Executive Decisions with Steve Sedgwick

Bettina Orlopp took over as CEO of Commerzbank as the German lender was pushing ahead with a multiyear turnaround — and as UniCredit was building a stake that raised the pressure on the bank's leadership.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, Orlopp explains how she has approached leading through that pressure: staying calm, speaking candidly about difficult change and relying on trusted teams to deliver the bank's strategy.
Orlopp also reflects on the path that brought her there, from nearly two decades at McKinsey to taking on Commerzbank's compliance function, becoming CFO just before the Covid-19 pandemic and later stepping into the CEO role.
She discusses how takeover pressure accelerated Commerzbank's strategy work, the challenges of restructuring and why she believes leaders need to be direct about what change will require.
Note: This interview was recorded on May 12, 2026.
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Steve Hasker never followed a formal career plan. Instead, the Thomson Reuters CEO says his biggest decisions were guided by one question: Would he learn more by saying yes than by staying where he was?
In this episode of “Executive Decisions,” Hasker reflects on the childhood experiences that taught him resilience, the mentors who shaped his leadership and why the people around you can matter more than the role itself.
He discusses leaving McKinsey for Nielsen after an unexpected pitch from former GE executive Dave Calhoun, the lessons he learned from early career mistakes and why surrounding yourself with talented people can accelerate growth as a leader.
Hasker also recalls becoming CEO of Thomson Reuters on the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading 25,000 employees through a period of uncertainty and helping transform the company into an AI-powered technology business.
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After more than three decades at science-based firm DSM, Dimitri de Vreeze faced what he calls the hardest decision of his career: selling the materials business where he had grown up professionally.
In this episode of “Executive Decisions,” the DSM-Firmenich CEO reflects on why the decision made strategic sense, even as it felt deeply personal, and how it shaped his view that success is not a finish line.
De Vreeze discusses joining DSM with plans to stay only a few years, the family values and rebellious streak that shaped his leadership, and why he believes leaders should keep challenging what is already working.
He also discusses ending a half-billion-dollar biofuels project, serving as co-CEO, leading the merger that created DSM-Firmenich and why treating assumptions as facts can be one of the biggest risks in decision-making.
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Mike Gitlin never set out with a master plan to become CEO. Instead, his career has been shaped by a series of decisions to embrace opportunities that pushed him outside his comfort zone.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, the Capital Group CEO reflects on the family values that shaped his leadership, from lively dinner-table debates to mock trials with his father that taught him to think critically, listen carefully and communicate with confidence.
Gitlin discusses his early fascination with financial markets, why he chose to study history instead of finance and the lessons he learned after being thrown into overnight trading in Asia with little experience and no roadmap.
He also explains why he left T. Rowe Price - where he thought he would spend the rest of his career - to join Capital Group, helping transform one of the world's largest asset managers from the inside.
Along the way, Gitlin shares how moving his family around the world influenced his biggest decisions, why he believes feedback is one of leadership's greatest gifts and why EQ will become even more valuable than IQ in the age of AI.
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After 25 years at Dow, Ester Baiget left a business she loved to take on the top job at Novozymes — now Novonesis. It was not a move driven by ego, or a lifelong plan to become CEO. Baiget says she did not need the title. What drew her in was purpose, potential and a belief that she could help the company make a bigger impact through biology.
In this episode of “Executive Decisions,” the Novonesis CEO reflects on the family values that shaped her, the teacher who nudged her toward chemical engineering and the mother who pushed her to attend the interview that began her 25-year career at Dow.
Baiget discusses why curiosity has guided her more than career planning, how she learned not to take setbacks out of proportion and why the CEO role is less lonely than many assume when you build the right team.
She also explains the strategic shift that led Novozymes to see itself not as an enzyme company, but as a biosolutions company — a decision that helped make the merger with Danish biotech company Chr. Hansen possible.

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