About Fortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry
Hosted by Fortune Editor-in-Chief, Alyson Shontell, Titans and Disrupters of Industry goes in depth with the powerful thought-leaders shaping both the world of business and the very way we live.
Workday CEO Predicts AI Job Displacement And Which Roles May Be Safe
Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell interviews Workday CEO Aneel Bhusri about AI's imminent job displacement and strategies for thriving in the evolving workforce.
12 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT
Sam Altman: Safety Standards 'Not at a Place' to Push AI Capabilities Much Further | Titans and Disruptors
Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell interviews OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about balancing AI advancement with critical safety standards and existential risks.
9 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT
Why GM's CEO Mary Barra is Still Bullish on Electric Vehicles
Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell interviews GM CEO Mary Barra about the company's EV strategy, competition, and future leadership.
5 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT
Bill Ackman's takes on Mamdani, Trump and investing in the AI era
Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell interviews Pershing Square Founder and CEO Bill Ackman about his market insights, recovery from losses, and views on President Trump.
15 Jul 2026
FedEx CEO: AI Could Help Fix A $1.8 Trillion Global Supply Chain Problem
For the first time in the company's history, FedEx has surpassed UPS in market value. Handling roughly 18 million packages a day, FedEx is acutely aware of how tariffs and geopolitical tensions have disrupted the global supply chain. As it enters its AI era, the company is leveraging artificial intelligence to predict and address these obstacles head-on.
In this episode, Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell sits down with FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam to discuss how AI is transforming logistics, how tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and shifting manufacturing hubs are reshaping global supply chains, and what's next for one of the world's largest transportation companies.
00:00 Introduction
01:08 How FedEx Sees the Global Economy
06:21 How a Package Travels Around the World
08:21 Leading 500,000 Employees
16:54 From Entry-Level Analyst to CEO
20:24 Leading Change at FedEx
21:43 Reinventing a 50-Year-Old Company
28:20 Why FedEx Is Betting Big on AI
33:17 The Future of Autonomous Delivery
38:51 Leadership Advice for the Next Generation of CEOs
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17 Jun 2026
$4 Trillion Savings Gap: TIAA’s CEO on The Retirement Crisis
For more than 100 years, TIAA has helped millions of Americans — from educators to healthcare workers to public servants — turn their savings into guaranteed income they cannot outlive. Today, the company is expanding beyond its traditional 403(b) roots, pioneering lifetime income solutions inside 401(k) plans and using AI to better protect and serve participants.
In this episode, Fortune’s Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell sits down with TIAA President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett to discuss America’s growing retirement crisis, the importance of lifetime income, and how TIAA is using technology and partnerships to build a more secure future for retirees.
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6 May 2026
AI Takeover: Qualcomm’s Big Bet on AI Agents, Robots and 6G | Titans and Disruptors
For over 40 years, Qualcomm technology has powered some of the world’s most transformational technological advancements. Today, the company is moving beyond smartphones, building a future with wearable AI, humanoid robots, and a 6G cellular network.
In this episode, Fortune’s Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell speaks with Qualcomm’s President and CEO Cristiano Amon to discuss the company’s commitment to constant reinvention and why Amon is optimistic about the AI revolution.
00:00 Introduction
02:55 Intro to Qualcomm
04:36 Current state of AI
07:38 Amon and 6G
13:30 New relationships with smart devices
20:19 What will be the next smartphone
25:49 Diversifying Qualcomm’s business
30:44 Qualcomm’s culture of reinvention
32:08 Qualcomm’s move into data centers
38:17 Qualcomm robotics
42:51 Trust in AI
46:19 Amon’s techno-optimism
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1 Apr 2026
The $8+ Billion Partnership: How Delta and Amex Redefined the Business of Flying | Titans and Disruptors
From one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history to leading the industry in market capitalization and premium customer satisfaction, Delta Air Lines has rewritten the business of flying in the last two decades.
In this episode, Fortune's Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell sits down with CEO Ed Bastian at Delta’s Atlanta headquarters to discuss the strategic maneuvers behind the airline’s resurgence. Bastian details his 'people-first' leadership philosophy, the evolution of the lucrative American Express partnership, and his vision for the future of travel, from AI-powered concierge services to the launch of flying taxis.
00:00 Intro
01:36 Advertisement
03:05 Bastian’s personal background
04:21 Executive training at Pepsi
06:14 Uncovering fraud at J. Walter Thompson
07:23 Delta files for bankruptcy
8:08 Bastian’s return to Delta
09:43 Delta’s turnaround playbook
11:37 Delta’s post-bankruptcy restructuring
13:55 Billion-dollar profit-sharing program
15:36 Sharing wealth with employees
16:21 Bastian’s people-first commitment
16:48 Becoming a CEO
17:45 Transitioning from CFO to CEO
19:04 Becoming comfortable as a CEO
19:45 Shifting communication styles as CEO
21:40 Staying in the know
22:13 Leading employees through down times
24:32 Bastian’s no-furlough strategy
26:06 Delta / AMEX partnership
29:14 Credit card interest rates
30:25 Creating brand trust and loyalty
33:39 Delta’s next 100 years
34:14 Balancing AI with people
36:56 Staying updated on AI
38:13 AI’s impact on air travel
39:15 Sustainable travel
40:08 Flying taxis
40:57 Delta’s five-to-ten year strategy
42:04 Bastian’s leadership advice
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4 Mar 2026
The end of work: Vinod Khosla's bold AI prediction | Titans and Disruptors
What if AI made your paycheck optional? Vinod Khosla, one of the world's greatest venture capitalists and an early backer of AI, believes the technology will take over 80% of labor, freeing humans to live on passion instead.His track record backs up the boldness, as early bets on OpenAI, DoorDash, Instacart, and Square have made him one of the most consequential investors of our time.In this episode of Titans, Khosla sits down with Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell to unpack his abundant vision for the AI future, what government policy should tackle for a more equitable 2040, and what the U.S. needs to do to win the global AI race.
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11 Feb 2026
Google’s AI boss made OpenAI issue code red. Now he wants to solve disease. | Titans and Disruptors
Google DeepMind founder and CEO Sir Demis Hassabis is a master chess player, a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and - as of 2024 - a Knight. Today, as a leader within Google’s booming AI team, Hassabis wants to make AI the “engine” driving the entire company.In this episode of Fortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry, Fortune’s Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell sits down with Hassabis at the World Economic Forum in Davos to talk about how he and his companies are using AI to cure cancer, build universal agents, and move the world towards a future of “radical abundance.”
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27 Jan 2026
Pfizer CEO took on COVID. Now he wants to cure cancer | Titans and Disruptors
Dr. Albert Bourla became Pfizer’s CEO months before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the US. Under his leadership, Pfizer manufactured 3 billion doses of the first FDA-approved vaccine in the first year, which led to record-breaking earnings. Yet over the past few years, post-pandemic sales slumps, patent cliffs and vaccine skepticism have driven down Pfizer’s earnings. In this episode of Fortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry, Fortune’s Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell sits down with Bourla to talk about how he is answering this new set of challenges with science, innovation and optimistic leadership.
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15 Oct 2025
Kamala Harris says the ‘Glass Cliff’ Suggests Finality: “I’m Not Into That”
It’s been one year since Vice President Kamala Harris and then-Democratic nominee was coming down to her final days of the 2024 presidential campaign against Donald Trump. She spent 107 days on the road in a bid to earn their vote, but it wasn’t enough. Almost one year later, she’s had time to reflect. In a wide-ranging conversation at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women summit, Harris joined Fortune’s Editor in Chief Alyson Shontell at the Washington National Cathedral to discuss the growing divides between Republicans and Democrats, how the government is not meeting Americans’ basic needs, and why not inviting Elon Musk to the White House was a “mistake”.
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15 Oct 2025
Jamie Dimon on What Kills Companies and the Key to Business Leadership
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has led the nation's largest financial institution through times of disruption for two decades. As Dimon navigates today's world of generative AI, President Trump's policies, and the effects on the global economy, Dimon sat down with Fortune's Editor-in-Chief, Alyson Shontell, to discuss these topics at the Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C. Dimon shares his thoughts on Washington, as the government is currently shut down, and Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist leading polls in the New York City mayoral race.
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18 Sept 2025
How Ramp's Eric Glyman Built a $22.5 Billion Startup in 2,367 Days
Ramp CEO Eric Glyman has helped build one of fintech’s fastest-growing startups — hitting $1 billion in annualized revenue, serving 45,000 businesses, and soaring to a $22.5 billion valuation in just 2,367 days. In this episode of Fortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry, he sits down with Fortune’s Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell to break down Ramp’s meteoric rise, the business model flipping corporate cards on their head, and why he believes speed and focus are the keys to scaling.
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28 Aug 2025
Julie Sweet’s Path From Lawyer to Leading 770,000 People
AI is rewriting the rules of business — and Accenture CEO Julie Sweet says reinvention is the only way Fortune 500s will survive. In the debut episode of Fortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry, Sweet sits down with Fortune’s Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell to reveal how she’s nearly doubled Accenture’s value, grown its workforce to 770,000, and kept the company thriving through disruption.
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Inside a recent episode
Workday CEO Predicts AI Job Displacement And Which Roles May Be Safe
Published 13 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] I think a lot of people hear, oh, my gosh, my job is being taken and there is no plan. It was started by Gina Raimondo and Eric Holcomb, two former governors, and they see the same issue. about job displacement, and they're really focused on retraining. First of all, exposing what the set of issues are. So we actually have the understanding of where jobs are getting displaced and then come up with a plan to retrain the folks that are being displaced. And there's a whole bunch of companies involved. We're involved. I know Cisco's involved, Microsoft's involved, OpenAI's involved, Anthropic. We're all involved to try to figure out a plan to retrain the folks that get displaced. […]
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