1. Introduction: Purpose of the AI Voice Agent
 

The AI Voice Agent is a pioneering feature of the Drucker Forum 2025 experience, designed to capture real-world perspectives on management’s evolving challenges. This dynamic interview process adapts to each participant’s insights, fostering a structured yet fluid dialogue on Next Management and Next-Era Leadership.

By participating, you are contributing to the Next Management initiative, which seeks to redefine management practices to better align with today’s challenges. Your insights will be used to shape discussions at the 2025 Drucker Forum and beyond.

2. Context: Next Management & Next-Era Leadership
 

What is Next Management?
The Next Management initiative is a multi-year project dedicated to exploring how management practices must evolve to meet contemporary challenges. Rooted in Peter Drucker’s principles, it focuses on renewing companies, institutions, and society to create sustainable value.

Key themes include:
Management as a driver of social progress, beyond business alone.
The need for leadership innovation in an era of complexity.
The importance of continuous reflection and adaptation in leadership.

2025 Drucker Forum Theme: Next-Era Leadership – All Hands on Deck

  • Leadership as a distributed function rather than a role reserved for a select few.
  • Organizations must rethink who leads, how leadership emerges, and how it creates value.
  • The role of institutions in strengthening societies through leadership.
     

Key Readings for Context & Preparation
New Management for New Times – Richard Straub
The Next Management: Leading with the Long View – Johan Roos
The Next Management: Creating Space for Reflection – Johan Roos

3. Structure of the Interview
 

Interview Process

  • Duration: Up to 20 minutes.
  • AI adapts dynamically to your responses, creating a personalized and relevant discussion.
  • Focuses on real-world experiences and perspectives rather than theoretical concepts.
     

Key Themes Explored

  1. Innovation & Efficiency – How organizations navigate the trade-offs between fostering innovation and maintaining operational excellence.
  2. Ecosystem & Partnerships – The role of collaboration and external networks in shaping management strategies and leadership effectiveness.
  3. Balancing Short-Term & Long-Term Priorities – How leaders manage the tension between immediate performance demands and sustainable, long-term impact.
  4. Human-AI Collaboration & Leadership – The integration of AI in decision-making and leadership roles, and its impact on organizations.
  5. Decision-Making: Intuition vs. Data – How leaders balance data-driven insights with experience-based intuition in making critical choices.
  6. Pragmatism & Ideology in Leadership – How leaders navigate the pressures between practical decision-making and ideological expectations.
  7. Self-Renewal & Leading Transformation – The challenge of maintaining continuous evolution and adaptation without causing excessive disruption.

4. Practical Participation Guidelines
 

Technical Requirements

  • The AI Voice Agent works on all tested browsers (Firefox, Safari, etc.).
  • Ensure a stable internet connection and use headphones for clarity.
  • Choose a quiet space to avoid background interference.
  • Works best on mobile.
  • Works best without VPN.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Find a quiet space to ensure clarity during the conversation.
  2. Click the interview link to access the AI Voice Agent.
  3. Press ‘Talk to Vapi’ to initiate the interview.
  4. Ensure you allow microphone access when prompted.
  5. Wait for the AI to prompt for your name or alias.
  6. Engage in the interview, knowing you can:
  • Ask for clarifications or examples.
  • Take a short break (up to 1 minute).
  • Exit anytime by saying “I need to exit.”

5. Additional Value for Participants
 

Exclusive Digital Session
Participants will be invited to an Jun 24 online event where preliminary findings will be shared and discussed.

Influence the Drucker Forum Agenda
Insights from the interviews will inform discussions at the 2025 Forum, ensuring that participants’ voices shape the conversation.

Thank you for participating in this first-of-its-kind AI-driven experience. Your insights will help redefine management and leadership for the years ahead.

6. Ethics and Data Privacy Information
 

This interview is part of the Next Management initiative led by the Peter Drucker Society Europe (PDSE). The project is spearheaded by Professor Johan Roos, Executive Director of the Vienna Center for Management Innovation (PDSE) and affiliated professor at Hult International Business School (UK). To meet academic ethics and data protection requirements, ethics approval is granted through Hult, a UK-based academic institution. All data handling complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

Participation is voluntary and anonymous. By clicking the interview link and continuing the conversation with our AI Voice Agent, you consent to the following:

  • Purpose of Data Collection: To explore emerging management practices and leadership perspectives.
  • Data Collected: A text-based transcript of your responses. No audio recordings are saved.
  • Legal Basis for Processing: Consent, in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) of the UK GDPR.
  • Use of Data: Aggregated insights will inform presentations, reports, and academic publications. No identifiable personal data will be disclosed.
  • Automated Processing: The interview is conducted by an AI voice agent. While it adapts questions based on your responses, no automated decisions affecting you are made.
  • Data Transfers: Infrastructure from Vapi and large language models may involve processing outside the UK/EEA. Appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure data protection.
  • Retention: Anonymized transcripts will be securely stored and may be used for future research and learning.

You may exit the interview at any time by saying “I need to exit.” You may also request deletion of your data by contacting us at [info@druckerforum.org].