INSEAD Knowledge Podcast

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May 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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57 recent

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.

October 30, 2025Episode 225 min

Can Asia Benefit From the AI Boom?

Does artificial intelligence enable organisations to do things differently, or to do different things?In the first episode of the new podcast series “The INSEAD Perspective: Spotlight on Asia”, Sameer Hasija, Dean of Asia at INSEAD, speaks to Hyunjin Kim, INSEAD's Assistant Professor of Strategy, about arguably the most pressing topic affecting business and society today: The impact of AI on business and entrepreneurship. There's a spectrum of views about the impact of AI, but where its effect on entrepreneurship is concerned, few share the vantage point with Kim, whose research covers a cross-section of over 500 start-ups and their interactions with AI.Despite Asia’s relatively young population and drive, the “Asian Century” hasn’t come to fruition, notes Hasija. Kim remarks that the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face are access to capital and labour. AI can reduce these frictions and help build more capital- and labour-efficient businesses, bringing new opportunities to the region.

September 30, 2025Episode 145 min

Can AI Help Build Smarter Humans?

In a special episode of the INSEAD Knowledge podcast, we shine a spotlight on a sister podcast series, The Age of Intelligence. Hosted by Theodoros Evgeniou, Professor of Technology and Business at INSEAD, and Tim Gordon, co-founder of Best Practice AI, the series features insightful conversations with notable guests from a range of different fields. Its aim is to look at how AI is rebalancing our world – from disrupting national powers and influencing business competitiveness to impacting individual lives. In this episode, Evgeniou and Gordon speak with computer scientist and MIT professor Pattie Maes. Their discussion centres on Maes’ pioneering work in AI and her unique perspective that technology should be used to augment human intelligence, not replace it.

August 28, 2025Episode 1124 min

The Start-Up That Survived the "Kill Zone"

The "kill zone" refers to the space near a tech giant’s core business where start-ups risk being copied or crushed simply for getting too close. But what if survival were possible?In this episode, Associate Professor of Strategy Michaël Bikard walks us through a case that begins with a promising partnership between Airbnb and Sofar Sounds, but ends with the two companies going head to head.London-based start-up Sofar Sounds built its brand on intimate secret gigs in living rooms and other low-key spaces around the world. “It's all about human offline connections through music, bringing together people in a very intimate setting,” said Bikard. “There is some fairy dust there.” A partnership with Airbnb seemed like a perfect match. Airbnb would gain some of Sofar Sounds’ cool factor. Sofar Sounds could scale through Airbnb’s global reach. But the alliance didn’t last.A few months later, Airbnb came up with their own version of Sofar Sounds, Airbnb Concerts. It looked like the classic tech “kill zone” scenario. “At the time… it felt like they [Sofar Sounds] were gonna be eaten alive, frankly,” said Bikard. “And the interesting thing is that exactly the opposite happened.”