What if the most important skill for the future of work isn’t technical or strategic—but human?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Claude Silver, the world’s first Chief Heart Officer and No. 2 executive at VaynerX, to explore what it really means to lead with heart. As the right hand to Gary Vaynerchuk, Claude has built a culture where empathy, belonging, and authenticity are not soft skills—they’re strategic advantages.
Together, Nirit and Claude unpack how workplaces can scale humanity, how leaders can create belonging even across time zones and generations, and why fitting in is outdated in a world that demands genuine connection. Claude shares how her framework of emotional optimism, bravery, and efficiency helps leaders balance compassion with performance—and why fear around AI is an opportunity to rediscover what makes us uniquely human.
They explore what “being yourself at work” truly looks like, how to design cultures where individuality is celebrated instead of suppressed, and why the heart—not the algorithm—will define the next era of leadership.
If you’ve ever wondered how to build trust in a hybrid world, how to bring more humanity into leadership, or how to stay grounded as technology transforms what we do, this conversation will change how you think about work—and about yourself.
Guest Information:
Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX and author of Be Yourself at Work.
Claude Silver is on a mission to revolutionize leadership, talent, and workplace culture. She is the world's first Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX and partners with CEO Gary Vaynerchuk to drive their success. Silver has earned Campaign US's Female Frontier Award and AdWeek's Changing the Game Award and she electrifies audiences at national and international conferences and at organizations, including Meta, Google, US Government agencies, and the US Armed Forces. She has been interviewed on dozens of podcasts and featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal. She is the author of Be Yourself at Work: The Groundbreaking Power of Showing Up, Standing Out, and Leading from the Heart.
Links:
Website: https://www.claudesilver.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casilver/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claudesilver/?hl=en
Chapters:
00:00 – What Does Being Yourself at Work Really Mean?
01:15 – What Does a Chief Heart Officer Do?
03:10 – Why VaynerX Created the Chief Heart Officer Role
04:55 – What Makes Humans Valuable in an AI World?
06:45 – Can Empathy Drive Business Performance?
08:55 – Do Companies Still Need Humans When AI Is Everywhere?
10:45 – What Is Authentic Presence at Work?
11:05 – Emotional Optimism, Bravery, and Efficiency Explained
13:35 – How to Face AI Fear Without Ignoring It
14:50 – Why Fitting In at Work Is Outdated
15:55 – How to Create Belonging in Hybrid and Remote Teams
16:45 – Why Managers Are the Weakest Link in Culture
17:20 – How to Train Managers to Build Trust
18:05 – How to Build a Culture Where You Don’t Have to Change to Belong
19:30 – How VaynerX Scales Culture Across Countries
21:40 – Can Processes Kill Authenticity at Work?
23:40 – How to Put People First During Layoffs and Hard Decisions
26:30 – What Question Should We Be Asking About the Future of Work?
28:55 – How AI Changes What Makes You Valuable at Work
As AI takes on not just what we do—but how we decide, create, and
communicate—the question isn’t how fast technology will move. It’s how
deeply we’ll remember what makes us human.
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with
Joe Hart, CEO of Dale Carnegie, and Matt Britton, CEO of Suzy and author of
Generation AI, to explore how people can future-proof themselves in an
AI-driven world.
Together, they unpack what happens as AI redefines work—from the end of the
knowledge economy to the rise of new “co-creation” roles where humans and
machines work side by side. Matt shares why creativity, curiosity, and
problem-solving have become the new competitive edge, while Joe reveals why
empathy, trust, and communication will matter more than ever for leaders
navigating change.
The conversation dives into how education and training must evolve, what
leadership looks like when teams include both people and intelligent agents,
and why agility and emotional intelligence—not technical mastery—will
determine who thrives next.
If you’ve ever wondered how to stay relevant when machines can do almost
everything, this is the episode to listen to.
https://youtu.be/ZSDsDWcs8nc
Guest Information:
Joe Hart, CEO of Dale Carnegie Training, is a transformational leader and
co-author of the Wall Street Journal's #3 Bestseller, Take Command. Guiding
the globally recognized Dale Carnegie organization, he infuses the brand
with a modern perspective, impacting millions worldwide. He is an inspiring
leader who seeks to bring out the best in others. Hart is considered an
acclaimed thought leader whose incisive commentary regularly appeared in
Newsweek and Rolling Stone. With captivating speaking engagements and a
popular leadership podcast, Take Command, his influence extends across
industries. Prior to Dale Carnegie, he helped found Asset Health, an
innovative company that works to revolutionize workplace wellness.
Matt Britton <https://mattbritton.com/> is one of the world’s leading
voices on artificial intelligence, generational change, and the future of
work. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Youth Nation and the
2025 national bestselling book Generation AI, which explores how AI and
Generation Alpha will reshape every corner of society. A sought-after
keynote speaker and host of The Speed of Culture podcast with Adweek, Matt
has advised more than half of the Fortune 500 and shared insights with
audiences around the world. He is also the founder and CEO of Suzy, a
venture-backed consumer intelligence platform trusted by companies like
Netflix, Coca-Cola, and P&G.
Matt Britton and Joe Hart / Dale Carnegie co-created Human by Design
<https://www.dalecarnegie.com/en/humanbydesign> : Future-Proofing Yourself
in an AI-Driven World course, predicting that roles requiring creativity,
critical thinking, and complex problem-solving as well as effective
communications will remain. These human-centric skills are essential in
navigating the evolving workplace.
Chapters:
00:00 – What Makes Us Human in an AI World
01:10 – The End of the Knowledge Economy
03:05 – Human Skills AI Cannot Replace
04:40 – Why Leadership Matters in the Age of AI
06:50 – Will AI Replace Jobs or Redefine Them?
09:50 – How Humans Stay Valuable in an AI Workplace
11:50 – What AI Still Gets Wrong About Humans
13:30 – How Learning Must Change for the AI Era
15:20 – The Rise of the AI-Powered Solopreneur
17:15 – Can Organizations Keep Up With AI Change?
19:10 – Who Gets Left Behind in the AI Revolution?
20:50 – How to Build AI Fluency in Daily Life
22:50 – Building Trust in a Digital and AI-Driven Workplace
24:55 – Why Caring Is a Critical Leadership Skill
26:40 – How to Future-Proof Your Career With AI
27:55 – The One Question to Ask About Your Future With AI
29:10 – Doing More of What Only Humans Can Do
What happens when AI stops automating tasks and starts redesigning the workplace itself?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Rakshit Ghura, Vice President and General Manager of Digital Workplace Solutions at Lenovo, to explore the bold ideas behind Lenovo’s Work Reborn research.
Rakshit explains why most companies are still stuck digitizing old habits, even though nearly every organization claims to be transforming.
Together, Nirit and Rakshit unpack the shift to hyper-personalization—how AI analyzes work patterns, digital friction, focus time, and preferred tools to tailor each person’s environment, even reconfiguring devices in real time. Rakshit expands the conversation beyond productivity, showing how intelligent systems can reduce burnout, support well-being, and create work that flexes around life rather than forcing people to bend around systems.
The episode also dives into democratizing innovation, the rise of digital twins that take on the repetitive “boring parts” of work, and why the organizations that thrive will be those that redeploy human capacity toward creativity, differentiation, and new value.
If you want to understand where adaptive workplaces are heading—and how AI can help every employee become the best version of themselves—this conversation offers a clear, human-centered view of what work reborn really looks like.
Guest Information:
Rakshit Ghura is the Vice President and General Manager of Digital Workplace Solutions (DWS) at Lenovo, where he leads the company’s strategic initiatives in the digital workplace and cybersecurity domains. In this role, Rakshit is instrumental in shaping Lenovo’s vision for the future of work, focusing on areas such as workplace mobility, Device as a Service, Persona-based configuration, automation, analytics, employee experience, and collaboration, with a strong emphasis on consulting and advisory services. Prior to joining Lenovo, Rakshit served as the Senior Vice President and Global Head of Digital Workplace Services & ServiceNow business at HCLTech. During his tenure, he was responsible for defining, incubating, and creating the product roadmap and strategy for digital workplace services. Rakshit is a recognized thought leader in the industry, frequently sharing insights on the impact of Generative AI, the evolution of the hybrid workplace, and the importance of unifying people, culture, and technology to redesign the future of work. He has contributed to various industry discussions, including podcasts and whitepapers.
Chapters:
00:00 – Why Work Needs a Complete Redesign
00:57 – Digitization vs. Reinvention of Work
02:30 – Why Companies Struggle to Transform
04:18 – The Rise of Hyper-Personalized Workplaces
06:21 – How AI Learns Your Work Patterns
08:09 – Tailoring Devices and Systems to Individuals
09:10 – AI That Flexes Work Around Life
10:40 – Reducing Burnout With Intelligent Systems
11:19 – How to Build Trust in Workplace AI
13:10 – Using AI Without Creating Fear or Job Loss Anxiety
15:35 – Why AI Skills Matter More Than AI Automation
16:45 – How AI Democratizes Workplace Innovation
17:13 – Leadership in an Employee-Driven Innovation Model
17:59 – Where Organizations Get Stuck in AI Transformation
18:52 – Why “Start Small, Scale Fast” Works for AI
19:47 – People-First, Process-Second, Tech-Third Strategy
20:50 – How Companies Can Keep Up With Fast-Changing AI Tools
22:40 – The Role of Employee Learning in AI Adoption
23:30 – Real Examples of AI-Enabled Workflow Redesign
25:50 – How Digital Twins Reduce Digital Friction
26:59 – Co-Creating With AI Across the Organization
27:34 – Digital Twins and the Future of Every Job
28:58 – Doing Less of What Doesn’t Matter With AI
Finance has always been about precision, proof, and trust — qualities now being redefined in the age of AI. According to OneStream’s new AI Pulse Report, three out of four CFOs are leading enterprise AI strategy, yet only a third have managed to scale it successfully. So what happens when the people who once managed numbers begin managing intelligence?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Tom Shea, CEO of OneStream, to explore how AI is transforming finance — and, with it, the future of work. Tom shares why CFOs are uniquely positioned to steer the AI agenda, how finance’s “show-your-work” discipline is shaping enterprise trust, and why solving deterministic problems — where there’s only one right answer — is key to building real confidence in AI.
The conversation delves into what happens when human judgment, context, and mentorship meet machine precision. From the risk of losing early-career learning to the emergence of AI agents as digital teammates, Tom and Nirit unpack what it takes to build systems that don’t just automate, but understand.
If you’ve ever wondered how the rise of AI will reshape not just finance, but how organizations think, decide, and grow, this episode offers a grounded look at the future of intelligent work — where humans and machines learn to trust each other.
Guest Information:
Tom Shea is the co-founder and CEO of OneStream, and one of the original architects of the OneStream platform. His mission is to transform the corporate performance management (CPM) ecosystem with a solution that combines power and flexibility with ease of use, deployment, and maintenance. For more than a decade, Tom has been dedicated to delivering value, success, and support to users – drawing on his deep understanding of finance and technology to drive fully innovative products. Before founding OneStream, he co-founded UpStream Software, where he invented and architected UpStream TB and UpStream WebLink, pioneering the Financial Data Quality Management space.
Chapters:
00:00 — Why CFOs Now Lead AI Strategy
01:35 — Can AI Replace or Redesign Finance Work?
03:33 — Deterministic vs Non-Deterministic AI in Finance
05:39 — How AI Learns Corporate Context
07:42 — Why Deterministic Problems Are the Hardest for AI
09:45 — Will AI Eliminate Entry-Level Finance Roles?
11:42 — Can AI Fix the Spreadsheet Problem?
13:57 — How AI Frees Finance to Become Strategic
15:35 — What Happens When AI Handles the Basics?
17:44 — From Human-in-the-Loop to Trusted AI Agents
20:00 — Why Finance Needs Explainable AI
21:56 — Why So Many AI Pilots Fail
24:15 — Productized AI vs Internal Experiments
25:59 — Unlocking Full AI Value in Finance
27:28 — Why AI Needs Context, Not Just Data
29:02 — Coding Human Judgment Into AI Systems
31:17 — The Real Opportunity: Turning Over Agency to AI
32:55 — Will AI Replace Work or Give Us Superpowers?
What happens when AI doesn’t just do our work—but starts shaping how we think?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Dr. Kirsti Samuels—founder and CEO of KS Insight and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University—to unpack the overlooked risks AI poses to leadership and culture. From standardized thinking to conflict avoidance, the conversation challenges the idea that AI is an innovation partner—and asks what we lose when tools reward consensus, speed, and surface-level answers.
Drawing on her work with heads of state, rebel leaders, and Fortune 500 executives, Kirsti explains why the best leaders create “pressure cookers” where discomfort leads to insight, and why psychological safety is no longer enough without dissent, disagreement, and deliberate resistance to vanilla answers. Together, they explore how to lead through change, why answers are cheap but good questions are rare, and why the real threat isn’t that AI replaces people—but that it teaches leaders to avoid being human.
If you’ve ever wondered what leadership should look like in an AI-driven world—or what skills organizations must urgently develop—this conversation is your starting point.
Guest Information:
Dr. Kirsti Samuels is the founder and CEO of KS Insight, a leadership and strategy consultancy based in New York City. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, where she teaches Leadership and Management in Moments of Adversity and Opportunity to Master’s students at the School of International and Public Affairs.
As an entrepreneur and strategist with 25 years of experience, Kirsti specializes in tackling complex problems with innovative approaches. Her clients have included the President of the Comoros Islands, the leadership of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the U.S. Department of State, the Clinton Global Initiative, the United Nations, the World Bank, the American Hospital Association, and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.
Kirsti holds a Doctorate in Law from Oxford University, a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Bachelor of Science and Law from Sydney University
Links:
Chapters:
00:00 — What Happens When AI Shapes How We Think?
03:10 — Why AI Makes Everything Sound the Same
07:30 — Can Leaders Train AI to Challenge Them?
10:00 — The Real Skill Behind Innovation: Tolerating Discomfort
12:00 — What High-Stakes Leaders Do Differently
14:45 — Leadership Skills for a Volatile AI Era
17:30 — How to Lead Change Without Breaking People
20:00 — Why AI’s Warmth May Weaken Us
22:00 — The Marshmallow Challenge: When Having the Answer Kills Innovation
24:00 — How Social Discomfort Blocks Better Ideas
26:30 — Can We Still Spark Innovation Without Face-to-Face?
29:00 — Building Cultures That Welcome Pushback
31:00 — Why Human Feedback Still Matters More Than AI
33:00 — The Question We Should Be Asking About Leadership
35:00 — The Deeply Human Skills AI Can’t Replace
As AI becomes capable of doing not just the work of our hands but also the thinking of our minds, one question looms large: what remains uniquely human?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Dr. Tatyana Mamut — economic anthropologist and CEO of Wayfound — to explore the human value add in the age of AI. Together, they unpack how judgment, taste, trust, and relationships form the foundation of real value at work, and why replacing people with agents can strip away the very essence that makes an organization thrive. Tatyana shares how her company helps leaders navigate the “multisapiens
workplace,” where humans and AI agents work side by side. She explains why AI should eliminate inhuman work, not human jobs — freeing people to focus on creativity, connection, and purpose — and how leaders must redesign management and culture to reflect this shift.
The conversation moves from the classroom to the boardroom, covering why education must emphasize human skills, how AI can become a trusted collaborator rather than a threat, and why the future manager may oversee teams made up mostly of intelligent agents.
If you’ve ever wondered what role humans will play when machines can do almost everything else — and how to redefine leadership, purpose, and
meaning in that world — this episode is your guide to what makes us human in the age of AI.
Guest Information:
Dr. Tatyana Mamut, is the CEO and
Co-Founder of Wayfound where she is driving the next frontier of workforces through AI management for a more seamless multisapiens workforce. Leveraging her Ph.D in Cultural Anthropology, Mamut brings a unique approach to innovating in technology to use AI as the singular largest force for cultural shifts and impacts in the next century.
Prior to Wayfound, she led product development and design at Pendo, where she met her co-founder Chad Burnette. She’s held other senior leadership roles at household tech names like Amazon, Salesforce, IDEO, and more. Wayfound is the #1 “Guardian Agent” for AI - a leading, independent AI agent supervision platform designed for business leaders and governance teams. Wayfound’s “AI Supervisor” captures and analyzes every Agent interaction and activity, assesses how well the Agents are performing and suggests improvements in near real-time, providing unparalleled insights through a single-pane observability dashboard. They’re tackling a $1.3T problem in the AI category to help integrate AI Agents alongside humans for a multisapiens workplace of the future.
What if the best leadership training isn’t about managing others but about managing yourself?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Margaret Andrews, founder of the MYLO Center and author of Manage Yourself to Lead Others, to flip the traditional leadership script. Based on the most popular executive development program at Harvard, Margaret’s approach doesn’t start with people management frameworks or org charts—it starts with self-awareness.
Together, Nirit and Margaret unpack why the future of leadership depends on understanding the stories we tell ourselves—about success, values, emotion, and power—and how those stories shape everything from our decisions to our relationships. They explore six deceptively simple questions that can help anyone lead with greater composure, empathy, and impact—and three more that show you where you’re growing next.
Whether you’re navigating career change, rethinking how you lead, or managing in a time of transformation, this conversation offers a timely reminder: before you manage others, manage the person in the mirror.
Guest Information:
Margaret C. Andrews is a seasoned executive, academic leader, speaker, and instructor. She has created and teaches a variety of leadership courses and professional and executive programs at Harvard University and is the founder of the MYLO Center, a private leadership development firm. Her clients include Amazon, Citi, Continental, Walmart, Wayfair, and the United Nations. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
You can follow Margaret on LinkedIn (@margaretcandrews)
Chapters:
00:00 – Why Great Leadership Starts With Self-Awareness
03:30 – What Is the First Step to Leading Yourself?
06:00 – The First Question Every Leader Should Ask Themselves
09:00 – What Events Changed the Way You Lead?
12:45 – How Do You Define Success (Really)?
14:15 – What Your Calendar Says About Your Values
17:10 – What Makes You Mad Might Reveal What Matters Most
18:55 – Why Leaders Must Understand Their Emotional Triggers
20:45 – What Feedback Have You Heard Over and Over?
22:10 – How Do You Want to Be Seen as a Leader?
24:10 – Why Self-Awareness Is More Important Than Ever in an AI World
26:10 – The Future of Less Work Is About Doing More of What Matters
27:55 – What’s the One Question to Ask About Your Future Career?
Most organizations say they want to adopt AI. But very few are doing what it takes to actually change how work gets done.
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Mary Alice Vuicic, Chief People Officer at Thomson Reuters, to unpack what real AI transformation looks like inside a global organization—and why so many companies are missing the $19,000 per person productivity opportunity AI puts on the table.
Mary Alice shares how her team moved from pilots to full-scale adoption across a global workforce—and why AI strategy isn’t about tools or pilots, but about tone, training, tools, and time. She explains how curiosity became a cultural cornerstone, why AI champions emerged organically, and how psychological safety helped people let go of legacy expertise to make room for new value.
Together, they explore how managers can lead AI adoption, why change management—not tech—is the real constraint, and how to redesign work for a world where agents and humans work side-by-side.
If you’re tired of surface-level AI efforts and want to understand what true organizational shift requires, this is the episode for you.
Guest Information:
Mary Alice Vuicic is the Chief People Officer at Thomson Reuters, leading Human Resources, Communications, Government Affairs and ESG.Thomson Reuters is a global content-driven technology company operating in the business information services sector.
Chapters:
00:00 — What’s Missing From Most AI Adoption Strategies?
01:49 — How the $19,000 AI Productivity Opportunity Was Calculated
03:02 — What Is a Clear AI Strategy—and Why Most Fail
04:29 — Why Tech Isn’t the Problem (It’s Change Management)
05:39 — The 4 T’s Framework: Tone, Training, Tools, and Time
07:46 — Why Psychological Safety Is Key to AI Adoption
09:27 — How to Find and Support AI Champions in Your Workforce
11:04 — What Tools Are Employees Actually Using with AI?
12:18 — Real AI Use Case: Eliminating 95% of M&A Admin Work
13:56 — Why Transparency and Empowerment Matter for AI Success
16:09 — How to Drive 75% AI Adoption Across a Global Workforce
18:16 — What Managers Should Do With AI Usage Data
20:16 — How AI Is Changing the Future of Professional Services
22:25 — Rethinking Roles, Org Structures, and Ownership Models
24:09 — What Happens to Experience When AI Does the Work?
25:43 — Advice for Leaders Scaling from AI Pilots to Full Adoption
27:06 — What Quality Metrics Should You Use for AI Output?
What separates companies still experimenting with AI from those reinventing how work gets done?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Anant Adya—Executive Vice President and Head of Cloud, Infrastructure and Security Services at Infosys—to explore what it really takes to embed AI into the operating fabric of work. As one of the leaders behind Infosys’ internal AI-first transformation and hundreds of enterprise deployments, Anant brings a front-row perspective to the mindset shift companies must make.
Together, Nirit and Anant unpack why scaling AI isn’t about tools or pilots—it’s about strategy, outcomes, and workforce reinvention. They explore how Infosys trains over 200,000 employees across three levels of AI fluency, how organizations can reimagine roles instead of replacing them, and why AI must be implemented with people, not just for efficiency.
From healthcare call centers to cloud operations, Anant shares real-world use cases that show AI's impact when deployed responsibly—with a focus on experience, not just execution. They also discuss why so few companies are truly ready across data, governance, and culture, and how leaders can close the gap between what technology can do and what organizations are ready to change.
If you're a leader navigating the AI transition and wondering how to move beyond experiments to real reinvention, this is the conversation you’ve been waiting for.
Guest Information:
Anant Adya is EVP and Head Cloud, Infrastructure and Security Services (CIS) for Americas and APAC at Infosys. He and his team are responsible for designing solutions to help customers in their Digital and Cloud journey. They use a combination of AI-led solution sets combined with capabilities from partner and startup ecosystem to design best solutions for customers. Cloud and Infrastructure Service line include infrastructure operations, security, data center and network transformation, cloud (public, private and hybrid), workload migration and service experience.
Link to Infosys Research:
https://www.infosys.com/services/data-ai-topaz/insights/leading-ai-world.html
Chapters:
00:00 – How AI Is Changing the Way We Work
01:30 – Why Infosys Became an AI-First Company
02:45 – Internal AI Transformation Before Client Deployment
04:15 – How to Upskill 200,000 Employees in AI
06:05 – What It Means to Be AI-Aware, Builder, or Master
08:00 – Four Core Use Cases for Enterprise AI
09:55 – Moving AI From Tech Layer to Operating Model
12:10 – Will AI Replace People in Operations?
13:20 – How AI Is Creating New Roles, Not Just Replacing Old Ones
15:00 – Real-World Impact: Faster Patient Service with AI
17:05 – Why AI Requires Change Management Too
18:45 – Only 2% of Companies Are AI-Ready
20:00 – What Makes a Great AI Implementation?
22:00 – How to Build Trust in AI Systems
23:50 – Why AI Outcomes Matter More Than Tools
25:00 – The Leadership Mindset Shift: Keep It Simple
What happens when AI becomes your teammate—not just your tool? How Will AI Transform Collaboration at Work?
In this special live episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Anurag Dhingra, Cisco’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Connectivity and Collaboration, at #WebexOne in San Diego to explore how the workplace is being re-engineered for the age of AI.
Anurag shares Cisco’s vision for distance zero—a world where technology erases barriers of time and space, connecting people seamlessly across the globe. From AI agents that take notes and run polls to a “director” agent that decides camera angles for hybrid meetings, he reveals how AI is transforming collaboration from the ground up.
Together, Nirit and Anurag unpack what happens when digital teammates join the workforce, how AI is shifting human roles from execution to orchestration, and why the future of collaboration depends on blending human intuition with machine intelligence.
If you’ve ever wondered what it will feel like to work alongside AI—and how organizations can build workspaces where humans and digital agents truly collaborate—this episode offers a glimpse into that future, already unfolding.
Guest Information:
Anurag Dhingra serves as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Enterprise Connectivity and Collaboration Group. In this role, he manages a diverse portfolio encompassing industry-leading hardware, software, and SaaS products. From Meraki, Cisco Catalyst, and Industrial IoT networking, to ThousandEyes network assurance, to Cisco Collaboration, these products power the workplaces of the world's largest and most sophisticated organizations.
In our digital and AI-first world, Anurag has been a pioneer in applying new technologies to build and deliver exceptional experiences for both customers and employees. He has been instrumental in shaping Cisco's AI strategy across its product offerings, and he has led his teams in delivering thousands of innovations to Future-Proof the Workplace.
During his tenure with Cisco, Anurag has held several leadership roles in the Collaboration business, including Chief Technology and Product Officer where he led the entire Collaboration software business. He was also Vice President and Head of Engineering for Webex Meetings where he was responsible for delivering applications and services to power online meetings for millions of users worldwide.
With over two decades of experience in the Communications, Collaboration, and SaaS industries, Anurag is accomplished at building high performance global teams and creating innovative, market leading products. Anurag takes pride in being a customer-focused leader, with a proven track record of strategic thinking and executing with a strong culture of innovation.
Passionate about applying technology for good, Anurag serves on Cisco's Human Rights Advisory Council and was the founding executive sponsor of Cisco's Responsible AI Framework.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics & Communications Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, India.
LinksAnurag Dhingra's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anurag-dhingra
Chapters:
00:00 — How Will AI Transform Collaboration at Work?
01:00 — What Happens When AI Becomes a Teammate?
02:00 — How Will AI Agents Change the Workforce?
03:20 — Inside Cisco’s New AI Tools for Collaboration
04:40 — Can AI Boost Meeting Engagement?
06:00 — What Is Cisco’s “Distance Zero” Vision?
07:00 — How AI Is Reimagining Hybrid Meetings
08:40 — The Rise of Digital Teammates and Voice Agents
10:20 — Will Every Employee Become an AI Manager?
11:40 — How Will Management Evolve with Digital Workers?
13:00 — Preparing Organizations for AI-Driven Transformation
14:40 — How Can Workers Stay Relevant in the Age of AI?
16:00 — Why Leaders Must Keep Learning
17:40 — The Future of Hybrid Work and AI Collaboration
What happens when young people step into the workforce and find only closed
doors—too little experience, too few opportunities, and too many barriers
outside their control? Is Gen Z really “unmotivated,” or is the system
failing to connect them to the future of work?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with
Steve Preston, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries International, to
explore what it takes to close the opportunity gap. Together, they unpack
why youth unemployment is 2.5 times higher than average, why nearly half of
young job seekers feel locked out due to lack of experience or skills, and
what it would take for employers to tap into overlooked talent pools. They
dive into the widening divide between high-skill and low-skill work, the
promise of new pathways like Goodwill’s AI Essentials training with Google,
and the potential of green jobs as an engine for upward mobility.
From career navigation and wraparound support to second-chance hiring and
skill-based pathways, Steve shares both the urgency and the optimism of
reimagining workforce readiness. And he offers a hopeful vision: a future
where the economy doesn’t leave people behind, but opens more doors for
everyone to participate and thrive.
If you’ve ever wondered what it will take to make the future of work work
for all—not just the few—this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Guest Information:
As president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International (GII), Steven C.
Preston leads a federation of 151 local Goodwill® organizations in the U.S.
and Canada with a combined revenue of $8.6 billion. Goodwill is the leading
nonprofit provider of workforce training and development in North America
and a leader in the secondhand retail market. It is the mission of Goodwill
to ensure that every person in our communities has the opportunity to
develop to their fullest potential in life.
Links:
AI Essentials
<https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/goodwill-and-google-offer-free-ai-
essentials-training-in-north-america-302517781.html>
Clean Tech Accelerator
<https://www.goodwill.org/press-releases/goodwill-launches-major-green-jobs-
program-in-partnership-with-accenture/>
Chapters:
00:00 — Why Gen Z Can’t Find Jobs
01:24 — Barriers to Entry Without a College Degree
03:10 — What Digital Skills Do Workers Really Need?
05:14 — Green Jobs and Trade Skills at Goodwill
07:18 — Why Training Pathways Are Hard to Access
09:17 — How Employers Can Tap Untapped Talent Pools
10:53 — Rethinking Hiring for Skills and Potential
14:45 — How AI Is Changing Entry-Level Jobs
17:06 — What Colleges Need to Teach for an AI World
18:54 — Can AI Bridge the Skills Gap?
20:46 — How AI Tools Can Support Workers
22:48 — Breaking Barriers in the New World of Work
24:00 — Steve Preston’s Magic Wand for Workforce Access
25:31 — How Do We Make the Future of Work Work for Everyone?
What happens when AI can analyze, draft, and even advise—doing much of what knowledge workers have always done? Are knowledge jobs dying, or are they evolving into something new?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Pratap Khedkar, CEO of ZS, to explore how consulting—the profession built on knowledge—navigates an AI-first world. With a PhD in AI and decades advising global companies in healthcare, Pratap has a front-row seat to how the very definition of knowledge work is being reshaped.
Together, Nirit and Pratap unpack why the biggest bottleneck isn’t the technology but the humans, how asking the right questions will matter more than having the right answers, and why leadership in this era is less about strategy decks and more about role modeling, system design, and workflow architecture. They dive into what it takes to scale AI beyond pilots, why proprietary data is the real competitive edge, and how adoption hinges on trust, culture, and change management.
From specialization that AI can’t yet replicate to the risk of moving from distrust to blind trust, Pratap shares both the opportunities and the cautions that come with rethinking knowledge work. And he offers a hopeful vision for what’s next: a future where humans don’t disappear, but shift to different work—work that matters more.
If you’ve ever wondered what AI really means for consultants, analysts, or any knowledge profession, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Guest Information:
Pratap Khedkar is the CEO of ZS and has held the position since July 2021. Prior to this, he led the firm’s global pharmaceuticals practice for nine years, as well as a practice focused on the dynamics of healthcare ecosystems. He founded and led its advanced data science capability track, which focuses on AI. He has also served on ZS’s board since 2012.
Pratap has advised numerous leading companies in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries on a wide range of sales and marketing issues, including market access and managed care, using AI for multichannel marketing, marketing mix, sales force strategy and incentive compensation. More recently, his work has focused on developing effective strategies and analytics for changing customers in the new healthcare ecosystem.
A recognized healthcare industry expert, Pratap regularly contributes his insights to publications including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, Business Insider, Fortune, Medical Marketing & Media, NPR, Pharmaceutical Executive and others. His thought leadership work focuses on topics as diverse as healthcare policy; life sciences companies’ new commercial and organizational models; and the evolving relationships between patients, providers and payers and the life sciences organizations that serve them.
Pratap holds a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.Tech in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.
Chapters:
00:00 – Are Knowledge Jobs Dying?
01:08 – From More Work to Less Work to Different Work
03:01 – What Human Value Looks Like in Consulting
05:24 – Can Specialization Save Knowledge Work from AI?
07:01 – Why Asking the Right Question Still Matters
08:36 – The Real Bottleneck in AI Adoption: Humans, Not Tech
10:15 – Why “AI Everywhere” Doesn’t Deliver Results
11:24 – How to Pick the Right AI Use Cases
13:46 – Leadership vs. Productivity: What AI Rollouts Get Wrong
15:20 – Slow Down to Speed Up: Scaling What Works
17:14 – AI in Action: Lessons from Pharma and Clinical Trials
20:04 – Turning Data into Insight and Action
23:09 – How to Drive Real AI Adoption and Trust
24:20 – Why Change Management Still Decides AI Success
25:52 – What Leaders Can Learn from First-Line Managers
27:35 – From Efficiency to New Work: Jevons Paradox Explained
29:29 – The Risk of Blind Trust in AI
31:49 – Do We Still Know How to Think Critically?
What happens when 8 billion people suddenly have the productive capacity of 80 billion?
In this special live episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Jeetu Patel, Cisco’s President and Chief Product Officer, at #WebexOne in San Diego to explore what the AI-powered workplace means for leaders, employees, and the future of collaboration.
Jeetu unpacks why “distance zero” is the new frontier of work—erasing barriers between people wherever they are—and why creativity and human connection remain central even as AI agents become digital teammates. He explains why unlearning is as critical as learning, why experience can sometimes get in the way of progress, and why freezing entry-level hiring is “the stupidest thing” companies can do if they want to stay adaptable.
Together, Nirit and Jeetu explore how jobs will be reconfigured rather than replaced, how AI can generate original insights that humans could never reach alone, and why the leaders who master AI themselves—not just delegate it—will be the ones to keep their organizations relevant.
If you’ve ever wondered how to balance human creativity with AI scale—and how to build organizations that thrive in a world of human–AI collaboration—this episode offers clarity, challenge, and a call to action.
https://youtu.be/LuoQHp0TjpU
Guest Information:
Jeetu Patel is Cisco’s President and Chief Product Officer. He combines a bold vision, steeped in product design and development expertise, operational rigor, and innate market understanding to create high growth businesses. He is relentlessly focused on building world class products that solve Cisco customers’ biggest problems—bringing the power of the Cisco portfolio together to connect and protect every aspect of their organization in the era of AI.
Previously he was Cisco’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of Security and Collaboration where he led the strategy and development for these businesses and held P&L responsibility for the multibillion-dollar portfolio.
Prior to joining Cisco in 2020, Jeetu was the Chief Product Officer (CPO) and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at Box, a role he pioneered. He led the company’s product and platform strategy, setting the company’s long-term vision and roadmap for cloud content management in the enterprise. He transformed Box from a single product application to a multi-product platform used by 100K customers representing 69% of the Fortune 500. Before joining Box, Jeetu was General Manager and Chief Executive of EMC’s newly acquired Syncplicity business unit, a cloud service for Enterprise File Sync Sharing (EFSS) and collaboration. Previously, Jeetu was President of Doculabs, a research and advisory firm co-owned by Forrester Research. The firm focused on collaboration and content management across a range of industries including financial services, insurance, energy, manufacturing, and life sciences.
He currently serves on the board of JLL, an American commercial real estate services company.
Jeetu holds a B.S. in Information Decision Sciences from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his family.
Chapters
00:00 – What Happens When 8 Billion People Work Like 80 Billion?
00:53 – What Is “Distance Zero” Collaboration?
03:37 – Will AI Replace Human Creativity?
05:15 – Can AI Generate Original Insights Never Seen Before?
06:59 – Will AI Take My Job or Transform It?
09:24 – Why Is Unlearning as Important as Learning?
12:25 – Why Stopping Entry-Level Hiring Is a Huge Mistake
14:24 – How Should CEOs Learn and Lead With AI?
17:25 – What Is the Human Instinct Machines Can’t Replace?
20:16 – What Impossible Problems Can AI Help Solve Next?
22:24 – Should We Approach AI With Fear or Optimism?
What if AI wasn’t a tech transformation—but a people transformation? What happens when you redesign HR with a product mindset, reimagine productivity as time to reinvest, and treat AI not as a replacement—but as a readiness engine?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Jacqui Canney, Chief People and AI Enablement Officer at ServiceNow, to explore how one of the most ambitious talent transformations in enterprise tech is unfolding—from the inside out.
Together, they unpack how to scale AI fluency across 27,000 employees, why eliminating junior roles might be the biggest mistake you can make right now, and how ServiceNow is reshaping HR into a capability-building, cross-functional powerhouse.
You’ll hear how Jacqui’s team doubled productivity without cutting headcount, how their internal AI university aims to skill 3 million learners, and why the future of work might depend less on technology—and more on the managers leading through it.
If you’re rethinking your talent strategy, wondering how to prepare your workforce for AI, or curious what it means to design HR like a product team—this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Guest Information:
Jacqui Canney is the Chief People and AI Enablement Officer at ServiceNow, leading all talent strategies for the company’s rapidly growing global workforce. She is focused on constantly improving employee experiences and preparing the workforce for the future by putting people at the center and empowering them through technology and generative AI.
Prior to joining ServiceNow in July 2021, she served as Chief People Officer at WPP and Walmart, driving complex transformations. Jacqui worked at Accenture for 25 years, where she played a pivotal role in supporting the rapid growth of the business.
Jacqui serves on the Board of Directors for Wonder, the Board of Directors for Project Healthy Minds, the Chief HR Officer Board for the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), the Board of Trustees at Boston College, and as the Co-Chair for the Boston College Wall Street Business Leadership Council.
ServiceNow University: https://learning.servicenow.com/now/lxp/home
Chapters:
00:00 — What Is an AI-First Workforce?
01:50 — Why ServiceNow Changed the CHRO Role
03:30 — AI as a People Transformation, Not Just Tech
05:10 — Rethinking Productivity with AI
07:10 — How to Reinvest Time Freed by AI
08:45 — Doubling Productivity with AI Use Cases
10:50 — Building Trust Through Transparent AI Adoption
12:30 — Inside ServiceNow University and AI Fluency
14:10 — Why Culture Is Key to AI Readiness
15:45 — Turning HR into a Product Function
17:20 — Designing the Employee Journey Like a Product
18:50 — The Future of HR and Tech Collaboration
20:50 — Why Early Career Talent Still Matters
22:30 — How to Hire for AI Potential, Not Just Skills
24:30 — The New Role of People Managers in AI Workplaces
26:30 — One Question Every Leader Should Ask Now
What happens when organizations say upskilling is a priority—yet fail to deliver beyond day one?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Leslie Kelley, Chief Growth Officer at Absorb Software, to explore why traditional upskilling isn’t cutting it—and what smarter, business-aligned learning looks like. Drawing on findings from Absorb’s new State of Upskilling 2025 report, Leslie explains why only 44% of companies offer training at onboarding, fewer than 10% continue when business needs shift, and why ownership of learning remains so fragmented.
Together, Nirit and Leslie unpack how AI can eliminate the “boring parts” of jobs while personalizing skill pathways, why the half-life of skills is shrinking fast, and how Gen Z is redefining career growth around learning velocity—not promotions. They also highlight why mentorship, coaching, and people-based learning remain the human edge in a digital-first workplace.
If you’ve ever wondered how to close the gap between intent and action in L&D—and how to build learning cultures that actually drive performance—this conversation offers both a reality check and a roadmap for what’s next.
Guest Information:
Leslie Kelley is the Chief Growth Officer at Absorb Software, where she spearheads innovative growth strategies across product, sales, marketing, customer success, and account management.
With a proven track record in driving revenue and customer satisfaction from Seed through Series E, Leslie excels in aligning complex platforms with customer value. Her expertise spans revenue generation, business strategy, and cross-functional team leadership.
Prior to joining Absorb, Leslie held pivotal roles at 360Learning, SmartRecruiters, and ThirdChannel, where she consistently delivered exceptional results in sales and customer success. Leslie is passionate about challenging the status quo and building bold strategies that deliver unparalleled value to customers.
Upskilling report: https://www.absorblms.com/white-papers/state-of-upskilling-report/
Chapters:
00:00 – Why Is Upskilling Failing Beyond Onboarding?
01:30 – How Can AI Personalize Learning and Skills?
03:40 – Why Doesn’t Upskilling Stick in Organizations?
05:07 – Who Really Owns Employee Upskilling?
06:40 – Why Don’t Leaders Prioritize Learning Time?
08:43 – How Can Upskilling Align with Business Outcomes?
10:24 – What Role Does Culture Play in Learning with AI?
12:27 – Why Is People-Based Learning Still Essential?
14:06 – How Can L&D Drive Business Strategy?
16:14 – What Makes Strategic Learning Collaboration Work?
18:03 – How Can Companies Balance Oversight and Agility in Training?
19:53 – What Does Always-On Upskilling Look Like?
20:56 – How Can Leaders Tie Learning Directly to Business Outcomes?
22:59 – Should Companies Train Customers and Partners Too?
24:16 – What Will Learning Look Like in the Next Few Years?
26:33 – Why Human Connection Matters in Future Learning
28:15 – What Question Should We Ask About the Future of Work?
29:56 – How Is Gen Z Changing Expectations Around Learning?
What if pressure—not power—is what derails managers? And what if the key to great leadership isn’t more tools or authority, but a willingness to change yourself before trying to change others?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Sabina Nawaz, global executive coach and author of You're the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need), to explore the invisible forces that make or break managers.
Drawing on over 12,000 pages of 360° feedback from executives at Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and more, Sabina reveals why promotions are often the most dangerous moments in a manager’s career—and how the very traits that
got you the role can backfire if left unchecked. Together, they unpack the pressure-pitfalls and power-gaps that derail even the most well-meaning leaders, and the simple, evidence-based strategies that can help you avoid them.
You’ll learn about the Time Portfolio, the Yes List, the 10-Second Pause, and other practical tools to lead with clarity, trust, and intention. Sabina shares how to communicate your leadership “operating system,” how to delegate without disaster, and how to stop reacting and start reflecting—even if it’s just for 10 seconds a day.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the demands of leadership, unsure how to manage in an AI-disrupted world, or worried that being helpful might make you a micromanager—this conversation is for you.
Guest Information:
Sabina Nawaz is the author of YOU’RE THE BOSS: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need) and an elite executive coach who advises C-level executives and teams at
Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, nonprofits, and academic institutions around the world. During her fourteen-year tenure at Microsoft, she went from managing software development teams to leading the company’s
executive development and succession planning efforts for over 11,000 managers and nearly a thousand executives, advising Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer directly. She has written for and been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, NBC, Nasdaq, and MarketWatch.
Chapters:
00:00 – Why managers fail under pressure
01:40 – The question that predicts leadership success
03:00 – Why promotions are the most dangerous moment
05:30 – When strengths turn into weaknesses
08:45 – How to stop being misunderstood as a leader
10:30 – Power isolates you from your impact
11:40 – Can AI make management harder?
13:10 – Why busyness is a trap, not a badge
13:55 – The Blank Space technique for overwhelmed managers
17:20 – Micro habits that actually work
18:45 – The “Yes List” and how to use it
19:55 – What is a Time Portfolio?
21:45 – Are you spending time on the right things?
22:45 – One habit that separates great managers
24:20 – 10 seconds that can change your day
25:00 – From positional leadership to co-creation
26:00 – The sole provider trap
27:00 – How to delegate without disaster
28:45 – A five-step delegation dial
29:30 – The question every manager should ask themselves
What happens when the tools we use to work stop being background apps—and start becoming the very space where work lives?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Sanchan S. Saxena, Head of Product for Atlassian’s Teamwork Collection (including Jira, Confluence, and Loom), to explore how the digital workplace is evolving into the new office—and what that means for collaboration, leadership, and productivity.
Sanchan shares a vision where the browser becomes a central workspace, agents work alongside humans, and asynchronous communication replaces endless meetings. He explains why video has become his most powerful leadership tool, how Atlassian saved 5,000 hours of meeting time in two weeks, and how AI is moving from assistant to co-creator—freeing people up to do more meaningful work.
Together, they explore what it takes to build trust and transparency in distributed teams, how success is being redefined in the age of AI, and why the future of work won’t be fully human—or fully machine—but powered by both.
If you’ve ever wondered what a great workplace looks like when the “place” is entirely digital, this episode offers both a playbook and a glimpse of what’s next.
Guest Information:
Sanchan Saxena is Head of Product for Atlassian's Teamwork Collection, which includes Jira, Confluence, and Loom. Prior to joining Atlassian, Sanchan led product strategy at Coinbase, Airbnb, Instagram, and Microsoft.
How Atlassian Teams Saved 5,000 Hours of Meeting Time in Two Weeks
https://www.atlassian.com/blog/loom/atlassian-meeting-research
Chapters:
00:00 — What Makes a Digital Workplace Truly Work?
01:26 — Can Remote Collaboration Be Just as Effective?
03:17 — Should We Be Replicating Physical Workspaces Online?
05:22 — What New Workflows Does Digital Enable?
07:31 — How AI Agents Are Replacing Meeting Attendance
09:24 — What Work Should AI Take Off Our Plate?
10:53 — Is AI Changing How Leaders Define Success?
13:01 — Can Humans and AI Work as Teammates?
15:01 — How to Stay Connected Across Time Zones
16:49 — How to Replace Meetings with Asynchronous Video
19:29 — What Happens When You Cancel 5,000 Meetings?
21:46 — How AI Links Conversations to Action
23:23 — What Distributed Leadership Looks Like in Practice
25:30 — How to Align Teams Without Physical Presence
27:24 — Can Video Build Trust Across Cultures?
29:27 — Why Video is Easier Than You Think
30:48 — How Gen Z is Reshaping Workplace Communication
32:30 — Will AI Agents Become Our Teammates?
34:43 — Closing Thoughts: Why Humans Still Matter Most
What if the future of work isn’t about hiring more people—but about
building smarter systems that scale on demand? What happens when cloud-based
teams replace org charts, and companies optimize for outcomes instead of
headcount? Can companies using on-demand teams instead of employees?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with
Krishna Vardhan Reddy, founder and CEO of AiDOOS, to explore the seismic
shift away from traditional employment toward distributed, project-based
execution. Together, they dive into how organizations can unbundle work from
jobs, rebuild delivery models in the cloud, and rethink the very structure
of the enterprise.
Krishna introduces the concept of the Virtual Delivery Center (VDC), a
model that connects global talent to enterprise projects through AI-enabled,
cloud-native workflows. You’ll hear how companies can shrink to their
strategic core, orchestrate work through on-demand teams, and deploy AI as a
productivity amplifier—not a replacement for people. From startup agility to
enterprise transformation, Krishna shares his vision of a borderless,
outcome-driven world of work.
If you’ve ever wondered how to scale without hiring, what comes after the
job description, or how AI and humans might truly collaborate in the next
generation of work—this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
https://youtu.be/eIh44FpE8u4
Guest Information:
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/skvreddy/> Krishna Vardhan Reddy is the
founder & CEO of <https://www.aidoos.com/> AiDOOS, the world’s first
Virtual Delivery Center (VDC) platform that enables enterprises to execute
projects via distributed, cloud-based expert teams. A technologist and
futurist at heart, Krishna is on a mission to redefine how work gets done in
the age of AI and agility. With over two decades in enterprise delivery,
Krishna now builds models that collapse organizational complexity and drive
outcome-focused execution.
Website: <https://www.aidoos.com> https://www.aidoos.com
LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/skvreddy/>
https://www.linkedin.com/in/skvreddy/
Chapters:
00:00 – What If Employment No Longer Made Sense?
03:12 – Are We Returning to a World of Micro-Entrepreneurs?
05:15 – Can Companies Rely on On-Demand Teams for Core Work?
07:15 – How Do You Ensure Quality and Control Without Employees?
09:26 – Can One Person Build a Unicorn with Cloud-Based Teams?
11:24 – How Do You Maintain Culture Without Traditional Structures?
13:14 – What Makes This Different from Freelance Platforms?
14:13 – Can Dashboards Replace Direct Supervision?
15:28 – Will Outcome-Based Compensation Replace Salaries?
17:45 – How Does the AiDOOS Unit-Based Pay System Work?
19:32 – Which Types of Work Fit the Virtual Delivery Model?
20:09 – Can AI Agents Replace Human Teams?
21:34 – Why Would Companies Use a Platform Instead of Building Their Own AI
Stack?
23:40 – Are We Entering Life 4.0?
25:11 – What Is the Future of Talent Clouds?
26:40 – What Happens to Culture in Borderless Organizations?
27:16 – What Should We Ask About the Future of Work?
What if nearly half your team felt misunderstood—and you didn’t even know it?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Dr. Matt Poepsel, behavioral scientist, leadership expert, and VP at The Predictive Index, to unpack one of the most overlooked cracks in today’s workplace: the growing gap between what leaders think their people need—and what people actually experience at work.
With fresh data showing that nearly 50% of employees don’t feel understood by their manager, Matt and Nirit explore the consequences of this misalignment on trust, energy, and performance—and why it’s not just a communication problem, but a design problem. They dive into the hidden ways organizations are still structured around systems of control, even as work demands flexibility, focus, and recovery.
The conversation tackles tough questions: Can AI help leaders become better coaches instead of better monitors? What does it take to build leadership models that match how people actually function? And how can we rethink productivity to align with purpose, not just output? From rehumanizing leadership to using AI as a mirror for self-awareness, Matt offers a roadmap for evolving management—not just for efficiency, but for impact.
If you’ve ever wondered how to lead in a world where performance systems and human behavior are out of sync, this episode is your starting point.
Guest Information:
Matt Poepsel , PhD is the author of Expand the Circle: Enlightened Leadership for Our New World of Work and host of the Lead the People podcast. He serves as Vice President & Godfather of Talent Optimization at The Predictive Index and is a graduate professor at Boston College, where he teaches leadership, human resources, and business spirituality. Matt holds a PhD in Psychology, an MBA, and a Harvard Business School Certificate of Management Excellence, and brings more than 25 years of leadership experience as a software executive and consultant.
2024 Workplace Perception Gap Data
The Predictive Index's joint report with Raconteur
Chapters:
00:00 — Why Half of Employees Feel Misunderstood at Work
01:40 — What Causes the Manager-Employee Disconnect?
03:10 — How Employee Expectations Changed After the Pandemic
04:20 — The Three Systems Every Manager Must Balance
05:50 — Why Feeling Seen at Work Drives Performance
06:45 — Are Engagement Surveys Still Useful?
08:35 — Is Work Structured Against Human Behavior?
10:10 — Are AI Tools Making Work More Human or More Robotic?
12:00 — Productivity vs. People: What's the Real AI Strategy?
13:50 — The Power of Trust in High-Performance Cultures
15:00 — Why Managers Fear AI and Empathy-Based Leadership
16:20 — How Incentives Undermine the Manager's New Role
17:35 — Can You Have Productivity and Purpose?
18:50 — Where Should Managers Start? Self-Awareness
19:40 — How to Free Up Time for People Leadership
20:45 — Using AI as a Coach for Leadership Development
21:55 — The First Five Minutes: A Habit for Human Connection
23:30 — Motivation at Work Isn’t Always About Money
24:45 — Closing the Perception Gap with Strength-Based Coaching
26:40 — Real Examples of Using AI for Self-Coaching
28:30 — The One Question Every Leader Should Ask About the Future of Work
What if experience isn’t what it used to be—but still exactly what we need? In a world where the rules change faster than we can accumulate wisdom, how do we lead when the past is no longer a reliable playbook?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Dr. Paul Achleitner—former CFO of Allianz, Supervisory Board Chair of Deutsche Bank, and author of Accelerate Your Experience—to explore how leadership must evolve when expertise alone won’t cut it.
From leading by asking questions to embracing ambiguity, Paul challenges traditional notions of authority, judgment, and performance. Together, they examine why legitimacy now matters as much as results, how remote work is reshaping learning and innovation, and why intellectual humility—not overconfidence—is the most future-ready skill of all.
If you’ve ever wondered how to lead in a world of AI, why overperformance can be as risky as mediocrity, or what it really takes to stay relevant when experience itself is being disrupted—this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Guest Information:
Dr. Paul Achleitner is a globally recognized investor, advisor, and board leader with a distinguished career at the highest levels of international finance, industry, and governance. He is best known for his decade-long tenure as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank, where he continues to serve as Chair of the Global Advisory Board. A former partner at Goldman Sachs and Chief Financial Officer of Allianz SE, Achleitner has helped steer some of Europe’s most influential institutions through periods of transformation. He began his career in academia and consulting—first in research at the University of St. Gallen and Harvard Business School, then at Bain & Company—and has served on the boards of Bayer, Daimler, MAN, and RWE. Beyond corporate leadership, he contributes to global dialogue through advisory roles with Deutsche Bank, Allianz, Hakluyt, HPS, and Hedosophia; nonprofits including the Alfred Herrhausen Society, Brookings, Bilderberg, and the Munich Security Conference; and academic institutions such as Harvard Business School, WHU, Bocconi, and the University of St. Gallen. An Austrian citizen based in Munich, he and his wife, Professor Ann-Kristin Achleitner, are also active startup investors.
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/A/bo257334367.html
Chapters:
00:00 – What does it mean to accelerate your experience?
02:27 – Why leadership needs curiosity over control
05:31 – How trust and humility reshape the future of leadership
08:19 – Why legitimacy now matters as much as performance
11:12 – Can overperformance be as dangerous as underperformance?
13:49 – What remote work changes about learning and innovation
17:17 – How do we build cohesion without shared space?
19:24 – Is experience earned—or built through reflection?
21:36 – Why adaptability beats overconfidence
24:15 – What mindset should leaders carry into the future?