BCG’s Daniel Kuepper and Laura Juliano explain why AI is rewriting the economics of where and how the world manufactures.

Daniel Kuepper, who co-leads BCG's Manufacturing and Physical AI team, and Laura Juliano, BCG's North America Operations Practice Lead, unpack why the factory of the future is no longer a distant vision. Physical AI, agentic systems, and a shared data backbone are converging to expand what's automatable and changing the math on where companies should manufacture. Do leaders still need to separate where to produce from how to produce?

You'll Learn:

What actually separates a genuine “lights-out factory” from a partially automated one.

The biggest mistakes leaders make when starting an AI-led manufacturing transformation.

How new hires are showing up already fluent in AI, changing what factory training even looks like.

Learn More:

BCG’s Latest Thinking on Manufacturing: https://on.bcg.com/46rlzRT

How the Factory of the Future Is Reshaping the Economics of Manufacturing Competitiveness: https://on.bcg.com/4y7h7DW

How Physical AI Is Reshaping Robotics Today—and What Comes Next: https://on.bcg.com/4rgBawW

The CEO’s Guide to Physical AI: https://on.bcg.com/4AoTg4k

Chapters

(00:00) Is Factory of the Future Here?

(01:20) What Is Different This Time?

(04:19) How Significant Are Recent Shifts?

(04:49) Are Lights-Out Factories Realistic?

(07:54) What Industries Are Leading in Robotics?

(09:09) Where Should Factories Double Down?

(11:58) Physical AI's Impact on Companies

(14:55) Leaders’ Costliest Mistakes in Robotics

(18:53) The First-Mover Factory Edge

(21:15) What Should Manufacturing Leaders Do Now?

Meet the Experts

Daniel Kuepper, Managing Director and Senior Partner: https://on.bcg.com/4Am2e27

Laura Juliano, Managing Director and Senior Partner: https://on.bcg.com/4AlXp8Z

Listen to Other Episodes of The So What from BCG podcast

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Bryan Gauch, Leader of BCG’s Commercial Tech Topic, explains why CRM isn’t disappearing even as agentic AI reshapes how customers are served. He argues that CRM will keep serving as the data backbone while agents take over the interface. He also lays out the cost and resourcing questions CEOs need to answer before scaling their AI investment.

You’ll Learn:

Why agents are quietly replacing the screen, not the system, behind every customer interaction.

Why cost is the real constraint on agentic AI, not the technology itself.

How CEOs should align cost, resources, and innovation before deciding what CRM keeps and what agents take over.

Learn More

BCG and Salesforce: https://on.bcg.com/4zTgNKl

BCG’s Latest Thinking on Marketing and Sales: https://on.bcg.com/4zVIMsP

Chapters

(0:00) What Does CRM Actually Do?

(1:29) What CRM Means for Customers

(2:02) Could AI Agents Replace CRM Entirely?

(6:44) The Real Cost of Agents

(8:52) ROI of AI Agents

(10:45) How Will Agents Impact Employees?

(12:55) Where CRM Is Headed in 3 Years

(14:33) How Should CEOs Approach CRM?

(15:53) What Role Will Consultants Play?

Meet the Expert

Bryan Gauch, BCG Managing Director & Partner: https://on.bcg.com/4iI7fLV

Listen to Other Episodes of The So What from BCG podcast

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Vlad Lukic, BCG’s global leader for tech and digital advantage, and Paul Goydan, global leader of BCG’s cost offer, explain why so many companies spend more on AI than they get back. What is the fix? They argue it isn’t simply cutting AI spend, but assigning clear ownership, categorizing costs correctly, and tying every dollar to a business outcome.

You’ll Learn:

Business owners, not IT, should be accountable for AI’s return, like any other investment.

Many companies give routine tasks to their most powerful and expensive AI models, when a simpler tool could do the job.

Instead of focusing on banning unauthorized AI tools, leaders should turn towards educating employees on sanctioned options.

Learn More:

How Leaders Build an AI-First Cost Advantage: https://on.bcg.com/4c3KrSW

Why We Still Need a CIO in the AI-First Era: https://on.bcg.com/46bBbIV

Chapters

0:00 AI's Bottom-Line Problem

1:01 Why Your AI Costs Don't Add Up

2:16 Can Promoting AI Use Promote Waste?

4:02 Are AI Costs an IT Problem?

4:48 How to Prioritize AI Spend

6:18 How Do CEOs Pay for AI?

7:14 How to Categorize AI Costs?

8:02 Who Owns the AI Budget?

8:30 How Leaders Know AI Is Paying Off

10:50 Strategy vs. FOMO

13:49 Turning FOMO Into Action

14:27 Winners in the AI Era

16:28 Handling Hidden AI Risk

18:05 Now What: Next Steps

Listen to Other Episodes of The So What from BCG podcast

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Nick Goad, BCG's global co-leader for retail merchandising, argues that retail's biggest problem isn't a lack of data, it's the gap between data and real customer understanding. He explains how AI and large language models are finally bridging that divide, making it possible to localize assortment, sharpen pricing, and accelerate product innovation at scale. For leaders wondering where to start, he makes the case for codifying the knowledge already in merchants' heads.

What You’ll Learn:

• Retailers have more data than ever, but AI finally gives them the tools to turn it into action merchants can actually trust.
• The biggest near-term opportunities are in assortment localization, smarter pricing, and AI-accelerated product innovation.
• The new data advantage for retailers isn't raw data — it's codifying the knowledge already in their merchants' heads.

Learn More:

• BCG’s Latest Thinking on the Retail Industry: https://on.bcg.com/4bYoe8x
• Merch AI by BCGX: https://on.bcg.com/3RxTfJF

Chapters

(0:00) Has Retail Lost Its Personal Touch?

(1:13) Serving Customers Before the Digital Age

(2:33) The Internet’s Impact on Retail

(3:11) Does More Data Mean Better Customer Understanding?

(4:12) Why Are Retailers Drowning in Complexity?

(5:32) What Can AI Do to Help Retailers?

(7:02) Will AI Create a New Data Overload?

(7:54) What Are Retail Leaders Hopes and Fears for AI?

(9:02) Will AI Get Products to the Shelf Faster?

(9:57) Will AI Influence Product Design?

(10:37) Can AI Create More Personalized Loyalty Programs?

(11:34) How Will AI Shape the Shopping Experience?

(12:02) Is Physical Retail Here to Stay?

(13:36) Will AI Make All Our Shopping Decisions for Us?

(14:23) Where Can Retailers Make the Biggest Changes?

(15:00) Where Should Retailers Apply AI First?

(15:48) What New Data Advantage Can AI Create?

Meet the Expert:

Nick Goad, BCG Managing Director & Senior Partner: https://on.bcg.com/4wuIlU0

Listen to Other Episodes of The So What from BCG podcast

Punch Cards, Frequent Flyers, and the Future of Loyalty: https://lnk.to/so-what-BCG-Crouch-Loyalty09

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Ben Keneally, BCG’s Asia Pacific health care services leader, explains why AI is now many patients’ first stop — often before they see a doctor. He argues that pairing AI with personal health records improves outcomes and equity, and that health leaders, not LLMs, must shape how this shift unfolds.

You’ll Learn:

Why AI is becoming the default first step in care, especially in markets with limited access to clinicians

How pairing AI with personal health records improves treatment compliance and catches errors earlier

Why driving AI into end-to-end care pathways takes leadership, not just frontline experimentation

Learn More:

BCG’s Latest Thinking on the Health Care Industry: https://on.bcg.com/4w2MmPt

Consumers Are Ready for AI-Enabled Health Care. Health Systems Need to Be, Too.: https://on.bcg.com/4vo2ZDX

Chapters

(0:00) The Biggest Health Care Shift in Centuries

(1:47) How Is AI Being Used in Health Care Today?

(2:23) Where Is AI Adoption Highest, and What Does That Tell Us?

(3:29) Does AI Create a Two-Tier Health System?

(4:55) What's Next for AI Agents?

(6:51) Where Are the Biggest Opportunities: Diagnosis, Navigation, or Appointments?

(8:13) The Health Care System AI Could Build

(9:56) Does Your Health System Need Its Own AI?

(11:36) The Danger of Inaccurate Health Advice

(12:53) What Role Does Trust Play?

(13:52) How Are Health Care Organizations Shaping This Shift Today?

(14:47) AI Alone Won't Transform Health Care

(15:49) Who Is Responsible When AI Gets Health Care Wrong?

(17:22) Who Owns the Patient Relationship?

(18:29) Is the Shift to AI in Health Care Inevitable?

(19:49) Is It AI Plus Clinicians or AI Replacing Clinicians?

Meet the Expert

Ben Keneally, BCG Managing Director & Partner: https://on.bcg.com/4woTTbc

Listen to Other Episodes of The So What from BCG podcast

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Governments are racing to deploy AI. Most have the foundations, but struggle to translate them into faster, smarter execution without losing public trust. BCG's Miguel Carrasco and Daniel Selikowitz break down what separates the countries getting this right from those still stuck — and what every leader can take from their example.

You’ll Learn:

Why AI governance frameworks are quietly becoming the biggest barrier to AI deployment

How to tell the difference between necessary caution and unnecessary bureaucracy

How and why some countries are already getting AI governance right

Learn More:

Trust Imperative 5.0: https://on.bcg.com/3QO3fOm

BCG’s Latest Thinking in Public Sector: https://on.bcg.com/4f69kis

Meet the Experts

Miguel Carrasco, BCG Managing Director & Senior Partner: https://on.bcg.com/4gGH8Uz

Daniel Selikowitz, Managing Director & Partner: https://on.bcg.com/4oMRKTY

Watch The So What from BCG on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMJgyXjV5gMI9JV-GcF_D1Y6zyf1Eab_0

Chapters

(0:00) AI Is Already in Government. Here's Where You'll Find It.

(3:12) Public vs. Private: Why the Stakes Are Different

(4:40) What Leaders Are Saying Across Industries

(6:15) What Role Does Fear Play in AI Adoption?

(8:14) Inside Governments Deploying AI

(9:55) How Are Governments Governing AI?

(11:56) How Do Countries Compare on AI Adoption?

(13:37) Useful Caution Vs. Unnecessary Bureaucracy in AI Implementation

(15:42) Who Is Keeping Pace with AI Innovation?

(16:46) What Private Sector Leaders Can Learn from Governments

(19:34) What Should Leaders Do Now?

Industry 4.0 is moving beyond factory walls and into farms, forests, and fields.

David Potere, a senior tech leader in BCG’s Industrial Goods and Climate Change and Sustainability practices, explores AI’s move into the outdoor world. Robotics and connected systems are changing how farming and other outdoor activities get done.

You’ll Learn:

Outdoor automation requires AI systems that can operate with constant uncertainty.

Leaders should rethink long-held operating models as AI and robotics reshape how physical work gets done.

The most valuable AI systems may be the ones that simplify complexity rather than add more dashboards.

Learn More:

David Potere: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpotere/

What 1,000 Farmers Told Us About Tech Adoption: https://on.bcg.com/4euA76V

Climate-Smart Agriculture Needs a Better Yardstick: https://on.bcg.com/4ejIfH6

David on the Climate Rising Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-potere-at-bcg-x-using-ai-satellites-in-climate/id1482781075?i=1000767537614

AI Foundation Model for Extreme Weather: https://on.bcg.com/4vKiwyz

Chapters

00:00 – How Will AI Impact Outdoor Industries?

04:26 –The Challenges of Taking Tech Outside

06:11– What Would a Farm That Thinks for Itself Look Like?

08:27 – Is AI Rescuing Agriculture?

10:55– Will AI Only Help Big Farms?

14:39 – Who Owns the Data?

16:16 – What Can Leaders Learn from the AI Outdoors?

18:51 – Next Steps to Truly Benefit from AI