
Loading summary
Host
So like 100% of investors think that protection is important. Only about 70% of advisors are like
Co-host
talking to their clients about that.
Interviewer
Where do you think the disconnect is happening?
Co-host
There's this huge differences that exist in
Host
terms of what advisors think they're talking about their clients, what clients are actually hearing.
Optum Representative / Healthcare Advertiser
Healthcare doesn't always work great. If you've ever waited on a refill or couldn't schedule an appointment, you get it. That's the kind of stuff Optum is changing. They're using data and technology to integrate patient care, pharmacy and and everything else. So healthcare is connected, not complicated. What's that look like? Cheaper prescriptions that are easier to get and care that looks at the whole person how you need it. Optum is helping make healthcare work as one for everyone. Learn more@business optum.com so there's a lot
IBM Representative / AI Advertiser
of noise about AI, but time's too tight for more promises. So let's talk about results. At IBM, we work with our employees to integrate technology right into the systems they need. Now a global workforce of 300,000 can use AI to fill their HR questions, resolving 94% of common questions, not noise. Proof of how we can help companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business. IBM
Bloomberg Intelligence Announcer
Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio national news. You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence podcast. Catch us live weekdays at 10am Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on YouTube.
Host
Some news from Meta Meta Platforms unveiled a version of its AI model dubbed Muse Spark 1.1 that includes a new page tier for developers, marking the first time Meta has charged businesses for access to its models. Let's get the more details from Kurt Wagner, senior reporter covering social media for Bloomberg News, who just sat down with Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, and had a wide ranging interview. Kurt, thanks so much for joining us here. Talk to us about what you and Mr. Zuckerberg discussed regarding Meta's AI strategy here.
Kurt Wagner
Yeah, well, I mean the motivator behind the interview was this release that you just mentioned, the Musespark 1.1, and we spent a good chunk of time talking about where Meta stands in the AI race right now. I think the prior models that the company has released have really been seen as sort of second tier behind the open eyes, the anthropics and even the Googles of the world. I think Mark Zuckerberg admitted to me in our conversation that they're still trailing Anthropic and OpenAI in a lot of ways. But he was very proud that this new model benchmarked better than the Google models. And he said this was sort of a milestone for them to, in his words, kind of deliver something that's a higher quality than what Google's doing. And they are racing to try and develop superintelligence. They're racing to have the best model on the planet. They have another one coming. It's called Watermelon. I don't know exactly when that's going to be, but he talked openly about how that is going to, in his mind, push the frontier of AI development and progress. So, you know, a big part of the conversation was Muse Spark 1.1 and what that means for the business, but a big part of it was just where do they stand? And does he feel like things are moving in the right direction? And he feels very confident about where they are.
Interviewer
Hey, Kurt, looking at Meta's stock, Meta is the ticker. It's marginally higher now, about 4.10of a percent, but it had been lower this morning. On the back of some of that news, why do you think that is? Obviously, the stock is down this year, but of course it was on such a tear in recent years after a lot of those job tranches and obviously its move into AI and other vehicles there. What do you think's going on as far as how shareholders are viewing this?
Kurt Wagner
Well, the narrative around Meta's AI business for the last six months or so has been that they're spending a ton without a clear path for recovery. Like, where is all this money going to come back into the business? And in the last couple months, they've tried to answer that in several ways. They have a consumer chatbot subscription that they announced they're going to be selling access to AI agents for businesses. Of course, there's today's news where they're going to be selling their model to developers via this API. And then we had a great story last week on Bloomberg about the fact that they're also exploring a cloud business, taking some of that compute capacity that they've acquired and maybe reselling it or using it in other ways that aren't just for its own products. And so I really think we've started to see a potential business shape up for them on the AI front in the last two, three months that didn't exist before. And I think you're starting to see the stock slowly reflect that, that people are saying, okay, they're spending a ton. But now we have a better sense of how they're trying to make money from this that we didn't necessarily know a few months ago.
Host
So is there. This seems to be this whole AI chase, if you will, by the technology space in general. It's just iteration after iteration after iteration. Where does Mr. Zuckerberg think Meta is in that game here? Is this something that they can continue to invest in, continue to improve in?
Kurt Wagner
One of the things that I asked him about was, why do this? Right? Like, there's so, so many companies, there's several companies that are kind of racing for this, what you would call frontier AI model. This, this tip of the iceberg, tip of the spear. And I'm like, why spend all this money when you know you could essentially license some of this technology from someone else who spends all the money, Right. Maybe make it cheaper. And his answer was, look, if we don't control the technology, we're at a disadvantage. Because their goal, Meta's goal is to build personalized assistance for everyone in the world. So they want every single person to be able to open their phone or put on their smart glasses and have that personal AI assistant there. And if they're relying on OpenAI's technology or anthropics technology, they just can't control what the priorities are. Mark Zuckerberg is big on that. He's big on making sure that no other companies have leverage over Meta. And so I think for him, he's saying it's worth the spend because we can then build the model that's going to do exactly what we want. We don't have to hope that someone else does it for us. And so for him, it's worth throwing all this money at that problem, even if there are going to be several competing models, simply because he wants that control moving forward.
Interviewer
Of course, to your point, critics have questioned whether or not the pivot will end up paying off. What did he tell you as to why he thinks it will?
Kurt Wagner
Well, he thinks that this is the most exciting technology that has ever showed up in his lifetime. And so he imagines this world, you know, what they did with social media in some ways is a similar strategy. They made it free.
Ken Shea
Right?
Kurt Wagner
Facebook and Instagram and WhatsApp, those are free tools. Obviously, there's advertising. You do sort of pay, if you will, by giving Meta access to your attention and time with your data. But ultimately he's saying, hey, we're trying to make a tool free, give it to as many people as possible, and figure out how to make money from it later. And I think that's sort of what he sees here is he goes, hey, everyone's going to everyone's life will benefit from AI. This is his perspective, of course. And you know, let's make this as cheap and widely accessible as possible and we'll kind of figure out some of the business a little bit down the road. And so for him, I think that's the motivation is he wants his product in as many hands as possible and so that's why he's willing to sort of undercut on price with a lot of the stuff they've announced.
Optum Representative / Healthcare Advertiser
Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this.
Host
Over $100 trillion estimated to be transferred
Co-host
to generations in the next 25 years.
Host
It's both a risk and an opportunity
Co-host
because we see that only about 18 19% of high net worth investors plan on sticking with their advisor post transfer.
Interviewer
This has to be a tough statistic
Mary Ross Gilbert
for some to hear.
Interviewer
People who work so hard trying to grow their net assets, they want to protect that life work and they want to make sure that it is able to transfer in a seamless way.
Host
Support for the show comes from public.com if you're actively involved in your portfolio, you probably catch yourself repeating the same actions. Buying the dip, manually sweeping idle cash, putting on a hedge on public, you can now create AI agents that handle all these tasks on your behalf. Just describe what you want to do in plain English like if the Vix hits 25, buy a put option on the S&P 500 or if my cash balance goes above $20,000, move the excess into my direct index. You approve the workflow and your agent handles the risk, monitoring the market, watching for your conditions and executing your strategies exactly as defined. An investing platform driven by your intent, not just your clicks. You can also get full read and write access to your account via the public API. Go to public.com market and fund your account in five minutes or less. That's public.com market paid for by Public
Co-host
Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, LLC. SEC registered advisor complete disclosures available@public.com disclosures
IBM Representative / AI Advertiser
the thing about AI for business, it may not automatically fit the way your business works. At IBM we've seen this firsthand. But by embedding AI across hr, IT and procurement processes, we've reduced cost by millions, slashed repetitive tasks, and freed thousands of hours for strategic work. Now we're helping companies get smarter by putting AI where It actually pays off deep in the work that moves the let's create smarter business IBM.
Bloomberg Intelligence Announcer
You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence podcast. Catch us live weekdays at 10am Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on YouTube.
Host
PepsiCo reported some earnings today. The company said consumers pulled back in the second quarter, slowing its efforts to revitalize its North American snack business. Stocks down 4% today. It's off almost 5% year to date. Let's break it down, some of those results. We can do that with Ken Shea, consumer analyst there at Bloomberg Intelligence. Ken, what you learned from Pepsi?
Ken Shea
Yeah, Hi, Paul. Well, PepsiCo today pretty much gave a report that was widely expected, quite frankly. I mean they hit their numbers maybe a little bit above top and bottom line numbers. But what they said was that their a game plan that they set out earlier this year to revitalize their businesses from a top line and a margin point of view are still in place even though they had a speed bump in the second quarter. And that speed bump is higher gas prices. No shocker there. People kind of knew, you know, it was going to be a tough quarter for them to make, you know, really good progress. Their big businesses, Pepsi Food, that's about a third of their sales, about 40% of the profits. It's the big enterprise they have there. It basically was a little short of expectations. You know, consumers pulled back a little bit as you mentioned, despite the company's innovation efforts. And the company basically have to make up some of this lost ground they said in the second half, particularly the fourth quarter, to hit their numbers, which they reiterated.
Interviewer
Hey Ken, talk to us about shrinkflation because that's something that PepsiCo got knocked on a few years ago when they were having to boost some of the volumes in some of their chips because of course it produces the world's most popular chips through its subsidiary Frito Lay. But what are you seeing with that and how does that translate to margins?
Ken Shea
Yeah, hi, Jess. Well, yeah, I agree, you know, earlier in the year and actually let me take a step back, since the pandemic PepsiCo and many other big consumer companies had because of supply chain disruptions and cost inflation in general and so on, had been pretty aggressive on the price increase of unit pricing was up really, really sharply over the over the last few years. So earlier this year with the help of an activist, they said, look, we need a better balance between volume and unit pricing. And so we're going to do is going to roll back pricing a little bit and try to get volumes back in. Course, you know, and by doing that, not only is it a better balance and easier to manage, quite frankly, but you're helping operating efficiencies. You know, you need to have volumes moving along in a positive way to get the, you know, that fixed cost absorption kind of equation to work. So what they're doing now basically is they're getting back to a more balanced approach. At the same time, though, when they set that plan, that was before gas prices shot up. So the challenge they're going to have in the second half is they want to stick to their game plan of being more balanced with volume and pricing. But, you know, but they're going to be challenged by having an environment where costs are back up again. You see the news today and gas prices are backed up. The company's going to have some cost issues. How they reconcile that, it's a good question. We're going to have to wait and see.
Host
Ken, what does Pepsi say about its portfolio of brands? Are they comfortable where they are? Are they looking to add brands, are looking to pare back on some of their brands? How are they fixed?
Ken Shea
Well, I think PepsiCo is pretty comfortable. I mean, they made some acquisitions in recent years. You know, sketch chips, they had the poppy probiotic sodas last year. They spent quite a bit of money on them, too. I think their game plan really is three prong poll to answer your question. First, they are setting up to have their products be more affordable. And that was the prior question. That is, you know, pull back a little bit on the unit pricing, smaller packaging sizes, maybe that's for inflation, but, but also on a list price side as well. Second, let's be more in tune with where the consumer's going in terms of their diets. And so they're making bigger bets on protein, fiber, what they call enhanced, enhanced hydration. And they're doing that with a lot of new products featuring all three. And then finally, they're very well known to be in the consumer, in the grocery aisle and the convenience store. And they want to be better known as a, an ingredient in home preparation. So they want to bring Doritos into the kitchen. Somebody's making tacos at home. Well, what about Doritos? That's only going to help. They've come out with something called the walking taco. You take a bag of Doritos and you can make your, you know, you know, ground beef and put in your tomatoes and other cheese and ingredients, and you can you have a taco which you can walk around with. It's a portable one. You know, it sounds kind of gimmicky, but it's doing well. They're promoting it and, you know, it's getting consumers to recognize these brands to be more than just something they pick up at the convenience store and grocery store.
Interviewer
So, Ken, are Americans buying back goods in large volumes to your point, how does that translate when it comes to a lot of these consumer packaged good companies and their ability to raise prices?
Ken Shea
Well, they're going to be, they're going to be challenged to hold prices. Like I said in the second half. I mean, Pensacola did say, you know, we're seeing cost inflation picking up in the second half and didn't say what they're going to do about it. But I would suspect you're going to see some more price increases in the second half. Now, having said that, we one of the, one of the silver linings to the story for a lot of these consumer companies, including PepsiCo, is that they're getting refunds from the tariffs. You got to remember back in April, they were deemed to be illegal and these companies are getting nice refunds. What PepsiCo is doing about it is they're going to apply a lot of these proceeds to help them reduce costs. And, you know, it may help them reduce the incentive to take price increases.
Optum Representative / Healthcare Advertiser
Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this.
Host
Support for this show comes from public.com if you're actively involved in your portfolio, you probably catch yourself repeating the same actions. Buying the dip, manually sweeping idle cash, putting on a hedge on public. You can now create AI agents that handle all these tasks on your behalf. Just describe what you want to do in plain English like if the Vix hits 25, buy a put option on the S&P 500 or if my cash balance goes above $20,000, move the excess into my direct index. You approve the workflow and your agent handles the risk, monitoring the market, watching for your conditions and executing your strategies exactly as defined. An investing platform driven by your intent, not just your clicks. You can also get full read and write access to your account via the public API. Go to public.com market and fund your account in five minutes or less. That's public.com market paid for by Public
Co-host
Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, LLC. SEC registered advisor complete disclosures available@public.com disclosures
IBM Representative / AI Advertiser
so there's a lot of noise about AI, but time's too tight for more promises. So let's talk about results. At IBM, we work with our employees to integrate technology right into the systems they need. Now a Global workforce of 300,000 can use AI to fill their HR questions. Resolving 94% of common questions, not noise proof of how we can help companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off. Deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business IBM.
Optum Representative / Healthcare Advertiser
Let's talk about healthcare for a second. It doesn't always work the way people expect it to. If you've ever waited on a prescription refill or had a hard time getting the care you needed, you know the feeling the system should just work better for everyone. That's exactly what the people at Optum are trying to do every day. They're a healthcare company linking patient care and pharmacy services and using data and technology to drive the whole system. So care is connected, not complicated for patients and providers. Things like making it easier to get care that looks at the whole person. From primary care doctors to mental health support and even in home care. And then using technology to make sure they all work together. Technology designed to help doctors spend less time on busy work and more time with their patients and those prescriptions. Optum is working to bring costs down, save patients money and make it easier to get refills. Little by little, Optum is helping make healthcare work as one for everyone. Head to business.optum.com to see how
Bloomberg Intelligence Announcer
you're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence podcast. Catch us live weekdays at 10am Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg business app. Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on YouTube.
Host
Let's get back to Levi Strauss. They reported some earnings here. Mary Ross Gilbert, she's a senior analyst covering all the retail stuff from for Bloomberg Intelligence, joins us. Mary, talk to us about Levi's. What what did they disclose on the earnings release?
Mary Ross Gilbert
So yesterday they had great numbers, right? Their organic growth was up 6%. That was about 200 basis points better than what analysts were looking for. They were looking for 4% and their guidance. They raised their guidance and it's really due to the first half performance. So their guidance now for organic growth is 5.5 to 6%. It was previously 4.5 to 5.5%. They are seeing strength across women's. Women's was up 11% in the quarter. Beyond Yoga, which is their small brand but growing Fast, was up 16%. Asia up 12%. In Europe, DTC up 7%. But wholesale is the Biggest part of the business. And so you have to really look at the first half because you will have fluctuations in the quarter based on shipping. That was up 9% in the first half. So with all the strength that they're seeing raising guidance, there's still upside to their guidance because it's really based on the first half performance. So what they're guiding into the second half is really conservative and that's their objective they really want to beat. But what this says is that the brand is relevant around the globe across income groups. So for example, they have the Levi's. Levi's signature brand label which is in Walmart and that was up in the first half, up high single digits right around 8 to 9%. And they're seeing that being high single digits to low double digits in the second half. So again, no weakness anywhere with the consumer even having at the low end and then at the high end they're both blue tab premium denim doing very, very well. But also non denim, their non denim bottoms which really allows them to increase their addressable market was also up strong in the quarter. So they're really gaining traction and there's just more to go.
Interviewer
Well, looking at its stock Levi, the ticker up about 2% today, even on a year to date basis, that's stock is up about 20% if you pull it back the last five years down about 10%. So obviously trailing broader benchmarks in that span of time. What do you think moving forward is the biggest thing that obviously shareholders want to hear from them as far as improving when it comes to the outlook for that kind of growth in their margins?
Mary Ross Gilbert
Yeah, so it's a good question. I mean first of all, when you look at the margin expansion that they're looking for for the full year, they did raise estimates a tad bit, but it was actually below what consensus is looking for on the margin side. So that could sort of explain there was a little bit of volatility after their earnings. Other than that. Once again, if you look at the margin expansion they're experiencing in Europe, they have a global enterprise resource program that they're expanding throughout the globe. They're going to complete that in,022, 2027. So in Europe, where they sort of started it, it's complete. And we saw their operating margin expand 400 basis points. That was partly due to lower distribution center costs too. So I think that you're really going to see margin expansion grow and again fast, potentially faster than the top line. So I think there's really a lot of traction here because women's is still a smaller part of the business versus men's. So that's why you're seeing double digit growth there but also across categories and tops and wovens and outerwear. And then with the campaigns that they have going with the World cup and the logo that they had to cover up at Levi's Stadium in San Francisco, that gave them a great opportunity for from a media campaign that actually drew over a billion of impressions. So all of that is really resonating with consumers and I really see upside and I think that could really shift the performance in the shares over time.
Optum Representative / Healthcare Advertiser
Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this.
Host
Support for this show comes from public.com if you're actively involved in your portfolio, you probably catch yourself repeating the same actions. Buying the dip, manually sweeping idle cash, putting on a hedge on public you can now create AI agents that handle all these tasks on your behalf. Just describe what you want to do in plain English like if the Vix hits 25, buy a put option on the S&P 500 or if my cash balance goes above $20,000, move the excess into my direct index. You approve the workflow and your agent handles the risk, monitoring the market, watching for your conditions and executing your strategies exactly as defined. An investing platform driven by your intent, not just your clicks. You can also get full read and write access to your account via the public API. Go to public.com market and fund your account in five minutes or less. That's public.com market paid for by Public
Co-host
Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, LLC. SEC registered advisor complete disclosures available@public.com disclosures
IBM Representative / AI Advertiser
the thing about AI for business, it may not automatically fit the way your business works. At IBM, we've seen this firsthand. But by embedding AI across hr, IT and procurement processes, we've reduced costs by millions, slashed repetitive tasks, and freed thousands of hours for strategic work. Now we're helping companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business IBM, let's talk
Optum Representative / Healthcare Advertiser
about healthcare for a second. It doesn't always work the way people expect it to. If you've ever waited on a prescription refill or had a hard time getting the care you needed, you know the feeling the system should just work better for everyone. That's exactly what the people at Optum are trying to do every day. They're a healthcare company linking patient care and pharmacy services and using data and technology to drive the whole system so care is connected, not complicated for patients and providers. Things like making it easier to get care that looks at the whole person, from primary care doctors to mental health support and even in home care. And then using technology to make sure they all work together. Technology designed to help doctors spend less time on busy work and more time with their patients and those prescriptions. Optum is working to bring costs down, save patients money and make it easier to get refills. Little by little, Optum is helping make healthcare work as one for everyone. Head to business.optum.com to see how
Bloomberg Intelligence Announcer
you're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence podcast. Catch us live weekdays at 10am Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on YouTube.
Host
Interesting story on the Bloomberg Terminal today, my good friends at Starbucks. Starbucks is developing in house tools with the help of artificial intelligence that could replace some software applications and now buys from companies such as Microsoft and International Business Machines. Let's get some details here. Daniela Sortore joins us here, restaurant reporter for Bloomberg News, based in Chicago. Danielle, talk to us about Starbucks and kind of what they're trying to do from a software and AI perspective.
Bloomberg Intelligence Announcer
Sure.
Interviewer
So really what they're doing is instead of reflexively buying out, going out and buying software, now what they're trying to do is look at, okay, does it make sense for us to actually build some of these applications in house? You know, they customize a lot of this software anyway. Just imagine what it takes to really, you know, personalize your order at Starbucks. Well, for example, the pos, the point of Sale system, has to be able to reflect that. So baristas can actually ring up your order. And so they're like, okay, we're going to customize the software anyway. Does it make sense to build it? And we're in an age which, you know, with artificial intelligence it's just that conversation just gets a little easier because AI can help. I wanted to point out too, because software stocks are actually lower on the back of this announcement. So if you're looking at IBM, that's down about 2%. The ticker symbols IBM, of course, and then ServiceNow is flat but marginally lower and then Salesforce down about 2%. CRM is the ticker on that. So why the dynamic there? Obviously Is it more just because of the competitive landscape? So this move by Starbucks feeds into this broader conversation and technology space about whether with AI customers or maybe Startups can just build tools that can replace some of the software that are. That is now sold by some companies like IBM and Microsoft. So basically, I think with Starbucks, what we're looking is at a case study of this actually happening inside a company. So it's really fueling sort of this ongoing conversation in this space, if that makes sense.
Host
Yeah, this is what the market's been concerned about. And we've seen sell off in some of these software names and software as a service names, because people saying, boy, some of these things can be kind of done with AI and maybe cheaper. And, you know, and that's kind of what we're seeing in the story. So, I mean, in your story, Daniela, we see that Starbucks is spending. They spend about $400 million a year on software alone. Are they thinking they can materially reduce that?
Interviewer
They can. I mean, their chief technology officer has outright said, as we reported, that there are opportunities to cut spending in software. This one part of Starbucks organization, co Enterprise Technology, is looking to cut their spending by about $10 million by the end of this fiscal year, which for Starbucks ends in September. So they're definitely basically okay, taking a step back and saying, all right, first of all, let's review every contract and service, make sure that we have the best price there. And are there places in which it actually makes sense for us to build, to build our own product with the help of artificial intelligence? So it's definitely something that they're taking a second look at. Obviously, this is also part of something broader that Starbucks is doing, is they are going through a turnaround and they are looking to cut costs. So this review is also part of that. And then we have AI helping make that a little bit easier. Of course, as you know, the turnaround with Starbucks, this has been ongoing for the last few years now. What kind of timetable have they laid out to shareholders in terms of the turnaround itself? So they did issue, for the first time, some financial goals for 2027, 2028. You know, if we recall, when Br Nicole came in as CEO in 2024, he actually pulled guidance basically to just like, totally reset. And we actually have seen that the plan that he has implemented, generally speaking, has started to yield results. Their sales growth has picked back up, and he has really focused on things like customer service, on just having products that people really want to buy. And they also started to remodel stores. So basically, the tech is sort of the backdrop to all of this. Right. Like, a lot of the tools they use are just things that are behind the scenes to help them manage the
Bloomberg Intelligence Announcer
this is the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast, available on Apple, Spotify and anywhere else you get. Your podcasts listen live each weekday 10am to noon eastern on bloomberg.com the iHeartRadio app, TuneIn and the Bloomberg Business App. You can also watch us live Every weekday on YouTube and always on the Bloomberg Terminal.
Optum Representative / Healthcare Advertiser
Healthcare doesn't always work great. If you've ever waited on a refill or couldn't schedule an appointment, you get it. That's the kind of stuff Optum is changing. They're using data and technology to integrate patient care, pharmacy and everything else. So healthcare is connected, not complicated. What's that look like? Cheaper prescriptions that are easier to get and care that looks at the whole person how you need it. Optum is helping make healthcare work as one for everyone. Learn more@business.optum.com as industries evolve faster than
Interviewer
ever, companies need an environment that accelerates strategic growth. And Michigan delivers on that promise. From emerging startups to global enterprises, Michigan
Co-host
offers what executives value most a resilient,
Interviewer
innovative ecosystem, diverse communities that attract top talent, and a quality of life that supports work life. Balance with our unified Team Michigan approach business. Businesses scale faster and compete at the highest level. Michigan Pure Opportunity Seize your opportunity@MichiganBusiness.org these
Co-host
days it seems like AI agents are just about everywhere. You turn every field and every function, but without identity, you can't trust they'll serve your business instead of jeopardizing it. Fortunately, Okta helps you get identity right by securing your AI agents identities, giving you a single layer of control, a single standard of trust. So whether an AI agent supports a single user or your entire enterprise, with Okta you'll turn risk into opportunity. Secure every agent. Secure any agent. Okta secures AI.
Date: July 9, 2026
Hosts: Paul Sweeney & Scarlet Fu
Featured Contributors: Kurt Wagner (Bloomberg News, Social Media), Ken Shea (Bloomberg Intelligence, Consumer Analyst), Mary Ross Gilbert (Bloomberg Intelligence, Retail), Daniela Sbartore (Bloomberg News, Restaurant Industry)
This episode dissects Meta’s unveiling of its first paid AI model, Muse Spark 1.1, and explores its impacts on the company’s position in the AI arms race. It also covers broader AI monetization strategies, the evolving tech landscape, and company earnings updates from PepsiCo, Levi Strauss, and Starbucks. The discussion features exclusive insights from an interview with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, examining how aggressive pricing, product strategy, and tech control are shaping Meta’s future.
[01:38 – 07:31]
On Meta's Benchmark Progress (Kurt Wagner, 02:12):
“Mark Zuckerberg admitted to me in our conversation that [Meta is] still trailing Anthropic and OpenAI in a lot of ways. But he was very proud that this new model benchmarked better than the Google models. … This was sort of a milestone for them."
On Why Build In-House AI? (Kurt Wagner, paraphrasing Zuckerberg, 05:17):
"If we don’t control the technology, we’re at a disadvantage. … Meta’s goal is to build personalized assistance for everyone in the world. … He’s big on making sure that no other companies have leverage over Meta.”
On Pricing and Accessibility, Zuck’s Perspective (Kurt Wagner, 06:37):
“He thinks that this is the most exciting technology that has ever showed up in his lifetime. … What they did with social media in some ways is a similar strategy. They made it free. … He’s willing to sort of undercut on price with a lot of the stuff they've announced.”
[10:02 – 15:57]
On Volume vs. Price (Ken Shea, 11:48):
"We're going to roll back pricing a little bit and try to get volumes back in. … You need to have volumes moving along in a positive way to get the fixed cost absorption kind of equation to work.”
On Consumer Innovation (Ken Shea, 13:25):
“They want to be better known as an ingredient in home preparation. … The walking taco… is getting consumers to recognize these brands to be more than just something they pick up at the convenience store.”
[18:57 – 23:28]
On Wide-Reaching Brand Health (Mary Ross Gilbert, 19:13):
“There’s still upside to their guidance because it’s really based on the first half performance. … The brand is relevant around the globe across income groups.”
On Margin Drivers (Mary Ross Gilbert, 21:43):
“Their operating margin [in Europe] expanded 400 basis points. … They are really gaining traction, and there’s just more to go.”
[26:29 – 30:44]
On the DIY Tech Trend (Daniela Sbartore, 26:58):
“Now what they’re trying to do is look at, okay, does it make sense for us to actually build some of these applications in house? … With artificial intelligence, that conversation gets a little easier.”
On Potential Cost Saving (Daniela Sbartore, 28:56):
“Their chief technology officer has outright said … there are opportunities to cut spending in software.”
This episode provides a compelling look at how tech giants and major consumer brands are adapting to AI, competitive pricing pressures, and changing consumer dynamics—placing technology, agility, and scalability at the center of business transformation.