Better Innovation

What would the world look like without the digital camera? On this very special episode, Jeff interviews Steve Sasson, who invented the breakthrough device in 1975 while at Kodak. Since he was a kid taking apart TVs, Steve’s tinkering mindset has been a true inspiration to innovators around the world. Steve reflects on his upbringing in Brooklyn and when he accepted the National Medal of Technology and Innovation award from President Barack Obama.

Jeff sits down with Dr. Lucy Marcil, a pediatrician at Boston Medical Center and co-founder of the nonprofit Street Cred. Lucy is pioneering a new kind of social outreach, where low-income families can get free tax prep while they wait for their doctor—right in the waiting room. Join Jeff and Lucy as they reflect on her time in the Peace Corps, her role in the Boston medical community and her vision for a more empathetic future.

Renowned entrepreneur Alexander Osterwalder and EY Global Tax Innovation Leader Jeff Saviano come to you live from downtown Boston. The co-founder of Strategyzer discusses his groundbreaking invention, the Business Model Canvas, a visual management tool that helps challenge, invent and reinvent business models. Jeff and Alex explore how the Business Model Canvas is integrated with Steve Blank’s Lean Startup Theory and how organizations can thrive with a keen commitment to business model innovation.

Just in time for the 2018 midterm elections, Jeff sits down with David Becker, the Executive Director and Founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR). From his time trying voting rights cases in the Department of Justice to his current work improving election administration, no one is more qualified than David to share insights on the future of voter registration and election administration.

In this special episode, Jeff sits down with five guest speakers at TedxBeaconStreet Salon EmTech at Kendall Square to explore a wide range of technology shaping our future, both in and out of the tax sector. From using virtual reality to improve surgical accuracy to an artificial intelligence bot that can predict court decisions, this unique panel of innovators gives us a glimpse of a not-too-distant tomorrow. Featuring Daniel Hashimoto, Benjamin Alarie, Francisco Aguilar, Sharon Goldberg, and Danny Bigel.

Jeff is joined by Suresh Kumar, former Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service under President Barack Obama, for a fresh perspective on what innovation means in the public and private sectors. With decades of experience leading teams in both government and industry, Suresh's unique point-of-view gives a glimpse into public/private partnerships and how a community need can drive a wave of new commercial products. 

In our Season 2 premiere episode, Jeff talks with EY Global Vice Chair of Tax Kate Barton about the importance of innovation in client service. We explored Kate's Boston-Irish roots and how they influenced her growth mentality. With more than 30 years in the EY Tax practice, Kate reflects on her innovation journey, how far tax technology has advanced and the emerging technologies that will shape the future of tax.

Season 1 of the Better Innovation podcast is a wrap! Our guests in Season 1 were so thought-provoking that we wanted to highlight some of the more memorable moments in this special season-ending episode. Thank you for listening, subscribing and being part of this journey with us. We look forward to interviewing some of the most innovative thought leaders in the world in Season 2 – and beyond! We hope you’ll join us when we resume with new episodes in September.

With a population of just 1.3 million, Estonia has been a world leader in technology since 1991, when the northeastern European country regained freedom with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Shortly after Estonia’s independence, the government reinvented itself and began a journey to modernize and digitize many of its platforms. Now, Estonia boasts an e-identity program, electronic voting, and health records stored on blockchain technology. Andres Kutt, former deputy director general for the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, responsible for IT, joins the podcast and discusses emerging technology, big data, and how new digital services offered to citizens is the norm in Estonia.

In the second half of our conversation with Secretary Andy Card he shares with us those intimate moments on 9/11 when he whispered in President George W. Bush’s ear in the Florida classroom that America was under attack. Secretary Card imparts on us the leadership lessons he learned from the events of 9/11 and his work with the president. Secretary Card says a successful leader is one whose responsibility it is to own the decision he or she makes and create a climate where others will want to implement it.

Andy Card, former White House Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, says there isn't just one definition of leadership. We explore the different types of leadership qualities that are critical to the success of innovation within any organization, and what it means to have ‘peripheral vision’ and possess ‘ambidextrous’ leadership traits. We learn about Secretary Card’s humble roots in Massachusetts and how he found his way to the nation’s capital.

Andy Card, former White House Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush and former Secretary of Transportation to President George H.W. Bush is a seasoned and accomplished leader from his time in government, the private sector and academia. We found his story so powerful and inspiring that we decided to split our conversation into two parts to maximize his leadership lessons for our listeners. Check out both Better Innovation episodes.

We resume our conversation with Steve Blank and fast forward to May of 2013 when he wrote an article in the Harvard Business Review titled, “Why the lean startup changes everything.” That article resonated with entrepreneurs with visions for a new business. We unpack three components of Lean Startup: application of the business model canvas, customer development, and agile engineering. And Steve shares his point of view on the fifth anniversary of that famed HBR article.

Steve Blank, retired serial entrepreneur turned educator, arrived in Silicon Valley at the beginning of the business boom in 1978 and never left. He kept creating one startup after another. The lessons learned from the successes and failures of those startups led him to develop his lean startup theory, which has been adopted by entrepreneurs and organizations worldwide.

Our conversation with Steve Blank, retired serial entrepreneur and one of the Godfathers of Silicon Valley, was so rich and compelling that we decided to try something new and split it into two separate episodes. Be sure to listen to both Better Innovation episodes for the full Lean Startup experience.

Former President Barack Obama was one of the most science and technology oriented presidents, and took a personal interest in the work around Artificial Intelligence, according to Terah Lyons, former policy adviser to the U.S. Chief Technology Officer in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Lyons, now the Executive Director at the Partnership on AI, sat down with EY Global Tax Innovation Leader Jeff Saviano and discussed AI / data privacy policy, and the government's role in developing leading technology.

EY Global Advisory AI / Analytics Leader Beatriz Sanz Saiz has adopted the mindset of asking, “why not? Not, why? Everything is possible.” And with the right technology, it’s possible to reinvent ourselves and the world, Beatriz says. One tenet of her successful leadership can be attributed to the uniquely diverse teams she builds around her.

Chris Mazzei, EY Global Innovation - Technology Leader and Chief Analytics Officer, has witnessed an explosion of data analytics business applications over the past 17 years during his time at EY. Those applications have expanded to other emerging technologies such as, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and robotics process automation. In this episode, Chris talks to EY Global Tax Innovation Leader Jeff Saviano about key emerging technology trends relevant to your business.

Governments around the world are increasingly turning to advanced technologies, big data sets, and analytic tools to improve their decisions. Blockchain is just one advanced technology that is assisting governments with identity verification and fraud prevention. EY Global Tax Innovation Leader Jeff Saviano and Sandy Pentland, the MIT Toshiba professor and one of the most cited scientists in the world, discuss government advanced technology adoption trends.

Will the recent overhaul of the US tax code positively impact the US innovation ecosystem? Host EY Global Tax Innovation Leader Jeff Saviano talks with former US Treasury Department Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy and EY Co-Director of National Tax, Michael Mundaca to explore whether the new tax law will ultimately promote or serve as a barrier to corporate innovation in the US. They also share their ideas about actions that Congress could have taken to spur more innovation. Please share any podcast feedback or ideas for future episodes with Jeff at jeffrey.saviano@ey.com.