Host's Cut: Reflections on Season Five
episode
Where AI Works: Conversations at the Intersection of AI and Industry
11 min
8 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
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What is the overall theme of the Season Five recap and why does AI matter now?
What skills you have today may not be
the skills you need for the future. How are you embarking on that journey? I do not care what you know now, I care how quickly you can learn.
People who actually thrive in environments where they're continuing to learn becomes very, very important.
You may have agents that are off doing work, but you need to have humans in the loop.
Otherwise, your organization will not build trust with AI and your AI efforts will die on the vine.
Hello and welcome to Where AI Works, conversations at the intersection of AI and industry, brought to you by Wharton in collaboration with Accenture. I'm Matthew Bidwell, back in the hosting chair one last time for a recap and review of our fifth season. Our guests shared a lot of fascinating insights, so I want to share some highlights and just go over some of my key takeaways for you. As we keep saying all along, things are changing fast. Apparently they Still are, so let's get started. We kicked off the season with a special episode featuring James Crowley, the Global Products Industry Practices Chair at Accenture, and Eric Bradlow, the Vice Dean of AI and Analytics here at Wharton. They unpacked the findings of the Wharton Accenture Skills Index.
My main takeaway from James was the crucial importance of thinking about skills rather than jobs, and figuring out what skills we need to be building. This question of identifying the right skills. The future of work is emerging as a key question, both for individuals who want to stay relevant and, well, employed, and for organizations that need to build the capabilities to keep up with technological shifts.
Why should leaders focus on building skills instead of hiring for specific roles?
I think first it starts with acknowledging the shift and frankly just thinking about skills. Like we are ingrained to think about roles and titles. Uh we represent our roles in resumes. So this notion of just just even at a basic level, you know, thinking about skills and and specifically the skill evolution for your business. What skills you have today may not be the skills you need for the future. How are you embarking on that journey? And I think that then leads me to then how are you going to enable that journey if I'm an employer? We have a what we call a pulse of change survey where we talk to 7,000 C-suite leaders, 20 countries, 20 industries. So it's quite pervasive and quite global. And basically 23% would cite if they could increase the availability of talent, skilled talent, new skilled talent, and training.
That that would be the most beneficial in accelerating their AI journey.
How does Eric Bradlow define the most important ability for employees in an AI world?
I also thought it was interesting when Eric talked about AI's impact on the very nature of how we learn.
Currently teaching the MBA Corps and I talk to students about this. I'm not only impressed in what large language models and AI can do today, but I even tell them think about how quickly you can learn something that you didn't know before. I do not care what you know now. I care how quickly you can learn. And to me, AI is a tool that enables you to learn quickly. As a matter of fact, it's just be seen as an opportunity. You mean I can learn something different and move into a different skill position at my company? I think that's a great opportunity for most employees.
On episode two, I spoke with Donna Morris, the Chief People Officer at Walmart, about what it means to introduce AI across one of the very largest workforces on the planet. I was particularly struck by what she had to say about the ramifications of AI in management or supervisory roles, helping to set the tasks for the workforce.
I feel like now managers can actually manage people. So as opposed to being a manager that is giving out the tasks of the day, it's pretty uplifting to be the manager that can actually spend time with an associate getting to know what they're doing really well andor getting to know areas that they need support or help, andor getting to know the customers really well and getting to see what's working in their store or working in their club. So what we're hearing from our associates is that they're actually able to have more real human interactions because AI is taking out some of the work that was either manual andor very task driven.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the overall theme of the Season Five recap and why does AI matter now?
0:02–1:39
2
Why should leaders focus on building skills instead of hiring for specific roles?
1:39–2:34
3
How does Eric Bradlow define the most important ability for employees in an AI world?
2:34–4:53
4
Which softer, human‑centric skills does Donna Morris say are critical for an AI‑enabled workforce?
4:53–6:19
5
Why does Paul Stathacopoulos argue that humans must stay in the loop with AI agents?
6:19–9:55
6
What new skill sets does Ritcha Ranjan identify as most valuable for employers today?
9:55–10:40
7
What are Matthew Bidwell’s top three takeaways for business leaders from the season?
10:40–11:30
8
How can organizations balance trust and skepticism when deploying AI at scale?
11:30–11:53