HBS Managing the Future of Work - podcast cover

HBS Managing the Future of Work

Harvard Business Schoolwww.hbs.edu
Artificial intelligence. Robotics. The Gig Economy. Globalization. The world is changing at a dizzying pace in ways that will have a profound effect on the economy, jobs and the flow of talent. How will firms cope with the changes ahead and what steps do they need to take today? Each episode features faculty from the world’s leading business school interviewing CEOs, technologists and experts on the bleeding edge discussing how to survive and thrive by managing the future of work.
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Episodes

Fiverr's Micha Kaufman on the post-AI gig economy

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 and raises the stakes for skills development.

Dec 03, 202530 min

Guest Episode: Joseph Fuller on the TechWolf podcast

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, and unpacks the technology's disruptive potential for jobs, organizations, and markets. Also, the rise of the CHRO, skills-based hiring, and more.

Oct 29, 20251 hr 4 min

Reading and riding the AI wave: John Winsor on the value of flexibility

As data center investments, stock prices, and vanishing entry-level jobs grab headlines, businesses are grappling with AI use cases and workforce strategy. The veteran serial entrepreneur and Harvard Business School executive fellow assesses the organizational and talent implications.

Oct 15, 202532 min

How web data is fueling the robot revolution

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 robots. Also, the data gathering and analytics workforce.

Oct 01, 202533 min

EY's Dan Diasio on consulting's AI challenge

How to get past AI fatigue and anxiety to a more expansive view of the technology's potential—bolstering knowledge work vs commoditizing expertise. As it guides organizations through the experimentation phase and into redesigning business processes, the professional services giant is undergoing an internal transformation.

Sep 17, 202535 min

JFF's Maria Flynn on getting to good jobs

What will it take to increase opportunity amid mounting economic uncertainty? The prominent nonprofit's multipronged approach to boosting job quality and promoting equity.

Sep 04, 202535 min

Redefining success: Harrison Keller on the Texas higher-ed model

The Lone Star State’s experiment in outcomes–based funding rewards schools that produce “credentials of value.” Can focusing the curriculum on workforce development give Texas an economic advantage and distribute resources equitably?

Aug 13, 202543 min

BuildOps' Alok Chanani on rewiring commercial contracting

Admin and logistics can be weak links in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical firms. This can limit growth and squander skilled technical labor, to the detriment of employers and workers alike. The BuildOps co-founder and CEO unpacks the benefits of integrated operations apps and the potential of AI-boosted platforms to improve prospects for skilled workers.

Jul 30, 202538 min

Cisco's alignment strategy: Coordinating workforce and operations

The benefits of cross-function collaboration, with Francine Katsoudas, executive vice president and chief people, policy, and purpose officer, and Jeetu Patel, president and chief product officer. How better integration within the corporate stack improves flexibility.

Jul 16, 202536 min

Designing Equitable Workplaces

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 targeted interventions—incorporated in day-to-day workflow—can help organizations tap more of the talent pool.

Jul 02, 202543 min

Vanguard's skills strategy for tech transformation

Can the shareholder-owned discount brokerage giant parlay its investments in enterprise and cloud infrastructure into an AI-enabled expansion into new markets while improving productivity and service delivery? CIO Nitin Tandon explains the global workforce strategy underpinning the effort.

Jun 04, 202530 min

Upwork’s Hayden Brown on bridging volatility with contingency

"Freelance by choice" can sound like a rationalization—or putting on a brave face—but has the contract labor market improved for white-collar workers, as more, particularly younger professionals, opt in? A look at the benefits for both sides of the bargain and how AI changes the calculus.

May 08, 202529 min

ManpowerGroup’s Jonas Prising on the new global talent equation

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, addressing workers’ career development needs, RTO and flex-work, international talent flows, and the up-skilling imperative in the face growing polarization.

Apr 23, 202547 min

Redrawing the map to tech careers: Per Scholas CEO Plinio Ayala on skills, mobility, and AI

After decades preparing workers from underserved communities for well-paid tech jobs, the workforce nonprofit is expanding its training, footprint, and funding strategy for its tuition-free programs. As AI redefines positions across the org chart, can bootcamps plus training top-ups, and a mix of hard and soft skills future-proof the Per Scholas formula?

Apr 09, 202534 min

Erik Brynjolfsson on how AI is rewriting the rules of the economy

The Stanford economist unpacks AI’s impact on work and productivity, its limitations, and wider implications. He also lays out what organizations can do to get more out of the technology as they invest in the transformation. And he updates his longstanding research into augmenting traditional GDP metrics to capture the value of digital goods and services.

Mar 26, 202536 min

Cal Newport on slow productivity and next-wave AI

Joe Fuller welcomes back the Georgetown computer scientist and leading observer of knowledge work, who reprises his argument against busyness as the default mode. Also, cracking the productivity code, parsing AI's potential, and better work-life balance.

Mar 12, 202541 min

Positive prompts: Sal Khan on AI in the classroom and beyond

Will the technology democratize access to world-class education or increase inequality? Khan's journey from highly informed skeptic to champion of ethical AI. The HBS graduate and Khan Academy founder explains his nonprofit's pioneering strategy. Also, workforce development, competency-based learning, and skills-based hiring.

Jan 29, 202536 minSeason 7Ep. 17

OneTen CEO Debbie Dyson: Why "skills-first" builds a better workforce

In taking aim at degree inflation, the corporate-led good jobs coalition looks to boost economic opportunity, address skills gaps, and create a more equitable and inclusive workforce. OneTen helps employers navigate the uncertain new normal of hiring and advancement while expanding their talent pipelines.

Jan 15, 202533 minSeason 7Ep. 16

Nicholas Bloom on the unbundled workplace

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 tech-driven evolution of remote work and the rise of the CHRO.

Dec 18, 202437 minSeason 7Ep. 15

Hospitality at work: Bridging opportunity and innovation

How do you foster inclusion, economic mobility, and a sense of purpose across a global organization with both franchise and direct employees? Laura Fuentes, Hilton CHRO, on supporting frontline workers and promoting from within in a traditionally high-turnover business; meeting the needs of a diverse clientele with a diverse workforce; skills development; automation; and leveraging employee feedback.

Dec 04, 202438 minSeason 7Ep. 14

Beyond exit interviews: Knowing why workers quit makes for better job matches

Thinking of employees as 'hiring' their jobs opens the way to a detailed analysis of worker motivations, frustrations, and long-term goals, which can reduce costly turnover and make career development a collaborative process. Harvard Business School professor Ethan Bernstein and Michael Horn, cofounder of the Clayton Christensen Institute, explain how.

Nov 20, 202437 minSeason 7Ep. 13

Guest Episode: Joseph Fuller on The Gartner Talent Angle

Managing the Future of Work co-chair Joseph Fuller delves into what’s driving and limiting the practice of skills-based hiring. The discussion ranges from degree inflation and HR automation to workforce demographics, skills-based promotion and employee retention. Also, how technology can accelerate the adoption.

Nov 06, 202452 minSeason 7Ep. 12

The business logic of supporting carers in the workforce

Employers can benefit by remapping their talent strategies to match the realities of workers with caregiving responsibilities. Bill Kerr is joined by his Managing the Future of Work co-chair and podcast co-host, Joe Fuller, lead author of the project’s latest report, Hidden Workers: The Case for Caregivers.

Oct 23, 202439 minSeason 7Ep. 11
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