Welcome to 2026, a year I coin “The Year of Enterprise AI.” As you’ll read about (and hear about) in our 2026 Imperatives launch, the coming year is all about AI moving from “assistants” to “agents” to “solutions.” And there are three big considerations to ponder. First, the cost of AI is skyrocketing, so we’re going to have to focus on high-value use-cases and business-specific solutions. That’s not to say AI assistants and meeting summaries are not valuable, but once you start paying by the token you’re going to want to go deeper. As we discuss in our new Systemic HR AI Framework, we’re sitting on billions of dollars of real business opportunities now, and they go far beyond individual assistants. (We call these Superagents.) And the cost of AI will accelerate this focus. Second, the data center buildout, energy costs, and political issues with data centers will matter. For corporate users this means understanding the underlying “costs” of AI usage (creating a single high powered image uses as much as 25% of the battery in your phone). I point this out to make you aware that these AI chatbots are not “free” – there are acres of computing campuses being built behind the scenes. And that means your “software providers” are turning into capital intensive companies. (And a new industry of data center companies may take over.) (For those of you in the energy industry, it’s a wild time – almost as exciting as I’ve seen since my early days as an energy engineer during the OPEC Arab Oil Embargo in the late 1970s.) Third is the fast-changing issue of AI’s accuracy, trust, and voracious appetite for data. As I discuss, the real opportunity for corporate AI is to take this problem head-on, and focus on your company’s data quality, governance, human feedback, and data labeling. The big AI labs are struggling to reduce the “Jaggedness” of AI (it’s strange ability to be really good at some things and totally dumb about others), and that encourages us to focus on narrow, domain-specific AI applications. And we all need to learn about RLHF (reinforcement learning with human feedback). Our experience with Galileo proves that an AI solution that focuses on a vertical domain can be infinitely more reliable and intelligent than a general purpose AI. But don’t let me argue with Sam Altman, you’ll have to figure this out yourself :-). We are launching our 2026 Imperatives research the third week of January, and there will be a special release of Galileo to accompany all the study. Our goal is not to give you a bunch of pithy predictions, but rather to give you a dozen hard-hitting “Must Do’s” for the year ahead. I look forward to talking with many of your this coming year as we travel around the world, and I hope this podcast gives you some useful insights for an exciting year ahead! Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI (NYT bestseller) From Assistants to Agents to SuperAgents: Where AI Is Going Next (podcast) Galileo: The World’s Expert AI for HR and Leaders  

In this podcast I reflect on five big things we didn’t talk about much this year, and each falling into the “Human Capital” agenda. We spent much of our year worrying about AI, agents, productivity, and jobs, largely putting the “Human Capital” agenda on the back burner. While AI is certainly the defining technology of our times, there are human capital issues to consider. As I discuss, these “soft” issues help us address the “socio-technological” impacts of AI. There’s no question that AI is amazing and it will change our lives. As business people, however, we need to remind ourselves of the human capital issues that matter too. PS: The impact of AI on the job market is already taking a toll. Younger workers are now experiencing much higher unemployment rate than tenured workers, largely because companies believe AI can replace apprenticeships. I’m not a fan of this strategy but you can listen to this analysis to understand. Our big 2026 Imperatives report comes out in January, stay tuned. Additional Information The Dynamic Organization (the human capital strategies that matter during change) The Collapse And Rebirth Of Online Learning And Professional Development Human Centered Leadership (Galileo Learn program) The Healthy Organization (research)    

This week Coursera announced the acquisition of Udemy, demonstrating the accelerating collapse of the 25-year old traditional online learning industry. As I explain in this podcast, this industry is not going away but it’s being quickly and radically transformed by AI. The upside here is a new, highly personalized world of professional development ahead. While courseware, certifications, credentials, and online curricula won’t disappear overnight, the business model of providers is changing very quickly. In this podcast I explain this shift and also show you how our particular Galileo business model works. As someone who participated in the birth of this industry in 1998, I could not be more excited about this new world. If you’re a corporate HR or L&D professional, this transforms your training function. If you’re a vendor or consultant, this changes your business model. And if you’re a business person or senior leader, you have an exciting new world of professional development appearing before your eyes! Stay tuned for more as this market shift accelerates. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information How AI Is Blowing Up The Corporate Learning Market: The Whole Story The Revolution of Corporate Learning: Join The Crusade (research and case studies) Galileo: The AI Rebirth of The Josh Bersin Academy    

Talent Acquisition is perhaps the most important but also complex part of business. In this podcast I explain the intricate details of this $750 billion market, which is now being transformed by AI. As you’ll hear, recruitment is far more nuanced than you may think, so “experts” in HR can do some pretty amazing things. I hope this podcast helps you see the entire landscape and also understand where and why AI can have such an impact. Many tech companies have tried and failed to transform the market (Google Jobs failed, Facebook Jobs failed), yet some thrive and deliver tremendous value. As you listen to this podcast I hope you get a better sense of where this market is going and I encourage you to get Galileo and ask Galileo to explain the vendor market in detail (it is updated almost daily). As always I welcome your feedback and if you have an amazing or interesting story to share, please reach out to us. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information The Talent Acquisition Revolution: How AI is Transforming Recruiting (research) AI-First TA Transformation: Join the Revolution! (certificate course) Talent Acquisition Factbook (Benchmark your TA team).  

Tristram Gray, Chief People and Corporate Affairs Officer at Kmart Group in Australia, explains how the retail giant is revolutionizing high-volume hiring with AI. Managing 55,000 employees across 450 stores, Kmart recruits 12,000 people annually while processing hundreds of thousands of applications. Tristram shares how the company uses Sapia.ai to create a mobile-first, simulation-based AI assessment process that evaluates candidates on culture, values, and behaviors rather than traditional resumes, previous experience, or technical skills. The results are remarkable: 73% reduction in time-to-hire (from 44 days to 11 days), 2.5 times longer retention, enhanced diversity, significant cost savings, and 9 out of 10 candidate satisfaction – which translates to a better brand and customer perception of the retail company. Tristram discusses the importance of providing personalized feedback to every candidate, the transformation of recruiter roles from reactive hiring to proactive talent planning, the need for change agility with operations and HR, and his philosophy that AI, when used ethically and responsibly, can create deeply human impact. This conversation offers powerful insights for anyone navigating the introduction of AI in HR. Additional Information Powering the Frontline Workforce: How Frontline-First Companies Thrive The Talent Acquisition Revolution: How AI is Transforming Recruiting New Galileo Certificate Program: Elevating Talent Acquisition with AI

Today I discuss the leadership theme of Arrogance vs. Humility. It’s a big topic and covers many parts of a company’s cycle of growth and variations in styles of leadership. Without judgement, I wanted to discuss the topic in this era of massive AI investment, huge bets on the future, and many ongoing layoffs. There are good reasons for arrogance and it also has its problems, so I decided to share my thoughts. I also discuss our upcoming 2026 Imperatives research coming in January and give you some insights on the new features in Galileo to help transform the way we assess, coach, and develop our leaders. (And we’re all leaders now.) Additional Information Palantir CEO Alex Karp Interview w/NYT Andrew Sorkin Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei Interview w/NYT Andrew Sorkin Gavin Newsom California Governor Interview w/NYT Andrew Sorkin      

In this podcast I describe our newest CHRO Insights research, based on 25,000 CHRO profiles and detailed analysis of their job history by Findem. What you see is that CHRO tenure has dropped by 20% in the last five years, the role is still primarily held by women, and the pay levels of CHROs have not kept pace with the pay of other C-level officers. Despite these challenges, the scope, role, and importance of the CHRO has rapidly increased, leaving many CHROs to take on roles a Chief Transformation Officers, Chief Strategy Officers, and even Chief AI Enablement Officers. And the career path to CHRO and from CHRO is changing. Listen here to understand more. You can download the overview here. You can get access to the detailed research by licensing Galileo, the essential AI Agent for HR, or by joining our corporate membership. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information Josh Bersin Company Launches Research and Advisory Service for CHROs, a Role Under Increasing Pressure Understanding the Path to CHRO (research report) The Pivotal Role Of Chief HR Officer in AI Transformation  

This podcast is one I’ve been working on for months. Jane Hoskisson, Director of Talent, Learning, and Diversity for IATA (the world’s advocacy, support, and training provider for 300+ airlines). Jane is joined by Alina Aronberga, HR Aviation Leader (former SVP of HR for Air Baltic), who partnered with IATA and others in GAAST, The Global Aviation and Aerospace Skills Taskforce. (You will hear Jane and Alina discuss GAAST in the podcast.) Jane and Alina discuss many things, including the rapid growth in airlines, the critical need for talent, skills, and diversity, and their comprehensive Future of Work Aerospace Industry Skills Matrix. This industry skills model, which defines skills at four competency levels, details the industry-wide skills for the major job roles in an airline. It also describes the way these skills will change with AI. And this entire model, which integrates detailed product and operation plans from Boeing, Airbus, and many airlines and service providers, was developed with Galileo® As Jane explains in the discussion, Galileo was the thought partner, AI consultant, and analyst that directly helped IATA develop this model. This means that any airline, airline provider, or aerospace manufacturer, can get the model from IATA and GAAST, and use Galileo to understand how these new roles and skills impact their operations, product plans, services, and internal talent strategies. Galileo, loaded with this data, is now available for thousands of aviation HR professionals to help with recruiting, job design, pay and benefits analysis, and training. And there’s more. Through Jane and Alina’s relationships with airlines and other sources of business and economic data, the model describes how aviation talent needs vary by geography. Aviation skills in demand in the US, for example, are tilted toward space travel and aeronautics. In the middle east, where airlines are doubling in size in 4-5 years, the critical skills are in pilots, crew, and front-office staff. You can download the latest version of the skills matrix here, and there’s lots to learn by simply reading it. You can see how this authoritative, highly researched model can be used for training, hiring, succession, pay, and all the critical decisions airlines must face in this unprecedented period of growth. Interested in the topics and stories shared here? Join us at our annual conference Irresistible 2026, on June 8-10 at USC in Los Angeles! For those of you who are in other industries, let me assure you that airlines have precisely the same talent, hiring, leadership, and training problems you have – but with a safety and regulatory-driven urgency not seen in any other industry. So these are complex, highly skilled HR teams and we can all learn a lot from their experiences and stories. I want to thank Jane, Alina, and all our airline clients and partners for supporting this work. We have much more to talk about in this fascinating industry, so please listen, learn, and join us at Irresistible. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or App...

Everyone: one of the big existential changes in management and leadership is a whole new model for talent. Today, for the first time in human history, we’ve agreed to pay one person a $Trillion dollars for his skills (Elon Musk). And this trend is growing. Google paid $2.7 Billion to hire Noam Shazeer, the co-founder of Character AI. Mark Zuckerberg paid around $100 Million to hire Jiahui You, a top OpenAI researcher. And others, Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov & Xiaohua Zhai, were rumored to receive $100 M signing bonuses to join Meta. What’s going on? What happened to our belief in the “bell curve” of performance, forced rankings, salary bands, and all the traditional ideas of talent management? Well it’s time to throw that stuff out the window and think differently. As many researchers have pointed out, including Boris Groyberg from Harvard, these “hyperperformers” can deliver 100 to 1000 times higher outcomes than an “average” employee and their utility and value is very hard to reproduce. Groyberg’s studies show that hyper-performers in one company turn into middling performers in another. And this is borne out by our research, which shows that individuals who fit the culture and behaviors of a company well can absolutely deliver 10-fold higher performance than those who “grind the gears.” All this said, the traditional talent management model has not worked out well, and I want to encourage you to ditch it. Even the job market itself bears this out: some “10x engineers” make 5 times as much money as engineers sitting next to them, and the same is true for sales people, consultants, politicians, and athletes. (The top ten NBA players make 7X more pay than the “average” NBA player.) So why do we try to “commoditize” this into a bell-curve based talent system? Integrated Talent Management, as defined by HR, leads to over-hiring, layoffs, and all sorts of “performance commoditizing” effects. If you use the Talent Density philosophy, by contrast, you wind up with a smaller company which performs at a much higher level. Listen to this podcast and I’ll explain all that needs to be addressed. Suffice it to say that in a world of AI-powered Superworkers, it’s your talent system (as a whole) that’s going to drive extraordinary growth and competitive advantage, not fitting people into the bell curve. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information The Myth Of The Bell Curve: Look For The Hyper-Performers How To Create Talent Density We Wasted Ten Years Talking About Performance Ratings. Seven Things We’ve Learned. Galileo: The World’s Trusted Agent for Everything HR  

This week I discuss AI economics and explain the details behind the AI “Bubble” we read about. Where is all this money for data centers coming from and where is it going? What are the business and economic risks of all this hyper-investment? Which vendors are likely to survive? And what’s going to happen to price we pay for AI chatbots, compute resources, and apps? As you’ll hear, this is a big topic for the year ahead and you’ll understand why it’s time to sharpen your pencil as you plan and build you big AI solutions for the year ahead. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information Here’s why concerns about an AI bubble are bigger than ever (NPR) Gen AI Is Going Mainstream: Here’s What’s Coming Next The Josh Bersin Company Partners with Microsoft on Copilot Tuning for HR Experts Galileo: The World’s Trusted Agent for Everything HR      

In this podcast I discuss the evolution of AI in the enterprise and how we shift from a focus on individual productivity to a focus on multi-functional Superagents. In HR, where I focus, the idea of Superagents lets us rethink our HR practices from the ground up and vastly simplify the way our company works. And Superagents bring autonomy to business. Think about it this way in the world of autos. An “Assistant” is power steering or power brakes, helping the driver do their job. An “Agent” is like automatic lane control or collision detection, “taking over” the car under certain conditions. A self-driving car like Waymo or Zoox is a Superagent, shifting to the big goal: getting from point A to point B. In a self-driving car there’s no need for a steering wheel or even driver’s seat. Likely in a Superagent for recruitment the job of “recruiter” is vastly changed and in a Superagent for L&D an instructional designer may go away. Similarly a “digital twin” does not assist an expert, it literally recreates and expert, enabling that person to free up to do more. Listen to this carefully, it sets you up for some exciting new ideas in your corporate AI solutions in 2026. Additional Information The Road To AI-Driven Productivity: Four Stages of Transformation Digital Twins, Digital Employees, And Agents Everywhere Galileo , The Essential AI Assistant for Everything HR  

This is exciting news: soon you will be able to embed Galileo® into your own version of the Microsoft Copilot with Copilot Fine Tuning and turn your company’s AI agent into an HR, management, and leadership guru. In this podcast I explain the new Microsoft Copilot Fine-Tuning feature, which lets you build your own customized Copilot, trained in management, leadership, and HR. I also explain the difference between the fine-tuning option and RAG (retrieval augmented generation), the way the Copilot and other agents access typical corporate documents and data. To my knowledge this unique feature is only available in the Microsoft Copilot, and the company is highlighting many unique use-cases. In the case of HR, management, pay, leadership, performance management, and other HR-related topics, the Galileo fine tuning turns the Copilot into a world-class HR consultant, advisor, and educator. Stay tuned for more information on this exciting product direction and click here to watch the demonstration released at Microsoft Ignite this week. If you would like to be one of our early customers for Galileo for Microsoft Copilot, please register here. More Information The Josh Bersin Company Partners with Microsoft on Copilot Tuning for HR Experts (article) Fine-Tuning vs. RAG Video Explanation Gen AI Is Going Mainstream: Here’s What’s Coming Next Galileo: The World’s Trusted Agent for Everything HR  

I’m excited to publish my recent discussion with Jacqui Canney, CHRO of ServiceNow (previously CHRO of Walmart & WPP). Jacqui describes her career and her vital role as Chief People and AI Enablement Officer at one of the fastest growing enterprise software companies in the world, and also explains her mission to enable AI for more than 3 million of ServiceNow’s customers. Jacqui also describes how their HR team developed more than 1,000 HR use-cases and later refined these to 27 by building a rubric to evaluate AI opportunities. This is an inspirational conversation which will help you understand the role of the CHRO in AI transformation and the AI Playbook you can follow in your own company’s journey. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information The Pivotal Role Of Chief HR Officer in AI Transformations CHRO Insights: Understanding The Path to the CHRO How To Make AI Work For People: ServiceNow AI Playbook Introducing Galileo for Managers, The Leadership Guru At Your Fingertips

This week I tell you about how the new world of corporate learning has rapidly evolved, and how AI-native learning, digital twins, and coaching all come together. It feels like a tornado has begun and all these standalone technologies are colliding, giving you the most exciting new business and career opportunity for L&D in many decades. And for vendors and investors, I explain why I believe this is the trillion dollar opportunity of the decade. I hope you learn a lot from this podcast and get your hands on the Galileo Suite to get started. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information 2025 Market Trends Webcast Replay (with promo code for Galileo at end) The AI-Native Corporate Learning Revolution (research) Arriving Now….. The Digital Twin. Gen AI Is Going Mainstream: Here’s What’s Coming Next  

Hallie Condon, Chief People Officer at Chili Piper explores how the company uses AI to optimize employee experience in a fully remote, global environment. Hallie shares how Chili Piper empowers its workforce across 36 countries by intentionally building culture, leveraging automation, and fostering transparency through innovative decision-making processes. The conversation delves into the company’s unique approach to onboarding, offboarding, and continuous feedback, as well as their commitment to democratizing input and encouraging experimentation. Hallie also discusses Chili Piper’s focus on AI enablement, including launching an AI stipend and developing internal tools to streamline HR operations. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information Culture Always Wins (Video) Gen AI Is Going Mainstream: Here’s What’s Coming Next The Big Reset Playbook: Organizational Culture & Performance Galileo: The World’s Trusted Agent for Everything HR    

After 60,000+ miles of travel and meeting with hundreds of companies, I’m here to share what I’ve learned. The simple message is that Gen AI has now gone mainstream, yet many companies are thinking about this in different ways. The current state is what we call “Stage 1 AI” focused on individual productivity, but more advanced AI solutions are coming. Here is my discussion of where we are and what’s coming next, and we look forward to sharing much more (and our AI Agent Blueprint) in the coming weeks. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information Gen AI Is Going Mainstream: Here’s What’s Coming Next (and Wharton survey) AI and HR Trends for 2026: Webinar BBC Finds That 45% of AI Queries Produce Erroneous Answers AI: Not Always Right, But Seldom In Doubt (podcast) Galileo: The World’s Trusted Agent for Everything HR      

AI vendors are building infrastructure, companies are shedding jobs, and we’re starting to witness the most rapid business transformation in centuries. In this podcast I look back on 2025 and show you where we are – with AI transformations, the job market, and the massive organizational changes in business. And I explain the Rise of the Superworker an its impact on you. New research by Wharton shows that AI optimism and adoption is increasing dramatically. For more details, join me next week for the webcast “2025 Market Trends: AI, HR, and What’s Next for 2026.” This presentation summarizes our 2025 “Year of AI Emergence” and set the stage for our big 2026 Predictions which launches in January. Are you ready for the new job market and how your HR department will change? Here are the trends and what you can expect for the year ahead. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information The Rise Of The Supermanager The Pivotal Role Of Chief HR Officer in AI Transformation Wharton Survey: AI Adoption and Optimism Is High BBC Finds That 45% of AI Queries Produce Erroneous Answers Galileo: The World’s Trusted AI Agent for Everything HR

Hari Srinivasan, VP of Product at LinkedIn, has been building world-class recruiting products for 11 years. In this podcast Hari gives us the details behind the LinkedIn Hiring Assistant, one of the leading AI-powered talent acquisition products in the market. Not only is Hari an amazing product leader, he also has enormous expertise in the entire talent acquisition process. He explains how LinkedIn thinks about recruiting in general and the company’s bigger view of this massive market. Every time I talk with Hari I am amazed at the expertise and focus LinkedIn brings to the world of HR. Additional Information LinkedIn Enters AI Agent Race With LinkedIn Hiring Assistant Digital Twins, Digital Employees, And Agents Everywhere Talent Acquisition at a Crossroads: Certificate Program In Galileo Learn Introducing Galileo, Your Personal AI Assistant for HR

This week I discuss the latest BBC study on AI answer quality from public data sources. As I discuss, the BBC and EBU found that 45% of news queries produce erroneous answers, so the reality has set in: public domain AI engines are neither “superintelligent” nor are they perfect. Yet they are very self-confident. So we, as users, need to be careful. As you’ll hear, there are three things to consider here, and you can read more about this in my latest article on the topic. For those of us in corporate roles, the message is clear: data quality must be our #1 priority, and this is a whole new domain for HR and other service functions. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information BBC Research Findings Interpretation of the Findings and the “polluted corpus” problem Claude’s admission of the “polluted corpus” problem AI Thinking Skills You Need To Stay Safe (podcast) Galileo: The World’s Trusted Agent for Everything HR

In this podcast I discuss the risky business models AI labs are considering for their products and why accuracy, trust, and information quality is so so important (and difficult to ascertain). And that leads to a question we’re all asking: what are the real skills you need to flourish from AI and how does AI possibly change our mode of thinking? After all, they’re enormously “self-confident” about the answers they generate. New News: A research study by the BBC just found that 45% of all inquiries of AI agents produce incorrect results. This podcast explains why. My hypothesis, as I explain and discuss with clients, is that you’re going to have to become a “debater” to use AI really well, and that’s good for all of us. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information Is AI About To Bite Us? Debunking The Three Fears About AI (podcast) What Happened To Our Sense Of Trust? (podcast) The Rise of the Supermanager: People Management in the Age of AI (research) Galileo: The World’s AI Assistant for Leaders at all Levels