On Episode 20 of BRITE Ideas, JP and Matt interview Kabir Ahuja '03SEAS '08BUS (Senior Partner, McKinsey and Co.) and Eric Sherman '20SPS (Knowledge Expert, McKinsey and Co.). The conversation delved into a wide range of areas from the role and relationship of the CMO within the C-Suite, leading brand and growth strategies, how AI is affecting organizations and society, marketing's unique potential to harness genAI, and the talent management issues that come with a rapidly changing world landscape. Enjoy!

On Episode 19 of the BRITE Ideas podcast, Matt speaks with Eric Siegel '93SEAS '95GSAS '95SEAS '98GSAS '98SEAS (ah, the multiple degrees that accumulate during a custom-designed PhD effort), former faculty at Columbia University, and author of Predictive Analytics and, his latest, The AI Playbook.

At the core of the conversation is Eric's reminder that traditional AI/ML efforts -- "predicting who will click, buy, lie or die," etc. -- are highly effective and still underutilized AI tools within organizations. The hype of generative AI is certainly warranted, but Eric is eager to help the data scientists and managers of organizations learn together a business framework and paradigm so more established predictive AI models move beyond testing and into production. Common misunderstandings about the true predictive accuracy of AI are discussed as well as the vital role of ethical reviews of model use. In particular, Eric highlights how important it is to avoid using models that create higher false positive rates and thus deny or penalize groups without just cause.

On Episode 18 of BRITE Ideas, JP and Matt speak with Andrew Winston '99 (author, "Net Positive" and "Green to Gold") about the challenges and opportunities for business and society to tackle climate change. Challenged by Andrew to reverse the "can business really be sustainable and profitable" conundrum, the episode dives right into the need to broaden what is valued by business and society and to price environmental effects into business decision-making. Details of the shared responsibilities for businesses, governments, and individuals are also outlined during the robust discussion.