Malcolm Gladwell

I'm Malcolm Gladwell.

Welcome to season seven of Smart Talks with IBM.

This year, we're exploring new stories about how companies are using the latest advancements in AI and quantum computing to create smarter business.

For the first episode of the season, I flew to Austin, Texas to join Surajit Ghosh on stage at South by Southwest.

Surajit is chief AI officer at Heineken, the world's pioneering beer company.

Founded in 1864, Heineken has deep roots, but it continues to push the boundaries of innovation today.

In 2020, the company came up with a goal to become the world's best connected brewer.

Surajit plays a key role in leading that transformation.

And I sat down with him in front of a live audience to understand what that journey looks like and what it takes to reinvent a global company from the inside out.

And before we get to...

the question of what you do in your job.

So I'm really interested in people who have jobs that didn't exist for most of their life.

And I'm curious how you got there.

What was it?

You said you were...

You were curious about it.

You were curious about it, why?

What caught your eye about?

24 years.

But what you were playing with in 2002 was an extremely primitive version of what we have now.