Elephants in the Boardroom
by TomorrowToday Consulting
A podcast about the powerful forces transforming our world. It’s not just technology that shapes the future—there are deeper, often-ignored megatrends driving disruption. These Grey Elephants are the big challenges we hope will go away but can’t afford to ignore. Elephants in the Boardroom offers a megatrend radar for leaders who want to identify tomorrow’s most important opportunities, seize advantage, and shape a better future. Join us for unflinching discussions, incisive insights, and actionable strategies to stay ahead in a rapidly changing world. Powered by Achilles.
Episodes
-
The AI Race: Are We Asking the Wrong Question?
In September 2026, AI's builders started publicly warning that the technology could destroy us - while building faster than ever. Dean and Graeme think everyone is asking the wrong question. When a senior Anthropic researcher resigned warning of AI Armageddon, and the company's CEO called for...
-
Strategic Procurement: Beyond Efficiency in an Age of Disruption with Paul Noël
The supply chains that gave you thirty years of competitive advantage are now your greatest vulnerability. So what do you build instead? From the humanoid robot games in Beijing as a signal of shifting industrial capability to using Stewart Brand’s Pace Layers model to explain why the world is...
-
Human Leadership: Why Experience Has No Expiry Date with Faisal Abdalla
Faisal Abdalla became CEO of a 27-country business, stepped down in his early seventies - and took the HR job. What happens when experience refuses to expire? Dean van Leeuwen and Graeme Codrington open this month’s episode with the grey elephants on their radar they see stampeding: the reshaping...
-
Humans in the Lead: The Case for Advancing Intelligence, Not Just Automating It
The real AI question isn't about automation - it's whether we're designing technology to advance human capability or quietly engineer it out. In this episode, Dean van Leeuwen and Graeme Codrington ask the question most boardrooms aren't asking: are we advancing intelligence, or just advancing…
more -
The Ageing Workforce: The Leadership Challenge Hiding in Plain Sight with Lucy Standing & Lynda Smith
Why the most experienced workers in your organisation are the ones most likely to be filtered out - and what to do about it. Most organisations are facing talent shortages, productivity problems, and skills gaps - and overlooking one of the most capable parts of the labour market: people in…
more -
Future of Education: Preparing Children for a World That Doesn’t Exist Yet with Jude Foulston
We’ve spent decades making our organisations leaner, faster, and more efficient. But what if that optimisation is now the problem? Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen explore two forces reshaping leadership in real time: the “big squeeze” hitting global supply chains, and the subtle but...
-
Generational Intelligence: Turning Age Divide into Strategic Advantage with Zavier Coyne
Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen open this month’s episode with a reflection on the volatility in and around the Middle East, not to add another layer of commentary to the news cycle, but to ask a more strategic question: how should leaders think when certainty is in short supply? Using the...
-
Modern Slavery: From Compliance Risk to Strategic Leadership with James Cockayne
Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen recorded this month’s episode against the backdrop of escalating tensions in the Middle East. Following US–Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent retaliation across the region, the situation is a reminder of how quickly geopolitical shocks can ripple through...
-
Beyond Accommodation: Building Neuroinclusive Organisations with Dr. Sarah Babb
February 2026 already feels like a year. In this month’s episode, Graeme Codrington explores two forces leaders can’t afford to treat as background noise: geopolitical rupture and the unseen diversity inside their own organisations. Graeme turns to China to illustrate what Kairos readiness looks...
-
From Signals to Consequences - 2026 Predictions Special
The future isn’t hiding in forecasts or trend reports. It’s already standing in front of us. In this special episode, Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen examine the grey elephants already reshaping leadership, strategy, and society - highly probable, high-impact forces that are now moving…
more -
The Future Isn’t Predicted - It’s Created: Live from Dubai Futures Forum
In this special episode, hosts Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen broadcast live from the Dubai Futures Forum, the world’s largest gathering of futurists. They share insights on emerging trends, including the value of focus in a distracted world, the evolving meaning of expertise in the age…
more -
AI’s Power Hunger, Sovereign AI & Sand Scarcity - Lessons from South Africa (with Tom Eaton)
Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen explore this month’s “grey elephants”: the collision of AI and energy demand, the strategic rise of sovereign AI, and an overlooked resource, sand. Then Graeme sits down with Cape Town–based writer and columnist Tom Eaton to unpack what the world can learn...
-
Signals from the Deep: Data Bunkers, UN & the Future of Shipping with guest Øistein Jensen Chief Sustainability Officer Odfjell
Episode Overview Graeme Codrington (Johannesburg) and Dean Van Leeuwen (South of London) explore fresh “grey elephant” signals—from subterranean data centres and living with a >2°C world, to UN reform rumblings—then sit down with Øistein Jensen, Chief Sustainability Officer at Oddfjell, to unpack...
-
Multipolarity, wars and rumours of wars, and the future of supply chains.
Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen return with a timely and urgent discussion about the shifting balance of global power and its implications for business leaders. From startling comments about human longevity by Putin and Xi Jinping to the acceleration of a multipolar world order, the hosts...
-
Career Reinvention and Fierce Care in Leadership
Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen are joined by Tony, a former professional rugby player who has successfully reinvented himself three times throughout his career. In this inspiring conversation, Tony shares his journey of transformation beyond professional sports and introduces the powerful...
-
Agentic AI and the Future of Industry Innovation
Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen open this episode with a tribute to Paul Stanley, the former CEO of Achilles, whose legacy transformed the supply chain and ESG sectors. His dedication to transparency inspired this episode's deep dive into the fast moving world of artificial intelligence,...
-
The Urgency of Sustainability with Pia Heidenmark Cook, senior ESG and sustainability leader
This month, we are joined by Pia Heidenmark Cook, one of the most prominent leaders in corporate sustainability, to discuss the urgent actions businesses must take to address climate change and integrate sustainability into their core strategies. A Senior Advisor to Teneo, Achilles, Eurazeo and…
more -
Enhancing Sustainability Through Green Mining with Neal Froneman from Sibanye Stillwater
In this episode, hosts Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen from TomorrowToday Consulting, are joined by Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye Stillwater to discuss the future of green mining and the transformation the industry is undergoing in its drive for environmental responsibility. Neal shares...
-
The Future of Supply Chain Resilience with Paul Stanley from Achilles
In this episode, hosts Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen from TomorrowToday Consulting, are joined by CEO of Achilles, Paul Stanley for a discussion on the intricate world of global supply chains, examining both the challenges and opportunities they present. From ethical considerations like...
-
Navigating an Ageing Population: Challenges and Opportunities
In this episode, hosts Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen from TomorrowToday Consulting, explore the implications of an aging population on society, the economy, and our personal lives. They discuss demographic shifts, the need for migration to support economic growth, and the necessity to...
-
Introducing the 7 Grey Elephants Reshaping a Multipolar World
In the first episode of this new podcast by TomorrowToday Consulting, hosts Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen explore the mega-trends reshaping the world and business. They introduce the concept of 'grey elephants' - highly probable, high-impact forces, consisting of angry people, aging...
About this show
A podcast about the powerful forces transforming our world. It’s not just technology that shapes the future—there are deeper, often-ignored megatrends driving disruption. These Grey Elephants are the big challenges we hope will go away but can’t afford to ignore. Elephants in the Boardroom offers a megatrend radar for leaders who want to identify tomorrow’s most important opportunities, seize advantage, and shape a better future. Join us for unflinching discussions, incisive insights, and actionable strategies to stay ahead in a rapidly changing world. Powered by Achilles.
Hosted by
TomorrowToday Consulting