Elephants in the Boardroom

Faisal Abdalla became CEO of a 27-country business, stepped down in his early seventies - and took the HR job. What happens when experience refuses to expire?

Dean van Leeuwen and Graeme Codrington open this month’s episode with the grey elephants on their radar they see stampeding: the reshaping of global supply chains from efficiency to strategic dependency; 17 countries with simultaneous wildfires; China’s one-child policy time bomb; and OpenAI’s models autonomously hacking Hugging Face - raising questions about whether AI singularity has already quietly arrived.

Our guest this month is Faisal Abdalla - former CEO of ALJ Saudi Arabia Motors, now its Chief HR and Kaizen Officer, and author of Emonomics - The Economics of Positive Emotions. With 50 years of leadership across 27 countries, Faisal makes a quietly radical argument: the human being is always the most important driver of any organisation. And love - in the fullest sense of the word - is the practical foundation of effective leadership.

You’ll take away:

• Lead through informal power - the kind that can’t be granted or taken away

• Experience is a strategic asset - the wisdom that leaves with every forced retirement is irreplaceable

• HR leadership requires a different patience - culture change takes years; the leaders who understand this build institutions

This episode explores: Ageing Populations and Intelligent Advances - two of the seven grey elephants we track at TomorrowToday Global.

The Elephant you could name: When was the last time your organisation retired someone whose wisdom you couldn’t afford to lose?

🔗 Resources mentioned·

· Emonomics: The Economics of Positive Emotions - forthcoming book by Faisal Abdalla

· Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) - global family business founded in Saudi Arabia, operating in 27+ countries (alj.com)

· The Jameel Principles - values framework at the heart of ALJ, centred on respect, empathy, and giving back

· Kaizen - Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement, embedded in ALJ through its Toyota origins

· Hugging Face - open-source AI platform; OpenAI models reportedly gained unauthorised access (huggingface.co)

· AI Singularity - Sam Altman’s claim that the point of indistinguishable human/machine intelligence may already have arrived

· Ray Kurzweil - futurist who predicted singularity circa 2045

· ELIZA Emulator (elizaemulator.com)

· China’s one-child policy - and its second/third-order demographic consequences

· The seven grey elephants framework → tomorrowtoday.consulting/greyelephantsintroduction

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The real AI question isn't about automation - it's whether we're designing technology to advance human capability or quietly engineer it out.
In this episode, Dean van Leeuwen and Graeme Codrington ask the question most boardrooms aren't asking: are we advancing intelligence, or just advancing the artificial?
Hear what happened when one of Nashville's Waymo driverless taxis ends up in a standoff with a road foreman that the algorithm can't understand, and why the Pope's new encyclical on AI - mirrors its 130-year-old predecessor from the height of the Industrial Revolution.
You'll take away:
• Demand "humans in the lead" not just "humans in the loop" - genuine responsibility for AI outcomes
• Reframe AI as advancing intelligence - the language you use shapes the choices you make
• Build the guardrails now - seatbelts weren't mandated until the 1980s; AI's side effects are already visible
🔗 Resources mentioned
Magnificat Humanitatis - Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on AI → https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html#The_res_novae_of_our_time
Rerum Novarum - Pope Leo XIII (1891) → https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html
The seven grey elephants framework → https://tomorrowtoday.consulting/greyelephantsintroduction
This episode explores: Intelligent Advances - one of the seven grey elephants we track at TomorrowToday Global.
The Elephant You Could Name: Are you using AI to make your people more capable, or more replaceable?
Full shownotes, references and white papers: https://www.tomorrowtoday.consulting/podcast#episode-17
Sponsored by Achilles - building anti-fragile, transparent supply chains. achilles.com
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Why the most experienced workers in your organisation are the ones most likely to be filtered out - and what to do about it.
Most organisations are facing talent shortages, productivity problems, and skills gaps - and overlooking one of the most capable parts of the labour market: people in midlife and beyond. In this episode, Dean van Leeuwen and Graeme Codrington are joined by Lucy Standing (founder of Brave Starts and author of Age Against the Machine) and Lynda Smith (CEO of 50 Plus Skills) to name the elephant: the ageing workforce is not a problem to be managed - it's a competitive advantage waiting to be unlocked. The conversation ranges from the collapse of the pension model to the four career archetypes that matter more than any job description, and from the science of crystallised intelligence to the concept of "refirement" - the positive reinvention of purpose and work in the gift season between 50 and 75.
You'll take away:
• Ask before you assume - survey your own workforce first, it costs nothing
• Design for re-entry - open your doors to shadowing, internships, and career conversations at every stage
• Reframe age as an asset - crystallised intelligence, resilience, and legacy-making improve with age and these are the factors that actually predict performance
Chapters:

00:00 - Lucy Standing on why "follow your passion" is bad career advice for most people

01:11 - Welcome and context: Dean on Standard Chartered's "low-value human capital" moment

02:13 - AI as replacement engine vs. augmentation engine

05:31 - Sponsor: Achilles

05:31 - Guest introductions: Lucy Standing and Lynda Smith

06:24 - The demographic problem: how retirement was designed for a world where people died at 66

13:55 - The pension time bomb: from 7 adults per pensioner to 2 by 2050

10:15 - The South African lens: Lynda on the "missing middle" and the post-apartheid youth bias

17:36 - The productivity-ageism connection: what organisations miss when they filter out over-50s

27:54 - Four motivation archetypes: strive, pivot, recalibrate, or complete change

31:53 - Age Against the Machine: the three "machines" holding people back

38:32 - Refirement: Lynda on identity, ikigai, and the gift season

51:31 - Practical shifts: what a CEO or HR director should do tomorrow

54:41 - Close: how to connect with Lucy and Lynda

This episode explores: Ageing Populations and Intelligent Advances - two of the seven grey elephants we track at TomorrowToday Global.
The Elephant you could name: Who in your organisation is within five years of the retirement line and quietly underused? Have the conversation this week.
Full shownotes, references and white papers: https://www.tomorrowtoday.consulting/podcast#episode-17
Sponsored by Achilles - building anti-fragile, transparent supply chains. achilles.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve spent decades making our organisations leaner, faster, and more efficient. But what if that optimisation is now the problem?
Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen explore two forces reshaping leadership in real time: the “big squeeze” hitting global supply chains, and the subtle but dangerous shift towards outsourcing our thinking to AI.
As geopolitical tensions disrupt trade routes and expose the limits of just-in-time systems, we unpack what this “big squeeze” means for businesses - and why resilience is no longer enough. Instead, leaders must think in terms of anti-fragility: building organisations that don’t just withstand shocks, but improve because of them.
Shifting focus to AI, where the real risk isn’t the technology itself, but how we use it. Drawing on recent research, hear what happens when people stop questioning AI outputs, and why critical thinking is becoming a defining leadership capability.
Our interview this month is with Jude Foulston, a colleague at TomorrowToday Consulting and a leading voice on the future of education. She joins Graeme to explore whether current schooling systems are preparing young people for a radically changing world.
Using the TIDES model (Technology, Institutional change, Demographics, Environment, Social values), Jude explains how education must evolve - from content delivery to connection, from standardisation to personalisation, and from compliance to curiosity. The conversation challenges long-held assumptions about what schools are for, and what role parents, teachers, and leaders must now play.
Key takeaways
🌍 The “big squeeze” on supply chains
Global disruption is exposing the risks of hyper-optimised, just-in-time systems - making access to goods, resources, and materials more uncertain and expensive.
⚖️ From resilience to anti-fragility
It’s no longer enough to recover from shocks - organisations must design systems that get stronger through disruption.
🏭 Rethinking supply chain strategy
Nearshoring, stronger supplier relationships, and strategic excess capacity are becoming essential for long-term stability.
🧠 Cognitive surrender and AI risk
When people stop questioning AI outputs, performance drops - especially when the technology is wrong.
⚠️ Expertise still matters
AI is most powerful in the hands of experts who know how to challenge and guide it, not blindly follow it.
💡 Critical thinking as a core skill
Curiosity, challenge, and independent judgment are becoming non-negotiable capabilities in AI-enabled organisations.
🤖 Building bionic organisations
The future isn’t AI-first - it’s human-first, with technology enhancing rather than replacing thinking.
🏫 Education at a crossroads
Schools must move beyond content delivery and rethink their role as spaces for connection, curiosity, and real-world learning.
🔄 From standardisation to personalisation
Technology enables more tailored learning experiences - but institutions must evolve to support it.
🌱 Experimentation over certainty
There are no simple fixes for education - but small, intentional shifts by schools, parents, and leaders can drive meaningful change.
About the guest
Jude Foulston is Digital Director at TomorrowToday Consulting and leads their work on education, parenting, and future-focused learning. She works globally with schools, parents, and organisations to rethink how young people are prepared for a fast-changing world.
Jude is passionate about bridging the gap between traditional education systems and the realities of the future of work, helping communities experiment with new models of learning that prioritise curiosity, connection, and adaptability.
Elephants in the Boardroom is powered by Achilles.
Connect with Graeme and Dean:

Connect with Graeme on LinkedIn here

Email Dean at Dean@tomorrowtoday.consulting

If you're interested in learning more about the 7 Grey Elephants and how they're transforming the world you can download TomorrowToday's white paper here
www.tomorrowtodayglobal.com/greyelephants
TomorrowToday Consulting empowers forward-thinking organisations to not just anticipate the future, but to shape it. Staying ahead of the curve is critical, and we provide the visionary thinking and strategic execution you need to thrive.
Email hello@tomorrowtoday.consulting
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Graeme Codrington and Dean Van Leeuwen open this month’s episode with a reflection on the volatility in and around the Middle East, not to add another layer of commentary to the news cycle, but to ask a more strategic question: how should leaders think when certainty is in short supply?
Using the grey elephant lens, they can see multipolarity happening in real time, alongside the changing face of warfare, and the wider geopolitical shifts that are reshaping trade, power, and supply chains.
Looking at the increasingly important signals we’re seeing on the grey elephant radar, hear what the decline of flying insects could mean for food systems, and the growing use of AI in medical research, where data analysis is opening up new possibilities in diagnosis, treatment, and long-term care of diseases including cancer.
Our interview this month is with Zavier Coyne, founder of Gen Z Coach, who explains to Graeme why the current generational conversation is about more than the usual “young versus old” dynamic.
Zavier argues that Gen Z are the first truly digitally native generation, and that this matters not only because of how fluent they are with technology, but because digital systems have shaped their communication, expectations, behaviour, and development from the start. The conversation looks at what this means for leaders trying to build multi-generational teams, how organisations can develop stronger generational intelligence, and why the real opportunity may be bigger than adapting to younger workers. It may be a chance to rehumanise work altogether.
Key takeaways
🌍 Reading the world through instability
Volatility is no longer an exception to manage, but a context to operate within - demanding clearer thinking in the absence of certainty.
🧭 Multipolarity as operating reality
Global influence is increasingly distributed, with power expressed through shifting alliances, economic leverage, and regional dynamics rather than a single dominant force.
🐝 The decline of flying insects
A sharp drop in insect populations highlights as a growing risk to food production, pollination, and the systems that underpin global agriculture.
🧬 AI where it matters most
Beyond the noise, the most meaningful impact of AI may lie in its ability to unlock insight from complexity - particularly in areas like health and scientific discovery.
📱 The digital native shift
A generation shaped by immersive digital environments brings fundamentally different assumptions about communication, feedback, and engagement.
💬 Behaviour shaped by environment
Workplace expectations are increasingly influenced by the systems people grow up in, not just by individual attitudes or preferences.
🤝 Generational intelligence as a leadership skill
Effective leadership now requires the ability to understand, navigate, and connect across generational contexts - not simply manage them.
🚀 Growth, ownership, and accountability
Performance is strengthened when individuals feel both empowered in their work and connected to something larger than themselves.
🧑‍💼 Rehumanising work
As technology accelerates, the opportunity emerges to redesign work around distinctly human strengths - creativity, connection, and meaning.
About the guest
Zavier Coyne is a leading expert on digital natives in the workplace, and an internationally recognised thought leader on ‘Generational Intelligence’. His work helps businesses maximise the potential of the Gen Z workforce and the generations leading them.
Zavier is a TEDx Speaker, future of work advisor to FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies, BeVisioneers Mercedes-Benz entrepreneurial fellow, University of London guest lecturer, co-founder of Gen Z Coach and the world’s youngest Master Intuitive Psychology Coach. Most recently, he contributed his expertise at youth-impact sessions in Davos during the 2026 World Economic Forum.
Zavier is known as a trusted bridge between senior leadership and digitally native employees. He helps organisations boost retention, performance, and future-proof leadership by turning generational change into competitive advantage.
And crucially, he brings first-hand digitally native insight into the room - being Gen Z himself!
Elephants in the Boardroom is powered by Achilles.
Connect with Graeme and Dean:

Connect with Graeme on LinkedIn here

Email Dean at Dean@tomorrowtoday.consulting

If you're interested in learning more about the 7 Grey Elephants and how they're transforming the world you can download TomorrowToday's white paper here
www.tomorrowtodayglobal.com/greyelephants
TomorrowToday Consulting empowers forward-thinking organisations to not just anticipate the future, but to shape it. Staying ahead of the curve is critical, and we provide the visionary thinking and strategic execution you need to thrive.
Email hello@tomorrowtoday.consulting
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices