Our Guest: Gagandeep Gadri, Managing Director, frog

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Design Mind frogcast Ep.45 – Futurescape: Trajectories for Tomorrow

On this episode of the Design Mind frogcast, we are once again visiting a place we at frog call the ‘Futurescape.’ As the subject of a new report from frog called <a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/frog-futurescape-trajectories-for-tomorrow">‘Futurescape: Trajectories for Tomorrow,’</a> we’re going deeper into the trends and movements impacting the way we live and work today. To do this, we&#8217;re excited to be joined by frog Managing Director Gagandeep Gadri.
Listen to the podcast episode below. You can also find the Design Mind frogcast on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/design-mind-frogcast/id1541644073" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5mxbuRY6KtBwIrNhWhu0sx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a> and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Episode Transcript:
Design Mind frogcast
Episode 45: Futurescape: Trajectories for Tomorrow
Guest: Gagandeep Gadri, Managing Director, frog
[00:09] Elizabeth Wood: Welcome to the Design Mind frogcast. Each episode, we go behind the scenes to meet the people designing what’s next in the world of products, services and experiences, both here at frog and far, far outside the pond. I’m Elizabeth Wood.
[00:25] Elizabeth Wood: Today on our show, we’re once again visiting a place that we at frog like to call the &#8216;Futurescape.&#8217; The Futurescape is a place where reality is challenged everyday by the evolution of AI-powered creations, making it harder and harder to believe what we’re seeing. It’s a place where the devices we use to track our health and measure our sense of wellness are the very same devices we need to turn off every once in a while for our own good. It’s a place where our relationship with change is constantly shifting on cultural, business and environmental levels. Of course, it’s also the subject of <a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/frog-futurescape-trajectories-for-tomorrow">frog’s latest report &#8216;Futurescape: Trajectories for Tomorrow.&#8217;</a> You can find a link in today’s show notes to read the report in full, and we encourage you to do so. But first, to give you a sense of what’s in store, we’re joined by none other than <a href="https://www.frog.co/authors/gagandeep-gadri">frog Managing Director Gagandeep Gadri</a>. Recording from frog’s London studio, we asked him to provide an overview of the five key shifts we explore in the report, and share his insights on why the future is so important to keep in view, a bit of background into his relationship with assessing what’s next and his own unlikely inspiration for navigating change. Here’s Gagandeep now.
[01:33] Gagandeep Gadri: So look, we&#8217;re at a big tipping point where the work we do and how we do it is going to change because of technology, AI, but also shifting to be a more inclusive and planet-positive society. So I&#8217;d love to play a big role in shaping this <a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/welcome-to-the-futurescape">new futur</a>e. I&#8217;m super excited about it. I&#8217;m intrigued. I&#8217;m also open and hopeful about it. And I think you have to be. The reason is that the one constant in our life, in this world, is change. There always has been and always will be change. And so we have to embrace it.
[02:06] Gagandeep Gadri: Hi, my name’s Gagandeep. I&#8217;m the Managing Director of frog. So frog is part of the Capgemini Group, and I call myself a &#8216;Capgemini Pureblood&#8217; because I finished my degree on the Thursday, I started to work at Capgemini on the Monday, and I&#8217;ve been here 27 years. One of the other milestones is all the great people at frog, Capgemini, and the clients like <a href="https://www.frog.co/work/deepening-customer-engagement-with-ikea-retail">IKEA</a> and <a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/design-mind-frogcast-ep-44-powering-beauty-tech-loreals-transformation">L&#8217;Oréal</a> I&#8217;ve worked with. You know, one of the other obviously biggest milestones is my family, my wonderful wife and three kids.
[02:32] Elizabeth Wood: During our conversation, Gagandeep shared more background about frog’s role within Capgemini Invent, and what explorations into the future involve now that we’re at a critical crossroads in what Capgemini calls the <a href="https://www.capgemini.com/insights/research-library/the-new-digital-economy-research/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8216;Eco-Digital Era (TM).&#8217;</a>
[02:46] Gagandeep Gadri: So, frog is part of Capgemini Invent. It&#8217;s the reinvention and experience partner driving impact in the Eco-Digital Era (TM). What do I mean by that? So one, how do we <a href="https://www.frog.co/services/growth-strategy">unleash growth</a> through new products and services and experiences, but then deliver that growth by creating those superior customer experiences? And when we talk about growth, what we mean is how do we deliver outcomes, which drive not just economic value, but societal and environmental value as well? And we believe that means driving a dual transition to create a more digital and sustainable world. That&#8217;s what we call the Eco-Digital-Era (TM) . You know, you can <a href="https://www.capgemini.com/insights/research-library/the-new-digital-economy-research/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">download the report</a> we&#8217;ve created on the Eco-Digital Era (TM) from the Capgemini website, and there&#8217;ll be a link in the notes as well for the show, too.
[03:35] Gagandeep Gadri: At frog we believe <a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/strategy-creative-act-making-space-radical-ideas">strategy is a creative act</a>. You know, strategy is about making choices. A good strategy creates good choices, but a modern strategy generates new ones, making space for radical ideas. And you know, never has this been more important than now to create new choices and take forward radical ideas.
[03:56] Gagandeep Gadri: How do you make decisions in this new world and the future, within a context of rapid change consumer behavior, environment, societal, economic growth as well? In this report, we&#8217;ve whittled all of that down to five shifts that we think will impact life and work moving forward. You know, it&#8217;s a complex time. So, when we look at these shifts, we&#8217;re looking at them from two possible directions, reflecting duality of interpretations and examining the inherent friction underlying today&#8217;s trends and movements. Throughout we&#8217;ve included prompts and provocations to help readers decide how they can make their mark going forward.
[04:37] Elizabeth Wood: As Gagandeep shares, the Futurescape report intentionally goes beyond annual ‘trends’ type of thinking. It’s not about what’s hot in tech, the latest aesthetics or fads, or any kind of limited view of what matters for the next twelve months or so. It’s about possible ways our world can be shaped for years to come, and our role as consumers, creatives and citizens in realizing these visions.
[05:01] Gagandeep Gadri: Futurescape is how we look at the trajectories for tomorrow. You know, it&#8217;s frog’s guide to choose the right path forward, not just for organizations, but for all people and planet as well. This has been a real labor of love, and it showcases the brilliant talent in our team. We came up with a three-part process. The first one is scan: scanning all of the brains of all of the people that we have around the world in different industries or different functions to understand what trends they see affecting them not just at work, but how they live their lives. This edition is a collective effort of 12,000 Capgemini Invent consultants of which frog is part of that.
[05:30] Gagandeep Gadri: The second part of this was focus: how do we down select all of that into the most interesting ideas? And we&#8217;ve picked five seismic shifts, which we see affecting us, and are in this report. And the final part, which I&#8217;m really excited about now is activation, right? And that&#8217;s, how do we get people excited about the report? Reading it but also starting a two-way conversation about what do you think about these shifts? Is there something missing? Is there something you want to add to them?
[06:10] Elizabeth Wood: Because the report covers quite a bit of ground with wide-ranging implications, Gagandeep offered up some advice for how to approach it—and who best stands to benefit from reading it.
[06:20] Gagandeep Gadri: Well, firstly, I want to say it&#8217;s an encouragement for everyone to just step back from the day to day to reflect and assess what&#8217;s out there. What do we need to think about? How do we shape the future? Given that context, we want people to take that provocation forward by challenging their own status quo and turning bold ideas into action. So therefore, it&#8217;s open to everyone really, in all levels in an organization in the academic world, young people out there who just want to learn more. And most importantly, it is about starting a conversation. We want to hear your responses to Futurescape. Share your ideas on what you think is coming next? And what we&#8217;ll do in the future is share a selection of those. And you never know, we might have another podcast about the reaction and discussion that this report has generated.
[07:12] Gagandeep Gadri: So, you know what, in today&#8217;s episode, what I&#8217;d love to do is take the opportunity to share with our listeners, to whet their appetite a little bit about the selection of my favorite insights and details and big questions from this report. Hopefully, this will make everyone want to <a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/frog-futurescape-trajectories-for-tomorrow">check the report out in full</a>, which it&#8217;s free to access and again, the link will be in the show notes. So, let&#8217;s go.

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Gagandeep Gadri

Elizabeth Wood

Audio Production by

Authors

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Trajectories for Tomorrow

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Download ‘Futurescape: Trajectories for Tomorrow’ to explore movements on the horizon and set a path forward. 

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Today we find ourselves at an important crossroads. It’s time to make choices that will have lasting impact on how we live and work. For each of the five shifts we explore in this report, we look at two directions they could take. Sometimes they’re opposing, sometimes overlapping—but they all feed into a complex vision that leaders can look to as they reinvent their organization for tomorrow.

Let’s time travel

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Digital Fictions Bend New Realities

Shift One

With novelty abounding, how can technology be used for purpose and protection?

Technology has the power to preserve real lives and culture, yet also falsify them altogether. Communities at risk of fading into history are being preserved in digital form. Platforms are populated by digital avatars-as-influencers who have never existed at all. Reality as we know it is being challenged and expanded.  

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Listen to hear more about "Digital Fictions Bend New Realities" by Gagandeep Gadri {}

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Technology as Both Cure and Condition

Shift Two

Can we balance health innovation with the need to unplug for wellbeing?  

Exciting, eye-catching innovations are happening in the world of wellness at unprecedented speed. The question is how we will adapt and respond to the rising opportunities and challenges that using technology to optimize our physical and mental vitality brings us as individuals and as communities—while also unplugging when needed. 

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Listen to hear more about "Technology as Both Cure and Condition" by Gagandeep Gadri {}

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Humanizing AI and Mechanizing Humanity

Shift Three

How can human creativity and AI-enabled creativity evolve together in novel ways?

For decades, the promises of artificial intelligence had been the subject of science fiction. Today, new AI-powered innovations are helping humanity write the story of tomorrow in real-time. In this landscape of dueling conversations about human and AI-enabled creative potential, there is ample room for pioneers and purists alike.   

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Listen to hear more about "Humanizing AI and Mechanizing Humanity" by Gagandeep Gadri {}

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Emerging Solutions to the Sustainability Imperative

Shift Four

How can sustainability become mainstream to meet the needs of people and planet? 

The landscape of sustainability is shifting fast. Behaviors once considered fringe are becoming normalized. The demand for sustainability is rising—as are incentives for responsibility on a business and consumer level. New offerings must now be created and delivered with a revised understanding of economic, environmental and societal value.

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Listen to hear more about "Emerging Solutions to the Sustainability Imperative" by Gagandeep Gadri {}

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Our Changing Relationship with Change

Shift Five

How can leaders deliver in an ever shifting and increasingly varied cultural landscape?

The rising waves of emotions and existential directions in our collective psyche can be as ephemeral and as unpredictable as the weather. Organizations must cut through the fog and use the tools at their disposal to tune into developments in the cultural landscape—adapting everything from offerings to operations.  

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Listen to hear more about "Our Changing Relationship with Change" by Gagandeep Gadri {}

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Listen to our <a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/design-mind-frogcast-ep-45-futurescape-trajectories-for-tomorrow/">Design Mind</a> podcast episode, Futurescape: Trajectories for Tomorrow.

Listen to the Design Mind frogcast

Futurescape: Trajectories for Tomorrow

with Gagandeep Gadri, Managing Director, frog, Part of Capgemini Invent

Futurescape: Trajectories for Tomorrow

Hear about the trends and technologies of tomorrow by Jeff Hebert {}

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These five shifts, and their two sub-directions, represent just some of the ways that the future could be set to unfold. Now&#8217;s the time to consider how these eventualities might affect you, your organization, your community and the wider world. Read the report to make space for direction-setting—and to help determine which path you would like to take forward.

Reflect, act, review, repeat

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Futurescape

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LISTEN TO THE AUDIO INSIGHTS

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Insight Report

Realizing Visions of the Future Through Strategic Foresight

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Article

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Chief Challenges

How can CMOs make sense of data, while maintaining their creative edge?  

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In Conversation: Gagandeep Gadri and Philip Starrett on Uniting Data With Creativity

Business landscapes are evolving: we’re seeing accelerated digitization, rapid growth of e-commerce and major shifts in consumer behaviour. With this backdrop, frog is on a mission to understand how change is affecting leaders in the sector today.
In this panel interview, Gagandeep Gadri, Head of frog UK, sits down with Philip Starrett, Adobe EMEA CTO, to explore the challenging intersection of data and creativity. Together they explore why data exploitation should be just as important as data acquisition—and how both are essential in delivering a successful marketing campaign. Ultimately, they outline the ways that CMOs can make sense of their data and generate insight without losing creativity.
As part of Capgemini Invent, frog has carried out original research, surveying more than 1,600 global marketing professionals. A common theme that has emerged is how the role of the CMO now extends far beyond brand-building and communication, to include shared accountability for customer experience, business growth and more. Consolidating our findings, frog have identified the three core opportunities CMO can take advantage of during this time of flux:
<ol style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 20px;">
<li>Utilize data available and action insights in real time.</li>
<li>In the face of a talent shortage, build teams that can blend data with creativity.</li>
<li>Balance science with art—avoid becoming obsessed with optimization at the expense of brand building.</li>
</ol>
Ultimately, our research, and the conversations we have every day, illuminate how crucial purpose is—and how finding a clear sense of purpose is inextricably linked to good collaboration across the C-Suite. The result? Intuitive prioritization of opportunities and more meaningful disruption and progress for your organization.

Constant innovation may seem necessary in these fast-paced times but, like a rudderless ship, your business will make no progress if it lacks a strong sense of direction.

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How to Combat Disruption Fatigue With Purpose

&#8220;Doing good by doing the right thing&#8221; should be the new innovation mantra. The benefits of values-driven, authentic innovation are well-established. Purpose-led reflective innovation, guided by a clear sense of mission, motivates managers and employees, and contributes generously to creating a sustainable—that is, green and lasting—business.
After two years of pandemic disruption, against a fast-evolving backdrop of climate change, we are all now struggling to adapt to a turbulent economic environment. As we seek to adapt to break-neck change in our circumstances, consumers everywhere are overloaded by instability. We are suffering from what we have identified, here at frog, as disruption fatigue.
What should we, as companies, do about this? In our recent Chief Challenges episode, <a href="https://www.frog.co/insights/chief-challenges/brand-on-purpose" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Disruption Fatigue: How to Navigate the New Realities of Leadership</a>, frog set out some answers. At its essence, the paper states that innovators need to pause and think about the wider implications of what they are doing.
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<h3>Innovating to make lives better</h3>
Consumers are sick of companies that simply move fast and break things. As frog’s <a href="https://www.frog.co/insights/chief-challenges/brand-on-purpose" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Disruption Fatigue report</a> spells out, the kind of innovation that consumers welcome is holistic and purpose-led: it is innovation that makes life and lives better.
It is no longer enough to make a good product, satisfy consumers, employ people, make a profit and contribute to the economy.
We need to understand that brands also push consumers to make choices. To arrive at a buying decision, consumers must ask themselves: what do I want? What do I stand for?
Such questions oblige companies to solve real problems, not just problems of convenience. Jeremy Heimans, CEO of New York-based public benefit corporation <a href="https://www.purpose.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Purpose</a>, says: “The brands that last in the 21st century are going to be those that build community, social capital and societies.”
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<h3>Good for people, planet and profits</h3>
That makes intuitive sense, but concretely, what does it mean for innovation decisions today?
Future purpose-led innovation needs to be human-centered and to consult and heed the views of diverse stakeholders, not merely customers and investors. It needs to understand how a product or service fits into our society and what needs to be done to ensure its overall effects are positive, without harming non-users.
Avoiding what economists call &#8216;negative externalities&#8217; means avoiding damaging the environment and wildlife, for example, or sparing neighbors noise pollution or discarded packaging from takeaway meals. It means thinking through the entire production and usage cycle, rather than waiting for protests and lawsuits from victims of egocentric innovation.
Businesses need to realize that they are part of a wider ecosystem—and that can be as much a source of opportunity as of ruin.
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<h3>Giving consumers and citizens more, for less CO2</h3>
<a href="https://www.backmarket.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Back Market</a>, a leading unicorn out of France, is doing good for the planet and consumers alike by retailing ‘renewed’ tech devices such as mobile phones and computers. Consumers get a like-new phone at a lower price, avoiding the need to dismantle devices which are far from the end of their useful life and easing demand for scarce commodities and energy to make new ones. It has identified a clear consumer need and married it with a proposition that not only creates a new market but reduces waste in the process.
Another example in services is UK tech start-up Arwen, launched in 2021, which has developed software to scan social media accounts and remove 23 types of toxic content. This spares account holders from daily exposure to harassment, hate-speech, pornography, racism, aggression and more, restoring the pleasure of going online and exchanging news and views with a wider community. It’s a blessing for users as individuals and brings relief to corporate communications and marketing teams who spend their working hours building brands online.
The common link between these examples is reflection. Their innovators have taken time to think through ways in which their product responds to the needs of society and the environment. They’ve considered not just how it works, but also its supply chain and place in the sector supply chain, along with ways in which human behavior needs to change.
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<h3>Finding the antidote to disruption fatigue</h3>
As far back as 2013, <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236537/why-company-mission-driven.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gallup</a> conducted a meta-analysis of 49,928 businesses across 49 industries in 34 countries. It found that margins were higher when companies had a clear mission and also that employees were more likely to ensure workplace safety, show higher productivity and have better relationships with customers.
There is ample evidence that a strong sense of corporate purpose benefits hiring and retention. Companies keen to remain relevant need to develop products and services that make the world a better place, while remaining vigilant for negative externalities—harm done to others by their operations—and to address these rapidly once identified.
The combination of purpose wider reflection, values and authenticity is a powerful antidote to the pervading sense of disruption fatigue. Change is a constant. But only change for the better is welcome.

Gagandeep Gadri

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