The So What: A Business Strategy Podcast

This Boston Consulting Group podcast series looks around the corner of today’s big business and social issues. The goal—the so what—is to make sense of today and prepare busy leaders and executives for the day after tomorrow.

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. Topics range from global warming, COVID-19, business resilience, and social inequity to the influence of digital technology on everything. This is not your typical business strategy podcast.

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The World Is Fragmented, Not Flat

The post–World War II order of free markets, democratic government, and global institutions is breaking apart, argues Nikolaus Lang, who leads BCG’s Global Advantage practice. With the future uncertain, companies should prepare for a range of scenarios that likely involve greater uncertainty and less global trade.

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Discover BCG's Growing Podcast Universe

BCG has a full suite of podcasts covering a wide range of topics in business, technology, economics, and society. Take your pick: artificial intelligence, women in technology, the latest trends in business strategy, the future of the metaverse, and more.

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Most Recent Episodes

Social Business Needs a Net Zero

Douglas Beal, who leads BCG’s client work with financial institutions on sustainable finance and investing, argues that doing good is also good business.

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Financial Crime Is Everybody’s Business

If businesses—all businesses, not just banks—are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem, argues BCG’s Hanjo Seibert.
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When Shopping and Entertainment Collide

Welcome to the crazy world of shoppertainment, which BCG projects will grow into a $1 trillion market in Asia by 2025.
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The Return on Inclusion Is Real—and Measurable

Nadjia Yousif, BCG’s chief diversity officer, explains how an inclusive workforce creates happier employees who are more likely to stay.
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Capitalism and Communities of Color

James Lowry talks about how corporations and communities alike benefit from supplier diversity, leadership diversity, financial inclusion, racial equity, and minority business enterprises.
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Responsible AI to the Rescue

The best way to address concerns over the use of AI in business, says Steven Mills, chief AI ethics officer for BCG X, is to develop responsible AI principles.
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Software is Eating Your Car

Alex Koster, who leads BCG’s automotive technology and software business, explains just how fundamentally software is altering the automotive industry.
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The Digital Divide Is Everybody’s Business

It's 2023, but nearly half the world’s 8 billion people do not have access to high-speed Internet. For Vaishali Rastogi, closing this gap is an economic, social, moral—and personal—imperative.
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Looking Under the Hood of the Wealth Machine

BCG’s Dean Frankle discusses the wealth and asset industry at a crossroads.
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Economic Uncertainty Can Be Your Friend

Alan Iny, BCG’s expert on creativity and uncertainty, explores how companies can find opportunities in a challenging economy.
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Climate and Sustainability Episodes

What COP27 Means for Africa

BCG’s Tolu Oyekan, Patrick Dupoux, Wendy Woods, and Zineb Sqalli share lessons from global climate conference.
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Can Our Green Future Also Be Fair?

BCG’s Kesh Mudaly lays out the challenges of ensuring the climate transition is equitable.
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Climate Adaptation and the Cost of Inaction

Leaders must be preparing for a hotter world prone to extreme weather events even as the work to lower carbon emissions, according to BCG’s Charmian Caines.
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To Reduce Emissions, You Must Measure Them

BCG's Charlotte Degot and CDP's Dexter Galvin explain how artificial intelligence can help companies fill in the gaps in their understanding of their carbon emissions.
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How Can My Shopping Save The Planet?

Sustainability is as much about mindset, intention, and focus as technology, explains Shalini Unnikrishnan, a leader on social impact at BCG.
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Rich Lesser on Climate, Hard Truths, and Hope

Climate change is precipitating the largest industrial transformation since World War II, perhaps ever. BCG’s global chair, Lesser, chairman and former CEO explains what it means for CEOs and business leaders.
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To Uncertainty and Beyond in the Travel Industry

In the face of lagging and highly volatile demand, how can airlines, hotel chains, and cruise lines prepare for the future? Jason Guggenheim, BCG’s global leader of travel and tourism, talks analytics, adjacent business opportunities, and sustainability challenges.
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Net Zero Will Pay for Itself

With political will, new business models, and major investments, saving the planet does not have to break the bank, explains Jens Burchardt in a new episode of BCG's flagship podcast, The So What.
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Uncertainty Advantage

Uncertainty is not a dirty word. It may be impossible to predict the future but not to prepare for it, explains Alan Iny.
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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Episodes

Values are for Everywhere

Corporate values are more important than ever. Should companies boycott countries with values they do not share? Kushal Khandhar, global Pride@BCG manager, explains how companies can be "embassies of values."
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How Can the World Achieve Health Equality?

Unless the whole world is healthy, we all remain at risk, explains Johanna Benesty, who leads BCG’s global health work.
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Why Being Out at Work Matters

Dakota Santana-Grace, a Pride@BCG leader, talks about how a supportive culture unlocks creativity.
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Rewriting the Unwritten Rules at Work

Nan DasGupta talks about breaking down bias at work, how bias prevents men from assuming more caregiving responsibilities, the importance of role models, and why nobody wants to talk about menopause.
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When a Paycheck Is Not Enough

Feeling safe, challenged, and valued at work can be even more important than a paycheck, says Gabi Novacek, a BCG Henderson Institute fellow researching diversity, equity, and inclusion.
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Why Tech Needs Women to Change the World

Neveen Awad talks about her own tech journey, the insights women can bring to tech, how paternity leave can be for a boon for women in leadership—and more.
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Are You Bridging or Broadening the Racial Wealth Gap?

To create inclusive workforces and inclusive products, companies must treat inclusion as a business innovation, explains Kedra Newsom Reeves, colead of BCG’s North America Center for Inclusion and Equity.
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Watch Your Language

Ashley Grice finds great joy, meaning, and sometimes peril in words. As the CEO of BCG BrightHouse, Grice helps organizations find their purpose. Words are her instruments of trade.
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Business Strategy Episodes

Looking Under the Hood of the Wealth Machine

BCG’s Dean Frankle discusses the wealth and asset industry at a crossroads.

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Economic Uncertainty Can Be Your Friend

Alan Iny, BCG’s expert on creativity and uncertainty, explores how companies can find opportunities in a challenging economy.

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The Economy’s Conflicting Signals

Inflation is higher than it’s been in a generation. Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak, BCG’s global chief economist, is concerned about inflation but explores how policymakers can maneuver to control potential contagion.
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Talent Hiding in Plain Sight

Companies’ best job candidates often are often their own overlooked employees, explains BCG's Nithya Vaduganathan and Gloat's Brian Hershey.
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Beating the Digital Natives at Their Own Game

Digital transformation allows traditional companies to compete in the modern economy. BCG's Patrick Forth explains what they need to get it right.
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Talent Is Universal. Opportunity Is Not

Despite the rise of anti-immigration rhetoric, the free flow of talent across borders benefits both the host country and the country of origin.
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What to Teach the World of the Future

Education has not changed much since Edwardian times. That’s about to change, according to Leila Hoteit, the managing director and senior partner who leads BCG’s education, employment, and welfare work.
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We Need More Tim Cooks in the C-Suite

Supply chain and procurement are too important to be relegated to corporate Siberia, explains Daniel Weise, author of the new book Profit from the Source and leader of BCG's global procurement business.
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Imagine If Companies Were Better at Imagination

Creativity is too important to be left in the sandbox. It belongs in the boardroom. Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, explains how to bring it there.
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Your Brain Is Being Strip-Mined

Cell phones, social media, messaging software, and multitasking are robbing our attention. Is this the price of “progress,” or is there something to be done?
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Can We Fix Supply Chains in 2022?

How can companies build resilience and reliability into their supply chains without adding cost and redundancy?
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Why the Way We Work is Broken

How can organizations recalibrate their outdated approach to leadership, work, culture, and purpose? Deborah Lovich, who leads BCG’s people strategy topic, and Brian Elliott, executive leader and senior vice president of Future Forum, explore.
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A Culture of Experimentation

How can organizations become more experimental? Says Julia Dhar: identify a big problem, start small, and do not worry that academics may criticize your experiment.
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Across the Luxury Metaverse

Sarah Willersdorf explores the wacky but real intersection of fashion and online avatars, explaining what the virtual world holds in store for consumers and brands.
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Meet Our Host

Georgie Frost is an award-winning freelance finance broadcaster and journalist. She began her career as a sports journalist at the Guardian Media Group before hosting sports shows on BBC Radio. In 2014, she created a daily finance-based talk radio show on Share Radio, winning honors as the financial broadcaster of the year and as one of the top five best new presenters in the UK at the APA Awards. She has written for the Financial Times, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Mail and appeared as a sports and financial commentator in national newspapers as well as on ITV, Sky Sports Mix, and BBC One. She has written and hosted the Daily Mail’s “This is Money” podcast for the past five years.

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