ESCP Edge Returns for Season 2 with New Episodes Featuring Leading ESCP Professors

ESCP Edge Season 2 brings together five professors and researchers to explore the ideas shaping the future of business and society. Across the season, the series moves from AI and leadership to luxury, sustainability, and workplace well-being, offering accessible conversations grounded in academic expertise.

• The season opens with Professor Kerstin Alfes, Full Professor of Organisation and Human Resource Management, who examines what truly motivates people at work beyond salary alone — from belonging and meaning to the risks of burnout and toxic performance cultures. Her episode offers timely insights into employee engagement, thriving at work, and the role managers play in creating sustainable workplaces.
• In Episode 2, Professor Louis-David Benyayer, Associate Professor of Information and Operations Management and ESCP’s coordinator of AI initiatives, tackles one of the biggest business questions of the moment: why massive investments in AI are not yet translating into the productivity gains many expected. The conversation explores how organizations can successfully integrate AI, how jobs are evolving rather than disappearing, and why human transformation matters as much as technological transformation.
• Episode 3 welcomes Professor Perrine Desmichel, Assistant Professor of Marketing and Co-Director of the Global Research Alliance in Luxury, for a fascinating discussion on the changing meaning of luxury in today’s world. From social anxiety and conspicuous consumption to sustainability, circularity, and the rise of “quiet luxury,” the episode examines why the luxury sector is facing a crisis of relevance — and what brands must do to adapt.
• The fourth episode features Professor Aurélien Acquier, Full Professor of Sustainability, Planetary Boundaries and Business and Director of the ESCP Sustainability Institute, alongside postdoctoral researcher Jozef Cossey, in a thought-provoking conversation about “epistemic pollution” — the growing threat of AI-generated misinformation and academic deepfakes. Together, they explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping public trust, scientific legitimacy, and the future of knowledge itself.
• Season 2 concludes with Professor Géraldine Galindo, Full Professor of Human Resources Management and Director of the Leadership and Inclusive Management Institute, who reflects on how leadership is evolving in an era shaped by AI, diversity, and rapidly shifting social expectations. Her episode explores the critical importance of ethics, inclusion, critical thinking, and lifelong learning for the next generation of leaders.