HBS Managing the Future of Work
Episodes
Sal Khan on retooling workforce development and redesigning college
22 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Khan Academy founder and HBS grad returns to discuss AI disruption—preparing for The Great Reskilling and challenging the status quo in instruct...
Workforce Competitiveness: Business Roundtable's Kristen Silverberg
08 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
BRT's president and COO on policy and planning for multiple AI scenarios, work-based learning, skills-based hiring, and the ROI of employer investment...
Siemens' Judith Wiese on engineering a global workforce transformation
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The multinational's head of HR and sustainability explains how the firm's investment in continuous skills building positions it to handle AI dis...
Units of work: Riipen's Dana Stephenson on experiential learning
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The challenge is orchestrating projects that deliver business, educational, and employment value. The Canadian firm's co-founder and CEO breaks down t...
Executive recruiting: Tom Monahan on algorithmic power brokers and adaptability
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Corner office churn is up as demands multiply. Heidrick & Struggles' CEO explains what CVs leave out and why flexibility and organizational fit matter...
Bank of America's Josh Bronstein on hiring for the long-term
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The bank's head of global talent, an HBS grad, explains the value of cultivating careers, keeping churn low, hiring from within, and focusing on local...
HBS Project on Managing the Future of Work 2025 Year in Review, 2026 Preview
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Managing the Future of Work co-chairs and podcast co-hosts, Joe Fuller and Bill Kerr, share highlights and insights from 2025 and look ahead to 2026. ...
HBS Skydeck: Can tech solve health care’s workforce crisis?
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Presenting an episode of the HBS Skydeck alumni podcast highlighting the work of Lissy Hu (MD/MBA). How AI tools and training can help address labor s...
How HubSpot sells and supports its own AI transformation
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The CRM vendor's Helen Russell and Jon Dick unpack the organizational and process changes, HR and skills strategy, and cultural shift. Mandates backed...
Fiverr's Micha Kaufman on the post-AI gig economy
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The talent platform's co-founder and CEO returns to the MFW podcast with an update on the market for contingent work as AI changes supply and demand a...
Wells Fargo's Bei Ling on culture change and learning agility
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The bank's head of HR lays out the talent strategy underpinning its post-regulatory growth push and AI adoption.
Guest Episode: Joseph Fuller on the TechWolf podcast
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Managing the Future of Work co-chair and podcast co-host examines AI's implications for HR, spells out the competitive stakes in early adoption, a...
Reading and riding the AI wave: John Winsor on the value of flexibility
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As data center investments, stock prices, and vanishing entry-level jobs grab headlines, businesses are grappling with AI use cases and workforce stra...
How web data is fueling the robot revolution
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bright Data's Or Lenchner on the evolving ground rules for harnessing the web's data. Charting the boundaries of fair use in training AI systems and r...
EY's Dan Diasio on consulting's AI challenge
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How to get past AI fatigue and anxiety to a more expansive view of the technology's potential—bolstering knowledge work vs commoditizing expertise. ...
JFF's Maria Flynn on getting to good jobs
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What will it take to increase opportunity amid mounting economic uncertainty? The prominent nonprofit's multipronged approach to boosting job quality ...
Redefining success: Harrison Keller on the Texas higher-ed model
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Lone Star State’s experiment in outcomes–based funding rewards schools that produce “credentials of value.” Can focusing the curriculum on...
BuildOps' Alok Chanani on rewiring commercial contracting
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Admin and logistics can be weak links in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical firms. This can limit growth and squander skilled technical labor,...
Cisco's alignment strategy: Coordinating workforce and operations
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The benefits of cross-function collaboration, with Francine Katsoudas, executive vice president and chief people, policy, and purpose officer, and Jee...
Designing Equitable Workplaces
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Harvard Kennedy School's Iris Bohnet and Siri Chilazi on the logic behind a systems-level approach to workplace fairness. How A-B testing and targ...
ETS’s Amit Sevak makes the case for continuous assessment
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The flagship firm is pushing the boundaries of testing, from K-12 through career. What are the implications for the workforce and society? And how doe...
Vanguard's skills strategy for tech transformation
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can the shareholder-owned discount brokerage giant parlay its investments in enterprise and cloud infrastructure into an AI-enabled expansion into new...
Shake Shack’s test kitchen: Developing a good jobs and automation combo
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Shake Shack Chief Growth Officer Steph So and HBS professor Chris Stanton join Bill Kerr to discuss the fast-casual chain’s digital strategy and how...
Upwork’s Hayden Brown on bridging volatility with contingency
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"Freelance by choice" can sound like a rationalization—or putting on a brave face—but has the contract labor market improved for white-collar work...
ManpowerGroup’s Jonas Prising on the new global talent equation
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The staffing giant’s chairman and CEO lays out the opportunities and risks in the fast-changing and fragmented labor market. Riding the genAI wave, ...
Redrawing the map to tech careers: Per Scholas CEO Plinio Ayala on skills, mobility, and AI
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After decades preparing workers from underserved communities for well-paid tech jobs, the workforce nonprofit is expanding its training, footprint, an...
Erik Brynjolfsson on how AI is rewriting the rules of the economy
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Stanford economist unpacks AI’s impact on work and productivity, its limitations, and wider implications. He also lays out what organizations ca...
Cal Newport on slow productivity and next-wave AI
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Fuller welcomes back the Georgetown computer scientist and leading observer of knowledge work, who reprises his argument against busyness as the d...
David Deming on workforce shifts and the future of college
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
AI's early impact on the labor market: Are claims of revolutionary change overblown? The Harvard economist presents the long view on technological dis...
Ed Glaeser on Cities, Work, and Why America Struggles to Build
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Harvard urban economist assesses the post-Covid health of cities, rural development, zoning and the stagnation of the U.S. housing industry, the i...
Positive prompts: Sal Khan on AI in the classroom and beyond
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Will the technology democratize access to world-class education or increase inequality? Khan's journey from highly informed skeptic to champion of eth...
OneTen CEO Debbie Dyson: Why "skills-first" builds a better workforce
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In taking aim at degree inflation, the corporate-led good jobs coalition looks to boost economic opportunity, address skills gaps, and create a more e...
Nicholas Bloom on the unbundled workplace
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Stanford economist explains the momentum behind the work-from-home trend, how to manage a hybrid staff, and the new workforce geography. Also, the...
Hospitality at work: Bridging opportunity and innovation
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do you foster inclusion, economic mobility, and a sense of purpose across a global organization with both franchise and direct employees? Laura Fu...
Beyond exit interviews: Knowing why workers quit makes for better job matches
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Thinking of employees as 'hiring' their jobs opens the way to a detailed analysis of worker motivations, frustrations, and long-term goals, which can ...
Guest Episode: Joseph Fuller on The Gartner Talent Angle
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Managing the Future of Work co-chair Joseph Fuller delves into what’s driving and limiting the practice of skills-based hiring. The discussion range...
The business logic of supporting carers in the workforce
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Employers can benefit by remapping their talent strategies to match the realities of workers with caregiving responsibilities. Bill Kerr is joined by ...
Worker welfare: From theory to tangible good
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Good Business Lab cofounder Anant Nyshadham on demonstrating the ROI of better worker conditions and getting from academic exercise to large-scale imp...
Collective counsel: Corporate law's changing workforce and culture
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Vinson and Elkins' Keith Fullenweider on recruiting team players, boosting collaboration and soft skills through targeted training and mentorship, pri...
Help Wanted: Workforce boards face greater demands and more strings
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With legislative changes looming, federally funded boards must juggle the demands of workforce training, economic development, and long-term systemic ...
Marshall Goldsmith outlines the humble path to better leadership
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The noted executive coach on the value of letting go of the past, taking candid and anonymous 360-degree feedback, and playing it forward. Also, sprea...
Bonus episode: Introducing HBS's latest podcast, Think Big, Buy Small
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Fuller talks to his Harvard Business School faculty colleague Rick Ruback about Rick and HBS professor Royce Yudkoff’s podcast Think Big, Buy Sm...
EY’s Trent Henry on how AI can extend white-collar careers
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The consulting giant’s global talent lead explains how the firm is bringing mass customization and accountability to skills building and integrating...
Jacob Morgan on managing the new normal
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The future-of-work trendwatcher parses leadership strategies, the tradeoffs of hybrid work, AI adoption, skills-based hiring, and the foundations of a...
Adaptable and inclusive: Kraft Heinz’s brand of workforce
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Melissa Werneck, EVP and global chief people officer for the multinational food and beverage firm, on reskilling for web marketing and personalization...
Cengage Group’s Michael Hansen on the employment-ready syllabus
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The ed-tech executive on shifting the discussion to emphasize the economic benefits of education, harnessing AI, skills-based hiring, employer-educato...
Strada’s Stephen Moret on democratizing access to education and opportunity
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The president & CEO of Strada Education Foundation on aligning post-secondary education, economic mobility, and labor market demand. How does inclusiv...
Can work-based learning revive college-for-all?
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Propel America CEO Chad Rountree on rethinking the high school-to-career transition to meet the needs of low-income students, colleges, and employers.
Wharton’s Peter Cappelli on changing the talent equation
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What are the consequences of treating employees as an expense rather than an asset? Cappelli argues that this “penny wise and pound foolish” pract...
Western Governors University: Pursuing the network effects of competency based education
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
WGU President Scott Pulsipher returns to the podcast for an update on the online institution’s mission to extend the reach of skill-oriented instruc...
Guest Appearance: Joe Fuller on CSU's Spur of the Moment
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Managing the Future of Work co-chair Joe Fuller joins Colorado State University's Jocelyn Hittle to discuss his work on the Managing the Future of W...
IBM CHRO Nickle LaMoreaux on AI and the culture of skills building
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As the digital economy pushes companies to prioritize continuous learning, HR strategies need to emphasize customization, flexibility, and support fo...
Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor: How AI can raise the investment IQ
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
AI's potential is tempered by the need for reliability and consistency in financial intelligence. How is Morningstar adopting the technology, upskilli...
Cleveland Clinic’s formula for a robust healthcare workforce
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Chief Caregiver Officer, Kelly Hancock, on filling key roles when talent is scarce; fostering careers in increasingly stressful occupations; how to ma...
Microsoft’s AI perspective: From chatbots to reengineering the organization
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
AI’s revolutionary potential is best realized incrementally, according to Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President of Modern Work and Business Applic...
ServiceNow’s Amy Regan Morehouse on workforce transformation
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Employers are wrestling with how to provide the resources and foster the motivation workers need for continuous learning in an AI-altered economy. Wor...
Shopify’s Tia Silas on rewiring HR for a remote-first e-commerce company
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do you re-engineer the people function to support a post-Covid virtual organization? Shopify’s CHRO explains.
Transplanting college to the corporate campus to develop talent for good jobs
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If schools aren't turning out job-ready grads, can employer-led partnerships reengineer the talent pipeline to meet the demand and provide opportuniti...
Revisiting Upward Mobility: The 2023 American Opportunity Index
27 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In its second iteration, the corporate scorecard draws on a wider range of worker outcomes to rank Fortune 500 employers on how well they boost career...
Revelio Labs’ Ben Zweig on creating a universal HR database
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Do we need new terms and frameworks to capture important data about fast-changing labor markets? As the volume of workforce data increases, so does th...
Why employers need to tune in to worker preferences
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sander van’t Noordende, CEO of HR services giant Randstad, on navigating the new normal of talent scarcity, an aging workforce, and AI.
Euan Blair on workforce development: College is broken. Apprenticeships deliver.
15 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 200: The founder and CEO of UK-based unicorn Multiverse makes the case for the earn-and-learn model. Arguing that the college advantage is ove...
Deloitte's Dan Helfrich on consulting in the post-Covid, AI-inflected new normal
01 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do a culture of open debate and prioritizing work-life balance help the firm navigate change while advising others on how to do the same?
Defining experience: How micro internships build skills and boost productivity
18 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Can short knowledge-work gigs improve the college-to-career transition? Jeffrey Moss, Founder and CEO of intermediary Parker Dewey explains.
Workplace transformation: Gallup plumbs the new normal
04 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If there’s no going back to pre-Covid, 9-to-5 workplace routines, what’s the new management playbook? Gallup’s Jim Harter on work-life balance, ...
The EEOC’s Keith Sonderling on job fairness in the age of AI
20 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has a broad mandate, policing discrimination in all aspects of employment. How does artificial...
Chike Aguh on government innovation in workforce development
06 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How can government boost competitiveness and spur the creation of good jobs while protecting worker rights and promoting equity? The former Chief Inno...
The case for investing in the apprenticeship model
23 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Achieve Partners' Ryan Craig on expanding the earn-as-you-learn ecosystem to boost workforce skills while increasing upward mobility and equity. He ...
Complex systems: From supply chains to artificial intelligence
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Can the U.S. reshore its way to stability and security? How will AI reshape the workforce and higher education? Yossi Sheffi, Director of the MIT Cen...
Resilient Coders' formula for a diverse tech workforce
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How durable are tech sector diversity commitments in a down cycle? Solid skills, supportive networks, and employer engagement can make the differenc...
How SkillUp signposts pathways to good jobs
12 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Connecting non-college graduates from underserved communities to job and career opportunities is an inexact science. SkillUp Coalition CEO Steve Lee o...
Volvo Cars retools its talent strategy for an EV future
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The shift to electric vehicle production means revamping jobs throughout the organization. Chief People Officer Hanna Fager explains the process, fro...
Harvard’s Project on Workforce: Charting college’s employment pathways
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor David Deming of the Harvard Kennedy School, co-director of the Harvard Project on Workforce, breaks down the project's College-to-Jobs playb...
Changing the skills narrative: Opportunity@Work’s Byron Auguste
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Many public- and private sector employers are becoming more selective about which positions require college degrees, opening more good jobs to non-deg...
Assessing AI-boosted background checks; fair-chance hiring
31 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Background checks are getting easier and faster to carry out, even as a continuous process. Is that a good thing? Checkr CEO & co-founder Daniel Yanis...
How LinkedIn parses talent, skills, and diversity
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professional work has hit multiple inflection points—from generative AI to remote work and shifting skills requirements. There are few better vantag...
Workforce coverage: How Zurich Insurance protects its skills base
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The insurance industry is playing catch-up on the digitalization front while at the same time looking to maintain and replenish the expertise of its a...
Turning tacit knowledge and weak ties into real opportunity
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“It’s who you know as much as what you know” has an unpromising ring amid rising inequality and social fragmentation. Nonprofit Climb Hire aims ...
Point-of-work transactions: How Mastercard connects its employees with opportunities
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mastercard kick-started its internal talent marketplace in response to the pandemic, ramping up from a manual system to a digital platform from start-...
Richard Reeves on gender equity, Part 2: Work-life, learning
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Has Covid prompted working fathers to reassess? In the continuation of their conversation on issues confronting boys and men, Joe Fuller and Richard R...
Richard Reeves on gender equity, Part 1: Addressing male struggles
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Brookings scholar Richard V. Reeves makes the case for tailoring school and employment opportunities to the realities of boys and men.
Delta Dental’s Sarah Chavarria on the value of communication
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a simple formula but hard to get right. By tuning in to what’s happening throughout the organization, asking the right questions, and listeni...
How to upgrade the community college talent supply chain
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What will it take to get two-year institutions and employers on the same page? Joe Fuller joins his Managing the Future of Work co-chair and podcast c...
Bankable skills: Goldman Sachs CIO Marco Argenti on the emerging tech-business talent model
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How is the convergence of banking and technology redefining roles and business models? Marco Argenti went from directing cloud services at Amazon Web...
Guest Appearance: Joseph Fuller on the Q Factor podcast
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Managing the Future of Work co-chair and podcast co-host Joseph Fuller on AI's impact on work and hiring, the emerging gig marketplace for high-skill...
Mark Peters: How altruistic employee assistance pays off
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Beyond a paycheck, how much do employers owe their workers? A business alliance focused on employee assistance has had success in helping employees ma...
Gregory Washington on the relevance of George Mason
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The crisis in higher education argues for a more expansive approach to academics, workforce, and business development, according to the head of Virgin...
Skills engine: An update on Google’s role as training provider
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the strategy behind the tech giant’s expanding portfolio of certificate programs and partnerships? Lisa Gevelber, founder of Grow with Goog...
Good jobs as good cause: The philanthropy of upward mobility
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel Korberg, Executive Director of the Families and Workers Fund, on the collaborative philanthropy model, public-private partnerships, defining go...
Extra credit: Reach University’s apprenticeship-to-degree model
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In combining upskilling through on-the-job training with tailored online courses, Reach helps school districts develop faculty internally. Founder and...
AI: The good, the bad, and the transformative
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Is it too late to secure the guardrails? More and more businesses are turning to AI for its efficiencies and revolutionary potential, but its prolifer...
How federal stimulus can break new ground on economic development and good jobs
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
American Rescue Plan program director Todd Fisher on the complex business of steering billions in investments to build up talent pipelines along with ...
Amplifying frontline worker voice to boost productivity
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When workers can vote with their feet polling their views can reduce turnover and increase engagement. WorkStep co-founder and CEO, Dan Johnston on ma...
Abby Falik on Global Citizen Year and finding purpose
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
HBS grad Abby Falik founded Global Citizen Year to cultivate young leaders through a gap year of cultural immersion and community projects in developi...
The digital "help wanted" sign. Can AI improve hourly staffing?
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Instawork Co-Founder and CEO Sumir Meghani on the company's shift work platform. The intermediary touts better, data-driven matches and a more efficie...
Mapping the flow of knowledge, goods, and jobs
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Harvard Business School professor Willy Shih provides an update on post-pandemic global trade, supply chain snags, workforce development, and the chal...
The American Opportunity Index: Rating Employers on Upward Mobility
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
High on the list of what makes a good job is the opportunity to advance. How well do Fortune 250 firms deliver on this, particularly for non-college g...
Cal Newport on knowledge work, Part 2: “Slow productivity”
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The rest of Joe Fuller’s conversation with computer scientist, author, and New Yorker magazine contributing writer Cal Newport. Just what is product...
Cal Newport on knowledge work, Part 1: The concentration deficit
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Computer scientist, author, and New Yorker writer Cal Newport argues that the way we organize cognitive work ignores basic neuroscience. Also: how the...
Sprawling ambition: Jonathan Webb on AppHarvest’s bid to transform agriculture
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The ag tech firm’s founder talks about large-scale indoor farming’s potential for food security, climate change adaptation, and economic renewal....