This week on If/Then, we’re sharing an episode of GSB at 100, a limited audio series created especially for Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Centennial. GSB at 100 presents a scrapbook of memories, ideas, and breakthroughs, as the GSB celebrates its first century and looks around the corner to what the next hundred years may hold.

The first episode of the series begins where the GSB begins: in 1925, Herbert Hoover, a Stanford alum and future U.S. president, had an idea. “A graduate School of Business Administration is urgently needed upon the Pacific Coast,” he wrote.

One hundred years later, what has Stanford Graduate School of Business accomplished, and what might its future hold? Listen in as professors reflect on founding principles, frontier technologies, and the magic that makes the GSB the place it is — and shapes what it aspires to be.

If/Then is a podcast from Stanford Graduate School of Business that examines research findings that can help us navigate the complex issues we face in business, leadership, and society. Each episode features an interview with a Stanford GSB faculty member.

Learn more about the Stanford GSB Centennial

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This week on If/Then, we’re sharing an episode of View From The Top: The Podcast, an audio series featuring leaders from around the world in conversation with MBA students. Recorded live at the CEMEX Auditorium at Stanford Graduate School of Business, episodes feature insights on effective leadership, the values that guide it, and lessons learned along the way.

Lisa Su, the chair and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), leads one of the world’s most influential technology companies, a pioneer in high-performance computing and designer of chips that power everything from cellphones to supercomputers.

Su joins Michael Liu, MBA ’25, to talk about what it takes to stay on the cutting edge of technology, the tremendous potential of artificial intelligence, and why her superpower may be her commitment to learning.

“Careers are very much by chance,” Su says. “The nice thing about my early career is I was lucky enough to have bosses who asked me all the time, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ And I was like, ‘I don't know. Let me think about [it]...what I like to believe is the ability to learn at each step was what really helped me in my career.”

This conversation was recorded on February 24, 2025.

More Resources:

• Lisa Su

• GSB Insights

• View From The Top

If/Then is a podcast from Stanford Graduate School of Business that examines research findings that can help us navigate the complex issues we face in business, leadership, and society.

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction

Kevin Cool introduces a summer spotlight on other podcasts, featuring View from the Top.

(00:00:59) Meet Lisa Su

Michael Liu introduces Lisa Su, AMD CEO, and highlights her career transformation.

(00:04:13) Growing Up & MIT Years

Lisa reflects on her immigrant upbringing and her journey through three degrees at MIT.

(00:05:43) Discovering Semiconductors

A part-time lab job at MIT ignites Lisa’s passion for chip technology.

(00:07:21) From Engineer to Leader

Lisa describes her transition from technical work to managing people and projects.

(00:11:19) Tackling Hard Problems

How curiosity and teamwork help Lisa embrace high-stakes technical challenges.

(00:13:40) Betting on Talent

Lisa recounts moments when she was given a chance—and how she now pays that forward.

(00:17:03) Becoming CEO at AMD

What brought Lisa to AMD and the unexpected call to lead the company.

(00:21:51) Strategy in a Turnaround

How AMD focused on high-performance computing and long-term bets.

(00:25:41) Cultural Shift at AMD

Lisa outlines how AMD’s culture became collaborative, ambitious, and learning-driven.

(00:27:19) AI & Global Tech Politics

The complex intersection of AI innovation and geopolitical regulation.

(00:32:37) Open vs. Closed AI Platforms

AMD’s open-source AI approach with NVIDIA’s more vertical model.

(00:38:54) Future Vision & Final Reflections

Lisa offers advice to MBAs and shares what she wants her legacy at AMD to be.

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As we celebrate the conclusion of the second season of the If/Then podcast, we present a bonus episode featuring Deborah H. Gruenfeld, the Joseph McDonald Professor and Professor of Organizational Behavior and a Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Gruenfeld, who appeared on the first season of If/Then in an award-winning episode about hierarchies and the nature of power, returned to the studio to share her thoughts on the value of academic research and its impact on individuals and organizations.

“The nice thing about research is that it provides tools and methods and an approach to learn about what’s true in the world, taking into account that what we learn from firsthand experience is not reliable,” she says. “Research helps us build a body of knowledge about what's actually true that we can trust.”

This episode was recorded on July 16, 2025.

Related Content:

• Deborah H. Gruenfeld, faculty profile
• Why Research Matters
• Why I Research: Findings Fueled by the Head and the Heart

If/Then is a podcast from Stanford Graduate School of Business that examines research findings that can help us navigate the complex issues we face in business, leadership, and society. Each episode features an interview with a Stanford GSB faculty member.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.