The ProSearch Pivot

What happens to the next generation of senior AI talent if companies stop hiring and developing junior employees?

In Episode 5 of The ProSearch Pivot, I sit down with Miriam Friedel, former VP of Machine Learning at Capital One and now an Associate Professor at the University of Virginia's School of Data Science.

Miriam brings a unique perspective from both sides of the hiring equation. She's spent years building and leading machine learning teams and is now preparing the next generation of data scientists.

We discuss her career pivot from industry to academia, how AI is changing the way students learn, and why critical thinking, judgment, and communication are becoming even more important.

We also tackle a growing concern in the AI hiring market. Companies are already paying extraordinary premiums for experienced AI talent while reducing opportunities for junior employees. If we stop developing the next generation of technical professionals, are we creating an even bigger talent shortage and driving future hiring costs higher?

A conversation for business leaders, hiring managers, and technology professionals navigating the changing AI workforce.

Because behind every AI strategy is a talent strategy.

When a company decides where to expand, one question can make or break the deal. Can we find the talent. As CEO of the Greater Richmond Partnership, Jennifer Wakefield fields that question from executive teams considering Richmond for expansion, relocation, or new investment. She knows what wins these deals and what loses them. Today she is here to share what companies actually want from a talent market, what is working to attract and retain talent, the challenges Richmond is still working through, and what our long game looks like.

AI is changing how companies operate, but the real challenge is rethinking the processes, teams and talent behind the technology.

In this episode of The ProSearch Pivot, Lori Jennings sits down with Bert Short, COO of CSC Leasing, to talk about how CSC is using AI and automation across the business and what they have learned along the way.

They discuss why companies need to challenge old ways of working, why technology and business teams need to operate more closely together, what Bert now looks for when hiring, and why curiosity, experimentation and adaptability are becoming critical to success.

The Automation Playbook: How CSC Leasing Is Rethinking Work, Technology and Talent

AI is changing cybersecurity on both sides of the equation, giving attackers new ways to scale and personalize attacks while giving cyber teams new tools to defend the enterprise.

In this episode of The ProSearch Pivot, Lori Jennings sits down with Sean Stelzer, CISO and VP of Cybersecurity at Dominion Energy, to talk about the rising stakes of cyber leadership in the age of AI.

Sean shares what is changing inside cyber teams, why cyber roles are becoming increasingly specialized, why experienced talent remains so difficult to find, and how Dominion is building and retaining its cyber pipeline. They also discuss what it takes to pivot into cybersecurity, why moving into cyber leadership has become more difficult, and what executives and boards should be paying attention to as the threat landscape continues to evolve.

The Rising Stakes of Cyber Leadership: AI, Board Pressure, and the Talent Needed to Defend the Enterprise

Dean May was a Senior Director of Platform Engineering at Capital One when he emailed a recruiter about a job several levels below him — less money, smaller title, individual contributor.

That recruiter was Lori Jennings, and she almost talked him out of it.In episode one of The ProSearch Pivot, Dean explains why he walked away: his LinkedIn said he coded every day, but he was really writing PowerPoints, and he could feel his technical skills eroding right as a wave was forming.

He let the job go, took a 15-month sabbatical, traveled, invested in startups, and spent six months in UC Berkeley's AI/ML immersion program rebuilding his hands-on skills. He now advises roughly 30 Series A and B startups at the CTO and CEO level through AWS Startups.

From there the conversation opens up into what he's seeing across dozens of companies:

- The true total cost of AI ownership, and why "cheaper than a human" is falling apart

- Why the specialist is losing value and the generalist who understands the business is winning

- The rise of the player-coach leader who can still do the work

- What happened when interns demoed a finished product and couldn't name the stack they'd built it on

- How to start building these skills if you're several layers below the executive suite

There's also one moment worth the whole episode. Dean's therapist asked him a single question that made the leap possible: how far could you really fall?

The ProSearch Pivot is hosted by Lori Jennings, founder of Jennings ProSearch. https://www.jenningsprosearch.com/