EP 41 | Every Industry Will Be Disrupted - Celiwe Ross on What Leaders Must Do Now

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Leadership in a disrupted world. Celiwe Ross - South Africa’s first black woman to qualify as a mining engineer reflects on leading through technological change: self-knowledge over fear, community over ego, and why yesterday’s leadership model won’t work when we’re partnering with AI. She shares early underground lessons on teamwork and finding value, then applies those to financial services where leaders must become conversant in AI as roles shift and skills get automated.

Ross discusses Old Mutual’s multi-year engagement with the Singularity Summit to catalyse new conversations - from fraud detection to service design with humility - and warns that incumbents who don’t adapt will be disrupted. She argues for reaching younger audiences with future-of-work realism, and suggests more practical support for SMEs.

On AI, she’s cautiously optimistic: expect disruption across industries; learn to separate truth from fake; and use tools like Microsoft Copilot/meeting facilitation to stay present while capturing actions. She closes that the next era demands a full shift in leadership - less about technical prowess, more about connecting, challenging ideas, inspiring, empathising, and coaching.

Chapters / timestamps

00:00 – Intro & why leadership must change with technology
01:12 – “Do the personal work”: self-knowledge vs fear of the future
02:17 – First black woman mining engineer: early underground lessons
02:25 – Chairlift moment, acceptance, and finding value via planning tools
06:44 – Why a financial-services incumbent engages Singularity Summit
07:55 – What really blocks adoption: fear of the unknown/obsolescence
09:14 – Using fear as a catalyst; be fascinated by the future
10:26 – Partnership approach: bringing 200 staff, cross-level learning
12:34 – Where are the youth? Cost, inclusion, and reaching tweens/teens
14:39 – Community “village” mindset; democratising access as costs fall
17:11 – Entrepreneurship realities; building the muscle to experiment
19:44 – What SMEs actually need: practical AI how-to (prompts, contracts, pitches)
21:20 – Fear and scams narratives; will AI survive hype?
22:01 – 80% possibility lens; truth vs fake; human connection still matters
23:57 – Practical AI at work: Teams + Copilot meeting “facilitator”
25:42 – “Every industry will be disrupted by AI”
26:05 – Hope, community, and building the future we want
26:47 – Does AI require a new kind of leadership?
27:27 – Final view: a full shift—leaders who connect, inspire, coach

#TheAnglePodcast #CeliweRoss #Leadership #FutureOfWork #AIDisruption #DigitalTransformation #OldMutual #SMEs #YouthInclusion #southafricabusiness

Produced and published by Submedia.co.za
7 Jan English South Africa Technology · Business

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