Your board has an AI strategy. It's probably rubbish.

Nathan Bell has spent 25 years delivering transformation programmes inside the world's biggest telcos. Now a Partner at Kearney, he's the person companies call when the proof-of-concept graveyard keeps growing and the CFO starts asking uncomfortable questions.

In this episode: why most AI programmes are expensive theatre, how to actually get ROI, and why your change management track record matters more than your technology choices.

We also get into agentic AI gone wrong — a recruiting agent that only wanted to hire golfers, a CEO town hall that triggered a queue at HR, and an AI agent that doxxed a developer and got its creator hired by Sam Altman. Make of that what you will.

Plus rapid-fire telco takes and a deeply scientific Australia vs Netherlands lifestyle quiz that ended in a draw.

Time Stamps:

00:00 — AI Strategy Hype vs Reality: Why Most Exec Talk Is Rubbish

00:37 — Is This AI Wave Different from Dot-Com, Cloud, and 5G?

02:19 — From Boardroom Buzz to Production: The Proof-of-Concept Trap

03:44 — How to Actually Get ROI: Start Small, Make Big Bets, Fund Like a VC

06:47 — Low-Hanging Fruit: Internal Knowledge, Customer Service, and Procurement

09:16 — Metrics That Matter: MVP Milestones Over 2-Year "Goals"

11:21 — Making the VC Model Real: Phased Rollout and Cultural Change

13:26 — Market Whiplash: When AI Adoption Threatens Your Revenue Model

14:51 — AI as a Business Capability, Not a Shopping List of Tools

16:10 — Agentic AI and the Human Factor: Bias, Process Drift, and Set-and-Forget Myths

21:10 — The People Side of Agents: Fear, Trust, and How Leaders Miscommunicate

24:41 — Why AI Transformations Fail: Change Management and HR as the Quarterback

26:44 — When Agents Go Rogue: The Python Library Incident and What It Signals

28:28 — Who's Responsible for AI Agents? Why Human-in-the-Loop Still Matters

29:19 — When AI Monitors AI: The Two-Agent Marketing Campaign Story

31:03 — Legacy, Culture and Operating Model: Why Big Firms Struggle to Adopt AI

33:49 — Ethics, Bias and Copyright: The Legal Minefield of Generative AI

35:40 — Who's Winning with AI and Why: Consumer Goods, Banks and Telcos

38:01 — Regulation Reality Check: EU AI Act, Vendor Audits and the Air Canada Case

39:37 — Where Telcos Should Start with AI: Customer Service, Vendors and Billing

41:41 — Transformation Lessons from Telcos: People, Forgive the Past, Progress Over Perfection

44:39 — AI Hype vs Jobs Reality: Using AI to Augment People, Not Just Cut Headcount

46:51 — What Still Motivates Transformation Leaders + Rapid-Fire Telco Takes

51:49 — Finale: Australia vs Netherlands Quickfire (and a Perfect Tie)

The New World Order: It's Not a Transition, It's a Rupture

The world's gone completely mental since Andy Staples left The Economist and launched GeoPol Asia. Turns out his timing was perfect - just in time for Trump's tariff chaos, military interventions, and the complete breakdown of the "rules-based order" everyone keeps banging on about.

The old playbook is dead. This isn't your typical trade spat or diplomatic tiff. As Mark Carney put it at Davos: we're witnessing a rupture, not a transition. And from Singapore's "grave concern" over Venezuela to Japan's new PM calling China's bluff, everyone's scrambling to figure out what the hell comes next.

Andy breaks down why Singapore's politicians are probably doing constant eye-rolls dealing with Trump's "favours from friends" tariff nonsense, why Malaysia's quietly winning at this geopolitical game, and whether we're all heading to the pub because the world's ending (spoiler: we're definitely putting our coats on).

If you're trying to run a business in this chaos or just want to understand why everything feels completely unhinged, this is your reality check.

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome Back, Andy Staples!

00:26 Reflecting on a Year of Chaos

02:00 Predictions and Realities

04:45 Hard Power and Global Dynamics

05:28 Trump's Davos Speech

08:27 Middle Powers and Global Order

11:47 Asian Geopolitical Landscape

14:36 Japan's New PM and China Relations

17:49 Elections and Political Shifts in Asia

20:25 Singapore's Resilience

21:56 Johor's Investment Boom

23:12 Vietnam's Economic Resilience

24:13 US-Singapore Relations

26:44 Business Sentiment in Asia

30:27 Geopolitical Risks and Predictions

34:08 Rapid-Fire Questions

40:06 Closing Thoughts and Future Outlook

Key Takeaways:

• The US has shifted to unilateral military action as policy tool

• "Middle powers" like Canada, Singapore, and the EU are exploring Plan B

• Asia's playing the ultimate balancing act between US security and Chinese economics

• Business leaders need to build "geopolitical muscle" or get left behind

• We're all walking towards the pub, but hopefully it stays open

About Andy Staples:

Andy is the founder of GeoPol Asia, offering geopolitical advisory services to businesses navigating Asia's complex political landscape. Previously at The Economist, he specialises in helping Western MNCs understand the shifting power dynamics and build their "geopolitical muscle" for this new era.

Connect with Andy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andystaples/

Learn more about GeoPol Asia: https://geopolasia.com/

Telco's Sophistication Paradox: Why They Can't Explain Their Own Genius

The Telco Century Club (100+ years of telco experience between us) is back with a brutal reality check on an industry that's mastered building brilliant technology but completely botched explaining why anyone should care.

Charles teams up with telecoms veterans Rob Jones (Sylva Growth Partners) and Chris Lewis (Lewis Insights, The Great Telco Debate) for an unfiltered dissection of why 25 years of "transformation talk" has changed absolutely nothing. From Telstra's genius digital twin platform that died because no one could pitch it internally, to network APIs that sound impressive but solve problems nobody asked for - this episode exposes the sophistication paradox that's killing telco innovation.

Key Battlegrounds:

• Why telco layoffs are a perpetual pattern, not strategic responses
• The "build it and they will come" mentality that's still sabotaging 5G monetisation
• How MVNOs are eating traditional operators' lunch through superior segmentation
• AI-native platforms making MVNO entry cheaper and easier than ever
• Middle Eastern operators like e& and STC outplaying Western telcos with actual execution
• The coming satellite reality check (spoiler: it won't replace mobile networks)
• Network APIs heading to the technology graveyard alongside network slicing

Reputation-Staking Predictions for 2026: Chris bets on AI chatbots finally becoming genuinely useful. Rob sees Google dominating user experience through AI integration. Charles predicts internal AI efficiency gains - if telcos can resist their urge to overcomplicate everything.

Plus: Will the US take a stake in Nokia or Ericsson? And our final verdict on whether telcos will transform, disappoint as usual, or somehow make things worse.

Timestamps:

00:00 The Telco Century Club Returns

00:53 18 Months Later: Still Building Tech Nobody Understands

03:13 The Layoff Epidemic: Why It Never Actually Ends

08:04 Telco to TechCo Dreams Meet Harsh Reality

10:02 Network APIs: The Communication Disaster Continues

20:26 AI Reality Check: Separating Hype from Hope

28:20 Why OpenAI Might Go Broke (And Apple's Playing It Smart)

29:15 MVNOs Quietly Stealing Market Share

33:14 AI-Native Platforms: The MVNO Revolution Nobody Saw Coming

36:41 Satellite Hype Crashes Into Indoor Coverage Reality

41:15 2026 Predictions: Putting Reputations on the Line

49:35 Final Verdict: Will Telcos Finally Transform or Keep Disappointing?