Episodi

  • Reinventing Industrial Operations: Digital Twins, Agentic Intelligence, and What 2025 Clarified

    Reinventing Industrial Operations: Digital Twins, Agentic Intelligence, and What 2025 Clarified
    Jan 22 2026
    An important lesson emerged in 2025: incremental transformation is no longer enough. In this episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi Brooks is joined by Pieter van Schalkwyk—CEO of XMPRO, author of Building Industrial Digital Twins, and a leader in the Digital Twin Consortium—to explore why today’s operating models are reaching a breaking point. Together, they unpack the systemic pressures reshaping operations—aging infrastructure, rising complexity, talent loss, and unsustainable work models—and why technology alone can’t fix them. From the cognitive burden on frontline workers to the fragility of legacy systems, Pieter makes the case for agentic intelligence, human-centered design, and rethinking productivity itself. It’s a conversation that spans intelligent digital twins, organizational modeling, decision intelligence, and the call to move from experimentation to action. Read Pieter’s article with co-author Michael Carroll, “Obituary for 2025: The Year We Buried the Copilot Dream and Discovered What Intelligence Actually Requires” Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: The Strategic Case for Reinventing Operations 03:15 – Why Operational Models Need Reinvention, Not Incremental Fixes 08:20 – People as the Point of Rationalization in Complex Systems 15:53 – Leadership’s Awareness and Urgency Gap 18:34 – System Experts and the Knowledge Gap in Industrial Transformation 21:48 – Common Mistakes Leaders Make in Transformation 29:00 – Priorities for Redesigning Your Ops Model 35:05 – The Value of Digital Twins in Future Operating Models 39:51 – A Practical Roadmap to Operational Autonomy 45:18 – The Real Transformation Challenge: People, Not Tech 47:34 – Digital Twins of the Organization: Modeling Culture, Strategy, and Decision-Making 51:33 – Relational Dynamics: A New Lens on Organizational Context 56:15 – Lessons from 2025: Letting Go, Designing for Humans, and Looking Ahead
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    1 ora e 4 min
  • Acceleration as the New Normal: Lessons from 2025 & the New Road Ahead

    Acceleration as the New Normal: Lessons from 2025 & the New Road Ahead
    Dec 18 2025
    As we close out 2025, one thing is clear: this has been a year of acceleration. We saw the promises of AI tested against operational reality, watched composable enterprises take shape, and saw governance, trust, and resilience move from the edges of strategy to its center. In this year-end episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi is joined once again by Frank Diana—global futurist, thought leader, and Managing Partner and Principal Futurist at Tata Consultancy Services—to reflect on what 2025 revealed about the changing nature of transformation and explore what leaders must be prepared for as 2026 begins. It’s a timely conversation about acceptance, acceleration, and adaptability, and a powerful reminder of a new truth: transformation is no longer a destination, but a continuous state of becoming. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: Reflecting on 2025 and Accelerating Toward 2026 02:43 – Big Movements in 2025: Acceptance, Acceleration, and Systemic Adaptation 07:52 – What Successful Companies Did Right in 2025: Open-minded Leadership, Workforce Inclusion, and Collective Intelligence 10:41 – Lessons Learned from 2025: Adaptable Governance and Simulation 15:57 – Frank Diana’s Strategy Framework: Pathways, Possibility Chains, and Systems Thinking 25:55 – Actioning the Strategy Framework 30:39 – Leading Through Orchestration, Unlearning, and Human Adaptability 33:26 – Accelerated Learning and the Culture of Experimentation 35:42 – The Core of the Strategy Framework: Convergence and Possibility Chains 38:26 – Activating Purpose through Human-Centric Pathways 43:29 – Emerging Global Priorities 44:45 – The 2026 Road Ahead: AI, Robotics, Synthetic Biology, and Policy Innovation 49:06 – Composability and the Fall of Hierarchies in Organizational Design 51:43 – The Reality of Predictions Meeting Plausibility 53:05 – Leadership Advice for a Changing World: Acceptance, Sense-Making, and Ambient Learning
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    59 min
  • Recording Reality & Shaping the Future with Nicolas Waern: Digital Twins, AI & the Living Enterprise

    Recording Reality & Shaping the Future with Nicolas Waern: Digital Twins, AI & the Living Enterprise
    Oct 9 2025
    What if your organization wasn’t just digital, but living? In this episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi Brooks is joined by Nicolas Waern, Founder of WINNIIO, CEO and Founder of Life Atlas, and Co-Chair of the Digital Twin Consortium’s Manufacturing Working Group, to explore how digital twins, AI, and platform thinking are redefining the enterprise. Nicolas makes the case that the future of decision-making won’t be driven by prediction, but by rehearsal, simulating thousands of future scenarios before a single action is taken. Together, Mimi and Nicolas unpack why organizations must evolve from rigid hierarchies to modular, living systems; how digital twins become dynamic, decision-making environments; and how the built environment itself becomes intelligent infrastructure for transformation. They explore the shift from data for data’s sake to real-time, context-aware systems that learn, adapt, and scale impact. This conversation will reframe how you think about systems, leadership, and the future of work. You can find Nicolas on LinkedIn if you’d like to connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaswaern/ Timestamps: 00:00 – Introducing Nicolas Waern: Reimagining Digital Twins and the Living Enterprise 03:05 – Digital Twins for People and the Planet 07:56 – Digital Twins Done Right: Creating Real Impact in Complex Systems 15:18 – Modeling Reality with Digital Twins for Better Decisions 26:00 – Rethinking Enterprise Data Strategy with Impact-First Digital Twins 39:40 – From Insight to Impact: Building Resilient Systems in a Changing World 49:45 – Finding Strategy’s North Star with Digital Twins 56:27 – From Strategy to ROI: Making the Business Case for Digital Twins 01:02:49 – From Strategy to Operating Models: Executing with Digital Twins 01:07:59 – From Authority to Orchestration: Leading with Digital Twins 01:19:10 – Anchoring Strategy in Reality: Practical Steps for Leaders
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    1 ora e 24 min
  • Leading When No One Is Complete

    Leading When No One Is Complete
    Sep 25 2025
    What does leadership look like when one leader can’t do it all? In this episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi Brooks is joined by Deborah Ancona, MIT Sloan professor and founding director of the MIT Leadership Center, to explore a radical shift in how we understand and practice leadership. Drawing from her groundbreaking research on X-Teams and the Incomplete Leader, Deborah makes the case that today’s complexity demands more than individual brilliance, it requires collective capability. Together, Mimi and Deborah dive into the capabilities leaders must cultivate and why no single person can excel at all of them. They unpack why leadership must move beyond hierarchy, how networks and external orientation drive agility, and what it means to lead in systems where no one has all the answers. Whether you're leading a transformation, scaling innovation, or building adaptive teams, this conversation will reframe how you think about leadership in a world that won’t stop changing. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: Leadership in the Age of Complexity 03:24 – The Incomplete Leader: Debunking the Myth of the Perfect Leader 11:00 – The 4-CAPS+ Framework: Capabilities that Define Modern Leadership 20:40 – Rethinking Servant Leadership: From Humility to Leadership Signature 24:08 – The Case for X-Teams and External Sensemaking 36:28 – Cross-Industry Learning and the Power of Exploration 43:14 – Augmented Leadership: Sensemaking and Smart Collaboration with AI 54:52 – Strategic Mindset in the Age of AI: Anchors, Alignment, and Always-On Leadership 01:01:20 – New Trust Architectures: Redefining Relationships in Human-AI Teams 01:08:09 – Adapting Organizational Systems for a Fast-Moving Future 01:16:54 – The Power of Pause: Navigating Change with Humanity and Calm
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    1 ora e 20 min
  • When Business Gets Personal: Leading Through Legacy, Emotion, and Change

    When Business Gets Personal: Leading Through Legacy, Emotion, and Change
    Sep 4 2025
    In this episode of Bold Agendas, host Mimi Brooks welcomes back René Sonneveld, global executive turned Master Certified Coach, to explore the hidden forces that shape leadership in high-stakes environments. Drawing from his new book, The Elephant in the Family Room: Managing the Complexities of Legacy Businesses, René reveals why silent threats like unspoken resentments, misaligned values, and emotional blind spots can be more dangerous than market forces. Together Mimi and René unpack how leaders can spot these invisible dynamics, navigate generational divides, and build “emotional governance” alongside strategy and legal frameworks. This isn’t just a conversation for family-owned enterprises. Whether you lead a global corporation, a scaling startup, or a multi-generational business, you’ll learn how to turn conflict into clarity, align identity with strategy, and strengthen trust before it breaks. Check out Rene’s new book, The Elephant in the Family Room: Managing the Complexities of Legacy Businesses, here 00:00 – When Business Gets Personal: Introducing René Sonneveld 03:33 – Team Coaching, Belonging, and Family Business Dynamics 06:52 – The Origins of The Elephant in the Family Room: How René’s Work with Legacy Families Began 09:21 – Becoming a Master Coach: When Work Becomes Energy 10:47 – Silent Threats in Legacy Business Dynamics 14:47 – Lessons from Family Businesses for Modern Organizations 16:11 – Universal Issues: The Four Elephants in the Room 19:28 – Succession Challenges and the Rise of Emotional Governance 25:16 – Hidden Emotional Drivers: Rivalry, Relevance, and Building Bridges 27:38 – The Research Behind The Elephant in the Family Room: Blending Experience with Scholarship 32:25 – Emotional Breakthroughs in Family Leadership 35:46 – Purpose and Impact: What René Hopes Readers Take Away 37:43 – What’s Next for René
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    41 min
  • How Executive Teams Align When the Future Isn’t Clear

    How Executive Teams Align When the Future Isn’t Clear
    Aug 14 2025
    How do leadership teams make decisions when the future isn’t clear? In this episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi welcomes guest Ben Pring, IT futurist, author, thought leader, and advisor. Drawing on years of experience guiding organizations through seismic shifts in work, technology, and leadership, Ben joins Mimi to explore how senior leaders can operate amid ambiguity, cut through the noise, and build systems for strategic thinking. This isn’t just a conversation about technology; it’s about navigating transformation that’s political, human, and happening in real time. 00:00 – Aligning Leadership Teams in an Uncertain Future 10:03 – Modern Methodologies for Aligning Leadership in the AI Era 19:05 – Leadership Fractures: Closing the Technology Fluency Gap in Senior Teams 33:53 – AI Adoption Reality: Skills Shortage, Workforce Readiness, and the Pace of Change 47:02 – AI Disruption: New Players Reshaping Consulting and Business Models 51:15 – Facilitating Alignment in the AI Era: Bridging the Business-IT Divide 58:36 – Future of Work in the AI Era: Overcoming Fear and Building Readiness for Change 01:05:40 – Leading Through AI Transformation: Inspiring People and Preserving the Human Advantage
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    1 ora e 17 min
  • Zones of Disruption: Geoffrey Moore on Leading When the Rules Keep Changing

    Zones of Disruption: Geoffrey Moore on Leading When the Rules Keep Changing
    Jul 31 2025
    How do you innovate without disrupting yourself? This is a question Geoffrey Moore—advisor, speaker, philosopher, and author of Crossing the Chasm and Zone to Win—has helped enterprise leaders tackle for decades. In this episode of Bold Agendas, Geoffrey joins Mimi to revisit his signature frameworks and rethink them for today’s breakneck pace of change. What still holds true? What’s evolved? And how should leaders adapt when disruption moves faster than strategy? You can find all of Geoffrey’s books on his website 00:00: Introduction: Meet Geoffrey Moore, Architect of Disruption and Mastermind Behind “Zone to Win” 02:32: The “Zone to Win” Methodology: Balancing Legacy and Innovation in a Disruptive Era 06:04: Mastering the Four Zones: The Execution Framework Behind “Zone to Win” 15:44: Common Scenario 1: The #1 Cause of Transformation Failure? Taking Your Foot Off the Gas 18:33: Common Scenario 2: Misaligned Leadership – When Leaders Block Real Transformation 22:20: Common Scenario 3: When CIOs Overreach and What Real Tech Leadership Requires in Disruptive Transformation 28:00: How Leadership Teams Must Transform: Zoning Discipline, Ecosystem Alignment, and the Customer as North Star 34:39: Applying the Zones in Small Companies 36:30: The New Leadership Playbook: Why Listening, Learning, and Team Recomposition Matter Most 38:25: Diagnosing Transformation Readiness: CEO Commitment and Board Alignment 44:17: Essential C-Suite Advice: Customers First, Employees Second, Investors Third 45:25: The Necessity of Zoning the Board 47:02: The Infinite Staircase: A Strategy Framework for Living on Earth 50:35: Bridging Philosophy and Business: How Leaders Can Apply “The Infinite Staircase” 53:12: The Enduring Edge of Experience in Strategic Leadership 56:35: Final Advice for the C-Suite: Lead in Service to Something Greater
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    59 min
  • Enterprise Architecture 4.0: Designing for Intelligence, Autonomy, and Emergence

    Enterprise Architecture 4.0: Designing for Intelligence, Autonomy, and Emergence
    Jul 10 2025
    What happens when architecture isn’t just about systems—but about cognition? In this episode of Bold Agendas, Mimi Brooks is joined by Jesper Lowgren, Enterprise Architecture Practice Lead at DXC Technology and creator of the Enterprise Architecture 4.0 framework. Jesper is rethinking enterprise architecture for an AI-first world—one where we’re no longer just designing systems, but shaping the conditions for intelligent agents to think, learn, and act. Together, they explore how ontologies, simulation, and systems thinking are redefining enterprise architecture for autonomy and emergence. If you’d like to reach out to Jesper to discuss Enterprise Architecture 4.0, reach out to him on LinkedIn! 00:00:00 – 00:03:16: Introduction – Enterprise Architecture 4.0: Designing for Intelligence, Autonomy, and Emergence 00:03:17 – 00:05:28: Defining Enterprise Architecture 4.0 00:05:29 – 00:07:18: Evolving the Core Domains of Architecture for a Dynamic Enterprise 00:07:19 – 00:09:15: The Origin of Enterprise Architecture 4.0: Rethinking Static Architecture in an Agentic AI World 00:09:16 – 00:11:11: The Enterprise Architecture Wake-Up Call: Recognizing the Architecture Gap 00:11:12 – 00:12:25: From IT to Intelligence: Expanding Enterprise Architecture for the Agentic Future 00:12:26 – 00:15:03: Co-Evolving Strategy and Architecture for a Dynamic Enterprise 00:15:04 – 00:17:17: From Blueprint to Simulation: Modeling the Co-Designed Enterprise 00:17:18 – 00:18:52: Digital Twins Are Essential for Governing Agentic Enterprises 00:18:53 – 00:22:22: Enterprise Architecture 4.0 Framework: Foundational Building Blocks and Strategy Overlap 00:22:23 – 00:28:14: Inside the Maturity Model: Navigating the Leaps to an Agentic Organization 00:28:15 – 00:32:02: The Shift to a New Paradigm of Living Systems 00:32:03 – 00:36:14: Dynamic Governance in Agentic Enterprises 00:36:15 – 00:43:27: The Nine Living Systems: Architecting for Emergence and Interdependence 00:43:28 – 00:47:26: A System of Systems: Scaling the Nine Living Systems Across the Maturity Model 00:47:26 – 00:51:20: Living the Framework: A Work in Progress 00:51:21 – 00:55:16: An Open Call: Co-Creating the Agentic Future 00:55:17 – 00:58:21: Closing Insight: The Future Starts with a Mindset Shift
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    58 min