Paul Michelman is BCG’s Editor in Chief and host of Imagine This…, a new podcast where Paul and his AI co-host GENE delve into disruptive scenarios that could define the coming decades. They work together with BCG experts to explore the very real steps CEOs could take today to prepare. This marks Paul’s fourth turn as a podcast host. He launched and was the original host of the HBR IdeaCast, which is now in its 18th year of production, and hosted MIT’s Counterpoints sports analytics podcast and Three Big Points management podcast. Prior to joining BCG, Paul served as editor in chief of MIT Sloan Management Review and Executive Editor and Director of New Editorial Products at Harvard Business Review, among other roles.
No matter the industry or profession you’re in, you’re likely feeling artificial intelligence technology creeping in. But it doesn’t have to be a bad or overwhelming thing. With the help of these essential shows, you can stay in the know if you’re trying to learn more about the tech everyone is talking about. They combine business strategies, technological breakdowns, and critical thinking to bring clarity about the possibilities of this technology.
The AI Podcast
The AI Podcast will open your eyes to all the different ways AI is being used, across industries and jobs that you might not have thought about before. To do this, they speak with the people who are actually implementing it and have stories about how it’s going. The interviews in each episode will teach you about that industry as a way of illustrating where AI can fit in. From energy efficiency to cardiovascular health and smart strollers – they demonstrate that the possibilities are everywhere.
Big Technology Podcast
Through tech news recaps and interviews with business leaders, this podcast is a valuable resource for staying in the know. Since it is so business-minded, it feels as though it’s speaking to business leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, and those looking to move up in their career. It takes the complicated technology news and simplifies it so you know what might apply to your work. The interview episodes also give great access to insights from people who have changed and shaped businesses like Yahoo, Google, Meta, and more.
HBS Managing the Future of Work
Even though the future of work doesn’t just include AI, it is analyzed in many of the episodes of this show. AI may be one piece of the puzzle, but you also can’t talk about it without talking about all the other factors that will impact work. Like climate change, the gig economy, the education system. Together all of these things help us understand how to prepare and evolve, which is exactly what this show helps with.
Imagine This…
Just how prepared is your business for futures like these? What would you have done differently if you had imagined the explosion of Generative AI? In Imagine This… I explore what happens when AI joins the C-suite and how that trickles down to impact all aspects of business. With BCG’s top experts as well as my co-host GENE, BCG’s conversational GenAI agent, we share the possible futures and the implications for organizations and their leaders. As an inquisitive co-host, GENE chimes in with their own questions and ideas about what comes next.
Gen AI on Gen AI
To hear more about the transformative impact of GenAI on business, these conversations between GENE and myself are a perfect compliment to Imagine This…. GENE’s memory banks are stocked with research and insights on GenAI from some of BCG’s top thinkers. GenAI on GenAI helps leaders understand the state of AI in business today; how it stands to reshape industries and companies over the coming years; and the ways companies can make the best use of AI responsibly.
The AI in Business Podcast
Many of the other podcasts in this list seek to speak about technology news and updates in digestible ways, but this show is a helpful support for non-technical business leaders. If you strive to understand it better, but feel overwhelmed by the technical concepts, they can help you see where AI fits in for you.
Infinite Loops
A curiosity for deep and critical thinking is a valuable asset as we navigate the technological changes in our world and work. Jim O’Shaughnessy brings that kind of thinking to every interview he does and it helps teach us all how to do the same. Like Jim says, it’s an important skill for not getting stuck in a cyclical thinking pattern that prevents you from innovating and progressing.
Practical AI
This show is truly summarized best with their tagline – making artificial intelligence practical, productive, and accessible to everyone. By staying practical, they focus on implementations that have clear merits and use real-world examples to drive that home. Experts in every aspect of artificial intelligence join the show to help bring clarity to the technology and what people can expect from it.
The So What from BCG
This is a twist on your typical business strategy podcast. Award-winning British journalist Georgie Frost interviews the leading thinkers and doers at BCG on the trends, developments, and ideas that will shape and disrupt the future. The goal–the so what–is to make sense of today and prepare busy leaders and executives for the day after tomorrow. It looks around the corner of today’s big business and social issues, never considering one without the other.
HBR Ideacast
HBR’s long-running signature podcast brings listeners inside the biggest challenges and opportunities facing leaders today. This multidisciplinary show addresses everything from tech to organizational behavior to critical elements for personal effectiveness in the workplace. Its eclectic nature is one of its strongest traits.
Hard Fork
Hard Fork is great at balancing coverage of the latest tech headlines and doing deep dives into trends that are helpful to know more about. If you feel overwhelmed by how fast things are changing, especially with the use of AI, they frequently cover updates, uses of it, and what the future involvement of AI will look like.
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