How do you drive innovation inside one of the most regulated, complex industries in the world?

In this episode of Transformation 2.0®, we sit down with Stephen Ranjan - Global Head of Digital Health at Roche - to explore how the pharmaceutical industry is embracing (and resisting) change, why strategic partnerships matter more than ever, and how leaders can build learning cultures that enable real transformation.

From accelerating R&D with AI, to navigating compliance and risk, to scaling ideas beyond pilot purgatory - this conversation unpacks the human and organisational shifts required to make innovation work in practice, not just theory.

If you work in pharma, healthcare, or any highly regulated sector, this episode offers practical insight into how transformation actually happens - and why people, not platforms, are the key to change.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Innovation in pharma must balance risk, compliance and experimentation

✅ Strategic partnerships can de-risk innovation and accelerate learning

✅ Pilots fail when they don’t have a landing zone in the core business

✅ Culture change begins with curiosity, not control

✅ Compliance shouldn’t kill innovation – it should guide responsible progress

✅ Organisational friction is inevitable; leaders must actively manage it

Resources & Links:

🔗 Learn more about the work we do at Anthosa: https://www.anthosa.com

🔗 Connect with Stephen Ranjan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenranjan/

About Our Guest:

Stephen Ranjan is a collaborative healthcare executive with over 20 years of experience leading high-performance teams and delivering digital innovation across global markets. Currently serving as Global Head of Digital Health at Roche, he has held senior roles at Merck, Johnson & Johnson, and Epic, and sits on multiple advisory boards.Stephen’s leadership combines strategic vision with a deep commitment to people development, making him a trusted voice in the evolving world of pharma innovation.

How do we lead real transformation, the kind that sticks, in organisations wired for comfort?

In this special episode of Transformation 2.0®, we welcome strategy and transformation expert Taural Rhoden as a regular co-host. Together, Chamara and Taural dive into the uncomfortable realities of change, why organisations resist it, how leaders can navigate it, and why individual growth is the real engine of business transformation.

From the boardroom to the front line, transformation isn’t just about new systems or strategies - it’s about helping people make sense of uncertainty and take action when the future feels unclear.

If you’re a change leader, transformation consultant, or executive navigating complexity, this episode will give you frameworks, language, and inspiration to lead with more clarity and confidence.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Real transformation requires people to get uncomfortable and stay there

✅ Change fails when we treat it as a tech project instead of a people challenge

✅ Organisational homeostasis is real: success depends on disrupting the status quo

✅ Courageous leadership isn’t about rank - it’s about conviction

✅ The best change agents use experiments, not overhauls, to learn and scale

✅ Resistance is insight in disguise; treat it as information, not defiance

✅ A learning mindset will be the #1 skill for future-fit leaders

Resources & Links:

🔗 Learn more about the work we do at Anthosa: https://www.anthosa.com

🔗 Connect with Taural Rhoden on LinkedIn

About Our Co-Host:

Taural Rhoden is the Principal of Rhoden Consulting, where he helps experts think commercially and build resilient, profitable service businesses. Over the last 20 years, Taural has worked across the sharp end of international consulting, advisory, and transformation, holding leadership roles at IBM, DXC, Mercedes-Benz, and the US Army.

He’s built independent businesses, returned to corporate leadership, and led high-impact digital transformations across industries. Today, he helps solopreneurs and small consultancies craft premium offers, build scalable delivery models, grow authority, and create sustainable revenue without burnout.

His mission:Equip experts to think commercially - so they can act with clarity, grow with confidence, and build businesses that last.

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How can asset-heavy industries reinvent themselves in the age of AI and real-time data?

In this episode of Transformation 2.0®, we welcome back Professor Venkat Venkatraman to dive into his latest work, Fusion Strategy - a practical framework for navigating digital transformation in traditional, physical industries.

Co-authored with Vijay Govindarajan, Fusion Strategy explores how companies can integrate digital and physical capabilities to unlock new value, rethink competitive advantage, and reshape their industries from the inside out.

From manufacturing to healthcare to logistics, the message is clear: digital transformation isn’t just for tech companies. It’s for every business with a physical footprint and a future to protect.

Whether you're in operations, strategy, or innovation leadership, this episode will help you understand what it takes to thrive in a fusion-driven world.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Traditional companies must shift from product portfolios to capability ecosystems

✅ Winning in the future means fusing physical assets with digital intelligence

✅ AI, sensors, and real-time data are reshaping the scale, scope, and speed for every business

✅ Transformation happens in three zones: automation, augmentation, and amplification

Resources & Links:

🔗 Learn more about the work we do at Anthosa: https://www.anthosa.com

🔗 Get Venkat’s book Fusion Startegy

🔗 Connect with Venkat Venkataraman on LinkedIn

About Our Guest:

Venkat Venkatraman is Professor Emeritus of Information Systems and an acclaimed authority on digital transformation and business strategy. With a distinguished academic career spanning over three decades, Venkat has deeply explored how established companies adapt to disruptive digital technologies.

Venkat earned his Bachelor of Technology from IIT, followed by an MBA, and completed his PhD in Strategic Management in Information Systems at the University of Pittsburgh. His academic journey included roles as an Associate Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a notable 30-year tenure at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business as the David J. McGrath Jr. Professor of Management.

His groundbreaking insights, first presented in his influential 2016 book, The Digital Matrix: New Rules for Business Transformation Through Technology, are now evolving further in a forthcoming book focusing specifically on digital transformation in asset-heavy, information-rich industries such as automotive, logistics, healthcare, and agriculture.

He has co-authored another influential book, Fusion Strategy: How Real-Time Data and AI Will Power the Industrial Future, alongside renowned strategist Vijay Govindarajan. Venkat continues to shape the conversation around digital strategy, guiding business leaders through the complexities of digital disruption.

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Why do some traditional businesses thrive in the face of digital disruption - while others fail to adapt?

In this episode of Transformation 2.0®, we speak with Venkat Venkataraman, Professor Emeritus of Information Systems and renowned expert on digital transformation, about how incumbents can navigate the shifting business landscape.

We explore key concepts from his influential book The Digital Matrix, including how companies can recognise new digital competitors, manage collisions between old and new business models, and reinvent themselves for a digital future.

Whether you're leading strategy, transformation, or innovation, this episode will give you a strategic lens to approach digital disruption - not just as a threat, but as an opportunity.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Every industry will face competition from digital giants and tech startups

✅ Traditional strategies of scale, scope, and speed no longer apply in a digital world

✅ Transformation is a continuous journey - experiment, collide, and reinvent

✅ Winning in the digital era requires ecosystem thinking and co-creating value

✅ Success depends on blending human capability with machine intelligence

Resources & Links:

🔗 Learn more about the work we do at Anthosa: https://www.anthosa.com

🔗 Get Venkat’s book The Digital Matrix

🔗 Connect with Venkat Venkataraman on LinkedIn

About Our Guest:

Venkat Venkatraman is Professor Emeritus of Information Systems and an acclaimed authority on digital transformation and business strategy. With a distinguished academic career spanning over three decades, Venkat has deeply explored how established companies adapt to disruptive digital technologies.

Venkat earned his Bachelor of Technology from IIT, followed by an MBA, and completed his PhD in Strategic Management in Information Systems at the University of Pittsburgh. His academic journey included roles as an Associate Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a notable 30-year tenure at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business as the David J. McGrath Jr. Professor of Management.

His groundbreaking insights, first presented in his influential 2016 book, The Digital Matrix: New Rules for Business Transformation Through Technology, are now evolving further in a forthcoming book focusing specifically on digital transformation in asset-heavy, information-rich industries such as automotive, logistics, healthcare, and agriculture.

He has co-authored another influential book, Fusion Strategy: How Real-Time Data and AI Will Power the Industrial Future, alongside renowned strategist Vijay Govindarajan. Venkat continues to shape the conversation around digital strategy, guiding business leaders through the complexities of digital disruption.

🎧 Enjoyed the episode? Share it on social media and tag us!

Have you ever wondered why some companies can innovate at scale - while others get stuck in endless pilots and stalled initiatives?

In this episode of Transformation 2.0, we speak with Peter Roeber, Strategic Growth & Innovation Leader at W. L. Gore & Associates, about what it takes to test new ideas inside a global organisation - and actually get them to market.

We explore how W. L. Gore & Associates empowers teams to run rapid experiments, validate assumptions early, and make data-informed decisions about whether to kill, pivot, or persevere. Whether you’re leading innovation, managing a product team, or driving transformation across an enterprise, this episode will help you rethink how you approach evidence, alignment, and scaling.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Innovation fails when intuition replaces evidence

✅ The best innovation teams test “deathblow assumptions” first

✅ Great cultures support experimentation and celebrate what gets killed

✅ Scaling isn’t just about funding—it’s about stakeholder alignment

✅ Sometimes, spinning out a venture is the most strategic move

Resources & Links:

🔗 Learn more about the work we do at Anthosa: https://www.anthosa.com

🔗 Connect with Peter Roeber on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterroeber/

About Our Guest:

Peter Roeber is a lifelong learner, strategic visionary, and founder with over 20 years of experience creating transformative ventures across MedTech and performance apparel. At W. L. Gore & Associates, he has driven over $1.5B in growth opportunities by empowering teams to solve systemic challenges through sustainable business models and groundbreaking solutions.

An MIT Sloan Executive MBA graduate, Peter combines systems thinking and inclusive leadership to unlock organisational and human potential, inspiring meaningful impact and growth.

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Have you ever felt like your content marketing just isn’t landing the way it used to? Or wondered how B2B brands can stay relevant in a social media-driven world?

In this episode of Transformation 2.0, we talk with content marketing strategist Mariah MacInnes about why content marketing is no longer optional for B2B brands - and why customer-centric storytelling is the future.

We explore the shift in buyer behaviour post-COVID, the rise of authenticity over polish, and what metrics really matter in today’s content landscape. Whether you’re a founder, marketer, or business leader, this episode will help you rethink your strategy and focus on long-term value over short-term metrics.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Content is no longer a “nice to have” - it’s a core part of B2B growth

✅ The most powerful marketing metric today isn’t followers, it’s reach and connection

✅ Customer-centricity starts with knowing your audience and their audience

✅ Legacy-building content (like podcasts and blogs) offers exponential long-term value

Resources & Links:

🔗 Learn more about the work we do at Anthosa

🔗Check out Mariah’s website: www.contentqueenmariah.com

🔗 Follow Mariah’s LinkedIn

About Our Guest:

Mariah MacInnes is the founder of Content Queen, a content marketing agency that helps purpose-driven businesses tell stories that connect, convert, and create legacy. With a background in PR, journalism, and internal communications—and nearly a decade of marketing experience—Mariah supports clients with strategy, storytelling, and content ecosystems that work. She’s also a digital nomad, podcast host, and firm believer that consistency beats virality every time.

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Welcome to Transformation 2.0 – the podcast for change leaders.

Hosted by Chamara Somaratne, this show brings you real conversations with executives, innovators, and industry experts who are shaping the future of business.

Whether you’re leading a team, scaling a company, or navigating complex transformations, Transformation 2.0 is your go-to resource for insights, strategies, and inspiration.

Join Chamara as he uncovers what it takes to lead, adapt, and thrive in an ever-changing world.

Hit subscribe and start your transformation today!