INSEAD Knowledge Podcast

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Aug 2026

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Faculty thought leaders from INSEAD, The Business School for the World speak frankly about the most pressing challenges facing today's firms and managers.

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August 25, 2026Episode 1037 min

A Healthier, More Personalised Future for Asia?

In this edition of the INSEAD Perspective: Spotlight on Asia” podcast series, Sameer Hasija , Dean of Asia at INSEAD , speaks with Suhina Singh , co-founder of Singapore-based Jonda Health , about how AI is reshaping healthcare and why Asia has proved an early adopter when it comes to embracing its potential. They discuss why global AI healthcare spend hit US$37 billion in 2025 and is set to nearly double its share of the industry by 2030, and explore how the technology is compressing drug discovery timelines and reshaping diagnostics, treatment and clinical workflows. Singh explains how Asia's aging populations (Japan, South Korea) and digitally native youth are both driving adoption for different reasons, and how governments are accelerating change, even as rural and lower-income communities risk being left behind. Drawing on her experience building JondaX, Singh also gets candid about the real technical and regulatory challenges of deploying large language models in healthcare, where privacy, accuracy and quality control are non-negotiable. The conversation closes with a broader question: if AI can transform something as complex as healthcare, what can other industries — education included — learn from this customer centric approach? Chapters: 0:00 – Introduction 1:18 – Biggest Opportunities for AI in Healthcare 8:25 – AI Healthcare Adoption in Asia 13:27 – Developed vs. Developing Asia: Is Access Equal? 15:59 – Government and State Support for AI Health Adoption 19:33 – Suhina's Journey and Founding Jonda Health 22:45 – Challenges Building with Large Language Models 26:08 – Who Benefits: Clinicians, Patients, and Researchers 28:32 – What's Next for Jonda Health 32:19 – The Future of Healthcare in 10 Years Read the related INSEAD Knowledge article.

July 30, 2026Episode 941 min

Airbus and the Hydrogen Horizon

The world’s leading aerospace company shows that successful innovation is not just about technical breakthroughs. Consumer demand, financial viability and a functioning ecosystem are crucial for an innovation to move from the drawing board to a commercially viable reality. That’s according to INSEAD professors Manuel Sosa and Adrian Johnson , in their conversation with Harsh Shah , a leading expert on Hydrogen fuel in the aviation sector. In this INSEAD Knowledge podcast, they discussed Airbus’s 2020 public commitment to bring the world’s first hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft to market by 2035. Despite making major strides in developing the technical innovations needed to achieve this aim, Airbus ultimately had to push back their deadline due to challenges beyond their control. Sosa explains that this case underlines the fact that any company introducing innovations needs to consider the desirability, feasibility and viability framework of innovation if it has any real chance of success. As Shah put it, they were faced with a classic chicken-and-egg scenario: Airlines wouldn't commit without infrastructure, and infrastructure wouldn't get built without demand. His proposed solution was greater government intervention and financial incentives that absorbed cost premiums in the early stages, similar to those in other sectors, such as wind energy. As Johnson concludes, pushing back a deadline shouldn’t be seen as failure; it's what learning through experimentation actually looks like when the stakes, and the ambition, are this high. Read the related INSEAD Knowledge article and the two INSEAD Cases exploring the challenges faced by Airbus.

June 30, 2026Episode 827 min

What "Creative Differences" Really Means With Spencer Harrison

Two words appear in entertainment headlines more than almost any other excuse, but are they doing more harm than good? When a director exits a film "due to creative differences", everyone reads it the same way: something happened, and we're not meant to know what. Spencer Harrison , Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD, calls it the "aloha" of Hollywood, a phrase flexible enough to mean hello or goodbye, used precisely because its vagueness protects everyone involved. In the latest episode of the INSEAD Knowledge podcast , he explains what the research reveals about whether that protection actually works.

May 27, 2026Episode 738 min

Recipe for Success

Passion and drive helped Rishi Naleendra achieve initial culinary success, but it was only when he learnt to trust his team and change himself that his restaurant climbed to the next level –Michelin recognition. In this episode of the INSEAD Knowledge Podcast , Professors Michael Jarrett and Andy Yap chat with Sri Lankan restaurateur Naleendra. Growing up in war-torn Sri Lanka, he went from a childhood dream to be a pilot to becoming the chef and owner behind noted Singapore restaurants Kotuwa and Cloudstreet. Naleendra recounts his bold decision to close down a successful bistro that had already achieved one Michelin star and how his singular vision won buy-in from an experienced team and demanding investors. Yet his passion and high standards had a negative side: high turnover and burnout of staff and a team culture built on fear rather than ownership. It was only when Covid-19 struck that he was forced to stop and reflect. An intervention by a trusted colleague made him confront an uncomfortable reality and come to realise that he needed to change both as a leader and a person. It was only by trusting those around him and creating the conditions for others to perform that he could ever hope to achieve two Michelin stars. A new-found leadership maturity helped him tackle the transition from running a small “mom and pop” business to leading a professional organisation. He now acts as the bridge between investors, creative talent and operational teams, and has to find ways to manage expectations and emotions on all sides. For Naleendra, the mark of a good leader ultimately comes down to one unglamorous word: practice. Not talent, title nor experience – but practice. The soft skills needed to speak honestly to investors, inspire loyalty in your team and hold your nerves under pressure are all habits that are built over time. His advice for the next generation: Don't wait for the position before you start behaving like a leader. Train for the role before anyone hands it to you, stay curious and never become too important to learn from the person next to you. Read the INSEAD Knowledge article . Explore more INSEAD Knowledge Podcasts .

April 30, 2026Episode 633 min

Asia, AI and Career Reinvention

In the new edition of “The INSEAD Perspective: Spotlight on Asia” podcast series, Sameer Hasija, Dean of Asia at INSEAD, speaks with Winnie Jiang, Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour, about how organisations and individuals in Asia are changing the way they think about work, training and careers. In particular, Jiang identifies a fundamental shift from "institutionalised" to "uninstitutionalised" career transitions. Unlike the past, where career changes – such as moving from journalism to law or banking to baking – followed clear routes and required standard qualifications, today’s job landscape has been totally upended by AI and geopolitical uncertainty. This makes identifying "safe" next steps, or a stable career that can guarantee success nearly impossible, creating real anxiety. AI’s transformation of how skills are learned and a global reduction in entry-level hiring are further feeding a growing unease among many employees about their futures. For Jiang, the key to navigating this disruption is not to resist technology but to actively embrace experimentation. By becoming experts in specific AI tools, individuals don’t just increase company productivity, they can also enhance their own roles and add greater meaning to their work. The shift towards "uninstitutionalised" careers may offer another positive. In many of Asia’s collectivist and " face " cultures, where career choices have historically been tied to family pride and stability, current uncertainty may ironically liberate younger generations to pursue work that they find personally fulfilling. Schools like INSEAD have an important role to play in this transformation. It is their responsibility to help people and organisations turn technological disruption into an opportunity for professional growth that benefits both the firm and the individual. Read more at https://knowledge.insead.edu/career/ai-and-career-reinvention . Or watch the video: https://youtu.be/7Yg8O_wv60E.

March 31, 2026Episode 634 min

Tariffs and Turmoil: Negotiating the New World Order

In the latest episode of “The INSEAD Perspective: Spotlight on Asia” podcast series, Sameer Hasija, Dean of Asia at INSEAD, sat down with Pushan Dutt, Professor of Economics and Political Science, to discuss how the new world order is creating a complex economic environment, where traditional business strategies are being upended by unpredictable political and technological shocks. As an expert in international trade, Dutt offers his insights on the impact of the fast-changing United States tariff policies for the Asian region. Ultimately, he advises firms to adopt a "wait and see" approach, suggesting that rash operational moves to counter temporary political swings could end up being a costly, and ultimately unnecessary, mistake. For him, a bigger concern is the massive investment by American and Chinese firms into AI, which could create a significant technological gap between those leaders and other countries. Organisations are historically slow to adapt, but firms in Asia need to fully understand the speed of exponential technological growth and the urgency of being prepared for the "gale of creative destruction" it will bring. In the same vein, countries like India and Indonesia need to overcome the slow pace of their bureaucratic democracies to become more agile and responsive. Whether it’s pivoting India’s IT sector to adapt to rapidly changing needs, or Indonesia’s efforts to move upstream in the nickel supply chain, speed is going to be key. With the prospect of an incoherent and uncertain future, at least for the short term, business leaders cannot afford to be delusional about "crises being opportunities". Instead, they need to make sure they have the slack, both in terms of finances and time, to make quick decisions in response to unexpected or unknown crises as and when they arrive. Note: This conversation was recorded before the start of the ongoing Middle East conflict. View a video of the discussion . Read the related INSEAD Knowledge article .

February 25, 2026Episode 640 min

How Talent Can Thrive in an AI-Driven World

In this era of "permacrisis" and constant disruption, adaptability and resilience are vital traits that require collaboration and an increasing focus on human-centric skills. That’s the messaging to come out of the 2025 Global Talent Competitive Index (GTCI), an annual report that highlights the latest talent trends and offers insights into the current global talent landscape. For this episode of “The INSEAD Perspective: Spotlight on Asia” podcast series, Sameer Hasija, Dean of Asia at INSEAD, analyses the results and implications of the 11th edition of the GTCI through an APAC lens alongside two of its authors: L. Felipe Monteiro, Academic Director of the GTCI and Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy, and Paul Evans, Emeritus Professor of Organisational Behaviour. Perhaps the most notable theme from the 2025 report is the shifting value of human capabilities, where soft human-centric skills are becoming just as vital as hard digital or technical skills. As AI handles increasingly complex technical tasks, Monteiro and Evans suggest that "generalist adaptive skills" – including leadership, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship – will increasingly take centre stage. Reflecting on the high ranking of certain countries such as Singapore, Switzerland and the Nordic nations, Evans points to the strength of their integrated ecosystems, where government, business, educational institutions and labour organisations work together to solve problems using a forward-looking approach. He warns that without this deep ecosystem collaboration and a long-term vision, even technologically advanced nations may struggle to implement the systemic changes required to thrive in today’s disrupted global economy. That potential danger is highlighted in a concerning trend identified in the report, where several upper-middle-income countries, such as Malaysia, Brazil and Mexico, appear to have reached a "talent plateau" or “trap". Despite making good headway in the earlier stages of their development, these countries have seen their progress stall as they find themselves squeezed between high-innovating top-tier countries and lower-income countries with cost advantages. Levels of optimism for the future were mixed among the three speakers. However, they agreed that greater collaboration, an increased emphasis on lifelong education and the ability of individuals to learn and adjust on the job will be vital if countries and companies hope to successfully navigate the uncertain waters of the next five years – and beyond.

January 27, 2026Episode 533 min

How Family Businesses in Asia Are Adapting to a Changing World

Family-owned enterprises are the cornerstone of Asia’s economy, contributing roughly 70 percent of GDP and employing over 60 percent of the workforce in some markets. Much more than just commercial entities, these firms are deeply embedded into the social fabric and are typically driven by long-term vision and entrepreneurial stewardship . In this edition of “The INSEAD Perspective: Spotlight on Asia” podcast series, Sameer Hasija, Dean of Asia at INSEAD, asks Bala Vissa, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, for his thoughts on the status of family businesses in the region, the challenges that are currently reshaping their future and how family offices may be one solution to navigating these complexities. From bridging the success gap to tackling the rise of AI and ongoing digital transformation this wide- ranging conversation also explores how INSEAD is playing an important role in tackling this period of disruption and helping family businesses see it as an opportunity. Through workshops and programmes, INSEAD is connecting family firms to private equity and allowing both sides to better understand how they can work together to foster resilient growth and long-term success in today's rapidly changing global environment.

December 18, 2025Episode 423 min

Learning to Lead as a New Manager

You’ve just been promoted to a manager. Now what? The truth is that new managers hardly receive formal training before taking on their roles. Instead of hitting the ground running, most of them try to figure out how to lead as they go along, says Vibha Gaba, The Berghmans Lhoist Chaired Professor of Entrepreneurial Leadership and Professor of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD. In this podcast, Gaba takes a deep dive into leading, especially for first-time managers. Being a leader in the contemporary workplace clearly requires new competencies; technical expertise alone is no longer enough. As the director of INSEAD’s “ Learning to Lead ” executive programme, Gaba has been training executives, complementing their existing technical chops with people management skills – from how to assign tasks to the right team members to coaching people and managing conflicts.

November 24, 2025Episode 322 min

The Rise of the “Pod Shop”

In this episode, Ben Charoenwong, Associate Professor of Finance at INSEAD and former pod shop veteran, discusses his case on Millennium Partners, and looks at how their adoption of the “pod shop” model has allowed the firm to become one of the most successful hedge funds in the world. As well as exploring the strengths of this plug-and-play approach, Charoenwong highlights the fact that this model has now been adopted by many hedge funds and is impacting the broader financial services industry. Private banks and asset managers are among those taking a similar structural approach, where independent advisory teams are managed under a large organisational umbrella that handles compliance, technology and other functions. However, while the model has brought great success, it also carries inherent risks. Charoenwong raises concerns about market fragility due to the consolidation of trading power among a few key players. This concentration can lead to sudden and dramatic market movements, or “blips”, when a major pod is forced to liquidate positions, as observed in a recent event involving the Japanese yen.