(0:00) Intro.
(1:24) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:12) Start of interview.
(4:04) Sonita's "origin story."
(5:45) Her professional career, starting with a startup in the gaming industry.
(8:15) Her guiding principles for her career at the intersection of innovation, sustainability and digital transformation.
(9:30) Her roles at HP, Siemens and PG&E.
(11:00) Her board "portfolio" life starting in 2022: SunRun and TrueBlue. Advisor to Sway Ventures.
(14:02) About the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on Board Culture (where she served as a Commissioner).
(17:00) Surprises and takeaways from the report.
(22:30) Recommendations for handling the increasing politicization in the boardroom.
(26:42) On geopolitics in the boardroom. Supply-chain vs consumer market.
(31:30) On the solar and battery industry geopolitical landscape.
(38:23) How should directors think about AI in the boardroom. "Everyday AI" vs "Game-changing AI". Use cases: 1) Back-office capabilities, 2) core capabilities, 3) front office, 4) New products and services. AI code of conduct. Use of data. Cybersecurity.
(43:51) On the impact of AI in the workplace. *reference to study by Erik Brynjolfsson
(47:09) Books that have greatly influenced her life:
- The Five Levels of Leadership, by John Maxwell (2011)
- Venture Mindset, by Ilya Strebulaev and Alex Dang (2024)
- Last Lecture Series at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (July 2023), by Graham Weaver.
(48:06) Her mentors.
(49:22) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by.
(50:44) An unusual habit or absurd thing that she loves.
(51:30) The living person she most admires.
Sonita Lontoh is a public company board director, strategic advisor, and former Fortune 100 senior executive who focuses on digital innovation, artificial intelligence (AI), and sustainability — contributing positive impact to businesses, consumers, and society.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
X: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
