{"podcast":{"title":"The So What from BCG","slug":"the-so-what-from-bcg-4409188","podcast_index_feed_id":4409188,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/the-so-what-from-bcg/","website_url":"https://www.bcg.com/podcasts/the-so-what","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/3a90b450-20ea-4fa5-951a-53edaa733085/ooyZ6vRC9N1OIiInTptuGCov.png","author":"Boston Consulting Group BCG","episode_count":135,"summary":"This podcast from Boston Consulting Group looks around the corner of today’s big business and social issues. The goal–the so what–is to make sense of today and prepare busy leaders and executives for the day after tomorrow. Award-winning British journalist Georgie Frost interviews the leading thinkers and doers at BCG on the trends, developments, and ideas that will shape and disrupt the future. This is not your typical business strategy podcast. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp","last_synced_at":"2026-07-29T12:18:30.218313+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-so-what-from-bcg-4409188"},"episode":{"title":"AI Profit, Not Pilots: Lessons from Tech, Media and Telecom","slug":"ai-profit-not-pilots-lessons-from-tech-media-and-telecom","published_at":"2026-03-10T23:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-so-what-from-bcg-4409188/ai-profit-not-pilots-lessons-from-tech-media-and-telecom","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-so-what-from-bcg-4409188","url":"https://the-so-what-from-bcg.captivate.fm/episode/ai-profit-not-pilots-lessons-from-tech-media-and-telecom","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/episodes.captivate.fm/episode/97c02d29-ae9c-4315-a186-8e187bcd54cb.mp3","summary":"AI is no longer a technology experiment—it’s a business imperative. Val Elbert, a member of BCG’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications practice, explains why CEOs must shift from AI pilots to profit, demand quarterly results from all AI initiatives, and lead cross-functional AI transformations that deliver real bottom-line impact. The winners will scale fast. The rest will be left explaining themselves to investors. Learn More Val Elbert, BCG Managing Director and Senior Partner, https://www.bcg.com/about/people/experts/val-elbert As AI Investments Surge, CEOs Take the Lead, https://www.bcg.com/publications/2026/as-ai-investments-surge-ceos-take-the-lead Turning AI Disruption into a Telco's Growth Engine, https://www.bcg.com/publications/2026/turning-ai-disruption-into-telcos-growth-engine Driving Growth and Innovation at Verizon Consumer Group, https://www.bcg.com/publications/2025/driving-growth-innovation-leading-telco Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:44 Where TMT companies stand on AI adoption 02:32 The boardroom shift from AI pilots to scale 03:11 Building AI into business agendas 03:49 AI adoption patterns across industries 0 4:37 Leaders need to see quarterly results 05:22 Why AI can't run as a three-year program 05:59 What separates AI winners 07:22 Why structure needs to change 07:52 Where friction blocks AI value creation 09:19 How to focus amid technology noise 10:00 The mindset shift to move from AI pilots to P&L 10:30 What scaling AI in telecom looks like 12:08 The role of humans in an AI-driven operating model 13:28 What the next 18 months will look like 13:55 Will AI drive mergers? 15:10 Is It harder for legacy companies to compete in AI? 15:36 How AI-driven change will impact consumers 16:44 If you're stuck in the pilot phase 17:45 Physical AI a…","meta_description":"AI is no longer a technology experiment—it’s a business imperative. Val Elbert, a member of BCG’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications practice, exp…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1108,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-so-what-from-bcg-4409188/episodes/ai-profit-not-pilots-lessons-from-tech-media-and-telecom/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-so-what-from-bcg-4409188/ai-profit-not-pilots-lessons-from-tech-media-and-telecom.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}