public service. 

In this episode, Kirsten shares how she found clarity in moments of uncertainty, why AI presents a major opportunity for the public good, and what it was like helping shape the EU’s landmark tech legislation. 

Kirsten is a Partner and Associate Director at BCG. Befor...

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Apps were supposed to make life easier to navigate, but they often create more complexity. Planning a trip can involve hundreds of digital touchpoints over several months. But new advances–especially the growth of AI agents–coupled with ambient and voice-recognition technology, could make apps obsolete. BCG’s Dutch MacDonald imagines a world where, for example, we could just have a conversation with our personal AI assistant about ...

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The pharmaceutical industry has yet to develop highly effective treatments for common chronic and neurological issues, like Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease. But GenAI promises to accelerate the discovery and development of breakthrough treatments. BCG’s Priya Chandran explores possible new approaches and how breakthrough drugs can be made more affordable and more available to the patients who need them. 

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The most enthusiastic AI evangelists say that in the not-too-distant future bots with artificial general intelligence (AGI) will match—or even exceed—the cognitive abilities of humans on pretty much any task. But what if we don’t reach that elusive goal? BCG’s Noah Broestl imagines how AI will nonetheless continue to evolve in amazing ways, yielding a proliferation of specialized models each with its own specific advantages. These ...

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We could be on the verge of a nuclear power renaissance. Climate change is one reason: nuclear power remains the largest source of carbon-free energy in the United States. Also, demand for electricity is surging. BCG’s Ben Vannier imagines a future where the promise of less expensive nuclear power has been realized. The key will be small modular reactors (SMRs) that are less complex and easier to build. Let’s not ignore the big que...

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April 29, 2025 29 mins

In the future, hackers will have many new vulnerabilities to exploit, especially as industries move from legacy IT to state-of-the-art digital systems. BCG’s Vanessa Lyon looks at how cyber-attacks are likely to evolve over the next ten years, and what business leaders need to do to protect their companies. This is critical, she explains, because governments are already moving to hold CEOs and other top executives personally accoun...

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April 15, 2025 21 mins

AI Can Build Your Next Business—If You Think Bigger

Businesses are overlooking AI’s ability to create entirely new products and businesses. Beth Viner, who leads BCG’s corporate venturing and business building at BCGX, explains how organizations can move beyond efficiency and generate big revenue gains. Companies can combine their historical strengths with AI’s power to meet customer needs in new and unexpected ways.  

Lear...

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April 1, 2025 36 mins

Cities have been struggling since the pandemic. In some—including Los Angeles and San Francisco—office high-rises have become “zombie buildings,” with vacancy rates of 50% or more. But many people still want to live in cities and be part of a vibrant community. BCG’s Santiago Ferrer explores how new forms of transit, from modular pods to self-driving cars, can help reinvigorate moribund downtowns by making them easier to reach and ...

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March 18, 2025 26 mins

Even the most nimble and successful companies are sometimes forced to replace huge swaths of their workforce when business strategy changes. But layoffs come with costs: hiring and firing workers is expensive. Letting workers go can also damage an institution’s reputation and demoralize the employees who remain. BCG’s Kevin Kelley explains how companies can reduce the need for layoffs by creating teams that are flexible enough to p...

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India has been experiencing a rapid transformation over the past decade. The government has made massive investments in physical and digital public infrastructure, and its share of affluent consumers has grown considerably. It’s also young – over half of India’s 1.4 billion people are under the age of 30. In this episode, BCG’s Kanika Sanghi imagines how India’s rising consumer class could change the global economy, from setting tr...

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February 18, 2025 33 mins

It’s no secret the media business, which has long relied on advertising revenue, is in crisis. It’s not a stretch to imagine that few if any of the major TV networks, newspapers and magazines - the old guard bedrocks of U.S. media - will survive into the next decade. BCG’s Neal Zuckerman imagines a world where every business has a Chief Content Officer. From health insurers to snack-food companies, companies are creating their own ...

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How will advances in sustainable materials and modular construction change how homes are designed and built? And how will these innovations address the urgent need for affordable housing? BCG’s Matthias Tauber suggests ways to solve the housing crisis through changes in design, manufacturing, materials, permitting, and financing. Homes of the future will provide more alternatives, often by reimagining shared spaces and resources in...

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