We want to hear from you! Email us at BCGInHerEllement@bcg.com with a voice memo describing your In Your Ellement moment. We might feature your story in an upcoming episode!

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What do you do when a dream opportunity arrives at an inopportune time?

For Miki Tsusaka, it called for some tough conversations with the people she trusted most.

This episode is part of our Builders mini series, where we talk with founders, product managers, and digital leaders about what drives their passion for building.

Miki is now the president of Microsoft Japan, where she’s leading AI adoption and digital transformation across industries. Before joining Microsoft, she spent over three decades at BCG, rising from associate to global CMO.

In this episode, Miki shares how she’s bringing lessons from her consulting career into leading a major tech organization, and how growing up with strong women role models shaped her approach to work and life. She also offers a grounded take on AI: why using it well requires a willingness to build new muscles over time.

01:50 A Dream Job Offer

04:15 Solving Language Barriers With AI

05:56 Women in Tech Leading AI Adoption

09:56 The 70-20-10 Rule

11:50 A Family of Educators

15:09 Blind Spots and Finding Commonality

17:10 Buying Cookies for The Bake Sale

19:15 Reflections

Links:

Miki Tsusaka on LinkedIn

Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn

Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn

BCG Report: Women Leaders in Tech Are Paving the Way in GenAI

About In Her Ellement:

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.

We want to hear from you! Email us at BCGInHerEllement@bcg.com with a voice memo describing your In Your Ellement moment. We might feature your story in an upcoming episode!

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What do you do when your job drops you into the center of a global financial crisis?

That’s where Sophia Bantanidis found herself – helping craft post-crisis banking reforms at the UK’s financial regulator. The experience shaped how she thinks about risk, regulation, and building more resilient systems.

Today, Sophia works at Citi’s thought leadership division, where she explores the forces transforming financial services, from disruptive tech to global market shifts. In this episode, Sophia talks about her career journey, how AI could reshape compensation models, and why it’s so important to vet any job – especially your first one.

01:31 Writing Rules for Executive Pay During the 2008 Crisis

06:24 Early Aspirations and a Diverse Upbringing

09:36 A Terrible Day One At Work

11:53 Vet Potential Jobs and Built a Network

16:41 From the Frontlines: AI and Compensation

20:33 Reflections

Links:

Sophia Bantanidis on LinkedIn

Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn

Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn

Mayowa Jolayemi on LinkedIn

About In Her Ellement:

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Mayowa Jolayemi is a second-year Associate at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where she focuses primarily on projects related to education, economic growth, and workforce development. She earned her B.A. in Economics from Harvard University, concentrating her academic work on economic development in West Africa, particularly in education and women's workforce empowerment.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.

We want to hear from you! Email us at BCGInHerEllement@bcg.com with a voice memo describing your In Your Ellement moment. We might feature your story in an upcoming episode!

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What can ancient Greek myths teach us about modern leadership?

Kirsten Rulf has spent her career at the intersection of tech, policy, and public service.

In this episode, Kirsten shares how she found clarity in moments of uncertainty, why AI presents a major opportunity for the public good, and what it was like helping shape the EU’s landmark tech legislation.

Kirsten is a Partner and Associate Director at BCG. Before joining BCG, she advised German Chancellor Angela Merkel and served as head of digital policy in the German government, playing a key role in negotiating Europe’s AI and data laws.

[1:26] A Big Win, Then The Hard Work Follows

[05:21] Potential of AI in Public Sector

[08:56] Roots In Ovid’s Metamorphosis

[12:09] From Journalism to CyberSecurity

[14:14] A Phone Call from Angela Merkel

[13:48] Navigating Career Changes and Mentorship

[19:23] “Hope is not a strategy”

[22:16] Reflections

Links:

Kirsten Rulf on LinkedIn

Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn

Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn

About In Her Ellement:

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.