Stop waiting for clarity. Unfreeze and act, with Accenture’s Julie Sweet

17:32Bob Safian:That's Hayden Wadsworth, Capital One business customer and co-founder of HydroJug, a reusable water bottle brand. and he's telling us how his insistence on sticking to the original product caused an 18-month dip in sales.

17:44Julie Sweet:I remember having a conversation with my brother. I was like, look, dude, we can stop stressing. Either the business isn't going to exist or the traveler absolutely hits it out of the park.

17:55Bob Safian:In an effort to turn things around, Hayden decided to make a bold move by investing every dollar into a new improved 40-ounce traveler-size water bottle.

18:04Julie Sweet:And we sold every unit in like an hour. It's crazy. So then we worked as fast as we could to do a 32-ounce, a 20-ounce, 14-ounce. It just took off.

18:15Bob Safian:Hayden and the HydroJug team were able to navigate the financial ups and downs with the help of their partnership with Capital One Business and their relationship manager, Carly.

18:24Julie Sweet:Carly's always good. I can just shoot her a text. It's always been that type of relationship. And then the cash back is invaluable to us. That made it easy to really lean into the partnership with Capital One.

18:35Bob Safian:To learn more, go to CapitalOne.com slash business cards.

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19:53Julie Sweet:No bandwidth limits, no data leaving your machine, just the freedom to generate high-fidelity video with synchronized audio at roughly one-eighth the cost and one-seventh the rendering time of comparable tools. Start creating at ltx.io slash model.

20:14Julie Sweet:Before the break, Accenture CEO Julie Sweet talked about how war in Iran and AI disruption are rattling CEOs' assumptions. Now we talk about why Accenture tracks AI use in determining promotions, what she calls today's biggest leadership essential, and why tension in the C-suite is a good thing. Plus, lessons she's learned from her cancer battle. Let's jump back in. Accenture has committed billions to reskilling employees. But those who don't get serious about reskilling with AI, we've seen these reports that they're going to be shown the door. That you track your staff's use of AI tools when considering promotions.

20:58Julie Sweet:Like, how do you navigate this line between AI encouragement and what some might see as like coercion?

21:06Bob Safian:Well, I don't think it's coercion in any sense of the world. So think about this. When we introduced computers, right, you went from a type, I'm old enough, I remember. Like, I actually took a typewriting class, right? So I remember all this. Like, no one would have said that requiring someone to use a computer is coercion, right? It's how the companies were going to get work done. today, AI at Accenture is how we do work, right? And by the way, if you're coming in as a college graduate right now, you don't even question that. College graduates, I've had clients tell me that it's the college graduates who come and say, what do you mean you're not using this?

21:44Bob Safian:Because they wanna be at the company that's actually using it. You have to work in the way we work in order to be successful here, right? So I don't see that as coercion in any way. These are the new tools to operate a company. We didn't go from zero to you won't get promoted like in a month. It's over a three-year period of getting used to the technology, making sure it's user-friendly, making sure we have the right workbench for people to use. And then saying, hey, this is Accenture and how we operate. So if you want to get promoted, you've got to do the things that we do in order to operate Accenture.

22:26Julie Sweet:But, you know, there are communities of folks who are anxious about what AI is going to do to them and folks being left behind. I'm sure you have some clients where they're getting that feedback.

22:38Bob Safian:There's been a lot of investment in the AI itself. There hasn't been as much investment by companies in the training. Companies have to do more. I also think it means governments have to do more because small and medium-sized enterprises don't have the same means.

22:54Julie Sweet:You've said that every leader needs to think of themselves as a reinventor. Reinvention requires a tolerance for failure, you know, and most large organizations are kind of wired to punish failure. How do you think about and navigate and encourage that kind of tolerance as to what failure is acceptable and good and learning and what failure is not.

23:19Bob Safian:You know, it's funny, Bob, I was just talking to someone explaining to the CEO, I said, you have to remember that when somebody says there's a, you know, 80 % that we're going to do it, that means there's a 20 % risk that you're not. And the 20 % is real. Sometimes people forget that actually in everything we do at companies, there's always that risk of failure. And then they're shocked when something doesn't go right. It's an important mindset to understand that risks are real and they might happen. The bigger challenge, Bob, it's not about risk or fear of failure. The biggest issue with being a reinventor is letting go of how you've done things.

24:02Bob Safian:So we have a leadership essential around we want everybody to respectfully challenge how we do things. What we recognized was that people didn't see that as their job. But actually, every one of us should be willing to challenge, is the way that I've done this still the right way? And that's really hard if it's your baby, if you created, if you've been doing it for 30 years. So I think it's less about being willing to fail and more about having the humility to be willing to change.

24:41Julie Sweet:As we're talking, I'm reminded that like only what 5 % of Fortune 500 companies are run by women. I know you're one of the highest profile. I'm worried about how to even ask this, like, is gender and business something you like talking about? Or does the focus on you as a quote unquote woman leader frustrate you?

25:08Bob Safian:I don't really, I don't care in the sense of, is it a productive conversation to lead to a different outcome, right? So I actually have a lot of CEOs who will ask me, particularly in parts of the world where there aren't as many, you know, the U.S. has got a lot more women leaders, for example, who want to have the conversation because they genuinely are trying to figure out how, you know, how do I unlock that talent pool? You know, what are we, what, what am I doing wrong? And so that focus is a good focus because there are things that are barriers. You know, I sometimes, there are places that I go in like Europe and Asia where it's like being in the U.S.

25:51Bob Safian:around the 2000s, right? When I was a young professional, because they're just in a very different space. So, you know, now, like what I would tell you that at Accenture, when I was selected as the CEO, first as the CEO of North America, and then the CEO globally, a big reason was because I hadn't grown up here and I was willing to change things because I wasn't wed to how we've done business for the last 30 years, I wasn't wed to, well, we can't do that because so-and-so won't like it. I was willing to come in and just ask the question, like, why can't we do this? And that came from actually coming in from the outside.

26:36Bob Safian:When you have diverse leadership teams, whether it's gender diversity, outside in diversity, you know, backgrounds, they produce more innovation. It is because you get all these different viewpoints that you don't have if everybody feels the same and the same can be gender, but it's as much. The bigger issue is often how they only worked in one place and they're not thinking about other, you know, other opportunities, other ways of doing things.

27:10Julie Sweet:And these these differences that people bring, I mean, that can that could bring conflict. But what you're saying is that conflict, as long as it doesn't get personal, is good, right? That it sort of helps to illuminate options, ideas and possibilities.

27:26Bob Safian:Absolutely. And in fact, the best CEOs in the world will tell you they don't want a team that always says yes. They want a team where there's a healthy tension. Because at the level of the C-suite, things are not just very clear cut, right? There is always a lot of like sort of ambiguity. I do not get to make a decision where I just have 100 % certainty. And so when you're working through that ambiguity, you want different perspectives. I learned that when I was a young lawyer, a partner at a law firm. So I was a partner for at Crevaso and Amor for 10 years. And my first year, I had this very difficult problem.

28:10Bob Safian:And in fact, a client that was trying to get me fired because I wasn't giving them the answer they wanted. And I remember I brought together the most conservative partners and the most liberal partners because I felt like that was the only way to test whether my viewpoint in advice was right. Actually bringing the people that I thought, if anybody is going to disagree, it's going to be these three. And I remember I brought nine partners together. And so when we went back and actually stuck with our position, like the head of the firm could feel so confident because it wasn't about being right or righteous, right?

28:49Bob Safian:We really had that difficult discussion with lots of viewpoints and then landed on our position.

28:57Julie Sweet:So I have a little bit of a personal question. I know that last year in the midst of all the leadership and business challenges of 2025, you were diagnosed for a second time with breast cancer. Dealing with health issues while trying to project strength as a leader, It's a lot of extra stress. Or do the health issues put the work stress into perspective?

29:21Bob Safian:But I never mind talking about it. And I feel in part because I always use it as a plug to whether you're a man or a woman, there are certain cancer screenings that you should do and everyone should get them done because when cancer is caught early, you survive, you know. And in my case, my first cancer was in 2015, and it was caught by a mammogram. In this case, a decade later, it was caught by a self-examination. And it's super important. And as you know, there's lots of recommended cancer screenings, and it's usually when people don't get them that they end up finding cancer too late. So that's one point.

30:02Bob Safian:Look, I'm one of those people, I would never say, wow, you should have cancer because you're going to have this great insight into your life or something like, like there's got to be better ways to have insights. And at the same time, I think, you know, you find a silver lining. Like my first time I had cancer, one of the things that I really honed in on was I didn't have regrets. I felt like I was living the life that I am making the right choices. And so over the last decade, I used to ask myself that. I used to say, if I found out I had cancer tomorrow, would I still feel like I didn't have regrets in terms of the way I was living my life?

30:39Bob Safian:And sometimes it would cause me to change. I'd be like, you know what? I'm away too much, right? Like I'm not feeling good about like those choices. I was hoping that was a theoretical question I was asking myself. But, you know, that didn't turn out to be right. And so when this happened, of course, like it had an impact, right? I couldn't travel, you know, et cetera. But I had a phenomenal team. And when you look at our results, you know, we had a great year in the year that I had cancer. I mean, we, you know, took massive market share. We're a$70 billion company growing at 7%. And the testimony is, I believe, in that, you know, you build companies to be resilient and you have great teams.

31:22I still stand by, though, I don't wish on anyone to learn those lessons that way.

31:29Bob Safian:You know, 2026 is great. Starting cancer-free and not having to manage any health issues.

31:35Julie Sweet:Well, that is good news to hear. The environment in 2026 feels so unpredictable. You know, politics, regulation, AI, war, changes everywhere. I'm curious whether you have a philosophy about what the role of business is in setting the course for the future.

31:53Bob Safian:Look, you know, we have believed for a very long time that businesses have responsibilities to their customers, their employees, their investors or shareholders, and to their communities. We spend a lot of our corporate citizenship on digitally reskilling because we know that helps communities have more people who are employed. And that's a direct link to, you know, our success as a company. That's why with AI, I do think it's very important that we are being intentional around keeping entry-level jobs, that we are being intentional about the new strategies that are needed for re -skilling. In the world of AI, it's going to take more and more of those deliberate strategies to ensure that AI does benefit for all.

32:51Julie Sweet:Julie, this was great. Thank you so much for doing it.

32:54Bob Safian:Thank you.

32:58Julie Sweet:Julie's focus on deliberate strategies, on intentional actions, it's a steady stream in her advice from Iran response to AI. And when I think about it, there's probably an emotional benefit as well as the practical ones. When we feel ourselves overwhelmed or even panicked, what can we do to get we grounded? As Julie says, we can identify what we know and also identify what we don't know and then be transparent about both with others and with ourselves. I'll confess to having moments of dismay and anxiety, to feeling both frozen and frantic at the same time. In those instances, I try to remind myself about what I can and can't control, and then I build a plan for action.

33:43Julie Sweet:Doing something makes me feel better and allows me to take agency over my life and my work, even when so much is out of my hands. I'm Bob Safian. Thanks for listening.

34:03Bob Safian:We were awarded this incredible contract to put on an event for 2 ,000 people. The budget was around$1.5 million. It was a black tie event. There was a jazz band playing and a cigar bar and a bourbon bar. That's Natasha Miller, Capital One business customer and CEO of Entire Productions, a corporate event management company. And she's telling us how she had to float a large contract for nine months. It was really hard since we were carrying that$1.5 million, most of which passed through to pay for the venue and all the vendors and all the food and beverage. It's this waterfall effect. Thankfully, we were able to handle that with the Capital One credit cards, which have a 2 % cash back on everything.

34:50Bob Safian:For Natasha, it wasn't just the financial support from Capital One Business, but the personal investment as well. I had incredible support from my personal banker, Callie. I knew that at any point I was in trouble that I can call her, which I've never had before in a bank, ever. With the help of Callie and her Capital One business card, Natasha was able to stretch every dollar in order to bring this monumental event to life. To learn more, go to CapitalOne.com slash business cards. While everyone was debating whether or not Bitcoin was an asset for their portfolio, CoinShares was quietly building the foundation to invest in it properly.

35:30Bob Safian:CoinShares launched the world's first Bitcoin ETP back in 2015. Today, they manage nearly$6 billion and are profitable through multiple market cycles. CoinShares is publicly traded on NASDAQ Stockholm and announced in September it is seeking a US listing. CoinShares is the one-stop shop for digital asset investment, passive ETFs, active strategies, and mining exposure. Every approach built to institutional standards. CoinShares. The adults have arrived. Learn more at coinshares.com.

36:05Julie Sweet:Rapid Response is a Wait What original. I'm Bob Safian. Our executive producer is Eve Trow. Our producer is Alex Morris. Associate producer is Mashimaku Tonina. Mixing and mastering by Aaron Bastinelli. Our theme music is by Ryan Holiday. Our head of podcasts is Lital Malad. For more, visit rapidresponseshow.com.

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