From the Horse's Mouth Season 2
We are living in the age of artificial intelligence – a force that is disruptive, disconcerting, and omnipresent. Accelerating at an unprecedented pace, AI is already augmenting human life, becoming increasingly commonplace in our homes, workplaces, travel, healthcare, and schools. What once seemed like science fiction just a few years ago has already become a ubiquitous part of our daily lives.
As AI transforms our interactions with the world, it raises important and challenging questions about its societal impact. The concept of responsible ai is crucial for the successful integration of these technologies. Every revolution comes with potential risks, and as businesses explore the endless possibilities of automation, operational efficiency, and unprecedented value creation, they must also consider ethical concerns related to bias, transparency, and privacy. Is a robust ecosystem of standards and regulations needed to ensure the responsible development, deployment, and use of AI, or can a free and open market naturally guide itself towards an ideal, utopian state?
In this eight-part multimedia series hosted by phil fersht, ceo and chief analyst at hfs research, we will examine the complex and evolving field of ai ethics. Join us as we navigate this transformative but uncharted technology, addressing critical questions and seeking pathways to a responsible and enlightened ai future.
EPISODE 20: PHIL MEETS PROF G: RAGE, REFORM, AND RECLAIMING AMERICA
Scott Galloway, also known as Prof G, is a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, podcast host, and fierce advocate for economic reform. Known for his razor-sharp commentary on tech, business, and society, he’s built a loyal following of professionals seeking unfiltered insight and big-picture truth. He’s the author of Adrift, The Four, and The Algebra of Happiness, and regularly challenges the status quo across media and academia.
EPISODE 19: DEALS, DATA, AND DEGLOBALIZATION: MANISH SHARMA IN THE HOT SEAT WITH PHIL FERSHT
Manish Sharma is Chief Strategy and Services Officer for Accenture. Previously he was CEO of The Americas in Accenture, the largest of Accenture’s worldwide geographic markets which includes the US, Canada and Latin America. He also served as CEO of North America, and formerly as Accenture’s Chief Operating Officer and Group Chief Executive of Operations. His leadership spans transformation at scale, digital reinvention, and deeply human leadership. Recognized as one of the top thinkers in global services and operations, Manish blends global delivery expertise with a sharp lens on what’s next.
EPISODE 18: TIKTOK, TARIFFS, AND TECH WARS: PHIL FERSHT PODS WITH FAREED ZAKARIA
Fareed Zakaria is a globally recognized journalist, author, and host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS. Known for his razor-sharp commentary on international affairs, economic policy, and technology, Fareed has been a leading voice on globalization, democracy, and disruption for decades. His work appears in The Washington Post, CNN, and bestselling books like The Post-American World and Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World.
EPISODE 17: AI, AGENTS, AND AMBITIONS: KPMG’S RON WALKER ON REBUILDING THE SERVICES STACK
Ron Walker is the Global Head of Managed Services at KPMG, where he leads the firm’s vision for reinventing managed services in the AI era. With deep roots in consulting, outsourcing, and global transformation, Ron is at the forefront of building outcome-based delivery models that blend human expertise with intelligent automation. A trusted advisor to Fortune 1000 enterprises, Ron is passionate about aligning tech, talent, and trust to meet the demands of a volatile, high-speed digital economy.
EPISODE 16: COFFEE, COTTON… AND CODE: HOW MINDSPRINT IS REWRITING THE TECH SERVICES PLAYBOOK
Suresh is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mindsprint, a next-gen tech services firm born out of Olam Group—one of the world’s largest agri-business supply chains. With over 30 years at Olam, Suresh brings a rare combination of operational depth, strategic foresight, and entrepreneurial grit. He’s on a mission to prove that smaller, sharper firms like Mindsprint can move faster, lead AI transformation, and offer differentiated services at scale—all while being deeply human-centered in execution.
EPISODE 15: DOGS, DIAL-UP, AND DISRUPTION: MY CONVERSATION WITH BRIAN SOLIS
Brian Solis is the Head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow, where he leads a worldwide network of futurists and innovation officers focused on helping enterprises navigate disruption with clarity and purpose. A world-renowned digital anthropologist, Brian has published nine bestselling books and over 60 influential research reports on innovation, transformation, and emerging technologies. He’s been featured in HBR, Fast Company, CIO, and Forbes—and is consistently ranked among the top global voices in business innovation.
EPISODE 14: DANA DAHER: RECLAIMING HUMAN THINKING IN THE AGE OF AI SHORTCUTS
Dana Daher is Executive Research Leader at HFS Research, where she blends her background in anthropology and IT to lead research across employee experience, agentic AI, DEI, and sustainability. Before HFS, she held leadership roles at Unisys and Info-Tech Research Group, helping public and private sector clients shape their digital transformation journeys. Dana holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Anthropology from University College London, bringing a deeply human lens to technology’s impact on business and society.
EPISODE 13: SANDEEP DADLANI: WHY HEALTHCARE NEEDS AI THAT LISTENS—NOT JUST LEARNS
Sandeep Dadlani is the Executive Vice President and Chief Digital & Technology Officer at UnitedHealth Group, where he leads the charge in rethinking how one of the world’s largest healthcare companies uses technology. With prior roles at Mars and Infosys, Sandeep brings a rare blend of consumer empathy and enterprise tech savvy. His current mission? Use AI to fix the system without losing sight of the people it’s meant to serve.
EPISODE 12: VIJAY TELLA: IT’S TIME TO RETHINK ENTERPRISE ORCHESTRATION
Vijay Tella is the CEO and co-founder of Workato, where he pioneered the concept of enterprise orchestration—bringing integration, automation, and AI under one platform. With a background at Oracle and TIBCO, he’s spent his career simplifying complexity in enterprise systems. Today, Vijay is focused on enabling agentic AI by building the trusted infrastructure it needs to act, not just advise.
EPISODE 11: PAUL BRODY: WHY BLOCKCHAIN STILL MATTERS IN AN AI-OBSESSED WORLD
Paul Brody is EY’s Global Blockchain Leader and Chair of the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance. From privacy-first payments to agent-integrated supply chains, Brody leads global efforts to evolve blockchain from pilot to production. Joining him is Saurabh Gupta, President at HFS, with over a decade covering blockchain’s rise, plateau—and now rebirth.
EPISODE 10: ETHAN MOLLICK: WHY AI IS A LEADERSHIP PROBLEM, NOT JUST A TECH PROBLEM
Ethan Mollick is a professor at the Wharton School and author of Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI. Through his blog One Useful Thing, he helps organizations and individuals make sense of the generative AI wave. In this episode, Mollick shares how AI is challenging everything—from how we lead to how we learn—and why the best leaders are the ones who are hands-on.
EPISODE 9: MAY HABIB: WHY AGENTIC AI NEEDS GUTS, GRIT — AND THE HUMAN TOUCH
May Habib is the co-founder and CEO of Writer, an enterprise-grade LLM platform focused on AI agents that work. From translation tech to leading-edge self-evolving models, Writer’s Palmyra models power agentic AI for the world’s top brands—from Salesforce to Spotify. Habib shares how her early work in machine translation shaped Writer’s agent-first architecture and why the next leap in generative AI isn’t technical—it’s cultural.
EPISODE 8: PASCAL BORNET: LEAD WITH AGENTIC AI — OR RISK BEING REPLACED
Pascal Bornet is a former McKinsey and EY partner who built both firms’ intelligent-automation practices. His newest book, Agentic Artificial Intelligence: Harnessing AI Agents to Reinvent Business, Work and Life (co-authored with Jochen Wirtz, Thomas H. Davenport, Phil Fersht, David De Cremer & others), explores how agentic systems bridge the gap between powerful language models and real-world business automation. The title currently ranks at #1 in Amazon’s Robotics category and top-10 in AI & Semantics.
EPISODE 7: PUBLICIS SAPIENT CEO NIGEL VAZ: REDESIGN YOUR OPERATING MODEL BEFORE AI REDESIGNS YOU
Nigel Vaz has spent 25 years at Publicis Sapient and became global CEO in 2019. His best-selling book, Digital Business Transformation: How Established Companies Sustain Competitive Advantage, introduces the SPEED model that Fortune 200 leaders still use to frame end-to-end digital change. Vaz now spearheads the firm’s agentic-AI platforms Bodhi and Slingshot, aimed at collapsing delivery cycles and slashing tech debt for Global 2000 clients.
EPISODE 6: INFLECTION AI’s CEO ON WHY TRUST IS THE FUTURE OF AI
Inflection AI’s CEO, Sean White, takes us behind the scenes to explore why trust is the cornerstone of the AI revolution. With boardrooms and tech leaders demanding an “AI-first” strategy, he reveals how building human-centered, conversational systems isn’t just about technology – it’s about forging genuine trust and empowering people. Drawing parallels to the transformative shifts of the 90s and the rapid innovations seen today, he explains how agentic systems and AI-driven insights are reshaping everything from customer service to enterprise data analysis.
EPISODE 5: INFLECTION POINT – TODD LOHR, HEAD OF ECOSYSTEMS AND NATIONAL OPERATIONS LEADER FOR ADVISORY MARKETS, KPMG U.S.
In this conversation, Phil Fersht and Todd Lohr discuss the evolving landscape of technology consulting, particularly in the context of AI and ecosystems. Todd shares insights on KPMG’s strategic shift towards ecosystem partnerships, the impact of AI on business models, and the importance of addressing workforce concerns amidst technological advancements. They explore the future of services, the trend towards onshoring, and the necessity for enterprises to adopt intentional ecosystem strategies to navigate the complexities of the modern business environment.
EPISODE 4: SPEED OF CHANGE – KATIE STEIN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF IGT SOLUTIONS
In this intrepid conversation, Phil Fersht and Kathryn Stein discuss the evolving landscape of customer experience, the impact of AI on service delivery, and the cultural challenges faced in the workplace. Kathryn shares her insights from her career journey, emphasizing the importance of driving change within enterprises and the need for a strategic shift towards a more integrated approach to operations. They explore the future of work, the role of technology, and the necessity of adapting education to meet the demands of a changing job market.
EPISODE 3: FEAR OF BECOMING OBSOLETE – JASON AVERBOOK, SENIOR PARTNER AND GLOBAL LEADER OF HR STRATEGY AT MERCER
In this compelling conversation, host Phil Fersht speaks with Jason Averbook—renowned HR leader and Senior Partner at Mercer—about the seismic changes reshaping the modern workforce. They explore the looming “humanistic recession” driven by AI, and how leaders must shift from “change management” to “change leadership.” Averbook warns that organizations failing to integrate human and machine teaming risk irrelevance, stressing that HR must move beyond counting heads to making heads truly count.
BONUS EPISODE: BLURRING LINES – SAURABH GUPTA, PRESIDENT OF RESEARCH AND ADVISORY SERVICES AT HFS RESEARCH
In this Season 2 Bonus Episode of From the Horse’s Mouth, host Phil Fersht sits down with HFS President of Research and Advisory Services Saurabh Gupta for an in-depth discussion on the state of the services industry and the forces shaping its future. Reflecting on 2024’s economic turbulence, they explore the dual pressures of innovation demand and constrained budgets, as well as the evolving role of global capability centers and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI.
Gupta emphasizes the industry’s need to shift from traditional people management to building competencies in product and ecosystem management to stay competitive. The episode serves as a thought-provoking analysis of how the services industry can adapt to a rapidly changing world, offering insights for 2025 and beyond.
EPISODE 2: THE TRILLION DOLLAR QUESTION – NITIN RAKESH, CEO OF MPHASIS
In the second episode of Season 2, Phil Fersht is joined by Nitin Rakesh, CEO of Mphasis, for an engaging discussion on the evolving landscape of the IT services industry in the age of AI and digital transformation. Drawing from his 30 years of experience, Rakesh highlights the critical inflection points shaping the sector, from the rise of cloud and mobile to the current AI-driven revolution.
The conversation explores the challenges of adapting to rapidly shifting client demands, the growing importance of hybrid human-machine workforces, and the necessity for companies to invest in learning, innovation, and talent evolution to remain competitive. With insights on industry disruption, the future of talent, and the delicate balance between automation and human ingenuity, this episode offers a visionary perspective on the opportunities and challenges shaping the next decade of technology services.
EPISODE 1: THE NEXT WAVE – BILL MCDERMOTT, CEO OF SERVICENOW, AND RAVI KUMAR, CEO OF COGNIZANT
In this Season 2 premiere episode, host Phil Fersht sits down with two industry titans—Bill McDermott, CEO of ServiceNow, and Ravi Kumar, CEO of Cognizant—to explore the evolving landscape of enterprise technology. They discuss how “digital fluidity” and transforming work from rigid tasks into dynamic workflows enabled by AI-driven agents can reshape entire organizations. They also dive into how AI can turn operational data into strategic assets, the importance of trust and ethics, and why leadership and cultural shifts are key to navigating the next technological renaissance.
From the Horse's Mouth: Season 1
As technology rapidly evolves, the world has undergone a significant transformation. Society has shifted from being human-centered to a complex web of digital automation, AI, and human workers who support it. This rapid innovation outpaces regulations and threatens social mobility.
The rise of AI presents a critical challenge: how can businesses and policymakers ensure that AI enhances, rather than hinders, human creativity and innovation? Automating routine tasks could free up people for roles requiring creativity, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence, but it demands a focus on continuous learning and digital literacy.
The first season of From the Horse’s Mouth: Unbridled Tech Talks with Phil Fersht explores the intersection of AI, work, and society, aiming to shape the future.
EPISODE 7 – THE FUTURE IS HERE – PROFESSOR SCOTT GALLOWAY
Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business
EPISODE 6 – NEW WAVE: IAN BARKIN & TOM DAVENPORT
Ian Barkin, Entrepreneur, Investor, LinkedIn Learning Instructor, 4x Founder, and Advocate of the ‘worker of the future’. & Professor Tom Davenport, President’s Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College
EPISODE 5 – RIPPLE EFFECTS: GARY A. BOLLES
Chair for the Future of Work for Singularity University
EPISODE 4 – NO FAST WAY: JONATHAN NØRMØLLE
Founder of NextGen Ventures and Star of Netflix’s ‘Owning Manhattan’
EPISODE 3 – ARTIFICIAL CONTROL: SHELLY PALMER
Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at the Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group
EPISODE 2 – RIPTIDE OF CHANGE: HEATHER E. MCGOWAN
Best-selling Author of ‘The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce’
EPISODE 1.2 – BURNING PLATFORM: JOHN HAGEL III
Founder and Chair Emiterus of Deloitte’s Center for the Edge
EPISODE 1.1 – A KERNEL OF TRUTH: LAURA GASSNER OTTING
Wall St Journal best-selling author of ‘Wonderhell’, a regular contributor to Good Morning America, the TODAY Show, and Oprah Daily.
Read Phil's Blog: Horse's for Sources
With over 100,000 subscribed readers, Horses for Sources is the widely acclaimed industry-leading independent blog of world-renowned writer and visionary Phil Fersht. Started in 2007, the blog shares Phil’s personal views on all issues IT, outsourcing, and globalisation.
Phil is not shy about calling it like he sees it. In addition to discussing his views on technologies and trends in the market, Phil has also been a loud voice calling out issues like hype in the market, unfair corporate policies, and lack of innovation in the analyst industry. Horses for Sources shares Phil’s personal views with a wide range of people across the globe.
HFS is a leading global research and analysis firm trusted at the highest levels of executive leadership. Our mission is to help our clients—major enterprises, tech firms, and service providers—tackle challenges, make bold moves, and bring big ideas to life by arming them with accurate, visionary, and thought-provoking insight into issues that impact their business.
