{"podcast":{"title":"Lead the Team (Top 2% of Podcasts)","slug":"lead-the-team-top-2-of-podcasts-1064768","podcast_index_feed_id":1064768,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/leadtheteam/","website_url":"HTTPS://benfanning.com/blog","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/10af0b95-04e6-42cc-b03d-73690ea3bb8a/QKJ4Hxs4kaKpd554m1ArvK6B.jpg","author":"Ben Fanning","episode_count":465,"summary":"Real CEOs. Real Stories. Hosted by Ben Fanning—2025 Gold Stevie Award winner for Best Business Podcast and ranked in the Top 2% globally—Lead the Team draws on over 600 CEO interviews to take you inside the minds of leaders from brands like Honeywell, HP, IBM, Dunkin’, and L’Oréal. In each episode, you’ll hear raw, unfiltered stories of leading through rapid growth, high-stakes decisions, and make-or-break moments—plus the CEO-tested tools and strategies they use to build high-performing teams. From turning around billion-dollar brands to sparking innovation at scale, these leaders share lessons you can put into action right now to lead your own team better. Subscribe now. ------------- https://www.benfanning.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfanning/","last_synced_at":"2026-07-23T04:21:29.253817+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-the-team-top-2-of-podcasts-1064768"},"episode":{"title":"How to Build an AI-Native Company (KK, CEO of Ascendion)","slug":"how-to-build-an-ai-native-company-kk-ceo-of-ascendion","published_at":"2026-05-27T18:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-the-team-top-2-of-podcasts-1064768/how-to-build-an-ai-native-company-kk-ceo-of-ascendion","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-the-team-top-2-of-podcasts-1064768","url":"http://www.benfanning.com/theceosessions/kk","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/86117657-b7ec-4c65-b326-cb758bd47e0a.mp3","summary":"AI IS REBUILDING LEADERS KK, CEO of Ascendion, believes most companies are still thinking about AI too small-scale. The leaders pulling ahead are rebuilding how they operate. And that’s a very different conversation! KK walked away from one of the world’s largest IT services companies because he could already see the old model starting to crack: More headcount. More layers. More complexity. Meanwhile, AI was changing how decisions get made, how work gets executed, and what great leadership actually looks like going forward. One of my favorite moments was when he said the first move every CEO should make is building an AI agent for themselves first. Not for the company but for themselves. Because your team can tell pretty quickly whether leadership is truly embracing change… or just asking everyone else to do it. I think that’s the real shift happening right now. AI isn’t just changing technology. It’s rebuilding leaders. What’s one part of your workflow you’d trust an AI agent to help you with today? ----- Follow KK here on LinkedIn Learn more about Ascendion ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning Speaking and Training inquires Subscribe to my Youtube channel LinkedIn Instagram Twitter","meta_description":"AI IS REBUILDING LEADERS KK, CEO of Ascendion, believes most companies are still thinking about AI too small-scale. The leaders pulling ahead are rebuildi…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":818,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lead-the-team-top-2-of-podcasts-1064768/episodes/how-to-build-an-ai-native-company-kk-ceo-of-ascendion/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-the-team-top-2-of-podcasts-1064768/how-to-build-an-ai-native-company-kk-ceo-of-ascendion.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}