Leadership Next

The media industry has seen a lot of turbulence in the last several decades, but Jim VandeHei managed to cut through the noise and found not just one but two successful news organizations—Axios, where he still serves as CEO, and Politico. As a student, VandeHei says, he struggled academically, but found his calling as a political journalist before ultimately stepping up to be a media entrepreneur.He speaks with Alan and Michal about his unconventional path to success; lessons he’s learned as an industry-disrupting leader; his thoughts on the media landscape at large; how AI will radically shape newsrooms; his turn as a lifestyle and wellness guru; and more.Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Everyone is talking about AI and jobs. Will AI take jobs? Will it add jobs? What skills do I need to sharpen as AI continues to impact work? Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn, talks with cohosts Alan and Michal about what he’s seeing in the data.Roslansky explains why he is transforming LinkedIn into an AI company, and what that will look like for users as well as employees. He also discusses how he feels the education system needs to evolve to accommodate the rapidly growing AI boom; the edge LinkedIn benefits from by being under the Microsoft umbrella; and how he has changed as a leader over the last 10 years.Leadership Next is Powered by Deloitte.

E-commerce is a notoriously competitive landscape—but online pet retailer Chewy has managed to not just survive, but thrive. Since joining the company in 2018, CEO Sumit Singh has shepherded Chewy through its IPO in 2019 and its debut on the Fortune 500 list in 2021.He talks with Alan and Michal about Chewy’s obsession with customer loyalty; his background in e-commerce and supply chain, with top leadership positions at Amazon and Dell prior to joining Chewy; what he learned from Jeff Bezos; the company’s expansion into veterinary health care; and more. Plus—the guest and hosts have a chance to share a little bit about their own furry friends.Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Autodesk is a 1980s software company that continues to reinvent itself. CEO Andrew Anagnost attributes this to the company’s ability to be the first to “kill our own businesses.”Anagnost goes into detail about how he sees AI impacting architecture, specifically when it comes to sustainable construction. He and cohosts Alan and Michal also discuss AI regulation; his “problematic” teenage years; what he learned from former Autodesk CEOs Carol Bartz and Carl Bass; and industrial fungus.Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Alan sits down with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins at a Fortune CEO Initiative dinner in NYC, to have a conversation focused on his new role as chair of the Business Roundtable.Robbins discusses the challenges facing business today, and what he hopes the BRT can accomplish during the next presidential administration, including improvement to trade and immigration, and better policy around tech. He also shares why he believes Cisco continues to be at the top of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.This conversation was recorded on March 20, 2024.Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

CEO of Otis, Judy Marks, discusses the company's growth post-spinoff, innovation, service-based business model, operations in China, sustainability, tariff impacts, and future plans in a wide-ranging conversation.

Priscilla Almodovar, CEO of Fannie Mae, is the only Latina on the Fortune 500. She talks to Michal and Alan about how she uses her platform as CEO to make housing more equitable, and recalls her Puerto Rican parents buying their first home on Long Island, N.Y., and how important a piece of the American Dream that was for them.She also discusses her experience as a woman on Wall Street; how Latinos are becoming a bigger percentage of U.S. homeowners; what she learned from Jamie Dimon; her 2024 housing outlook; and tips for first-time buyers.Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

BILL CEO and founder René Lacerte is a fourth-generation entrepreneur. In 2009 he sold his first company PayCycle, to Intuit. He shares with Michal how being in a family of entrepreneurs has shaped him as a founder and a leader. He also talks about the unique responsibilities a CEO has versus a founder. He gives advice to future founders about how to navigate potential challenges, especially when taking your company public. He also shares thoughts on how to keep a healthy work-life balance.Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Seifi Ghasemi began his career in energy by attending a school in the middle of a refinery in Iran. Now, at nearly 80 years old, the Air Products CEO believes hydrogen is the only option for fighting the effects of climate change. “There is no other source of energy,” he says.He discusses with Alan and Michal why he believes Air Products has a responsibility to push markets toward clean energy solutions like hydrogen; whether or not hydrogen-based fuel will be ready for our 2050 net-zero goals; the moment he started paying attention to climate change; and why he hasn’t been on a vacation in 20 years.Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

As CEO of the energy giant, Woods is leading the third largest U.S. company through the energy transition. While Exxon Mobil is investing in low-carbon solutions like hydrogen and carbon capture, he is not yet convinced the world as a whole has what it takes to achieve its decarbonization goals.He discusses in depth with Alan and Michal the roadblocks to net zero; the company’s challenges with activist investors; inflation reduction act subsidies; and, of course, what he does to relax.Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.