Advertise on podcast: Reinvent

Zoom has been a vital part of our daily lives over the past two years. We’ve used it to meet with co-workers, celebrate family events, and to attend concerts and yoga classes while the world shut down around us. But now that the world is opening back up, people are returning to the office and to life in person. Can Zoom stay relevant in our evolving hybrid world? And can it compete with similar services from bigger companies like Microsoft and Google?   In this episode of Reinvent, hosts Beth Kowitt and Geoff Colvin speak to Zoom’s Chief Product Officer Oded Gal about how Zoom will adapt its product to meet the needs of our changing world.  Geoff and Beth also talk to Debbie Lovich, leader of Boston Consulting Group’s People Strategy Research, about the future of work and what it will demand of technologies like Zoom. Mike Fasciani, Research Director of Digital Workplace Applications at Gartner, shares how Zoom stacks up against its biggest competitors.  

Walgreens is transforming its pharmacies and retail stores into one-stop primary health care providers, with CEO Roz Brewer and her team planning to roll out 600 full-service clinics nationwide by 2025. It has invested $5.2 billion in primary care provider VillageMD as a partner in this transformation, a big and risky move. What can we expect from these clinics? Why is Walgreens doing this now? And can it compete with CVS which has a similar plan?  In this episode of Reinvent, hosts Beth Kowitt and Geoff Colvin speak to Walgreens Boots Alliance Chief Integration and Transformation Officer, Anita Allemand about how Walgreens plans to pull this off. Geoff and Beth ask Brian Tanquilut, Health Care Services Analyst at Jeffries, if Walgreens can compete with CVS and Walmart. And Dr. Deidra Candace Crews, of Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, speaks to how these clinics could address America’s profound health care inequities.  

If you’ve shopped for kids toys or clothing lately, you may have noticed a growing number of gender-inclusive offerings. Apparel giant Abercrombie & Fitch and Mattel Inc.’s iconic toy brand Barbie have made it a priority to produce products that go beyond the gender binary. What’s their motivation? Are these items selling? And does California Bill 1084 have anything to do with it?  In this episode of Reinvent, hosts Beth Kowitt and Geoff Colvin speak to Mattel’s Global Head of Design for Barbie and Fashion Dolls Kim Culmone and to Kim Dolder, General Manager of Abercrombie’s Gilly Hicks line, about how their brands are evolving to appeal to all genders.. Geoff and Beth also talk to Juli Lennett, Vice President and Industry Advisor for NPD Group’s Toy’s Division, about how gender inclusive toys perform in the market. Rob Smith, founder of the Phluid Project, shares how California Bill 1084 - legislation requiring retailers to sell trucks right next to dolls - came to be, and its potential impact.  

In January 2021, one of America’s most iconic automobile companies announced it was undergoing a huge transformation. General Motors said it would stop selling vehicles with internal combustion engines, and would go all electric by 2035. GM’s Zero Emissions plan is an enormous commitment that has the potential to impact the environment and the entire auto industry. But can GM pull it off?  In this episode of Reinvent, hosts Geoff Colvin and Beth Kowitt speak to GM Executive Vice Presidents Gerald Johnson and Doug Parks about how they will make the Zero Emissions plan a reality and what obstacles they'll have to overcome to get there. Geoff and Beth also talk to Harvard Law Professor Jody Freeman and Bank of America’s Lead Auto Analyst John Murphy to weigh the plan’s chances for success and what it may mean for our planet.   If you enjoy Reinvent, check out all of Fortune's podcasts here.

The meteoric rise in unemployment during the COVID-19 crisis has forced many to rethink what they do for a living. According to economists, a large share of the jobs lost to the pandemic are gone forever. Enter MOOCs, the Massively Open Online Courses, which have long promised to democratize education. In this episode, Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda argues that MOOCs are an indispensable tool for retraining the workforce for the digital jobs of tomorrow. Also in this episode: Dr. Annelies Goger of the Brookings Institution discusses how learning new digital skills, while important, is only part of what it takes to embark on a new career. Many of those rehired not only learned the right skills, they knew the right people. If you enjoy Reinvent, check out “Brainstorm” the new Fortune podcast on how tech is reshaping our world.. To listen and subscribe, click here from your mobile device.

While COVID-19 has dealt the restaurant industry writ large a difficult hand, some are faring better than others. In September, McDonald’s reported the best month it’s had in a decade; in this episode of Reinvent, host Beth Kowitt speaks with CEO Chris Kempczinski about how McDonald’s finds itself in a surprisingly good spot, thanks to the premium customers are now placing on speed, efficiency, drive-thru, and delivery.  Also in this episode: Aaron Allen, founder and chief strategist of Aaron Allen & Associates, a global restaurant consultancy, discusses McDonald’s remarkable size and how the fast-food giant will capitalize on the competitive advantage the pandemic has awarded them.  If you enjoy Reinvent, check out “Brainstorm” the new Fortune podcast on how tech is reshaping our world. To listen and subscribe, click here from your mobile device.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, customers stripped grocery stores bare. While common products were uncharacteristically unavailable, farmers reportedly had to destroy crops because of kinks in their supply chains. Dairy farmers dumped millions of gallons of milk, right at what should have been the productive time of the year. Hosts Beth Kowitt and Adam Lashinsky discuss how the farmer-owned cooperative, Land O' Lakes, avoided dumping milk by pairing back its offerings and focusing on what its customers wanted most. Also in this episode: Scott McKenzie, of the Nielsen Intelligence Unit, speaks on consumer trends during the pandemic, and how all industries are rethinking how best to get products to market. If you enjoy Reinvent, check out “Brainstorm” the new Fortune podcast on how tech is reshaping our world.. To listen and subscribe, click here from your mobile device.

The ride-hailing company Lyft is no stranger to a challenge. As co-founder and president John Zimmer explains on this episode, Lyft has survived through hard times - and later flourished - by focusing on what it does best: Providing affordable and enjoyable transportation options to customers. But COVID-19 has dealt the company a punishing blow, forcing Lyft to lay off 17% of its workforce. Hosts Adam Lashinsky and Beth Kowitt discuss the company’s thinking on diversification, as well as its position on California’s Proposition 22 ballot initiative, which would exempt companies like Lyft and its behemoth rival, Uber, from classifying its drivers as employees. Also in this episode: Richard Ezike, a Senior Policy Associate at the Urban Institute, discusses the proper balance between the public and private sectors in an ideal transportation system. If you enjoy Reinvent, check out “Brainstorm” the new Fortune podcast on how tech is reshaping our world. To listen and subscribe, click here from your mobile device.

After shuttering in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA decided to move 22 teams this summer to Disney World in Orlando, Florida in an effort to salvage what remained of the 2019-2020 season. It built a closed campus with strict public health guidelines: Everyone received daily coronavirus tests and wore not just masks, but also sensors to enforce social distancing. The "NBA Bubble" as it's now known, cost the league $180 million, and in this episode, host Adam Lashinsky makes the case to co-host Beth Kowitt it was worth every penny. Drawing on interviews with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Andre Iguodala of the Miami Heat, and others, Lashinsky explains how the NBA navigated COVID-19, as well as a summer of social and political unrest, and still came out on the other side. Also in this episode: Mehdi Bentanfous of Kinexon explains how his company's SafeTags are used to help professional sports leagues complete their seasons.

In February, BP's new CEO, Bernard Looney, announced plans for the company to become carbon neutral by 2050. It will invest aggressively in renewable energy and move away from the oil and gas production that has fueled its success for over a century. Hosts Adam Lashinsky and Beth Kowitt are joined by Fortune's Vivenne Walt, a correspondent in Paris who spent months digging into Looney's announcement. As Big Oil reels from plummeting demand due to COVID-19, many questions still exist about BP's promises, especially considering the company's previous attempts at reinvention.

In 2019, the U.S. restaurant industry generated over $850 billion. This year it's on track for its worst year ever thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. With restaurants shuttered and millions of jobs lost, it's no exaggeration to say the industry is in turmoil. But restaurateurs are not sitting idly by, waiting for a recovery. They are fighting to survive and finding innovative ways to do so. In this debut episode of Reinvent, hosts Beth Kowitt and Adam Lashinsky speak with Chef David Chang who opened a New York City ramen bar in 2004 and has grown it into an empire, complete with a Netflix series and a memoir. He lays out both the challenges facing restaurants and how he is tackling those challenges. Also in the episode, Melissa Wilson of advisory firm Technomics offers a peek at how the pandemic will likely change restaurants, impacting everything from how you read a menu to how food is prepared in the back of the house.