Healing Through Innovation:The Rise of AI-Assisted Surgery | Bill Peine Ph.D.
Release Date: 10/28/2025
Power & Impact
In this week’s Power & Impact, I sit down with Kelly Williamson, a senior leader at the global advisory firm APCO to talk about what actually sustains a career and a company when the world keeps rewriting the rules. Kelly shares her path from intern to executive at APCO, and why trust and relationships have mattered more than any five-year plan. We talk about leading through uncertainty, navigating AI and geopolitical change, and why empathy, values, and critical thinking are no longer soft now essential leadership skills but soft ones. The discussion spans the future of work, the...
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In this week’s Power & Impact, I spoke with entrepreneur and investor Slava Rubin — founder of Indiegogo and a leading voice in alternative investments — about how big changes take shape, and how to recognize them early. Throughout his career, Slava has developed a habit of paying attention, looking for early signals rather than waiting for change to become obvious. We talked about how new technologies may gradually open access to assets that once felt out of reach, and why shifts like these tend to unfold without many people noticing. As Slava put it, big changes and opportunities...
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Crypto and blockchain come up everywhere these days — at work, in the news, in conversations that seem to assume everyone else already understands what’s going on. If you don’t, you’re not alone. In this episode of Power & Impact, I sat down with two people I trust and learn from: Agnes Budzyn, founder of Bluedge Ventures, and David Schamis, co-founder and CIO of Atlas Merchant Capital. Both have spent years inside the world of crypto, and both are unusually good at explaining it without hype or jargon. What struck me most is how practical the conversation became. This isn’t...
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In this episode of Power & Impact , I sit down with business leader Nigel Travis, whose career spans some of America’s most iconic brands, including Dunkin’, Burger King, Jersey Mike’s, and others from Blackstone’s global portfolio. From his British roots to leading quintessentially American companies, Nigel reflects on how perspective, people, and disciplined execution shape enduring leadership. Nigel shares what it takes to turn even struggling brands into growth engines, including the lessons he learned rebuilding Dunkin’ during the financial crisis. Together, we explore why...
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In this week’s episode of Power & Impact, I sit down with Azeem Azhar, a leading expert on the rapid growth of technology, to explore how acceleration itself is shaping the way we work and make decisions. As AI becomes part of everyday life, its influence now extends well beyond business, reaching into education, family life, and the expectations we place on institutions. Azeem’s perspective is shaped by an education at Oxford and years spent studying how technological progress compounds over time. He explains why change often feels sudden, even when it’s been building for years, and...
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In this week’s episode of Power & Impact, I sit down with Armando Pantoja, an investor, technologist, and thought leader who has spent his career spotting inflection points before they become obvious. Armando’s story is a study in reinvention. He went from playing professional basketball in Puerto Rico to returning to software engineering, and eventually to building businesses at the center of the crypto economy. Along the way, he learned the value of starting early, learning quickly from failure, and staying flexible when the path forward isn’t always clear. We talk about the...
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Recorded live at Techonomy 25, this week’s episode of Power & Impact brings together two voices thinking deeply about where creativity and leadership are headed: Sergio Lopez Ferrero, CEO of Omnicom Production and a global leader in AI-driven brand storytelling, and Dr. Bobbi Wegner, a Harvard lecturer focused on team health, connection, and performance. Their conversation cuts through the noise around artificial intelligence to focus on what actually matters. Sergio and Bobbi talk about how AI is changing the way we create and lead, the role of craft in an era of rapid automation, and...
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In this week’s Power & Impact, I sit down with Dr. Gary King, one of Harvard University’s most distinguished professors and a leading voice in social science research, for a wide-ranging conversation about learning, leadership, and the power of community. Joined by my co-host and friend Dr. Bobbi Wegner, we explore why relationships sit at the heart of meaningful education and how community fuels innovation (Dr. Wegner is a psychologist, entrepreneur, and herself a Harvard educator.) During the conversation, Gary reflects on his work at Harvard, tracing the path from academic insight...
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In this week’s Power & Impact, I sit down with the remarkable thinker, Dr. Barbara Oakley, for a deep look at the science of how we learn, adapt, and tap into abilities we never knew we had. Barbara shares her extraordinary path from “hating math” to becoming one of the world’s leading engineering educators, Together, we reveal what modern neuroscience now proves: the brain can change, heal, and grow at any age. From Army barracks to the South Pole, from breakthroughs in brain science to lessons from global education reform, this conversation offers a hopeful message for parents,...
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What does it take to lead under the brightest spotlight in the world? In this episode of Power & Impact , I sit down with my friend Sally Susman, who recently wrapped up an extraordinary run as chief corporate affairs officer at Pfizer. Few people have been tested the way Sally was during the COVID years, and even fewer managed to lead with the clarity, steadiness, and optimism she brought to every moment. Sally talks with me about what it was like to help guide Pfizer through a global crisis, how she built trust in a divided media landscape, and what she learned from working alongside...
info_outlineAre we on the brink of the end of traditional surgery?
In this episode, I sit down with Bill Peine, Ph.D., VP of Surgical Research & Technology at Medtronic — one of the world’s leading innovators in medical technology.
Bill and his team are reimagining the future of healthcare at the intersection of robotics, AI, and human ingenuity — where the idea of cutting into patients may soon feel as outdated as the rotary phone.
We dive into:
• How Medtronic began with the invention of the first battery-powered pacemaker
• How engineers and doctors are working together to make surgery safer, faster, and more precise through robotics and artificial intelligence
• How medical procedures are moving out of big hospitals and into more accessible, lower-cost environments
• And the exciting possibilities of longevity, preventative medicine, and what it really means to live well for a hundred years or more
Bill believes the future of healthcare is built on three key ideas: precision, predictability, and personalization — and after hearing him explain it, I think he’s right.