Podcasts about bloomberg intelligence

Data and identity security continues to grow in importance as enterprises face more sophisticated cyberattacks from expanding AI agents that are expanding their reach and tools. Bloomberg Intelligence's Global Head of Technology Research Mandeep Singh speaks with Cyera cofounder and CEO Yotam Segev about his company's position in the evolving cybersecurity space, especially with more consolidation on the horizon following Palo Alto Network's announced deal for CyberArk and Google's acquisition of Wiz.

It takes more than just good relationships and customer service to be a successful freight brokerage in today’s technology-focused world. In this Talking Transports podcast, Robert Bain, director of partnerships and senior consultant at GLCS, joins Lee Klaskow, Bloomberg Intelligence senior transportation and logistics analyst, to share what freight brokers will need to be successful in the ever-changing landscape. Bain shares his three principles to succeed in the industry: extreme ownership, customer experience and free cash flow. Getting these pillars right can create a flywheel effect as brokers reinvest in their businesses to drive more growth. The conversation also covers trucking conditions, basic technology requirements and how smaller brokers can remain competitive. He also shares he applies the lessons learned as the strongest man in logistics to the freight-brokerage industry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The great brands open up the throttle at their busiest times, Fred LeFranc, Results Thru Strategy founder, managing partner and chaos strategist, tells Bloomberg Intelligence. In this episode of the Choppin’ It Up podcast, LeFranc sits down with BI senior restaurant and foodservice analyst Michael Halen to discuss the logo controversy surrounding Cracker Barrel and how the company can return to same-store sales and profit growth. The two discuss remodels, nostalgia, branding and the company’s upcoming earnings report.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“I think it's very difficult to predict a world where you might go back to zero interest rates. And so that all portends that there's likely to be an uptick in default rates,” says Jeff Diehl, managing partner and head of investments at Adams Street, discussing potential challenges awaiting direct lenders after the strong growth of the asset class. Diehl joins Bloomberg Intelligence's Noel Hebert on this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast to talk about Adams Street's approach to private credit managers, a focus on sectors exposed to disruption, how having private equity (PE) and venture capital exposures creates synergies. They also discuss private market secondaries, how hyper-scaling in parts of the direct-lending market may add returns risk and the outlook for PE exit activity.

“I spend most of my time trying to downplay the stuff that you find fascinating, right?,” Joele Frank Partner Michael Freitag says. “The inter-creditor interaction, the creditor versus sponsor interaction, the creditor versus issuer action. We try to position all of that as this noise, this thing going off to the side, being managed by sophisticated investors and sophisticated advisors.” In this episode of The State of Distressed Debt, Freitag discusses with Bloomberg Intelligence's Noel Hebert and Phil Brendel how distressed companies' strategic communications have evolved over the past 30 years. (6:20) Freitag delves into the crafting and sequencing of press releases and 8-Ks as part of a comprehensive restructuring strategy, stressing that accurate, timely communications are critical to combat the growing presence of “dark arts” in social media. The podcast concludes with BI's Negisa Balluku joining Hebert and Brendel for a roundtable discussion on Spirit Airlines, LifeScan, At Home, Azul, TPI Composites, Claire's and QVC Group. (1:14:00)

Foreign demand for emerging-market local debt is improving, as overseas investors pursue yield differentials amid diminishing currency volatility. Bertrand Delgado, head of Latin America strategy at Societe Generale, joins Damian Sassower, Bloomberg Intelligence's chief emerging market fixed income strategist, to assess macroeconomic conditions across Latin America and the broader EM landscape, with implications for institutional investors across the globe. Delgado and Sassower touch on topics ranging from portfolio flows and foreign direct investment to cross-asset volatility and currency skew.

NetApp has evolved into a leader in intelligent-data infrastructure from a storage pioneer, helping enterprises unify, secure and optimize their data across on-premise and the cloud environments. Bloomberg Intelligence hardware analyst Woo Jin Ho hosts NetApp CEO George Kurian to discuss how he is positioning the company's flagship data-management platform, ONTAP, along with its deep cloud partnerships, to meet the emerging demands of AI workloads and the next wave of enterprise storage growth.

Distressed debt exchanges in the form of liability-management exercises are set to take off in Europe, according to Gibson Dunn, the US-based law firm. “You’re getting the same lawyers and bankers hired in Europe for deals that they do here — it’s not surprising that they would potentially roll out a playbook that’s worked,” Scott Greenberg, the firm’s global chair of business restructuring and reorganization, tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Stephen Flynn in the latest Credit Edge podcast. “It’s a natural progression to take that expertise and bring it to your clients overseas,” says Greenberg, who notes elevated levels of distress in France. We also discuss the likelihood of an imminent US LME revival, the bankruptcy outlook and communications sector stress.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We've been working with NVIDIA for a number of years now and we integrated a medical grade, GPU in our commercial product”, CEO Anne Osdoit explains to Bloomberg Intelligence in her description about how AI is being incorporated into Moon Surgical’s surgical robot. In this Vanguards of Health Care podcast episode, Osdoit sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview on Moon Surgical, the benefits of its Maestro AI-powered surgical platform, and how Maestro can address the current barriers that have kept penetration rates of robotic surgery low.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Weather drives nearly $1 trillion in annual spending-pattern shifts — boosting long john sales in Miami on a 60-degree day while slowing them in Minnesota. In this episode of ESG Currents, Bloomberg Intelligence senior climate analyst Andrew Stevenson speaks with Planalytics CEO Fred Fox about how companies such as Lowe’s are using weather insights to improve bottom-line results.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Credit fared better than rates and equities through multiple crises this year across the globe — France, tariffs, Fed concerns and even the UK worries. In this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast, host Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence's global head of credit strategy, discusses these crises and the multi-asset outlook with Iain Stealey, international CIO of global fixed income at JPMorgan Asset Management. They cover US, Europe and UK growth, inflation, central bank views and the dollar. The state of credit fundamentals and default expectations for the next year across Europe and the US are examined in detail, highlighting the resilience of credit in outperforming rates and equities. The Credit Crunch podcast is part of BI's FICC Focus series.

Visa processes more than 65,000 transactions per second across 200-plus countries, but behind those numbers lies a tech story that's often overlooked. In this episode of the Tech Disruptors podcast, Rajat Taneja, Visa's president of technology, joins Bloomberg Intelligence global fintech and payments analyst Diksha Gera to discuss how AI has been embedded in Visa's DNA for decades, and how the company is now pushing into new frontiers — from Visa Intelligent Commerce to secure agentic payments, identity innovation and stablecoins. With $12 billion invested in technology over the past five years, Visa is building not just a payment network, but the orchestration layer for the future of global commerce.

Some brokers are generating strong organic growth despite the tepid freight environment. Expansion can come from a strong service offering, lower costs to serve and shippers’ tendency to reduce the number of providers when trucking capacity is loose. In this episode of the Talking Transports podcast, Matt Pyatt, Arrive Logistics CEO and co-founder, joins Lee Klaskow, Bloomberg Intelligence senior transportation and logistics analyst, to explain how the company grew its truckload brokerage business 35% year over year in a challenging freight economy. Pyatt also discusses leaning on technology for productivity gains and driving costs per load down beyond the 40% achieved over the past 36 months. The conversation also covers consolidation, opportunities, challenges and fraud in the freight brokerage industry, as well as the importance of being relentless in business.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Once a scientist, forever a scientist,” says Legend Biotech CEO Ying Huang as he joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli to share his unconventional journey from the lab bench to Wall Street and back to biotech leadership. Dr. Huang explains how a dream led him from equity research to developing one of the most important CAR-T therapies for multiple myeloma. They explore the science behind BCMA targeting, lessons from the pivotal Johnson & Johnson partnership as well as the company’s ambitions in allogeneic and in-vivo therapies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“You need to manage your labor force now of humans and AI agents very differently”,  says Kishan Chetan, EVP & General Manager of Service Cloud at Salesforce, who argues service now means managing a blended workforce. In conversation with Anurag Rana, senior technology analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence in this episode of Tech Disruptors, he notes productivity gains of about 30% for some customers adopting agents in customer-service workflows, increasing reliance on the platform to orchestrate them. He also outlines the importance of command-center visibility for coordinating human-and-AI work, side-by-side agents that lift rep productivity, autonomous resolution across channels, and why a single platform matters as companies replace stitched-together stacks.

Traded corporate debt is much more attractive than private credit, according to RBC BlueBay Asset Management. “Public credit is far superior,” Tom Moulds, senior portfolio manager for investment-grade fixed income at the $534 billion firm, tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Tolu Alamutu in the latest Credit Edge podcast. “There’ll probably be a point where you do see losses and people get very concerned,” says Moulds, referring to private debt, which he doesn’t invest in. “If we did slip into a period where growth looked weaker, then I think it would be a problem,” he adds. The three also discuss impact investing, defense sector opportunities, financial debt valuations, real estate stress and European sovereign risk.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The real yield curve may steepen from both ends much further then it has, Mizuho Securities Head of Macro Strategy Dominic Konstam says on this Macro Matters edition of FICC Focus podcast. Konstam joins host Ira Jersey, head of interest-rate strategy at Bloomberg Intelligence. After reviewing Konstam's career arc, the two discuss term premium and how shifts in the yield curve could effect risk assets. Konstam thinks Trump Administration policies will continue to weight on the dollar. The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI's FICC Focus series.

“American medicine is the best in the world, but the American health-care system is not,” Akasa CEO Malinka Walaliyadde says. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Walaliyadde joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer to explore how Akasa is tackling the chaos of revenue-cycle management with AI. He explains why America’s overlapping payment models create inefficiency, how large-language models read massive patient records in minutes and why custom models built for each health system outperform off-the-shelf AI. They also discuss Akasa’s performance-based business model and the path toward real-time payer-provider communication, as well as the role that grit and conviction play in building a transformative company.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The pace of the truckload-rate recovery could be driven by the Trump administration’s focus on the enforcement of English-language proficiency (ELP) requirements, its pause on trucker work visas and the strength of this year’s peak season. In this Talking Transports podcast, Derek Leathers, Werner Enterprises’ chairman and CEO, joins Lee Klaskow, Bloomberg Intelligence senior transportation and logistics analyst, to share what could be around the corner for trucking. ELP enforcement on the state and national level might affect 5-15% of truckers, according to Leathers. He also reflects on the pending Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger, EPA engine mandates, the impact of the US’ more protectionist policies on freight demand and how he opted for the open road over a job on Wall Street.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pizza Inn is a massive sleeping giant with latent equity, Rave Restaurant Group CEO Brandon Solano tells Bloomberg Intelligence. In this episode of the Choppin’ It Up podcast, Solano sits down with BI’s senior restaurant and foodservice analyst Michael Halen to discuss why the chain’s buffet format is its biggest growth opportunity while weighing in on fast-casual pizza weakness, the rise of “Build-Your-Own Chipotle,” and Pizza Inn’s “Bambi & Friends” pie.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The worst thing that can happen in health-care and biomedical research is politics getting involved in choosing what research needs to be done for what disease, Dr. Elias Zerhouni tells Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli, explaining how mixing science and politics weakens innovation and public trust. On this episode of the Vanguards of Health Care podcast, Zerhouni, a former NIH director and vice chairman of OPKO Health, unpacks his new book Disease Knows No Politics, warns against cutting US research funding and explains why immigration is vital for scientific leadership. He also dives into OPKO and ModeX’s cutting-edge work on multivalent vaccines and multi-specific antibodies that could change the treatment landscape. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Databases are shifting from passive engines to reasoning tools for artificial intelligence, according to Google Cloud's Yasmeen Ahmad. She joined Bloomberg Intelligence senior technology analyst Mandeep Singh to discuss how AI agents are reshaping the market, citing production use cases involving retrieval-augmented generation and tokenization. Ahmad pointed to rising demand for databases and said Google's infrastructure — including its in-house chips and large language models — gives the company an edge in addressing return-on-investment concerns tied to AI adoption.

Leveraged buyouts are poised for a revival, albeit less aggressively structured than in the last wave, according to Moody’s Ratings. “Ultimately everyone will need to adjust to the new environment and you will see deal flow come back,” Christina Padgett, the firm’s head of leveraged finance and private credit research, tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Jean-Yves Coupin in the latest episode of the Credit Edge podcast. “There’s too much capital that needs to be put to work,” says Padgett, noting potential for LBOs in the technology, health care and services sectors. We also discuss the rise of distressed debt exchanges, leveraged loan risk, the impact of tariffs on weak borrowers and why default rates should fall next year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Defense burden-sharing among US allies is a cornerstone of President Donald Trump's international agenda, but has been overshadowed by tariff discussions. On this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus podcast series, George Ferguson, senior aerospace/defense & airline analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, joins host and BI chief interest-rate strategist Ira Jersey to discuss shifts in defense spending and weapon systems. They also examine how spending may shift based on proximity to threats. Ferguson assesses the companies that may benefit from these increased outlays, and some of the challenges in fulfilling orders. The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI's FICC Focus series.

“We are reinventing ourselves. We don’t want to be just a legacy orthopedic company and I think we’re driving with the same enthusiasm as Arnold Schwarzenegger,” Zimmer Biomet Chairman, President and CEO Ivan Tornos tells Bloomberg Intelligence. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Tornos sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview about Zimmer Biomet and the strategic initiatives made through internal developments and key acquisitions, including Paragon 28 and Monogram, to accelerate its weighted average market growth rate (WAMGR). He also discusses the current orthopedic landscape and the opportunities arising from the shift to the ambulatory surgical center (ASC) setting, as well as his relationship with Arnold Schwarzenegger as Chief Movement Officer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Extreme weather is taking toll on farm output worldwide, with record droughts and wildfires driving up prices in markets for cocoa, cattle and coffee. In this episode of ESG Currents, Bloomberg Intelligence senior climate analyst Andrew Stevenson is joined by Dave Farnham, chief data scientist at ClimateAi, to discuss how better data can help minimize climate costs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Significant Risk Transfers or SRTs have been a crucial part of balance sheet management for banks and an attractive investment class within private credit for credit investors looking for alternatives to public credit markets. Demystifying SRTs and understanding the process and evaluation of these assets is crucial for credit investors. In this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast, Mahesh Bhimalingam, Global Head of Credit Strategy at Bloomberg Intelligence hosts an investor, Matthew Moniot, Head of Credit Risk Sharing at ManGroup and a seller, James Plunkett, Head of Capital and Risk Distribution at Natwest along with Lento Tang, Senior Bank Analyst who has published a survey on SRTs, in a highly informative podcast. The Credit Crunch podcast is part of BI's FICC Focus series. Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

China's consumers are a powerful force – the world's second-biggest spenders after the US. Officials want to harness this to transform the nation into a "mega-sized consumer powerhouse," and there are some initial signs of success with increased spending on home appliances, toys and jewelry. But how sustainable is this uptick in conspicuous consumption, and how much should investors worry about the Chinese consumer being fundamentally changed by the pandemic and real estate crash? Despite policymakers efforts to create a consumer-based economy, it still only accounts for about 39% of GDP, significantly below the OECD average of 54%. This week we take a deep dive into the Chinese consumer with Catherine Lim, senior analyst for consumer and technology at Bloomberg Intelligence, and Anson Bailey, head of Asia Pacific consumer and retail at KPMG. They speak with John and Katia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The right pricing strategy can make or break margins on less-than-truckload shipments, especially amid weak demand. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s Talking Transports podcast, SMC³ President and CEO Andrew Slusher joins BI’s senior transportation and logistics analyst Lee Klaskow to explain how the company’s technology-driven tools help shippers, carriers and brokers make informed decisions on rates, costs, transit times and emissions. They discuss trends in the LTL industry — from dynamic pricing and sustainability to market uncertainty, consolidation and FedEx Freight’s planned spinoff. Slusher also shares insights on leadership, innovation, AI’s potential impact on transportation and his shift to trucking from aviation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“So it's a tough situation when you're managing a spread-based portfolio, like a CLO. And obviously we don't have the luxury of tightening the spreads on the liability side,” says Matt Bloomfield, partner at Palmer Square and president of Palmer Square Capital BDC, when discussing the current pace of re-pricings across the leveraged loan market. Bloomfield joins Bloomberg Intelligence's Noel Hebert on this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast to talk about traditional and static CLOs, a less-conventional approach to business development companies and Palmer's roots in opportunistic credit. They also discuss relative value and the current credit landscape, the advantages of scale, diversification and leverage. 

“If you can drive the brain’s naturally occurring activity, what you can get is the biologic expression that is important for brains to maintain and protect themselves,” Cognito Therapeutics’ CEO Christian Howell tells Bloomberg Intelligence in this episode of the Vanguards of Health Care podcast. Howell sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson to discuss the company and its Spectris device — a non-invasive therapeutic intervention designed to use gamma waves to preserve brain structure and function, starting with Alzheimer’s patients. He also highlights the promise of Cognito’s Hope study and reflects on how his time in the Navy and at Medtronic under former CEO Omar Ishrak shaped his “fidelity to the mission” leadership mantra.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin covers the following stories: Illegal immigrant trucker accused of killing 3 people in Florida; truckstop.com and Bloomberg Intelligence released the results of two surveys of carriers' and brokers' optimism; Kevin covers the details, digs through the information, puts the stories into historical perspective and offers his insights and an opinion or two.

Collateralized loan obligation equity stands to gain as much as 15% this year, according to Tetragon Credit Partners. “It’s teens returns, high current cash flows and diversification,” said Dagmara Michalczuk, co-chief investment officer at the firm, which specializes in the riskiest part of the CLO market. “We are in vanilla corporate America, just using a little bit of leverage in financial engineering to generate those returns,” she tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Mike Campellone in the latest Credit Edge podcast. Michalczuk and Campellone also discuss the risk of loss from liability-management exercises, private debt valuations, loan defaults and relative value in European CLOs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The future of the dollar is dictated by the large overhang of unhedged dollar assets, says Hemant Baijal, head of macro alpha strategies at Invesco. Baijal joins Ira Jersey, Bloomberg Intelligence's head of US interest-rate strategy, and Will Hoffman, BI's senior US and Canada rates-strategy associate, on this episode of the Macro Matters podcast to discuss the world of international bond funds. They cover strategic approaches to managing global rates, credit and FX risks, and how those have shifted in recent months. They also explore relative value across nominal and inflation-linked curves. The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI's FICC Focus series.

Kevin covers the following stories: Illegal immigrant trucker accused of killing 3 people in Florida; truckstop.com and Bloomberg Intelligence released the results of two surveys of carriers' and brokers' optimism; Kevin covers the details, digs through the information, puts the stories into historical perspective and offers his insights and an opinion or two.

Enabling brands to activate their data in selling across multiple channels with a targeted message is Klaviyo's mission. The company's customer-relationship-management technology lets users scale up with a personalized approach to millions of consumers. In this Tech Disruptors podcast episode, Klaviyo Chief Product Officer Adil Wali sits down with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Niraj Patel to discuss how the company is expanding customer reach across email, SMS, mobile and other communication channels. He dives into some emerging trends in marketing-tech automation, consumer engagement with AI agents and the industry evolution beyond batch and blast marketing. Listen in to learn about Klaviyo's opportunity beyond e-commerce and newer offerings like Customer Hub.

Focusing on scale and productivity helps freight brokers offset weak demand and rates, protect margins and position for growth. In this Talking Transports podcast, Drew Wilkerson, chairman and CEO of RXO, joins Lee Klaskow, Bloomberg Intelligence senior transportation and logistics analyst, to share how the company is navigating the current challenging freight environment and looking ahead for when the market eventually turns. Wilkerson provides insights into the benefits and integration of the Coyote Logistics purchase from UPS in September. He expects the freight-brokerage industry to continue to consolidate from the current top nine brokers, which account for over 50% of volume. Wilkerson also touches on AI’s impact on its business, the importance of its customer-centric culture and how the broker is dealing with the uncertain times.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The record-breaking pace of muni issuance and investors' risk-off tone toward duration have driven a sharp steepening of the municipal yield curve, leaving it trailing other fixed-income sectors. In an environment also marked by market volatility and shifting policy dynamics, the case for active management in munis has never been stronger. In this episode of the Masters of the Muniverse podcast, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Karen Altamirano talks with Jason Hannon, head of municipal strategy and senior portfolio manager at Wilmington Trust, about how this year's developments are shaping muni investment decisions.

“So for us, it's a $40 trillion market,” says John Cortese, head of portfolio management at Apollo, when talking about the mostly investment grade opportunity in private credit, including asset backed deals and corporates. Cortese joins Bloomberg Intelligence's Noel Hebert on this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast to talk about where the growth comes from, the evolution of a secondary market and why private credit works for high grade borrowers. They also get into the shifting landscape in credit trading, the advantages of being big and fast, relative value plays and lessons learned from trading synthetics in the early aughts.

Emerging market economies are benefiting from better-than-expected growth and inflation expectations, with local rates looking set to outperform amid a more dovish US Federal Reserve. Dirk Willer, managing director and global head of macroeconomic research at Citigroup, joins Damian Sassower, Bloomberg Intelligence's chief emerging-market fixed-income strategist, to assess the fixed-income landscape, with implications for interest rate and currency markets across the globe. Willer and Sassower touch on topics ranging from systematic drivers and foreign positioning to FX-hedge flows and central bank reserves.

PayPal is betting that artificial intelligence will drive the next wave of fintech innovation — from boosting developer productivity to fighting fraud and personalizing user experiences. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence's Tech Disruptors podcast, Prakhar Mehrotra, PayPal's global head of AI, joins BI global fintech and payments analyst Diksha Gera to discuss how the company is preparing for “agentic commerce,” where AI agents may soon shop, decide negotiate and pay on users' behalf. The conversation explores the trust and identity frameworks needed to support autonomous digital transactions, and PayPal's view on what gives it the right to win.

More companies will fail to repay debt as funding costs stay high, according to Mudrick Capital Management. “What we’re getting is just elevated defaults every year, we think for the next five to seven years,” Jason Mudrick, the distressed debt fund’s founder and chief investment officer, tells Bloomberg News’ Irene Garcia Perez and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Mike Holland in the latest Credit Edge podcast. “The catalyst today is not an economic downturn — it’s this normalization of interest rates,” says Mudrick. They also discuss the Tropicana, Yellow Pages and Shutterfly debt restructurings, as well as flying taxi maker Vertical Aerospace.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US restaurant spending has been resilient, and guests are looking for a better sit-down experience, SPB Hospitality CEO Josh Kern tells Bloomberg Intelligence. In this episode of the Choppin’ It Up podcast, Kern sits down with BI senior restaurant and foodservice analyst Michael Halen to discuss how the company’s brands, including J. Alexander’s and Krystal, are performing this year. He also comments on M&A and refranchising opportunities as well as dirty sodas and the impact of GLP-1s.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Generative AI is transforming how enterprises and consultants create value, and on this episode of Tech Disruptors, Matt Wood, PwC's global and US commercial technology and innovation officer, explains how it's doing so. Wood tells Bloomberg Intelligence senior technology analyst Anurag Rana that it's a “golden era” for professional services, where the scale and impact of work could grow exponentially. He shares insights from PwC's Agent OS platform, AI adoption in regulated industries and new data on how upskilling boosts revenue per worker. The discussion also explores cloud strategy, cultural inertia in software teams and AI's role as a human amplifier.

Union Pacific’s $88 billion bid for Norfolk Southern could usher in a new era for the North American railroad industry if the companies can show the Surface Transportation Board that the deal will enhance competition and is in the public interest. In this Talking Transports podcast, Tony Hatch, founder and president of ABH Consulting, joins Lee Klaskow, Bloomberg Intelligence senior transportation and logistics analyst, to share his insights about the merits and challenges of a possible merger between the two large railroads. UP and NS will need to make their case to all stakeholders, which include shippers, workers, Norfolk shareholders and regulators, who could be the most difficult to persuade. The downstream effect of a deal or perceived likelihood of regulatory approval could lead to further consolidation among Class I carriers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“I want a decent proportion of my returns to be from actively trading either through themes, individual instruments or...between EM and DM, between Europe and the US,“ says Andrew Jackson, head of Investments and leader of the Fixed Income Boutique for Vontobel. Jackson joined Bloomberg Intelligence's Noel Hebert and Damian Sassower on this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast to talk beta vs. alpha exposures, current risk pricing across credit, the emerging-market landscape and the value in active management.

In this podcast interview, Mike McLean, a senior commodity strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, offers a nuanced perspective on current economic trends, focusing on potential deflationary forces and market corrections. McLean argues that commodities are experiencing a significant downturn, with crude oil down 9% and grains down 16% for the year, primarily due to their previous inflationary peaks in 2022. McLean anticipates a potential market correction, particularly in the U.S. stock market, which he believes is overvalued and approaching a critical point of reversion. He highlights historical parallels with market peaks in 1929 and 1989, suggesting that the current market conditions share similar characteristics of excessive valuation and speculative sentiment. Gold and U.S. Treasury bonds are McLean's preferred assets for the remainder of the year. He notes that gold ETF holdings are up 10% this year, after four consecutive years of decline, and predicts gold could reach $4,000 per ounce. Central bank buying and a potential stock market pullback could further drive gold's performance. The interview also explores the potential impact of tariffs, particularly on industrial metals like copper, and the changing dynamics of global trade. McLean argues that the U.S. is reshaping international trade relationships, which could pressure corporate profits and contribute to market volatility. Regarding cryptocurrencies, McLean is cautious, viewing them as highly correlated with the stock market and potentially vulnerable to a correction. He suggests that the proliferation of stablecoins represents a more practical application of blockchain technology for financial transactions. McLean's overall thesis centers on the cyclical nature of markets, emphasizing that periods of inflation are typically followed by deflationary corrections. He warns investors to be wary of consensus thinking and to pay attention to historical patterns and market signals that suggest a potential downturn. The interview concludes with a reminder that market psychology and sentiment are crucial indicators of potential market movements, and that extreme optimism often precedes significant corrections.

“AI and agentic marketing is at the top of the list” as the next growth catalyst for customer engagement, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Chief Steve Hammond tells Bloomberg Intelligence, flagging the company's move to deploy autonomous, context-aware agents that personalize outreach in milliseconds. In this Tech Disruptors episode, Hammond sits down with BI senior technology analyst Anurag Rana to explore how Salesforce's Marketing Cloud unifies data across sales, service and commerce. He also discusses the role of AI-powered agents and real-time personalization, and why integrated, trust-centric customer data positions marketers for resilience through economic cycles.

AT&T aims to maintain a lead in the US fiber market to sustain growth as its core wireless business slows. In this episode of Tech Disruptors, Jeff McElfresh, Chief Operating Officer of AT&T, speaks with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst John Butler about the company's plan to expand its base to more than 60 million locations by 2030, from just over 30 million today. They also discuss how solid planning and execution have helped the company to sustain steady subscriber gains in its wireless business amid rising competition and fierce pricing pressure.

Bloomberg Intelligence's Eric Balchunas on the heyday of exchange-traded funds -- a multi-trillion-dollar megatrend that has democratized investing for Mom & Pop and dragged Wall Street into all sorts of cheaper / faster / better.