Sergey Netessine is Senior Vice Dean of Innovation and Global Initiatives at the Wharton School and the Durbani Armani Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He is an expert in business model innovation, venture capital, and corporate-startup collaboration. Sergey also serves as an Amazon Scholar, applying academic insights to real-world strategy and operations. An active investor and educator, he teaches programs on business model innovation, venture capital, and lifelong learning for executives and students worldwide.
Key Takeaways
(01:20 - 05:15) Serguei Netessine’s Role at Wharton
(05:15 - 12:30) Wharton Global Youth Program
(12:30 - 20:45) Business Model Innovation
(20:45 - 28:00) Sergey’s Work at Amazon
(28:00 - 35:15) The Future of AI and Jobs
(35:15 - 42:00) Investment Strategies and Insights
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1. Making Microsoft Work for Everyone: Insights from Stephan Kuhnert
Stephan reflects on his early career. He talks about the days before cloud-based Office when every document had multiple “final” versions—final, final version two, final copy—and how people constantly copied, pasted, and updated information manually. Collaboration was messy, with conflicts and multiple versions causing frustration.
The conversation then moves to how Microsoft 365 changed the game. Cloud-based collaboration allows teams to work on a single file without conflicts or losing track of versions. This shift has been one of the most profound changes in office productivity over the past decade and has set the stage for more advanced features like AI. Stephan notes that AI is promising, but its full potential is still emerging in Microsoft tools.
Alex and Stephan also discuss the challenges companies face when adopting software like Empower. Stephan points out that people often resist changing habits. Even when powerful features are available, many users stick to familiar workflows because learning new software takes time and effort. He emphasizes that software today needs to be intuitive and simple to use—people expect apps to work as easily as a smartphone app.
Design habits in Microsoft Office come under the microscope as well. Alex recalls how early Office versions encouraged bullet points and shortcuts to simplify content creation, but this also led to widespread “bad design habits.” Stephan explains how Empower helps sophisticated brand teams inside large companies create content that respects brand guidelines while being visually effective and easier to consume.
What really stood out to me back then were the “final” files: final, final version two, final. Then you would do the copy-pasting, update the date, the names of the people—yeah, okay. That was really my normal life. (Stephan Kuhnert)
2. Making Microsoft Work for Everyone: Insights from Stephan Kuhnert
Stephan reflects on his early career. He talks about the days before cloud-based Office when every document had multiple “final” versions—final, final version two, final copy—and how people constantly copied, pasted, and updated information manually. Collaboration was messy, with conflicts and multiple versions causing frustration.
The conversation then moves to how Microsoft 365 changed the game. Cloud-based collaboration allows teams to work on a single file without conflicts or losing track of versions. This shift has been one of the most profound changes in office productivity over the past decade and has set the stage for more advanced features like AI. Stephan notes that AI is promising, but its full potential is still emerging in Microsoft tools.
Alex and Stephan also discuss the challenges companies face when adopting software like Empower. Stephan points out that people often resist changing habits. Even when powerful features are available, many users stick to familiar workflows because learning new software takes time and effort. He emphasizes that software today needs to be intuitive and simple to use—people expect apps to work as easily as a smartphone app.
Design habits in Microsoft Office come under the microscope as well. Alex recalls how early Office versions encouraged bullet points and shortcuts to simplify content creation, but this also led to widespread “bad design habits.” Stephan explains how Empower helps sophisticated brand teams inside large companies create content that respects brand guidelines while being visually effective and easier to consume.