The Green Room: Questions that matter most in business

How much certainty do you really need to make a good decision?
It might feel easier to wait for clarity before acting, but perhaps opportunity lies in embracing the unknown? Maybe the confidence to do so doesn't mean knowing you'll be right but trusting your decisions along the way.
So how can leaders judge decisions by the thinking behind them, rather than the outcome alone? 
In this episode, Alex Edmans, professor of finance and author, joins Debo De, chief economist at Deloitte UK, to discuss how businesses can confidently navigate uncertainty. 
Listen to find out:
Why a good decision can still lead to a bad outcome
How leaders can avoid overconfidence
Why flexibility beats perfect planning
How embracing adversity can unlock opportunity
Enjoyed this episode? Visit our website to learn more: deloitte.co.uk/greenroompodcasts
Find out more about our social impact partner, Trussell.
Guests: Alex Edmans and Debo De
Hosts: Oli Carpenter and Hannah Gowen
Original music: Ali Barrett
Recording date and location: London, 07.09.26

It's not always the grandest idea or loudest voice in the room that shapes the future.  
Breakthroughs often begin with someone willing to see possibilities others overlook. Someone who questions the status quo and is curious about why things happen. But do businesses create the conditions to support those pioneers and allow their ideas to become progress?
In this episode, Anne-Marie Imafidon, co-founder and CEO of Stemettes, joins Scott Campbell, AI Advantage partner at Deloitte, to challenge the myth of lone visionaries and explore what truly makes a pioneer.  
Listen to find out: 
Why curiosity needs discipline  
Why pioneers aren't always lone mavericks
How to keep going when an idea feels impossible
How to get your idea heard  
Enjoyed this episode? Visit our website to learn more: deloitte.co.uk/greenroompodcasts 
Find out more about social impact partner, Teach First: teachfirst.org.uk  
Guests: Anne-Marie Imafidon and Scott Campbell 
Hosts: Steph Dobbs and Gerry Popova  
Original music: Ali Barrett 
Recording date and location: London, 19.08.26

Artificial intelligence is changing how we work, how businesses grow and how countries compete.
When you look back at history, every generation has a technology that changes everything. Steam. Electricity. The Internet.
So technology transformation isn't new. But as we face the latest challenge, is the UK ready?
In this series finale of The Green Room, we bring together experts from past episodes to explore what readiness really means. For people, for organisations and for the country as a whole.
From skills and trust to energy, infrastructure and investment, this episode looks beyond the hype to the choices that will shape the UK's AI future.
Tune in to find out:
Why AI readiness is about more than technology
How businesses can move from experimentation to adoption at scale
Why trust, leadership and skills could decide how much value AI creates
Why compute, energy and infrastructure are central to the UK's AI ambitions
What it will take for people, businesses and regions across the UK to benefit

This episode is the finale of The Green Room's series exploring the AI opportunity for the UK. Listen back to the full series wherever you get your podcasts, starting with our 100th episode: What will be the last job on earth?
Visit our website to learn more about this topic and find suggestions for other episodes: deloitte.co.uk/greenroompodcasts
Featuring guests: Anne-Marie Malley, Ben Legg, Bruce Daisley, Kate Sweeney, Sharon Hague, Oliver Seal, Mike Manby, Kate O'Neill, Julia Lo Bue-Said, Tom Astill, Simon McDougall, Avtar Benning, Caroline Brown, Tom Cope, Carol Yan and Tom Harris.
Host: Jenny Haskel
Original music: Ali Barrett
This episode was recorded in London on 13 July 2026.
Featuring clips from episode 94 (recorded November 2025) and episodes 100 to 106 (recorded between February and July 2026) – all recorded in London.

We use AI in a digital world - but its future may depend on the physical one.
Behind every prompt, agent and model, sits a system that needs to be built, funded and powered.
And as organisations and countries race to adopt AI, the demand for access is accelerating. So could a technology that's built to allow limitless thinking, end up limited by a country's network and ability to build?
Because the future of AI depends on compute capacity. That depends on infrastructure. And that depends on energy. And it's those elements which determine the price we all pay to use it.
Tune in to find out:
Why AI is creating a new race for energy and infrastructure
Why data centres could become a strategic resource
How energy-intensive AI could also help solve sustainability challenges
Why the future of AI depends on decisions being made today

This episode is part of The Green Room's series exploring the AI future for the UK. Listen to the full series now, starting with our 100th episode: What will be the last job on earth?
Visit our website to learn more about this topic and find suggestions for other episodes: deloitte.co.uk/greenroompodcasts
Secure your place at Deloitte's crucial national conference, UK Energy Transition: Building Resilience, Accelerating Delivery.
Find out more about AbilityNet, one of Deloitte's Social Impact partners: abilitynet.org.uk 
Guests: Caroline Brown, Partner in AI for Infrastructure and Sustainability at Deloitte, and Tom Cope, Partner in Deloitte's Infrastructure and Capital Projects team
Hosts: Oli Carpenter and Hannah Gowen
Original music: Ali Barrett
Recording date and location: London, 01.07.26

The challenge is no longer just what AI can do, but whether people have enough confidence to use it.
As AI adoption accelerates, trust is becoming one of the biggest barriers to scale – the difference between experimentation and widespread transformation.
Because the companies that benefit most from the technology may not be the ones with the most advanced capabilities, but those that create enough trust for people to use it.
So what does it take to create systems where decisions and risk can be understood, measured and trusted? Because trust isn't something technology can ask for, it's built through experience, transparency, governance and fairness.
AI isn't just making us more productive. It's influencing decisions that impact people's lives and driving widespread change in how we work, think and choose. If the future is AI-led - understanding what's inside the "black box" matters more than ever.
Simon McDougall, Chief Strategist for Privacy and AI at ZoomInfo, and Avtar Benning, director in Deloitte's Trustworthy AI offering, join us in The Green Room as we ask: Can we trust something we don't fully understand?
Tune in to find out:
How the pace of adoption is making trust harder
What AI can learn from aeroplanes and food hygiene ratings
The three foundations needed to build trust at scale
Why AI and humans fail differently
This episode is part of The Green Room's series exploring the AI future for the UK. Listen to the full series now, starting with our 100th episode: What will be the last job on earth?
Visit our website to learn more about this topic and find suggestions for other episodes: deloitte.co.uk/greenroompodcasts
Find out more about Scope, one of Deloitte's national charity partners: scope.org.uk
Guests: Simon McDougall - Chief Strategist for Privacy & AI, ZoomInfo and Avtar Benning – Director in Trustworthy AI, Deloitte
Hosts: Steph Dobbs and Andrea Boxall
Original music: Ali Barrett
Recording date and location: London, 16.06.26