NOW of Work

This decade will be about the evolution of enterprise HR Tech. Would have evolved quite organically on its own; AI will deliver it like a revolution and in Big Bang fashion. ☄️ 
Like,
🔹 Suite vs. Niche – Do you play it safe with an all-in-one suite, or do you go deep with specialized solutions? What’s the right strategy in a world where disruption is the new normal?
🔹 The AI Illusion – AI in HR isn’t just about GenAI, using data to call something "intelligent," or even unleashing an army of agents. What’s actually changing in the foundation of our systems, and how do we separate real transformation from marketing fluff?
🔹 What’s Next? – Core systems are shifting under our feet. What will “core” even mean in five years? And what’s the smartest move for enterprises today?
This isn’t just another AI conversation. This is forward-thinking discussion you need to shape your HR Tech strategy and roadmap before the future leaves you behind.
🔥 Don’t miss Thomas Otter. 🔥

Is AI capable of making ethical decisions? Can an algorithm be trained to recognize potential ethical issues in its own decision-making process, even adjust avoid harmful outcomes?
Or does it come down to humans carefully curating unbiased and reliable datasets in order for Artificial Intelligence to produce the right outcome, and who defines "right?" Certainly AI models can be transparent -- updating their own understanding of ethical standards based on feedback, articulating reasoning behind decisions, flagging biased or unreliable data points from its training sets.
Whether in healthcare or hiring decisions, the more DATA we have, the better DECISIONS we can make. It's not so much a question of whether AI is ready to make unsupervised decisions. A better question is how much better AI can be than humans.

Gerry Crispin returned to speak to his thoughts on the recent DEI executive order. Gerry wrote an article, Signals Amidst the Noise, that gives some important context for everyone. The weather vane seems to be swinging wildly these days, and offering some thoughtful perspective on where and how this fits into our historical timeline will be helpful for people. One step forward, two steps back, maybe three steps forward another day.

We also pulled in Jackye Clayton, Founder of PeoplePuzzles to share her perspective and to spill the beans on her year-long secret: She is on the next season of Amazing Race?!

You've been hearing a lot about talent intelligence, or AI-powered insights about your workforce to optimize where and how they're deployed against work for the best business impact. It's more than data analytics, it's about getting more holistic, predictive, and bias-free insights to make the best talent decisions for business. That will change the way we work for good, but how do talent practitioners need to think differently, re-wire systems and programs, and support culture change to get the optimization and transformation they need? In this episode, we chat with Rebecca Warren about Talent-Centered Transformation. 

We had a cameo, too. Brian Sommer shared his perspective on how AI changes consulting forever, and we had some questions. 

Jess Von Bank has long been a fan of ⁠Mercer⁠'s Global Talent Trends report, even before she worked at Mercer. The research is vast and deep, the insights cut to the chase. That's thanks to ⁠Kate Bravery⁠ and a big, brilliant research team. Kate joins the Digital Meetup to share ⁠Mercer⁠'s 2025 Global Talent Trends, the hottest priorities for HR this year, the real impact of AI on the future of work and how the global workforce feels about ALL of it. Could just call it TRUTH BOMBS. She was our #1 most listened to episode last year by a 300% margin. Easy to see why.🎙️

We're a tad obsessed with AI, tech, and tools when it comes to the future of work. All good. But it's good to revisit the human psychology of work once in a while, remember how people learn and communicate, and understand culture and engagement at its foundation. Music and art come in handy as a universal language and concept—ironic, maybe, since we'll throw AI at that to see what happens, too. How can we make the best of all worlds? It's fun to think about tech-enabled humanity where art, music, and original creativity is amplified and celebrated, not obliterated.

Such a fun conversation with SongDivision. They believe music builds culture and connects people, Benji Harris, Client Executive, showed us how and we also played a little 'Name that Song' while we were at it.

Becoming a skills-based organization is about knowing what skills your people have, need, and want—then tying all of that to the BUSINESS. That’s a lot of intel, and making it relevant and timely is a challenge of its own. But it's worth it: huge business impact and financial gains can be achieved when you get to the heart of skills, and that's exactly why TechWolf has the world's biggest companies as their clients as investors. On this episode, we have Mikaël Wornoo & Cedric Vandamme join us to tell their story and to give a better understanding of the future of skills. What a start to 2025!

Every time I think I should throw in the towel on our weekly show, someone comes out of the woodwork and tells me we saved them during Covid. Made them cry when I talked about losing my brother. Shares something important with me. Hugs me at a conference and asks about my feisty kids because they soooooo relate. Introduces their daughter to me for mentorship. Sends me a guest no one knows yet but should. Thanks me for being real when so much feels like bullshit.

My favorite word has always been permission. Or maybe truth. I don't know why we need give ourselves and each other permission to be human. To be real, flawed, imperfect, hungry, trying, growing, learning, loved. We make actual business cases for it and call it recognition, engagement, DEI, belonging, culture, our shiny new EVP.

You guys. When everything is changing, remember nothing has changed. The world needs our full humanity, our full community, our full hearts. And we need each other.

Our silly little show grew to over 3,500+ weekly audience members because we created space for all this. I don't know why I need reminding, but sometimes I do. The Now of Work is a community for HR, work tech, AI, all of that....and humans. Not so silly, I guess.

I brought my friend Thorald Koren back to the Now of Work community because you should know him. He's so human he's not even on LinkedIn. 😂 Knows love, loss, mental health, community, and the power of voice. Happens to be one of my favorite musicians. He talks with us, sang to us, he was present with us.

If you're still working this week, poor things, spend an hour with us. ❤️

-Jess Von Bank

Malcolm Gladwell avoids face-to-face interviews....too "dangerous." Interesting, right? The psychology of meeting strangers was a whole body of research he conducted over a two-year period, and we can't help but think of it when we consider a new HR Tech category that's heating up in the Age of AI: INTERVIEW INTELLIGENCE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIgm5ap3SPM

On this episode we meet Mark Simpson, Founder & CEO of Pillar. What's the impact of AI on the interview process, and what are all the insights and data we get from interviews?

Are you ready to revolutionize how hiring managers and recruiters collaborate? This episode, we're thrilled to host David Nason and Master Burnett from HireBrain, where they share their innovative approach to reimagining how jobs and requirements are both defined and filled.

Fresh off a win at HR Tech’s Pitchfest in October 2024, they are ready to break down the pillars of hiring and talk about what it takes to build a solid foundation for talent that aligns hiring managers, recruiters, candidates, and most importantly, the business.

Tune in to explore how you can remove blindspots and bias from hiring while creating a better hiring experience for everyone involved.