Latest Interviews

The New Tech Stack for Virtual-First Care

Julie Yoo

The digital health sector is undergoing a transformative shift from isolated startup solutions to full-stack virtual clinics that leverage AI and modern technology to lower costs and improve care scale. While early growth was marked by redundant development of proprietary technology stacks, the market is now reaching a tipping point where demand supports dedicated infrastructure providers to abstract common clinical, administrative, and operational layers. Industry consolidation is anticipated as successful players evolve into risk-bearing, multi-stakeholder platforms that integrate digital and physical services to create network effects and eventually displace legacy fee-for-service models.

Inflation: could covid-19 cause prices to rise?

Simon Cox

This analysis examines the collapse of the traditional Phillips curve relationship, which previously predicted that low unemployment would drive inflation, a dynamic that failed to materialize during the 2010s despite record-low joblessness. Various theories now compete to explain this anomaly, including anchored inflation expectations, globalization, and wage rigidity, while central banks have simultaneously shifted to unprecedented fiscal-monetary cooperation to address economic stagnation. Consequently, recent pandemic-era policies featuring massive government stimulus and near-zero interest rates aim to finally breach the persistent low-inflation trap and restore stable price growth.

Britt Harris, President, CEO and CIO of UTIMCO

Britt Harris

Gareth Harris outlines a definitive shift from the Reagan-era economic model to a new regime characterized by government intervention, a massive $60 trillion renewable energy investment cycle, and a demographic pivot to millennial political dominance. He contrasts the historical underperformance of traditional energy equities with the enduring 50% role of hydrocarbons, emphasizing that the transition's early infrastructure phase involves specific technology winners rather than broad market gains. These macro trends are underpinned by Harris's personal mandate for rigorous due diligence, a standard forged by an early $10,000 investment loss that he credits for his subsequent management of over $500 billion without research-related failures.

David Blood, Co-Founder and Senior Partner of Generation Investment Management

David Blood, Katie

Generation Investment Management, co-founded by David Blood, champions a framework of sustainable capitalism that integrates environmental, social, and governance factors as primary drivers of long-term investment value rather than secondary concerns. The firm identifies the next five to ten years as a critical window for capital allocation toward the global net-zero transition, targeting the fundamental restructuring of nearly all economic sectors from energy to healthcare. By aligning its dual mission of superior financial returns and sustainability advocacy, the organization has created a self-reinforcing cycle that attracts mission-aligned talent and entrepreneurs while challenging professionals to prioritize core values when selecting their employers.

Bill Gates: How to fund the green revolution

Bill Gates, Zanny Minton Beddoes

Bill Gates outlines the necessity of achieving net-zero emissions through massive technological innovation to solve hard-to-abate industrial sectors like steel and aviation, rather than relying solely on behavioral change. He argues that a $2 trillion global investment strategy must prioritize public R&D funding and venture capital to eliminate the green premium, with the United States serving as the essential exemplar and primary buyer to drive down costs. While carbon taxes remain politically elusive, the path forward requires governments and corporations to shift from symbolic actions to substantive financing of real decarbonization technologies alongside historical emission reductions.

Rich Friedman, Chairman of the Merchant Banking Division at Goldman Sachs

Rich Friedman, Alison

Goldman Sachs' Merchant Banking Division outlines a four-to-five-year macroeconomic outlook defined by low interest rates and deflationary pressures driven by digital transformation, while pivoting toward strategic investments in healthcare, energy transitions, and digital infrastructure. A primary case study involves the firm's acquisition of a 20% stake in Dong Energy to guide its strategic rebranding and transformation into the global offshore wind leader, Ørsted, which now commands a market value exceeding $65 billion. This investment philosophy emphasizes maintaining self-conviction during market volatility and aligning personal expertise with sectors offering significant structural tailwinds rather than reacting to short-term frenzies.

Misty Copeland: why ballet has so few black dancers

Misty Copeland

Misty Copeland, the first Black female principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, leverages her historic breakthrough and advocacy for arts education to challenge systemic discrimination and narrow aesthetic standards in classical ballet. Drawing from personal experiences with colorism and her research into predecessors like Raven Wilkinson, she critiques the industry's reliance on blackface and typecasting while urging a shift toward viewing technique as transcending race. Copeland further contextualizes her career milestones as irreversible progress comparable to the Obama presidency, emphasizing how such visibility fundamentally expands the perceived future for marginalized young artists.

The World in 2021: five stories to watch out for

Maria, Tom Standage

The event outlines a convergence of critical global shifts, including a widespread deterioration of democratic institutions in 80 nations alongside accelerating electric vehicle production and China's emergence as the world's largest cinema market by 2021. Concurrently, major economies like the US, EU, and China are preparing for the COP26 summit to enforce stricter emissions targets, while NASA advances planetary defense capabilities with the DART asteroid-mission launch. These developments collectively highlight a pivotal year defined by geopolitical constraints, industrial electrification, and evolving scientific strategies for space and climate security.

Cathie Wood, Founder, CEO, and CIO of ARK Invest

Cathie Wood, Kathy Wood, Katie

Cathie Wood of ARK Investments argues that the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of five core innovation platforms, compressing five-year technology timelines into three and rendering traditional market-cap weighted investing obsolete. To capitalize on these shifts, her firm structures its research team by specific technologies rather than industries and empowers young analysts with engineering backgrounds to build public brands and engage directly with emerging tech communities. Wood advises investors to bypass conventional wisdom and seek high-growth opportunities in sectors others dismiss, asserting that such contrarian strategies are essential for identifying the next generation of global disruptors.

Investing in China: Key Themes to Watch

Christina Ma, Liz

Chinese equities have demonstrated strong performance with key firms like Tencent and CATL surging over 50%, driven by themes in domestic consumption and renewable energy. Structural reforms, particularly the launch of the STAR Market, are facilitating major technological IPOs while regulators push to institutionalize a market currently dominated by retail trading. Despite this growth, significant potential remains for institutionalization as household wealth in China remains heavily concentrated in property rather than equities, prompting investors to optimize access through QFII or Stock Connect channels.

Richard Rothstein, Author of "The Color of Law"

Richard Rothstein, Margaret Anadu

Historian Richard Rothstein demonstrates that U.S. residential segregation stems from explicit federal policies, such as FHA loan restrictions and exclusionary zoning, which systematically denied Black families the intergenerational wealth built by white homeowners in the mid-20th century. Although the Supreme Court eventually struck down early racial zoning laws, subsequent government actions like Nixon's cancellation of George Romney's "Open Communities" program effectively maintained these divides, leaving deep economic inequalities that persist today. Rothstein argues that while policy solutions have long existed, the primary obstacle remains a lack of political will, though he points to modern civil rights movements as a potential catalyst for the legislative pressure needed to enforce true integration.

What’s Driving the Latest Wave of IPOs?

Jane Dunlevie, Liz

Goldman Sachs describes a structural shift in its IPO business since 2018, transitioning from a slow era to a super cycle where annual billion-dollar listings average nearly $20 billion in valuation. Tech companies have driven this wave by adapting to pandemic-era consumer demands, while non-traditional pathways like direct listings and creative lockup structures now define market innovation alongside a compressed 2023 issuance window. Investors continue to favor firms with durable competitive advantages, and Goldman Sachs forecasts sustained high volumes of public offerings driven by technological growth and favorable interest rate conditions.

Dr. Naureen Starling, Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden

Dr. Naureen Starling, Richard

Dr. Noreen Starling leverages her gastroenterology background to lead clinical initiatives at the Royal Marsden Hospital, focusing on high-complexity bowel, pancreatic, esophageal, and gastric cancers while establishing COVID-free treatment hubs. Strategic partnerships with the Crick Institute, Goldman Sachs, and Grail have enabled a pilot of 165,000 patients using liquid biopsy and methylated DNA tests to accelerate early detection and reduce hospital infection risks. Recent regulatory approvals for targeted therapies and ongoing NICE reviews for immunotherapy aim to transform treatment for specific genetic subtypes despite persistent systemic barriers to early diagnosis.

What is history's deadliest pandemic?

A comprehensive analysis reveals malaria's profound historical role in shaping human migration, the transatlantic slave trade, and the geopolitical outcomes of World War II through its influence on genetics, economies, and military campaigns. While global infection rates have declined due to advanced treatments and targeted strategies like Senegal's genomic surveillance, the legacy of DDT usage remains linked to the origins of the modern environmental movement. Current eradication efforts face significant hurdles as researchers repurpose genomic tools for new pathogens while struggling to secure the estimated $2.7 billion in annual funding required to eliminate the disease by mid-century.

David Mussafer, Managing Partner of Advent International

David Mussafer, Alison

Advent Global partner Mussifer distinguishes the current economic crisis from historical downturns, projecting a nine-to-twelve-month recovery that accelerates the divergence between weak and resilient enterprises. Drawing on the strategic missteps of the O-Cedar acquisition, he emphasizes that elite investors must prioritize robust management teams and sound deal structuring over mere company quality. Ultimately, Mussifer argues that high-performing professionals succeed by separating great businesses from great investments, a skill he believes will drive an optimistic outlook for the S&P 500 within the coming year.