Catalyst Podcast

Deanna Steele on finding joy and being deliberate with how you spend your time 

As Chief Information Officer at Allied Universal, Deanna Steele is at the forefront of major technological change and is a driving force for innovation. This week Deanna joins Tammy to talk not only about how to lead organizations but also how to lead ourselves. Deanna talks about why she takes a quarterly inventory of her goals to make sur...

Munawar Ahmed on getting the best out of your team in high-stress situations

Munawar Ahmed has a unique gift for growing teams and designing award-winning experiences at scale and has spent the last two decades working with some of the biggest companies from Verizon to Microsoft. This week Munawar joins Tammy to discuss how she helps teams reframe problems and build incredible experiences. Munawar explains how teaching phys...

Raj Singh on leading agile teams in a slow-moving industry 

Raj Singh is a hands-on technology executive, he doesn't hide behind his desk he leads by example. Raj has over 28 years of experience in information and technology and is the Global CIO at Visteon Corporation, a leading automotive technology business. This week Raj joins Tammy to discuss his three Ts of organizational change - trust, transparency, teamwork. H...

Rori Duboff on how to create trust in the modern digital age 

For over 20 years Rori Duboff has been at the forefront of digital strategy across marketing, design and media. Throughout her time in the industry one of the main values that Rori has focused on is trust - how do we understand what is real and what is not - especially in an age of growing online misinformation. This week Rori joins Tammy to discuss her rece...

Futures engineer Valentina Contini on the importance of harnessing your differences

Valentina Contini is often the outsider in the room. As an Italian woman with purple hair and tattoos who worked in the male-dominated automotive industry she was often the black sheep - but that’s what made her valuable. This week Valentina joins Tammy to discuss the importance of authenticity and leading by example. As a technofuturist, Va...

Racing legend Tony Kanaan shares how he shifted to a team mentality after a career in the spotlight 

This week Tony Kanaan (also known as TK) joins Tammy to reflect on his career transition from Indy 500 champion to Team Principal at Arrow McLaren. TK shares how he learned to make fast-paced decisions behind the wheel, and why he believes good people are at the center of success. He also confirms the urban legend of th...

Ankur Mathur on moving from enterprise to start-up 

Ever an optimist, Ankur Mathur is always looking to the future for exciting new opportunities. Formerly at Accenture and now the Founder and Chief Experience Officer of REVEL Moments Ankur has vast experience leading change at both large enterprises and start-ups. This week Ankur joins Tammy to share tips on how to create a start-up within a large organization and als...

Brant Beard on embracing challenges and creating a culture of constant learning 

This week on Catalyst Tammy is joined by Brant Beard, Assistant VP of Talent Growth at HCH Healthcare. In his 22 year career, Brant has held a variety of different roles, from product development, to cybersecurity, to communications and more. The one thing that remained the same throughout it all is his passion for transformation. This wee...

Leonardo Hirschbrand looks back on 29 years of digital transformation at Unilever 

In this week’s episode of Catalyst, Tammy is joined by a pioneer in digital transformation Leonardo Hirschbrand. Over his 29 year career at Unilever Leo helped the brand go from pen and paper to a tech-forward global company. Leo shares some stories about the early days at Unilever and how digital transformation helped bring the company ...

Chappell Ellison on balancing professionalism whilst staying true to yourself 

This week we’re sharing one of our most recent favorites from the archives, a conversation with Launch’s Director of Digital Strategy, Chappell Ellison. In this episode Tammy and Chappell dive into what it means to bring your authentic self to work and how authenticity can both improve employee happiness and drive customer engagement. They a...

Noelle Russell on harnessing the power of AI in a responsible and ethical way 

Noelle Russell compares AI to a baby tiger, it’s super cute when it’s small but it can quickly grow into something huge and dangerous. As the CEO and founder of the AI Leadership Institute and as an early developer on Amazon Alexa, Noelle has a deep understanding of scaling and selling AI. This week Noelle joins Tammy to discuss why she’s so...

Sandy Carter on ways to balance human and AI collaboration

Sandy Carter literally wrote the book on humans interacting with AI. In her book AI First, Human Always Sandy breaks down the hottest trends in AI right now and dives into how humans can use AI to enhance, not replace, the human experience. This week Sandy joins Tammy to talk about the book, about Sandy’s work empowering women to get involved in AI and the crucial r...

Nimesh Mehta on how to lead people through large scale transformations 

When Tammy first met Nimesh Mehta they felt like kindred spirits. Nimesh is the Chief Information and Strategy Officer at National Life Group and is passionate about creating human experiences with AI. This week on Catalyst, Tammy and Nimesh discuss how to implement digital transformations with empathy and with purpose. Nimesh also shares his thoug...

Martina Lee Strickland on using tech to serve underrepresented communities in the healthcare industry

Martina Lee Strickland is a unicorn in the healthcare industry. She’s worked in the industry for over 20 years and is now the Chief Growth Officer at Clever Care Health Plan, a healthcare company that provides culturally-sensitive Medicare options. This week she joins Tammy to talk about her work driving community engagemen...

Jod Kaftan on imagining a future that’s more human 

What could a future with AI look like? Jod Kaftan has imagined almost every future scenario possible, both good and bad. Jod has over 20 years of design experience and is now the Head of Product Design and Research at Oracle where he is developing cutting-edge SaaS solutions to tackle climate change. This week Jod joins Tammy to discuss the practice of futures thinkin...

A seasoned Chief Experience Officer on going beyond traditional customer experience 

Donald Chesnut practically invented the term Chief Experience Officer. He’s worked at some of the world’s largest brands like Unilever, Target, Disney, General Motors and Coke and is now writing a book on why companies should move away from customer experience and towards customer centered growth. This week Tammy sits down with Donald ...

On championing experiences for clients, customers and employees alike  

This week on Catalyst Tammy is joined by Jessica Hartley, the Head of Design and Customer Experience for CCB Finance, Tech and Data Analytics at JPMorganChase. Jessica has over 20 years of experience helping clients leverage digital innovation and is passionate about driving employee engagement and culture. Tammy and Jessica talk about what authent...

NTT DATA’s CEO on staying true to his values as he leads the company into the future 

This week Tammy is joined by NTT DATA’s Global CEO Abhijit Dubey. Abhijit has worked across the globe and across industries and is now leading NTT DATA into a new phase of growth. Abhijit talks about the importance of remaining grounded as a leader and shares tips on how to overcome imposter syndrome - yes, CEOs can experience imposte...

Dani Snyder on leading design teams out of their silos 

As someone who started out as an industrial designer and who is now the Head of Design AI, Servicing and Communications at JPMorganChase, Dani Snyder deeply understands the design process and organizational design. This week Dani joins Tammy to talk about how to empower design teams. She shares strategies to help align design teams with organizational strategic go...