Northeastern University created this podcast to share cutting-edge research in international business. This podcast is for all global business professionals and any student who hopes to work for a multinational organization in the future. Through this podcast, we’ll share what’s proven through research and highlight what’s really working in practice. We have a great line-up of expert guests speaking on diverse topics from blockchain and digital currencies to global corporate governance and workforce analytics.
How to Bridge Traditional and Decentralized Finance with Cameron Nili, LayerZero
As the Banking and Capital Markets Lead at LayerZero, the market-leading cross-chain interoperability protocol that has secured $300+ billion in value transferred across 170+ blockchains, Cameron explains how blockchain interoperability really works and the future of the global financial markets moving onchain.📉 How legacy blockchains can't handle the volume of the NYSE🌉 Why 3rd party bridges present challenges, and LayerZero's 1st party model works🚨 How LayerZero's architecture allows asset issuers to own their cross-chain security stacks💸 How stablecoins became crypto's first successful onchain asset class⚡ Why LayerZero is building Zero, a new layer-1 blockchain built for institutional scale🧠 What Cameron thinks will happen going into 2027More on LayerZero here: https://layerzero.network/blog/zero-the-decentralized-multi-core-world-computer
01:44 Public Money vs Private Money Explained
04:46 TradFi vs DeFi: Can They Coexist
07:59 How DeFi Advantages Threaten Traditional Banking
09:33 Self-Custody vs Institutional Custody
11:08 Why Isolated Blockchains Are a Problem
14:04 Building a TCP/IP for Blockchains
18:16 Third-Party Bridges vs First-Party Bridges
22:40 Preventing Bridge Hacks and Contagion Risk
24:01 How Validators Secure Cross-Chain Transfers
30:10 Why Every Blockchain Wants LayerZero
39:01 Why Stablecoins Are DeFi's Killer App
46:42 Will Only Three or Four Blockchains Survive
48:14 Inside Zero, LayerZero's New Layer 1
54:03 Zero's 2 Million TPS for Capital Markets Trading
55:30 Agentic AI and Machine to Machine Payments
58:28 The Future of Central Bank Digital Currency
1:00:03 Tokenizing Repos and Idle Collateral
About the Guest: Cameron Nili is the Banking and Capital Markets Lead at LayerZero, where he helps institutions design compliant, multi-chain digital asset strategies. Before LayerZero, he was an Executive Fellow at the World Economic Forum's Center for Financial and Monetary Systems and a Senior Manager in Accenture's banking practice.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameron-nili/Company bio: https://layerzero.network/blog/thetradfidebateWorld Economic Forum bio: https://www.weforum.org/stories/authors/cameron-nili/About the Host:Ravi Sarathy is a Professor of International Business and Strategy at Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business and co-host of International Business Today. His research focuses on global strategy, technology management, and international business.Northeastern: https://damore-mckim.northeastern.edu/people/ravi-sarathy/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravi-sarathy-5848705/International Business Today Podcast:📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalBusinessToday🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2y21XexVdXEiTBdZQIuSyf🍎 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/international-business-today/id1665009512💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-business-today-by-northeastern-university/🌐 https://damore-mckim.northeastern.edu/podcasts/international-business-today/🎓 Ready to lead in the global economy of tokenized finance? Explore Northeastern's online business programs → https://online.northeastern.edu/
23 Sept 2026
How to Get the Most From an MBA with Kate Klepper, Dean at Babson
Everyone says nobody needs a degree anymore. Kate Klepper spent 25 years running MBA programs and explains why that headline is wrong.
Is an MBA still worth it when AI is reshaping every job and headlines keep telling you to skip the degree? Kate Klepper has spent two decades deciding who gets into MBA programs, and she argues that navigating this much uncertainty is exactly what the degree is built for.
Kate Klepper is now Dean of the Graduate School at Babson College after two decades leading graduate programs at Northeastern's D'Amore-McKim School of Business. She has built MBA, specialty master's, and online programs and served on the board of the Graduate Management Admission Council.
🎓 Why Kate Klepper says the "nobody needs a degree" headlines are wrong, and what the earning studies actually show
⚡ How an MBA trains you to make well-informed decisions while the tectonic plates of AI are still shifting
🔄 What makes the MBA a career-pivot engine: same industry and new function, or a jump to a whole new field
🧠 Why she calls them critical skills, not soft skills, and how a messy team becomes a leadership sandbox
🤝 How negotiation coaching became the service alumni come back for years after they graduate
🌍 Why students now push business schools to treat social impact and profitability as connected, not opposing
02:08 How Graduate Business Education Has Changed Since 2005
03:10 Kate Klepper's Path Into Business Schools
06:33 The Real ROI of an MBA: Costs vs Returns
08:21 Is an MBA Still Worth It in 2026?
09:00 Why Anyone Can Use an MBA to Change Careers
11:06 Who Actually Needs an MBA, and When
14:01 Does an MBA Still Matter in the Age of AI?
17:00 Critical Skills: How to Lead Messy, Real Teams
19:30 Career Services, Placement, and Negotiation Coaching
23:01 Co-op and Experiential Learning That Goes Global
27:02 The MBA as a Network and a Brand
29:24 Why There Are So Many Specialized MBA Programs
31:44 Flexible, Stackable, and Hybrid MBA Formats
33:37 20 Years of the Online MBA and What 2020 Changed
34:44 Is There a Typical MBA Student Anymore?
38:04 How to Get the Most Out of an MBA
39:16 Should Business Be Socially Responsible?
41:26 Kate Klepper's Next Chapter: Leading Babson
About the Guest:
Kate Klepper is Dean of the Graduate School at Babson College, where she leads the graduate portfolio. She previously spent two decades as associate dean for graduate programs at Northeastern's D'Amore-McKim School of Business, and earlier served as Babson's dean of graduate admissions. She holds an MBA from Northeastern and a BS from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-klepper-she-her-6a39a73/
Babson bio: https://www.babson.edu/about/our-leaders-and-scholars/office-of-academic-affairs/office-of-the-provost/dean-of-the-graduate-school/
Northeastern bio: https://damore-mckim.northeastern.edu/people/kate-klepper/
About the Host:
Ravi Sarathy is a Professor of International Business and Strategy at Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business and co-host of International Business Today. His research focuses on global strategy, technology management, and international business.
Northeastern: https://damore-mckim.northeastern.edu/people/ravi-sarathy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravi-sarathy-5848705/
🎬 Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/vuOFhmyR6JE
International Business Today Podcast:
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalBusinessToday
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2y21XexVdXEiTBdZQIuSyf
🍎 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/international-business-today/id1665009512
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-business-today-by-northeastern-university/
🌐 https://damore-mckim.northeastern.edu/podcasts/international-business-today/
🎓 Thinking about your own next move? Explore Northeastern's flexible online business programs → https://online.northeastern.edu/
9 Sept 2026
How to Unlock India's Growth Paradox with Dr. Amit Kapoor
90% of India's GDP comes from 100 districts. Dr. Amit Kapoor breaks down the real India growth story.
India adds 5 million new graduates to its workforce every year, but only 2.8 million find jobs. Dr. Amit Kapoor explains why India's growth is so unevenly spread, why graduate underemployment is becoming structural, and whether AI fixes India's teacher shortage or just makes people lazier.
Dr. Amit Kapoor is Honorary Chairman of the Institute for Competitiveness, India, and Visiting Scholar at Stanford University. His latest book, The Elephant Moves, was co-written with former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
📉 How India's per capita income drops to $1,200 once you remove the top 10% of earners
📊 Why the top 100 districts generate 90% of India's GDP and 87% of its exports
🚨 Why Dr. Kapoor thinks graduates working as domestic help is a national failure
💸 How a TCS entry level salary has barely moved in real terms over the last decade
⚡ Why AI could solve India's teacher shortage or make an entire generation lazier
🧠 The three sectors he says can absorb India's next wave of workers
00:00 Intro
00:53 Meet Dr. Amit Kapoor and His 20 Year Journey With Michael Porter
02:53 Why Half of India's Population Still Lives at Subsistence Level
14:36 Can India's 1.4 Billion Person Market Fuel 10% Growth on Its Own?
20:16 India's Real Advantage: Turning a Young Workforce Into Productivity
22:41 The True Number of Indians Entering the Workforce Each Year
32:36 Why India's Growth Is Concentrated in Just a Few States
37:10 Inside India's Aspirational District Program
40:06 Will AI Replace Jobs or Rebuild India's Broken Classrooms?
44:32 Dr. Amit Kapoor's Advice for Executives Betting on India
48:15 The Books Behind Dr. Amit Kapoor's Thinking on India's Economy
About the Guest:
Dr. Amit Kapoor is Honorary Chairman of the Institute for Competitiveness, India, Visiting Scholar at Stanford University, and President of the India Council on Competitiveness. He is affiliate faculty at Harvard Business School's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness and has authored multiple books and over a thousand opinion pieces on India's economic development.
LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/competitiveness
Institute bio: https://competitiveness.in/team/
Personal website: https://amitkapoor.com/
📖 Get The Elephant Moves: India's New Place in the World (with Amitabh Kant):
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Moves-Indias-Place-World/dp/0670097446
Publisher: https://www.penguin.co.in/book/the-elephant-moves/
📖 Get The Age of Awakening: The Story of the Indian Economy Since Independence:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Age-Awakening-Amit-Kapoor/dp/0670090891
Publisher: https://www.penguin.co.in/book/the-age-of-awakening/
About the Host:
Ravi Sarathy is a Professor of International Business and Strategy at Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business and co-host of International Business Today. His research focuses on global strategy, technology management, and international business.
Northeastern: https://damore-mckim.northeastern.edu/people/ravi-sarathy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravi-sarathy-5848705/
🎬 Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/XkeY9w7R6jU
International Business Today Podcast:
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalBusinessToday
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2y21XexVdXEiTBdZQIuSyf
🍎 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/international-business-today/id1665009512
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-business-today-by-northeastern-university/
🌐 https://damore-mckim.northeastern.edu/podcasts/international-business-today/
🎓 Want to understand global markets like this? Explore Northeastern's online business programs → https://online.northeastern.edu/
#ibtpodcast #northeasternuniversity #amitkapoor #indiaeconomy #futureofwork #aiinbusiness #globalbusiness #economicdevelopment #jobcreation #institutecompetitiveness #businesspodcast #highereducation
Who has been a guest on International Business Today
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Kevin Chuah
Mark Huselid
Kazuhiro Asakawa
Reach and audience
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YouTube views
8,073,892
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
9 ratings
Spotify
4.6 / 5
17 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 63 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
58
Social presence
0
YouTube
93
Engagement
77
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