Microsoft is making a lot of branded company podcasts - 24 active ones listed on their central podcasts website, and 20 they call archived. I was disappointed that this show is listed in the archived category, as I really enjoyed it and it was publishing new episodes as recently as two months ago:

Changemakers

The show is about transformative technologies across different industries. Episodes have covered healthcare, diamonds, and the episode I listened to about Formula 1 car racing. The show might be more famous though for being the will.i.am podcast. It’s actually the second show that the musician and Microsoft exec Omar Abbosh have hosted together. They did six episodes of a show called Pivot to the Future in 2019.

I found them to be a great interviewing pair. In the Formula 1 episode, there was a nice mix of digging into the underlying technology, connecting it to the competitive side of sports, the role of sustainability in this resource-heavy area, and some natural nods to Microsoft’s interest in the space.

My interpretation from Microsoft’s podcast page is that they are moving more to having a wide set of simpler interview/discussion shows hosted by leaders across their product and industry areas. There may be some great ones in there. I also hope they continue to invest in the more in-depth narrative shows with production partners like Treefort on Changemakers.