Season 6 Episode 5 – The Pivot and the Payoff: Siobhán Talbot on Strategy, Growth and Earning the Right to Grow
Siobhan Talbot | Former Group Managing Director, Glanbia
2 December 2025 – UCD BComm alumna Siobhán Talbot is one of Ireland's most accomplished and widely respected business leaders. Join us as she discusses her remarkable career journey, which she describes as a "baptism of fire" from the hard graft of PwC to her rise to Group Managing Director of Glanbia. Siobhán shares how the massive risk of strategically pivoting Glanbia away from purely food production into global nutrition, supplements and health paid off. She discusses her passion for company culture, the relentless pace of change and what it truly takes to “earn the right to grow” in today’s dynamic global market.
Season 6 Episode 4 – The Art of the Possible: AI and the Future of Work
Fiona Carney | COO of EMEA, Microsoft
28 Nov 2025 - UCD BComm alumna Fiona Carney explores one of the biggest transformations reshaping the world of work, AI.
A leader at Microsoft, she draws on her expertise to explain how AI is enhancing productivity, enabling higher-value work, accelerating innovation, and transforming how companies engage with customers.
But, she explains how technology alone isn’t enough; people, skills, and change management matter more than ever.
From upskilling and security to evolving job roles and the skills students should be developing now, Fiona shares a practical and inspiring vision of what’s possible when humans and AI work together.
A must-listen for anyone interested in leadership, the future of work and accelerating transformation at speed and scale.
Season 6 Episode 3 – Financing Flight: Professor Tom Conlon on decarbonising the skies
Professor Tom Conlon | Aviation Finance
11 Nov 2025 - Aviation could account for up to 20% of global carbon emissions by 2050, but as Professor Tom Conlon explains, the real barrier to change isn’t technology, it’s finance.
He believes that if the sector is to grow, it has to decarbonise, but to do so, bold investor actions are required. Tom’s recent research, featured in Science, one of the world’s leading academic journals, explores how new financial models can drive deep decarbonisation in aviation.
He explains that the technological tools for reducing emissions are already known, but the willingness to invest in high-risk, high-impact innovation is lacking.
To help bridge the gap between climate ambition and financial reality, Conlon and fellow researchers have developed the Aviation Sustainability Index (ASI), a simple metric that tracks whether airlines are decoupling emissions from growth.
By making sustainability measurable and investable, his research offers a roadmap for how finance can help aviation achieve real climate progress.
Season 6 Episode 2 – Dr Emmet Oliver on the lessons to be learned from Ireland’s economic past
Emmet Oliver | Business Journalist, Lecturer and Author
7 Oct 2025 - Dr Emmet Oliver, Lecturer at UCD College of Business, takes a deep dive into the pivotal decades that shaped modern Ireland, drawing on insights from his new book, Irish Nation Building: Government, Business and Power, 1922–1958.
From early paralysis in the policy programme to embracing free trade and foreign investment, the conversation traces how Ireland transformed its economic destiny through openness, education, and human capital development.
Tune in for an engaging discussion that connects Ireland’s economic past to the opportunities and challenges of the future, and what today’s policymakers and business leaders can learn from that journey.
Season 6 Episode 1 – Leading for High Performance: Lessons from Leinster Rugby with Leo Cullen
Leo Cullen | Head Coach, Leinster Rugby
23 Sept 2025 - What does it take to build and sustain a culture of excellence under relentless pressure? Leinster Rugby Head Coach Leo Cullen joins us to explore the leadership lessons from one of the most successful professional rugby organisations in the world. Leo shares his perspective on creating a winning culture, developing next-generation talent, and leading with resilience in the face of high expectations. He also discusses the team’s connection to UCD and the Leading High Performance Organisations programme that is run between Leinster Rugby and Smurfit Executive Development.
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