Season 4 Episode 4 – The Applegreen story: The art of disruption

Joe Barrett | CEO of Applegreen

Double UCD Business alumnus in BComm and MBA Joe Barrett discusses building the Applegreen retail empire and charting the journey from one to over 600 service stations. 

Season 4 Episode 3 – Is your company ready for ESG Reporting?

Assistant Professor Rebecca Maughan and Assistant Professor Seán O'Reilly

Assistant Professor Rebecca Maughan and Assistant Professor Seán O'Reilly talk about the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the new European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRSs) along with the EU's Green Deal and Taxonomy. 

They give an overview of the new regulations and standards and discuss the challenges and benefits for businesses, stakeholders and the accounting and audit profession. They also examine greenwashing and the risks of noncompliance for companies as we move towards a net-zero future.

Season 4 Episode 2 – Should Executive Education be more like TikTok?

Professor Tim Wray

New Director of UCD Smurfit Executive Development Professor Tim Wray discusses trends in executive education from bite chunk to virtual learning and designing accessible ways of learning for busy executives to refresh their skills and stay relevant in a diverse, global workforce.

Season 4 Episode 1 – Business Education in the 21st Century

Professor Federica Pazzaglia

New Director of UCD Smurfit School Professor Federica Pazzaglia discusses how research with real world impact will drive the future of business education.

Season 3 Episode 16 – Call in the Consultants

Assistant Professor Kathy O’Reilly | Management Consultancy

Academic Director for the MSc in Management Consultancy Kathy O’Reilly is a leader in work-integrated learning that brings students and companies together for real-world based projects. She discusses the key benefits of hiring management consultants including the value of a fresh set of eyes to bring about new ideas and efficiencies.

Season 3 Episode 15 – AI: Hype vs Reality

Professor Mike O’Neill | Business Analytics

7th June 2023. Founding Director of the UCD Natural Computing Research and Applications Group Professor Mike O’Neill looks inside the machine and subjects generative AI to a reality check to determine if it is a useful business tool or a job killer. 

Season 3 Episode 14 – Irish banks blossom post Brexit

Fernando Vicario | CEO of Bank of America Europe DAC

30th May 2023. Fernando Vicario leads Bank of America Europe as CEO and is also the Country Executive for Ireland. He discusses Ireland’s bustling banking hub, as well as key priorities for the organisation including ESG and diversity and inclusion.

Season 3 Episode 13 – The Good Leadership Revolution

Joanne Hession | Entrepreneur, Founder and CEO of LIFT Ireland 

25th April 2023 - Joanne Hession, UCD Quinn and Smurfit School alumna, is the founder of Entrepreneurs Academy and more recently LIFT (Leading Ireland’s Future Together) which is the country's first and most inclusive social enterprise focused on elevating the standard of leadership. She discusses her work in the organisation and a national campaign to grow better leaders.

Season 3 Episode 12 – Job today, gone tomorrow

Michael McDonnell | Careers Manager, Business and Executive Coach

28th March 2023 - UCD Careers Network Manager Michael McDonnell discusses navigating today’s stormy jobs market, finding opportunities and how employers and graduates can find appeal to each other. 

Season 3 Episode 11 – Can our psychological addiction to property be cured?

Associate Professor Paul Ryan | Finance and Property

14th March 2023. Vice Principal for Teaching and Learning Paul Ryan discusses Ireland’s fatal attraction to property and his current research that psychoanalyses the country's relationship with land ownership and development. 

Season 3 Episode 10 – Global food price hikes: Who’s to blame?

Professor Don Bredin | Finance and Globalisation

13th February 2023. Vice Principal for Internationalization and Global Engagement Professor Don Bredin discusses global price wars and who is stoking global food prices.

Season 3 Episode 9 – Problem Solvers: How mathematical techniques help leaders make better decisions

Assistant Professor Annunziata Esposito Amideo | Management Information Systems

1st February 2023. Dr Esposito Amideo explains how using operational research and mathematical modelling can result in better outcomes in real-world scenarios, including business decisions, global challenges and reacting to natural disasters. 

Season 3 Episode 8 – Business Failure: The hospitality industry fights back

Assistant Professor Orla Byrne | Entrepreneurship and Strategy

13th January 2023. Focusing on the lived experience of entrepreneurship, Dr Orla Byrne discusses why entrepreneurship is good for society and how Ireland's hospitality sector can survive tough times. She also discusses her new initiative, AtThePass.ie, which is designed to support the current needs of hospitality, food and drink-related business owners.

Season 3 Episode 7 - Is polycrisis the word of the year? Looking back at the biggest business stories of 2022

Elaine Burke and Donal O'Donovan | Business Journalists

20th December 2022. Elaine Burke, editor of Silicon Republic, and Donal O’Donovan, Business Editor at the Irish Independent and Chairman of the Business Journalists Association of Ireland, look back over the leading business stories in 2022.

Season 3 Episode 6 - Taxing Times

Anna Scally | International Tax Partner, Head of Technology and Media, and FinTech Lead, KPMG Ireland

13th December 2022. KPMG Partner and UCD Quinn School alumna Anna Scally discusses whether Ireland can remain an FDI leader and the future of Ireland's tech cluster. 

Season 3 Episode 5 - Transforming your Organisation

Harry Goddard | CEO of Deloitte Ireland

15th November 2022. Deloitte CEO Harry Goddard explains how firms, including his own, are changing to meet an anxious age and reveals how to navigate a world in a state of “permacrisis”.

Season 3 Episode 4 - Inflation: crisis or opportunity?

Julie Ennis | CEO Corporate Services UK & Ireland and Country President Ireland, Sodexo

8th November 2022. Julie Ennis discusses how her UCD Smurfit School MBA helped in her leadership leap from Bank of Ireland to Sodexo and how staying client focused amid surging prices is presenting new opportunities for cost mitigation and sustainability. She also discusses the company’s dedication to its people and diversity in leadership positions. 

Season 3 Episode 3 - No silver bullet: Why government needs a fresh approach to the energy crisis

Mary Quaney | Chief Executive Officer, Mainstream Renewable Power

25th October 2022. UCD Business Alumni Award winner for 2022 Mary Quaney talks about Mainstream’s tremendous international growth in emerging markets and how enhancing grid transmission infrastructure may see Ireland become a powerhouse in wind energy.

Season 3 Episode 2 - Our energy future: Charting this winter and the winters ahead

Assistant Professor Mel Devine | Management Information Systems

With a background in mathematical and statistical modelling of energy markets, Assistant Professor Mel Devine reveals how renewables may solve this winter’s looming energy crisis and how new energy forms could hold the key to our future.

Season 3 Episode 1 - Creativity in Business

Allen Higgins | Management Information Systems

Research Associate Allen Higgins discusses the role of good design and creativity and how they can be positively applied in the world of business.