Latest Interviews

The Future of Auto Tech

Chris Buddin, Liz

Goldman Sachs has launched a joint venture merging its software and industrial divisions to capitalize on what it terms the "greatest industrial revolution of our time," a multi-decade shift toward electrified, software-integrated, and autonomous mobility. The firm anticipates this transition will face supply-side constraints driven by global battery manufacturing capacity while leveraging Special Purpose Acquisition Companies to fund capital-intensive ventures across a landscape of mature technologies and emerging startups. Investment strategies will prioritize long-term horizons of up to fifteen years to navigate the sector's unique challenges, aiming to deliver significant reductions in carbon emissions and substantial improvements in global health.

How covid-19 is boosting innovation

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a five-year technological timeline, forcing global enterprises and healthcare systems to rapidly integrate innovations like mRNA vaccines, drone logistics, and telemedicine to ensure survival. While this crisis triggered record merger volumes and a surge in remote work productivity, it simultaneously widened the digital divide for students lacking home internet access and favored large corporations over emerging startups. Ultimately, the era solidified permanent shifts in food delivery, educational infrastructure, and medical development, fundamentally reshaping market dynamics and societal expectations for digital adoption.

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO

Jens Stoltenberg, Nick Schifrin

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg identifies climate change as a critical security threat that forces military adaptation while describing Russia as an assertive adversary and China as a systemic challenge to the alliance's liberal democratic values. To counter these evolving risks, the organization has implemented its largest collective defense reinforcement since the Cold War, including new battle groups in Eastern Europe, even as it maintains operational readiness during the pandemic and prepares for the planned troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Through the "NATO 2030" initiative, the alliance aims to preserve its consensus-based unity and global dominance by adapting its command structures, reducing fossil fuel dependence, and addressing hybrid threats like disinformation campaigns.

How Hedge Funds are Navigating a Volatile Market

Diana Dieckman, Freddie Parker, Jake Seward, Diana Dykman

Goldman Sachs surveyed nearly 450 allocators representing $1 trillion in assets, revealing that the hedge fund industry generated record AUM of $3.6 trillion in 2020 driven entirely by performance rather than new capital flows. While the sector recovered strongly from early-year losses with average returns exceeding 20%, the outlook for 2021 anticipates $35 billion in net inflows and a strategic pivot toward discretionary macro managers and Asian exposure, particularly China. This shift coincides with a reversal in fee compression, as rising performance prompted average management and performance fees to increase for the first time since 2012.

Christina Swarns, Executive Director of the Innocence Project

Christina Swarns, Huwe Burton

Christina Swarnes and exoneree Hugh Burton highlight critical structural failures in the criminal justice system, citing racial disparities in wrongful convictions and the absence of accountability for officials who secure false confessions. Their discussion emphasizes specific cases like *Buck v. Davis* and Burton's own 19-year incarceration to illustrate the urgent need for mandatory interrogation recording and systemic reforms driven by the post-George Floyd reckoning. Together, they argue that true safety requires local community accountability and robust support structures to assist individuals reintegrating after being wrongly convicted.

Rising Yields, Inflation and Risk Assets

Mike Swell, Liz

Fixed income global portfolio managers oversee more than $700 billion in assets while analyzing rising treasury yields as a temporary repricing of long-term supply driven by new fiscal stimulus rather than a sustained inflationary crisis. The speaker contrasts current market dynamics with the 2013 "taper tantrum," emphasizing that the Federal Reserve intends to maintain an accommodative stance through 2022 to achieve full employment without raising rates until 2023. Consequently, investors are advised to view yields of 2% to 2.25% on the 10-year bond as a buying opportunity and to increase allocations to credit and municipal bonds as bonds resume their historical role as portfolio ballast against equity volatility.

Markets Update: Cryptocurrency Trading

Mathew McDermott, Jake Seward, Matt McDermott

Goldman Sachs reports over 300 institutional conversations revealing a strategic shift from curiosity to active Bitcoin allocation, driven by corporate treasurers seeking balance sheet protection and hedge funds reawakening to digital assets. The firm’s proprietary survey indicates that 40% of clients currently hold crypto exposure with 61% planning increases, prompting Goldman to expand its Marquee platform with derivatives and prime brokerage services to navigate US regulatory constraints. While clients project year-end Bitcoin valuations between $40,000 and $100,000, the institution emphasizes that its product development prioritizes hedging and settlement solutions over direct physical delivery to comply with current banking limitations.

Nuclear power: why is it so unpopular?

Oliver Morton

Although nuclear energy currently supplies 10% of global electricity as a reliable low-carbon alternative, its growth is stifled by high construction costs, severe public fear stemming from accidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima, and complex geopolitical proliferation risks. While statistical data suggests nuclear power is among the safest energy sources per unit of electricity, the industry faces a stagnation in reactor numbers and a lack of a projected "nuclear renaissance" due to competition from falling renewable costs. Consequently, the future of the sector hinges on whether advanced modular technologies can resolve long-standing issues with standardization and economic viability against established alternatives.

The Active Private Equity Landscape in Europe

Anna Skoglund, Liz

European private equity deal volumes surged 25% year-on-year in early 2021, driven by concentrated investment in Technology, Media, Telecom, and Healthcare sectors that are capitalizing on secular growth trends. Secondary buyouts and carve-outs accelerated significantly as private equity firms justified premiums through value creation theses, attracting diverse participants from multi-line managers to family offices despite elevated valuations. While the market continues to deploy capital aggressively, the industry is simultaneously pivoting toward rigorous ESG integration, prioritizing climate-focused funds and governance reforms to translate commitments into tangible operational results.

Horacio Rozanski, President and CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton

Horacio Rozanski, John

Booz Allen Hamilton President Horacio Rosansky discussed the firm's strategic integration of private-sector innovation with complex government missions, highlighting advancements in AI, cybersecurity, and sustainability during a "Talks at GS" appearance. Addressing social equity with unprecedented urgency, Rosansky detailed how the leadership team prioritized internal assessments of diversity and race to complement the company's rapid growth in data science and space asset protection under its "Vision 2020" initiative. The conversation concluded with Rosansky's assessment of post-election operational challenges and his vision for accelerating technological adaptation to address exponential changes in the 2020s while fostering a legacy of broadened opportunity.

How the Pandemic is Reshaping Education

Katherine Tait, Catherine, Liz

As remote learning enrollment stabilizes at roughly 12–15%, the higher education sector is accelerating a permanent shift toward blended learning models driven by a 700% increase in faculty digital adoption and a student demand for unbundled, skill-based credentials. This structural transformation is fueled by a record $16 billion in venture capital and a corporate pivot to continuous upskilling, creating emerging market leaders focused on platform-agnostic courseware and institutional revenue diversification. Ultimately, the pandemic has cemented remote technology as the standard infrastructure for both K-12 and corporate training, signaling a long-term evolution from traditional degree tracks to flexible, lifelong learning ecosystems.

Iran v America: what's behind the feud?

Roger McShane

Spanning from the 1953 Anglo-American coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the US-Iran rivalry has been defined by decades of proxy wars, the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq conflict, and a 444-day hostage crisis. While the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action briefly limited Tehran's nuclear program under the Obama administration, the 2018 US withdrawal by President Donald Trump reignited tensions and accelerated Iran's enrichment capabilities despite economic sanctions. Current diplomatic efforts by President Biden to restore the deal face significant obstacles due to Iran's hardline political shift and deep-seated historical grievances that hinder regional rapprochement.

Squire, Edlyft, Promise: The Journey, Challenges, & Impact

Squire, Edlyft, Promise, Songe LaRon, Dave Salvant, Erika Hairston, Arnelle Ansong, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Diana Frappier

Founders Song Laurent of Squire, Erika Hairston and Arnelle Ansong of Edlift, and Phaedra Ellis-Lampkins of Promise presented at Y Combinator, detailing how they leveraged prior Big Tech experience and rigorous bootstrapping tactics to address critical market inefficiencies. Their startups successfully tackled distinct challenges by modernizing the barbershop industry, expanding access to computer science for underrepresented students, and facilitating government debt repayment to bridge racial wealth gaps. The session highlighted how building resilient, diverse institutions supported by the YC community enables these leaders to sustain long-term impact while encouraging greater investment in Black founders to solve systemic global problems.

What to Expect At China’s ‘Two Sessions’

Hui Shan, Liz

The 2021 Two Sessions mark the commencement of China's 14th Five-Year Plan and the Communist Party's centennial, serving as the primary venue for outlining a shift toward domestic consumption, technological self-reliance, and environmental sustainability. While Goldman Sachs anticipates that the government may forgo a specific numeric GDP target to avoid overstimulation, the event will instead prioritize key metrics on inflation, employment, and the implementation of normalizing fiscal and monetary policies. These deliberations set the strategic framework for balancing economic resilience with long-term goals such as carbon neutrality and reduced reliance on external markets.

Digital Transformation and the Future of Software

Kash Rangan, Jake Seward

A February 2021 analysis of digital transformation trends reveals that corporate IT buyers are accelerating spending, reallocating approximately 15% of budgets toward cloud adoption and security while shifting strategic vendor relationships to leaders like Microsoft and ServiceNow. Despite the software sector achieving a 90% gain in 2020 that rivals dot-com era valuations, investors are increasingly adopting a barbell strategy that favors high-growth technology stocks and value assets over mid-range equities. The discussion highlights that while immediate remote work tools dominate headlines, fundamental digital infrastructure and undervalued artificial intelligence capabilities represent the most attractive long-term opportunities as the market navigates a projected sevenfold expansion in cloud substitution.