The Josh Bersin Company

Welcome to our new research on the Frontline Workforce. In this introductory podcast I explain the importance and complexities of these jobs, and why the people in these roles take on enormous responsibilities in our companies and our economy. More than 70% of US workers are employed in frontline roles, generating more than $6 Trillion in wages and value. While many business and HR leaders support the frontline, our research points out that the issues are far more complex than you may realize. In this podcast I detail some of these important management topics and I also describe how the HR Technology market has struggled to meet their needs. Then I discuss UKG the $5 Billion software company dedicated to this space and give you some insights on their pioneering and unique solutions. No matter what you do as a leader, HR professional, or manager, you likely know how critical our frontline workforce has become. Today frontline jobs in healthcare, transportation, construction, energy, airlines, and entertainment are the fastest growing segment of the workforce and also the roles least impacted negatively by AI. In fact AI is going to make these jobs even better. I hope you enjoy the discussion: stay tuned for a detailed article describing some of the frontline-work innovations recently announced by UKG and more on our research roadmap. If you would like to share your innovative solutions for frontline work, please contact us. Additional Information Powering the Frontline Workforce: How Frontline-First Companies Thrive (Research) The UKG Product Strategy An Exploration into the Frontline Workforce with Josh Bersin (YouTube Video with Josh Secrest of Paradox) The Age of The Superworker: Four Stages of AI Explainer Video Chapters (00:00:00) - Workforce Management in Ukg(00:11:18) - Kronos' Dynamic Labor Market System(00:13:16) - UKG's 'Unified Work Experience' for Workers(00:14:38) - UKG's Frontline Worker Network(00:17:58) - UKG's AI Architecture and Industry Solutions

AI adoption is accelerating and it feels harder and harder to keep up. I know many senior leaders feel confused by the rapid pace and college grads are worried about their careers. What skills do we need to stay relevant in this new “All-AI” world? Well there’s an answer to all this change, and it gets back to the five fundamental principles of your own professional learning. In this episode, I unpack the five fundamental things to “learn” as the AI world accelerates at a quickening pace. I do believe we’re barely in the first inning of this bold new world, so it won’t be your “skills” but rather your mindset, approach, and attitudes that keep you ahead and valued in the AI world ahead. Stay tuned for out big 2026 Imperatives launch on January 21 where we’ll unpack the mandates for our companies and careers in the coming year. Additional Information Yes, AI Is Really Impacting The Job Market. Here’s What To Do. The Collapse And Rebirth Of Online Learning And Professional Development Get Galileo: The AI Superagent To Keep HR and Leaders Ahead in 2026   Chapters (00:00:00) - How to Learn AI in the New World(00:10:22) - The fourth thing about learning and experience

Welcome to 2026, a year I coin “The Year of Enterprise AI.” As you’ll read about (and hear about) in our 2026 Imperatives launch, the coming year is all about AI moving from “assistants” to “agents” to “solutions.” And there are three big considerations to ponder. First, the cost of AI is skyrocketing, so we’re going to have to focus on high-value use-cases and business-specific solutions. That’s not to say AI assistants and meeting summaries are not valuable, but once you start paying by the token you’re going to want to go deeper. As we discuss in our new Systemic HR AI Framework, we’re sitting on billions of dollars of real business opportunities now, and they go far beyond individual assistants. (We call these Superagents.) And the cost of AI will accelerate this focus. Second, the data center buildout, energy costs, and political issues with data centers will matter. For corporate users this means understanding the underlying “costs” of AI usage (creating a single high powered image uses as much as 25% of the battery in your phone). I point this out to make you aware that these AI chatbots are not “free” – there are acres of computing campuses being built behind the scenes. And that means your “software providers” are turning into capital intensive companies. (And a new industry of data center companies may take over.) (For those of you in the energy industry, it’s a wild time – almost as exciting as I’ve seen since my early days as an energy engineer during the OPEC Arab Oil Embargo in the late 1970s.) Third is the fast-changing issue of AI’s accuracy, trust, and voracious appetite for data. As I discuss, the real opportunity for corporate AI is to take this problem head-on, and focus on your company’s data quality, governance, human feedback, and data labeling. The big AI labs are struggling to reduce the “Jaggedness” of AI (it’s strange ability to be really good at some things and totally dumb about others), and that encourages us to focus on narrow, domain-specific AI applications. And we all need to learn about RLHF (reinforcement learning with human feedback). Our experience with Galileo proves that an AI solution that focuses on a vertical domain can be infinitely more reliable and intelligent than a general purpose AI. But don’t let me argue with Sam Altman, you’ll have to figure this out yourself :-). We are launching our 2026 Imperatives research on the third week of January, and there will be a special release of Galileo to accompany the study. Our goal is not to give you a bunch of pithy predictions, but rather to give you a dozen hard-hitting “Must Do’s” for the year ahead. I look forward to talking with many of your this coming year as we travel around the world, join us in January for the launch of our 2026 Imperatives research. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information Imperatives for 2026: What’s Ahead for Enterprise AI, HR, Jobs, And Organizations Chapters (00:00:00) - Three Challenges to AI in 2026(00:01:06) - The Cost of AI Infrastructure(00:06:03) - Sustainability in the AI Era(00:12:57) - The Big Story for Human Resources in 2026

In this podcast I reflect on five big things we didn’t talk about much this year, and each falling into the “Human Capital” agenda. We spent much of our year worrying about AI, agents, productivity, and jobs, largely putting the “Human Capital” agenda on the back burner. While AI is certainly the defining technology of our times, there are human capital issues to consider. As I discuss, these “soft” issues help us address the “socio-technological” impacts of AI. There’s no question that AI is amazing and it will change our lives. As business people, however, we need to remind ourselves of the human capital issues that matter too. PS: The impact of AI on the job market is already taking a toll. Younger workers are now experiencing much higher unemployment rate than tenured workers, largely because companies believe AI can replace apprenticeships. I’m not a fan of this strategy but you can listen to this analysis to understand. Our big 2026 Imperatives report comes out in January, stay tuned. Additional Information The Dynamic Organization (the human capital strategies that matter during change) The Collapse And Rebirth Of Online Learning And Professional Development Human Centered Leadership (Galileo Learn program) The Healthy Organization (research)     Chapters (00:00:00) - The Business Agenda for 2025(00:09:57) - Human Capital Issues for 2021(00:13:57) - The Future of Jobs Is Uncertain

This week Coursera announced the acquisition of Udemy, demonstrating the accelerating collapse of the 25-year old traditional online learning industry. As I explain in this podcast, this industry is not going away but it’s being quickly and radically transformed by AI. The upside here is a new, highly personalized world of professional development ahead. While courseware, certifications, credentials, and online curricula won’t disappear overnight, the business model of providers is changing very quickly. In this podcast I explain this shift and also show you how our particular Galileo business model works. As someone who participated in the birth of this industry in 1998, I could not be more excited about this new world. If you’re a corporate HR or L&D professional, this transforms your training function. If you’re a vendor or consultant, this changes your business model. And if you’re a business person or senior leader, you have an exciting new world of professional development appearing before your eyes! Stay tuned for more as this market shift accelerates. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information How AI Is Blowing Up The Corporate Learning Market: The Whole Story The Revolution of Corporate Learning: Join The Crusade (research and case studies) Galileo: The AI Rebirth of The Josh Bersin Academy     Chapters (00:00:00) - The collapse of the online learning industry(00:07:29) - The New Paradigm of Continuous AI-(00:17:43) - The Transformation of L&D