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Tag: The Future of Work

  • Workday lost $40 billion in value. Founder Aneel Bhusri is back with a $139 million bet he can turn it around | Fortune

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    By bringing cofounder Aneel Bhusri back to the CEO job, Workday has turned to a classic Silicon Valley tradition to deal with the AI threat squeezing software company stocks: the return of the founder.

    Bhusri’s return to the top job at the human resources software company reflects the belief that only a founder with billions on the line and a personal legacy at stake has the unique vision and authority to steer the ship through difficult waters. And with majority voting control plus operational authority as CEO, Bhusri will have more power to make any difficult changes he sees necessary. A close look at Bhusri’s compensation package however suggests that it’s also an acknowledgement of just how bleak the investor prognosis is for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies. 

    To lure Bhusri back to the CEO job he left two years ago, Workday is giving him a $138.8 million pay package comprised of cash and performance-based and restricted stock. More than half of the package, $75 million, only pays out if Bhusri can hit a series of undisclosed stock price targets over the next five years. Perhaps more telling is the other half: Roughly $60 million in restricted stock requires only that Bhusri stick around at Workday for the next four years, with no performance targets whatsoever.

    With Wall Street bearish on SaaS companies, Workday is effectively recognizing the deep skepticism that even its founder-savior will face in successfully making the transition into the AI age.

    The AI panic rippling through enterprise software stocks for the past couple of weeks has helped wipe out some $40 billion in value at Workday, slashing its market cap in half from an all-time high of $80 billion. The stock has fallen 51% to roughly $150 a share from an intraday peak of $311.28 less than two years ago. This year alone, the stock is down 29% amid the broad bloodbath subsuming the SaaS industry. Other SaaS companies, including Salesforce, ServiceNow, and HubSpot, have all suffered double-digit declines in their stock prices.

    “AI is reshaping how work gets done and represents an even bigger transformation than the shift to cloud 20 years ago,” Bhusri wrote in a LinkedIn post the day after the news of the leadership change. “Just as we helped redefine enterprise software when we founded Workday, I believe we can once again lead the way in this AI era.” 

    There’s a lot at stake for Bhusri, even if he weren’t taking back the reins. As executive chair at the SaaS giant for the past two years, Bhusri has seen half the value of his more than 8-million share ownership stake nosedive from an all-time-high value of $2.6 billion in 2024, to about $1.3 billion. That’s a wealth wipeout on paper of roughly $1.3 billion in less than two years.

    20 years of decision making data and 68% voting control

    Bhusri may have more hands-on experience leading a company than the average founder. Bhusri founded Workday with best friend and mentor Duffield in 2005 before the two joined forces as co-CEOs in 2009. In the years since, Bhusri served as sole CEO after ceding the chairmanship to Duffield before sharing it again in August 2020 with then co-CEO Luciano “Chano” Fernandez. After Fernandez announced his departure in December 2022, the board appointed ex-Sequoia Capital partner Carl Eschenbach to serve alongside Bhusri before Bhusri stepped into the executive chair role in February 2024. Now, with Eschenbach out as CEO, Bhusri is back in the saddle as CEO and chairman. 

    As the software company turns the page, it has 20 years of decision making data and process history that give the opportunity to offer enterprise grade intelligence to large customers, Bhusri wrote in his post. 

    Workday’s success is highly dependent on Bhusri. The company operates with a dual-class share structure, which means shares sold on the open market, Class A shares, carry a single vote apiece, while Class B shares are worth 10 votes each. Between cofounder Dave Duffield and Bhusri and their affiliates and a voting rights agreement that dates back to Workday’s 2012 IPO, the two cofounders control 68% of the voting power through their Class B share ownership. 

    Bhusri’s Linkedin post is jam-packed with optimism for Workday’s future but the numbers are far more complex. In the past three years, the company has announced multiple rounds of layoffs impacting thousands of jobs with the rationale that they were part of a realignment, a shift toward AI, and a move to improve profitability. Last February, the company slashed its workforce by roughly 7.5% as part of a restructuring plan and recorded $172 million in associated charges.

    While revenue is growing—Workday posted $8.4 billion in total revenue for fiscal 2025, up 16% over the year prior—that growth has slowed. Subscription revenue growth, for example,slowed from 19% in fiscal 2024 to 17% in fiscal 2025, per the company’s annual report, with the most recent quarter showing 15%. Plus, the unknown impact AI will have on SaaS companies is a brutal hangover on the sector, and the impact on Workday is significantly visible. The day of Bhusri’s return, the stock dropped more than 6%, underscoring investors’ anxiety about the company and its challenges adapting to the AI age. 

    Workday has been mum on the specific targets Bhusri will have to hit to see his $138.8 million package pay out, but the disclosed terms state the $75 million award will be divided up into tranches that will require Bhusri to hit stock price targets—and stay at Workday. Bringing the price back up to its peak will mean more than doubling the stock price in the next five years. Bhusri’s $60 million restricted stock award will vest over four years so long as Bhusri stays with the company. He’ll also collect a $1.25 million yearly salary and a yearly cash bonus of up to $2.5 million. He won’t be eligible for any more grants until 2027.

    Eschenbach, the former CEO, who resigned from all his roles and will now serve as a senior advisor, got a severance package valued at roughly $3.6 million and he’ll see accelerated vesting on nearly 140,000 shares of restricted stock units that would have vested in the year after his departure. At $150 a share, Eschenbach’s equity is worth more than $20 million, and he’ll see accelerated vesting on another 24,000 additional shares if performance metrics tied to the award are met. His “push-out score,” an independent assessment of the terms of his departure, ranked his departure a nine out of 10. The score suggests “it seems extremely likely” Eschenbach felt pressured to leave.

    In a post on LinkedIn, Eschenbach praised Bhusri and his former “Workmates” at Workday.

    “The opportunity ahead of us is always greater than what’s behind,” wrote Eschenbach. “We are at a massive inflection point with AI, and there is nobody better than Aneel to lead Workday through this moment and drive the vision forward.”

    Bhusri and Duffield’s agreement also means that if one of the co–founders is incapacitated or dies, the other gets control of both stakes. The dual-class structure is set to expire in October 2032—a year after Bhusri’s performance window closes in early 2031. That gives Bhusri a solid chunk of time to see if a co-founder in the CEO seat can make an impact on the stock price in the midst of an AI tidal wave.

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    Amanda Gerut

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  • Hoping AI will give you more work-life balance in 2026? Fortune 500 CEOs warn otherwise | Fortune

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    Workers may be hoping that AI can finally take over their drudge work in the new year—ease their loads and shorten the workweek, or at least make more space for life outside the office. 

    And it’s something young people in particular are eager to have: 74% of Gen Z rank work-life balance as a top consideration when choosing a job in 2025—the highest of any generation—according to Randstad. And in the more than 20 years of producing its Workmonitor report, it’s the first time work-life balance outranked pay as the top factor for all workers.

    But as AI has reshaped corporate structures and enhanced productivity levels, many executive leaders are working harder than ever—and expecting everyone else to follow.

    From pushing return to office mandates to praising around-the-clock availability, CEOs are modeling a culture where the lines between work and life blur. Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang, for example, said he worked seven days a week this year—including holidays. Zoom’s CEO Eric Yuan conceded simply: “work is life.” 

    And looking toward 2026, it’s unclear whether dreams of work-life balance will come true.

    Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

    As the leader of the world’s most valuable company, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has a lot on his mind. Relaxation, however, does not appear to be part of the plan.

    His work schedule is nothing short of rigorous—beginginng from from the moment he wakes up until he’s back on the pillow—seven days a week, including holidays. It’s a grind fueled not only by the intensity of the AI race, but by a lingering fear of what happens if he ever lets up.

    “You know the phrase ’30 days from going out of business,’ I’ve used for 33 years,” Huang said on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience released in December. “But the feeling doesn’t change. The sense of vulnerability, the sense of uncertainty, the sense of insecurity—it doesn’t leave you.”

    That mindset extends beyond Huang himself. His two children, who both work at Nvidia, follow in his footsteps and work every day for the semiconductor giant. For the Huang family, work isn’t just a job—it’s a way of life.

    Zoom CEO Eric Yuan

    Video communications giant Zoom has had one of the biggest indirect impacts on the work-life balance debate, thanks to making it possible for workers to log on from the comfort of a bed, beach, or anywhere in between. 

    However, the journey to scaling the company to over $25 billion in market capital has revealed to Zoom CEO Eric Yuan that work-life balance is a farce.

    “I tell our team, ‘Guys, you know, there’s no way to balance. Work is life, life is work,’” Yuan said in an interview with the Grit podcast over the summer.

    Yuan even admitted that he doesn’t have hobbies, with everything he does dedicated to “family and Zoom.” However, when there’s a clash and he has to choose between the two, the 55-year-old gives life some slack: “Whenever there’s a conflict, guess what? Family first. That’s it.”

    TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett

    Thasunda Brown Duckett, the CEO of financial services company TIAA, has long not been a fan of the term “work-life balance”—often calling it an outright “lie”—and this year was no exception.

    On a Mother’s Day social media post this past spring, Duckett doubled down on the assessment once more.

    “Let’s drop the work-life balance charade,” she wrote. “The truth? Balance suggests perfect—and that’s a trap.”

    “Instead, think of your life like a diversified portfolio. You only have 100% to give, and many places to allocate. So give with intention. If motherhood gives 30% today, make it a powerful, present 30%,” she added.

    For Duckett, having a constant evaluation of how much time to dedicate to everything needing attention in her life is what true a healthy relationship between work and life looks like.

    “Some days you won’t feel like the best mom, leader, partner, or friend. But over time, when you lead with purpose—you’re more than enough.”

    Palantir CEO Alex Karp

    This year has been a breakout year for Palantir, with its stock price up some 140%. 

    For young people looking to get their careers off the ground, CEO Alex Karp sent a word of warning this year: skip out on some of life’s superfluous things if you want a shot at success.

    “I’ve never met someone really successful who had a great social life at 20,” Karp said at the Economic Club of Chicago in May.

    “If that’s what you want, that’s what you want, that’s great, but you’re not going to be successful and don’t blame anyone else.”

    While Karp’s comments might sting for Gen Z—especially since they are the generation who place the most value on work-life balance, Karp believes that if you put in the time when you’re young, it’ll all be worth it when you’re older and have a more cushy job.

    “Most people have something they’re talented at and enjoy. Focus on that. Organize your whole life around that,” Karp added. “Don’t worry so much about the money—that sounds like hypocrisy now, but I never really did—and stay off the meth and you’ll do very well.”

    Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos

    Jeff Bezos may no longer run Amazon day to day, but he remains deeply involved as board chair—while also growing Blue Origin and backing new AI ventures.

    Like several of his peers, Bezos has long taken issue with the idea of balance itself.

    “I don’t love the word ‘balance’ because it implies a tradeoff,” Bezos said at Italian Tech Week in October. “I’ve often had people ask me, ‘How do you deal with work-life balance?’ And I’ll say ‘I like work-life harmony because if you’re happy at home, you’ll be better at work. If you’re better at work, you’ll be better at home.’ These things go together. It’s not a strict tradeoff.”

    It’s not the first time Bezos has expressed his grievances with the concept of work-life balance. In 2018, Bezos called it a “debilitating phrase” because it implied that one has to give, in order for the other to thrive. Instead, he likes to use the word “harmony” and likened the concept to a “circle.”

    Jamie Dimon has been one of Wall Street’s most outspoken champions of full-time, in-office work. Early this year, he called most of JPMorgan’s 300,000 employees back in-person and capped the push by opening the bank’s new $3 billion Manhattan headquarters.

    Yet even as Dimon has taken a hard line on where work gets done, he has long argued that maintaining balance is ultimately an individual responsibility—not a corporate one.

    “It is your job to take care of your mind, your body, your spirit, your soul, your friends, your family, your health. Your job, it’s not our job,” he said in a clip originally from 2024 that resurfaced this year.

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    Preston Fore

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  • Billionaire Palantir cofounder calls elite college undergrads a ‘loser generation’ as data reveals rise in students seeking support for disabilities | Fortune

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    That reality is showing up on a campus. A growing share of college students are seeking medical evaluations for ADHD, anxiety, and depression—and requesting academic accommodations such as extended time on exams and papers. At some of the country’s selective universities, the numbers are striking: more than 20% of undergraduates at Brown and Harvard are registered as disabled. At UMass Amherst, it’s 34%; Stanford, 38%, according to data analyzed by The Atlantic.

    While it’s clear that many students requesting accommodations do so for legitimate medical reasons and that increased diagnoses may reflect greater mental-health awareness, some experts have raised concerns about overdiagnosis and whether universities are making it too easy for students to qualify. And the debate has set off a wildfire on social media this week, catching the attention of high-profile business leaders, including Joe Lonsdale, the billionaire venture capitalist and Palantir cofounder.

    Lonsdale’s response offered no sympathy. “Loser generation,” he wrote in reaction to a graph showing the rising number of undergraduate students reporting disabilities.

    “At Stanford it’s a hack for housing though and at some point I get it, even if it’s not my personal ethics. Terrible leadership from the university.”

    He argued that families have been slowly using disability accommodations to give their children an academic advantage—when they might not actually need it.

    “Claiming your child has a disability to give them a leg up became an obvious dominant game theoretic strategy for parents without honor in the 2010’s,” Lonsdale wrote earlier this month on X. “Great signal to avoid a family / not do business with parents who act this way.”

    And while it’s unclear how many students, if any, are trying to game the system, Lonsdale has made his broader view clear: he doesn’t think universities are preparing young people—or evaluating them—in ways that matter.

    “No great companies are interested in the BS games played by universities,” he added.

    Fortune reached out to Lonsdale for further comment.

    Lonsdale’s complicated history with higher education

    Though a Stanford alum himself, Lonsdale has a complicated history with the institution and higher education more broadly.

    In the early 2010s, while serving as a mentor in a Stanford tech entrepreneurship course, Lonsdale was accused of sexual assault by a student—and banned from mentoring undergraduates for 10 years and from campus entirely. The assault charges were later dropped, but Lonsdale acknowledged violating a rule prohibiting consensual relationships between mentors and students.

    Less than a decade later, in 2021, Lonsdale cofounded his own school—the University of Austin—with Niall Ferguson, Bari Weiss, and others. The institution prides itself on freedom of speech and overcoming the “mediocrity” of traditional higher education. It welcomed its first group of undergraduates last fall and remains unaccredited.

    The school has drawn support from Lonsdale’s fellow Palantir cofounder and Stanford alum Alex Karp, who has also criticized the college system.

    “Everything you learned at your school and college about how the world works is intellectually incorrect,” Karp, Palantir’s CEO, told CNBC earlier this year.

    Instead, the 58-year-old said Palantir is building a new credential “separate from class or background,” that is the “best credential in tech.”

    “If you did not go to school, or you went to a school that’s not that great, or you went to Harvard or Princeton or Yale, once you come to Palantir, you’re a Palantirian,” Karp said during an earnings call earlier this year. “No one cares about the other stuff.”

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    Preston Fore

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  • AI Is the New Employee and Colleague. Leaders Must Be Ready for the Change

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    Someone recently asked what I thought about the future held for CX leaders. My answer was simple. For any leader, the biggest change will be managing and working with AI employees. As work is evolving at an unprecedented pace, leadership will look different as a result. In 2026 and beyond, leaders must be ready to navigate a world with AI, generational changes, and accelerated expectations for growth. 

    AI as an integral part of the team

    I recently tried some new AI tools as “employees” in my consulting firm. They did some fast work, but also went rogue, and as soon as I got nervous, I hit pause. I did not manage at this moment. Instead, I retreated. However, this was a lesson in itself. The integration of AI employees is perhaps the single greatest factor, redefining modern leadership.  

    In 2025, people still view AI as a cost-cutting tool or a threat to one’s work. In the future, the most successful leaders will treat AI as a part of the team. 

    • Shift from overseer to integrator
      Leaders will not simply manage human teams. Instead, they will manage integrated Human-AI workflows. This requires an understanding of where AI excels, such as data analysis, repetition, and prediction. Also, they must understand where human teams are indispensable, such as empathy, ethical judgment, and complex negotiation. 
    • Ethical oversight
      The leader’s role becomes the ultimate guardian of ethical AI use. This includes ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability in AI-driven decisions. They will be critical for maintaining employee and customer trust. 
    • Focus on honing AI
      • As AI automates routine cognitive tasks, leaders must learn how to manage and hone their AI counterparts, just like they would a human. This may prove challenging in a world where one is used to reasoning with a human. 

    Generational harmony: Leading a multi-aged workforce  

    For the first time for many companies, five generations may coexist in the workplace. Each has distinct expectations regarding communication, work structure, and purpose. Effective leadership in 2026 must be inherently inclusive and adaptable. 

    • Distributed communication
      Leaders must move beyond a one-size-fits-all communication strategy. Gen Z, for example, may prefer instantaneous, direct feedback, while older generations may value structured, formal reviews. 
    • Defining purpose
      Younger generations often prioritize work that aligns with their personal values and a clear sense of purpose. The modern leader must be an eloquent storyteller, connecting daily tasks to the organization’s overarching mission and societal impact  
    • Flexible work models
      The hybrid work model is here to stay. Leaders are responsible for ensuring equity between remote and in-office staff, managing “proximity bias,” and cultivating a cohesive culture regardless of physical location. 

    Accelerated expectations for growth: Leading through change 

    In a recent keynote I heard during the ChurnZero ZERO IN conference, I overheard the CEO of G2 speak about their board’s expectations for 20% growth with no additional overhead. Leaders are directly responsible for optimizing this flow.  

    Below are some examples of how leadership may change in the face of : 

    Focus area: Tool adoption 
    Traditional leadership approach: Mandating new tools; focusing on ROI. 
    Future-ready leadership in 2026 and beyond: Championing tool fluency; focusing on seamless integration with workflow. 

    Focus area: Pace of change 
    Traditional leadership approach: Incremental, planned change. 
    Future-ready leadership in 2026 and beyond: Continuous reinvention; leading with agility and psychological safety for rapid pivoting. 

    Focus area: Value metric 
    Traditional leadership approach: Activity and effort (hours worked). 
    Future-Ready Leadership in 2026 and beyond: Outcomes and Time-to-Value (speed of impact). 

    Focus area: Data use 
    Traditional leadership approach: Reviewing data after decisions are made. 
    Future-ready leadership in 2026 and beyond: Fostering data literacy across all teams; using predictive analytics for proactive decision-making. 

    The leader as a learning officer 

    In a world where knowledge has a half-life measured in months, not years, the primary function of leadership is shifting from “knowing all the answers” to “fostering relentless learning.” They must: 

    1. Model curiosity.
      Demonstrate a commitment to continuous upskilling, especially concerning AI and emerging technologies. 
    2. Invest in agility.
      Create environments where failure is treated as a high-value data point, encouraging experimentation and rapid iteration. 
    3. Prioritize reskilling.
      Proactively identify skills gaps created by automation and invest heavily in reskilling programs to transition human talent into higher-value roles. 

    The future of leadership is not about maintaining the status quo. It is about embracing complexity, fostering human potential alongside technological power, and leading with radical empathy and clarity of purpose. The challenge is immense, but the opportunity for profound impact is even greater. 

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

    The final deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, December 12, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

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    Parul Bhandari

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  • Meet the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, who skipped finals to make an empire out of teaching AI ‘what only humans know’ | Fortune

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    In the spring of 2023, while his classmates at Georgetown were cramming for finals, Brendan Foody was busy testing out his new theory of work.

    “I knew I wanted to drop out before finals my sophomore year,” he told Fortune. “I just didn’t go to finals.”

    By then, Foody had already found something he couldn’t learn in a lecture hall. A few months earlier, at a hackathon in São Paulo, he and his co-founders had stumbled onto a simple but powerful model: match companies with skilled engineers abroad, handle the logistics, and take a small cut of each deal. Their first client agreed to pay $500 a week for a developer; Mercor paid the engineer roughly 70% and kept the rest as a service fee.

    What began as a way to connect talent soon evolved into something more ambitious: a marketplace where humans could help train the AI systems that might one day replace them. Mercor now hires professionals—consultants, lawyers, bankers, and doctors—to create “evals” and rubrics that test and refine models’ reasoning.

    “Everyone’s been focused on what models can do,” Foody said. “But the real opportunity is teaching them what only humans know—judgment, nuance, and taste.”

    Within nine months, he and his co-founders—high school friends and debate teammates Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha—had turned that fledgling idea into a company with a $1 million revenue run rate. The trio’s early success was less a fluke than a proof of concept: that the same structured reasoning they once practiced on the debate circuit could be codified to teach machines how to think.

    Two years later, Mercor has become a $10 billion company, turning the trio into the world’s youngest self-made billionaires. The product of that São Paulo experiment had transformed into one of the fastest-scaling startups of the AI era, attracting major investors who view it as a linchpin in the future of human-in-the-loop automation.

    To Foody, the leap from college dropout to billionaire founder was rational.

    “When I was in college, work was something I had to be disciplined to do,” he said. “When I started Mercor, it became something I couldn’t stop thinking about.”

    Foody still hasn’t taken a day off in three years. He says even when he’s at the dinner table with his parents, he thinks about work, which, to him, doesn’t feel like work. 

    “People burn out when they work hard on things that don’t feel compounding,” he explained. “I see the ROI of my time every day.”

    That mindset has become the philosophical core of Mercor’s mission. In Foody’s view, AI isn’t eliminating labor: it’s reallocating it. As software automates repetitive white-collar tasks, humans will move up the value chain, teaching machines how to reason, decide, and create. 

    “It’s like we have this bottleneck of only so much human labor in the economy,” he said. “That shape is going to change radically over the next decade.”

    How is Mercor alleviating the bottleneck? Its platform allows enterprises to commission thousands of micro-tasks that measure model performance in real professional contexts: writing a financial memo, drafting a legal brief, or analyzing a medical chart. Human evaluators grade each output against detailed rubrics, feeding structured feedback back into the model. Every evaluation helps AI learn how people make decisions, and how they measure quality.

    At the center of that system is APEX—the AI Productivity Index, Mercor’s proprietary benchmark for assessing how well AI performs economically valuable work. Rather than test abstract reasoning or mathematical puzzles, APEX evaluates large models on 200 tasks drawn from the workflows of investment bankers, lawyers, consultants, and physicians. To build it, Mercor enlisted a heavyweight advisory group that includes former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, ex-McKinsey managing partner Dominic Barton, legal scholar Cass Sunstein, and cardiologist Eric Topol. Each helped design the evaluation rubrics and case structures to mirror the realities of high-stakes professional labor.

    As the company puts it: “It’s great to have 10,000 PhDs in your pocket—it’s even better to have a model that can reliably do your taxes.”

    The implications of Mercor’s success are sweeping. In Foody’s eyes, this new labor market could employ millions of people globally while accelerating AI progress. 

    “We’ll automate maybe two-thirds of knowledge work,” he said. “And that’ll be incredible, because it lets us do things like cure cancer and go to Mars.”

    For investors, Mercor’s growth story is irresistible. It sits at the intersection of two seismic shifts: the mainstreaming of AI and the rise of flexible, project-based work. Each corporate client adds new evaluators, and each evaluator helps refine more models, creating a flywheel of both data and demand. 

    “We have one of the fastest revenue ramps of any company in history,” Foody said matter-of-factly.

    Foody likes to describe it as the next industrial revolution. He knows people are afraid of being replaced by AI, and constantly fields questions on the ethics of training AI to replace jobs. Foody argues we ought to just bite the bullet. 

    “It’s easy to fall into a Luddite mindset and see productivity gains as bad because they cause short-term job losses,” Foody said. “But every major technical revolution has ultimately made life better.”

    After the industrial revolution, the economy went from 75% of Americans working as farmers to about 1%, and that freed people to do everything else, Foody said. 

    “The challenge now is to be thoughtful about what comes next: the higher, better things humans will spend time on,” Foody said, “and how quickly we can help make that future real.”

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    Eva Roytburg

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  • The one human quality we need most to navigate the AI era | Fortune

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    We’re living in the time of AI anxiety. A recent Pew survey found that only 10% of Americans are more excited than concerned about the increased use of AI in daily life, while five times that number — 50% — are more concerned than excited, up from 38% in 2022. And there’s good reason to be anxious about AI — it’s changing every aspect of our lives — first and foremost, there are the daily reports of AI-related job cuts. 

    Though this technology is very new, the human qualities we need to navigate how it’s changing our lives are as old as we are. And there are lessons to be found in other times of turbulence. Psychologist Salvatore Maddi and his colleagues at the University of Chicago studied employees of Illinois Bell Telephone in the 1970s and 1980s, a time when the phone industry was being deregulated. The company was downsized 50% in one year in what was considered the largest upheaval in corporate history. Here’s how the researchers described what happened: “Two-thirds of our sample broke down in various ways. Some had heart attacks or suffered depressive and anxiety disorders. Others abused alcohol and drugs, were separated and divorced, or acted out violently. In contrast, a third of our employee sample was resilient. These employees survived and thrived despite the stressful changes. If these individuals stayed, they rose to the top of the heap. If they left, they either started companies of their own or took strategically important employment in other companies.” 

    What the researchers found is that those who were able to successfully navigate the transition used, as they put it, the “three C attitudes.” First, there was commitment: deciding to join in and try to be a part of the solution. Next was control: fighting to maintain a sense of resolve as opposed to resignation. And last was a challenge: finding ways to use the crisis to strengthen themselves, to build resilience and grow. 

    The most important thing to remember about resilience is that, though our need for it is endless, so is our capacity for it. It’s not a finite resource, or a fixed quality that we’re either born with or not. 

    In 1989, Emmy Werner, a researcher at the University of California, Davis, published a longitudinal study that had followed high-risk children for 32 years. She found that the resilient children, even as toddlers, “tended to meet the world already on their own terms,” and had an “internal locus of control.”

    What she also found was that resilience fluctuated. As summarized by Maria Konnikova in The New Yorker, “some people who weren’t resilient when they were little somehow learned the skills of resilience. They were able to overcome adversity later in life and went on to flourish as much as those who’d been resilient the whole way through.”

    So the power to build resilience is within us; just as we can learn other skills through practice, we can teach ourselves to be more resilient. 

    And resilience is the human quality we most need to navigate the age of AI. We can’t control what happens in the world, but we can build our resources that help us respond. 

    We can draw on that last of the three Cs by challenging ourselves to acknowledge that we are works in progress — always learning and always growing. As Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens and Nexus, put it: “We just don’t know what skills people will need in 10 years except for one. We know they will need the skill to readjust and reinvent themselves … It’s learning how to keep learning all your life.”

    The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

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    Arianna Huffington

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  • A.I. Won’t Replace Workers. But Only If We Act Now.

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    Without rapid investment in reskilling, millions could be left behind. Unsplash+

    Too much of today’s conversation about A.I. is stuck in the wrong frame. While pundits debate whether robots will steal jobs, the real question is much simpler: Can we prepare workers fast enough, or are we about to watch millions of people get economically steamrolled? Organizations like FlashPass are already experimenting with large-scale reskiling initiatives, training thousands of workers for roles that don’t yet exist. It may sound extreme, but this kind of preparation is the only rational response to the coming changes. Unless we get ruthlessly serious about preparing our workforce for this transition, the result will be mass underemployment, wasted human capital and an economy that stalls just when it should be accelerating. 

    The skills shift already underway

    Here’s the reality check: by 2030, nearly 40 percent of the very skills considered “core” to today’s jobs will be dead weight. The World Economic Forum projects that within the same timeframe, more than half of the global workforce will require significant reskilling or upskilling as technology, demographic shifts and evolving industries make traditional career paths unsustainable.

    This isn’t some distant future scenario—it’s happening now.

    In sectors from healthcare to manufacturing, employers are struggling to find workers who can adapt to A.I.-enabled workflows and automated systems. The gap is widening not because jobs vanish overnight, but because the skills that anchor them evolve faster than traditional training models can keep up.

    Translation: the old model of front-loading education early in life and coasting on it for decades is dead. Continuous learning is no longer an advantage but the baseline requirement for employability. Either we will commit to preemptive workforce development, or we will watch people get crushed by technological change.

    Why early intervention wins

    The good news? We know what works. Regions and companies that invest in proactive reskilling and upskilling see smoother transitions, lower unemployment spikes, and stronger productivity gains when automation arrives.

    Singapore’s SkillsFuture program is a perfect case study. Participation jumped from 520,000 to 555,000 in just one year, with 54 percent of participants in career transition courses landing new jobs within six months. Instead of waiting for their pink slip, employees in Singapore are being trained for what’s next before disruption hits.

    Contrast that with economies where retraining only starts after layoffs. By then, it’s too late. Workers spend months unemployed, companies hemorrhage institutional knowledge and everyone develops an irrational fear of technology. The lesson is simple: invest early in workforce development, or pay later in economic chaos.

    The systemic barriers

    If proactive workforce development is so effective, why aren’t we scaling it everywhere? Three systemic barriers are blocking progress:

    • Fragmented funding. Money currently flows through too many disconnected programs. Workers end up in bureaucratic mazes, and employers can’t navigate the noise. Reimbursement programs, which give individuals direct choice among accredited programs, could streamline access and cut through the red tape.
    • Outdated skills measurement. Training programs are built on labor market data that’s often 12 to 18 months behind, so that by the time workers are retrained, the jobs they’re aiming for may have already shifted. What’s needed is real-time labor intelligence that links employer demand to training curricula. We have the technology. We’re just not using it systematically.
    • Low adoption. Workers hesitate to leave stable roles for uncertain retraining outcomes, especially when “benefits cliffs” penalize upward mobility. Employer-funded transition programs can help. AT&T’s 2018 $1 billion reskilling investment for 140,000 employees show what’s possible when employers directly fund transitions instead of cutting staff. 

    Government’s role in the transition

    Governments cannot solve this alone, but they play an essential role in setting standards, funding transitions and forcing cross-sector coordination. The E.U. and parts of Asia have already launched A.I. workforce action plans that mix infrastructure investment with social protections. Germany’s dual-education system provides a blueprint: companies and schools collaborate on apprenticeship programs that meet immediate labor needs while preparing workers for future shifts. That should be standard practice, not the exception. Public-private partnerships are where the leverage lies. 

    The 24-month window

    Here’s the urgent part: we don’t have unlimited time. A.I. has the potential to boost global economic output by up to 15 percent points over the next decade. If we reinvest even a fraction of that into reskilling, transition support and training ecosystems, an apparent threat could become the single biggest workforce opportunity in history.

    The alternative is a world where the tech curve keeps accelerating while millions of people are left behind. Workforce programs like those at FlashPass are building programs to help retrain the American workforce for roles in A.I. integration, digital customer experience and automated operations management before these become critical skill gaps. 

    The narrative that A.I. will replace workers is wholly misleading. What it will do is destroy opportunities for those without access to the right skills at the right time. That outcome is not a technological inevitability. It’s a leadership choice.

    The message to every business leader, government official and education administrator is clear: opportunity means nothing if people can’t access it. The window for action is closing fast. Stop waiting for the “future of work” to arrive. It’s here. Start training for it now, or watch your workforce become obsolete.

    A.I. Won’t Replace Workers. But Only If We Act Now.

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    Emil Barr

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  • Top Career Motivations of Gen Z and Reasons They Choose an Employer | Entrepreneur

    Top Career Motivations of Gen Z and Reasons They Choose an Employer | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In the dance of generations at work, Gen Z holds the floor now. They will be the fastest-growing generation in the workforce over the next decade. To attract this emerging talent, employers should consider the top items Gen Z is looking for at work.

    A recent study of 11,495 of the highest-achieving high-school students, college students and recent college graduates in the United States reveals the preferences, attitudes and goals of the next generation of workers.

    Top three career motivations for Gen Z

    1. Entrepreneurial culture

    Gen Z is incredibly entrepreneurial, 60% express a desire to start their own businesses. Leaders must create an entrepreneurial culture that nurtures innovation, creativity and risk-taking.

    Encourage Gen Z employees to explore and develop their ideas, providing opportunities for them to spearhead projects and initiatives. Foster an environment that embraces experimentation and learning from failure. By fostering an entrepreneurial culture, leaders can tap into the entrepreneurial spirit of Gen Z, harnessing their innovative ideas and driving organizational growth.

    Related: The 5 Things Gen Z Is Looking for in a Job and Career

    2. Personalization and individuality

    Gen Z craves personalization and desires to bring their authentic selves to work. 92% of Gen Z prefer to have the option of personalizing their workspace. Leaders should embrace individuality and create a flexible environment that allows for personal expression and customization.

    Provide Gen Z employees with the freedom to design how, where, when and what they work on. Encourage diverse perspectives and opinions, valuing the unique contributions that each individual brings to the table. By embracing personalization and individuality, leaders can foster a sense of ownership and empowerment among Gen Z employees.

    3. Social impact and purpose

    Gen Z is deeply passionate about making a positive impact on society. 76% of Gen Z prioritize working for organizations that align with their values. Leaders must incorporate social impact and purpose into their organizational mission and values. Clearly communicate the organization’s commitment to social responsibility and highlight initiatives that contribute to the greater good.

    Provide opportunities for Gen Z employees to engage in volunteer work, community service, or sustainability projects. By integrating social impact into the workplace, leaders can attract and retain Gen Z talent who are driven by a desire to create a meaningful difference.

    Understanding and adapting to Gen Z’s expectations is crucial for leaders to build successful organizations in the future. By cultivating an entrepreneurial culture that embraces innovation, encourages personalization and individuality, and incorporates social impact and purpose, leaders can expect to attract, engage and retain Gen Z.

    Understanding Gen Z’s career drivers is part of the formula for effectively attracting and engaging new talent. The other part is understanding what factors they are considering when working for an employer.

    According to another recent study of 14,483 Gen Z respondents across 44 countries, these are the top reasons Gen Z chooses an employer.

    Top four reasons Gen Z chooses to work at a company

    1. Good work-life Balance

    When it comes to choosing an employer, work-life balance is a paramount consideration for Gen Z. This generation grew up in a hyperconnected world, witnessing the potential downsides of an “always-on” culture. They prioritize their well-being and seek employers who understand the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Gen Z craves flexibility, autonomy and the ability to pursue their passions outside of work.

    To attract Gen Z talent, companies must prioritize work-life balance initiatives that foster a harmonious integration of personal and professional lives.

    2. Learning and development opportunities

    Gen Z is a generation that values continuous growth, seeking opportunities to acquire new skills, expand their knowledge, and advance their careers. They prioritize employers who invest in their professional development and provide a clear path for advancement.

    To attract and retain Gen Z talent, companies must prioritize learning and development initiatives that align with their aspirations and foster a culture of growth.

    3. High salary or financial benefits

    Gen Z cites the cost of living as their top societal concern, above unemployment and climate change. So, not surprisingly, pay is top of mind when choosing an employer. As they enter the workforce, Gen Z faces economic pressures and desires financial stability. They seek employers who offer competitive compensation packages and financial incentives.

    Companies must address Gen Z’s financial aspirations and provide avenues for financial growth if they want to secure next-generation talent.

    Related: Everything You Need to Know About Hiring and Retaining Gen Z Talent

    4. Positive workplace culture

    Gen Z seeks an environment that is inclusive, collaborative, and supportive, where they can thrive both personally and professionally. Gen Z values a workplace culture that fosters strong relationships, encourages open communication, and promotes a sense of belonging.

    By prioritizing and fostering a culture of recognition and appreciation, leaders can create an environment that aligns with Gen Z’s aspirations and values.

    Gen Z is here, ready to make their mark on the world of work, and companies must adapt to effectively attract and engage this generation. By understanding Gen Z’s career motivations and aligning with the reasons they select an employer, companies can create workplaces that inspire and retain Gen Z talent.

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    Ryan Jenkins

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  • More Companies Are Rushing to Hire A Chief AI Officer — But Do You Need One? Here’s What You Need to Know. | Entrepreneur

    More Companies Are Rushing to Hire A Chief AI Officer — But Do You Need One? Here’s What You Need to Know. | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    This spring, the U.S. government took an unprecedented step: requiring every U.S. agency to appoint a chief AI officer. This follows on the heels of companies across diverse industries adding similar roles to their leadership ranks.

    This is a move in the right direction for companies seeking to integrate AI, but it’s not enough on its own. Yes, every company must become an AI company. But expecting a chief AI officer to get the job done alone is shortsighted.

    When businesses are confronted with a major technological shift, often their knee-jerk reaction is to stick with what they know: Putting a new executive in charge and hoping they can solve everything. But for AI to truly take root in a company, people at all levels of the business need to get their hands on it and start innovating, not follow orders from a gatekeeper in the C-suite.

    In fact, the fastest way to integrate AI into a company, in some instances, maybe to skip the chief AI officer role altogether.

    Related: The Future Founder’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence

    Why having a chief AI officer might not make sense

    Companies appointing a chief AI officer have good intentions as they seek to avoid getting disrupted by the technology. But they may not need this role, and any business adding it should assume that it’s temporary.

    A useful comparison is the stampede in the middle of the last decade to appoint chief digital officers to oversee the digital transformation to internet and mobile technologies. In hindsight, that looks quaint.

    Experts pronounced CDO the next big executive title, but it often turned out to be little more than window dressing — especially when digital skills became table stakes for most employees. In recent years, companies have been ditching the role or folding it into other jobs. In digitally native businesses, it doesn’t exist at all.

    Google, for instance, never had a CDO directing how employees use web technology. Instead, they empowered employees to explore tools on their own through initiatives like 20% time, setting the stage for innovations such as Gmail.

    Likewise, AI-native companies don’t have an executive overseeing AI. That would be redundant. At companies like mine, the technology is embedded from day one across the organization rather than siloed in a single role.

    By default, we all leverage AI. Our marketing team uses it to better understand our customer base, our engineers deploy it to help write code, and our customer support leans heavily on AI agents. AI is written into every role, much like digital literacy now is at nearly all companies. Of course, there are areas of our business where we could use AI more and better, but making that happen doesn’t call for a specific job title. It’s everyone’s responsibility.

    A better way to usher in an AI transformation

    But I realize that not every company is built from the ground up on AI. So, how can legacy companies make real strides in integrating the technology?

    In place of the top-down response to organizational change, consider a bottom-up approach. For a company that wants to usher in an AI transformation, the first step is to look across the roles you’re already hiring for and pick a few where AI agents can do the job today.

    Customer service is an obvious place to start — today’s AI agents can now address most issues at least as well as humans. AI sales development representatives (SDRs) are also making an immediate impact, automating much of the toil involved in pursuing prospects. Another promising area — junior data analyst roles, which often consist of pulling information from reports. Then there’s coding. Autonomous software engineering agent Devin and OpenDevin, its open-source rival, can step in here.

    Choosing the right technology partner to provide AI tools is equally important. When it comes to customer service, for example, companies should look for a vendor whose AI agents have a track record of resolving most issues without human intervention. Rather than following a script, they should have some ability to reason, drawing on past interactions and the conversation at hand to determine the best solution for each customer’s unique problem.

    Then, it’s important to treat your agents more like employees than like a piece of software that will work straight out of the box. Onboarding, measuring and coaching — the same steps you’d take to develop any new hire — are essential to get the most out of AI tools.

    The upside here is having team members experiment with AI begins to build AI expertise inside the company. For example, my company works with a financial services firm where AI employee manager has become a key position. Former customer support specialists there now teach AI agents new skills that add value throughout the business — thus making themselves an indispensable member of the team.

    Companies can even make driving productivity gains via AI a criterion for career advancement. To get promoted, an employee must show their manager how they’re applying AI to deliver results for the business.

    Related: How Generative AI is Revamping Digital Transformation to Change How Businesses Scale

    The next stage: Those departments grow into mini centers of excellence that spread AI knowledge and best practices throughout the organization. Team members educate the rest of the business on how to hire and coordinate AI labor. AI becomes integrated into day-to-day business operations in a way that’s hard to achieve with an exclusively top-down approach.

    Of course, there’s no one best way to take a company through an AI transformation. For legacy industries and large enterprises, a tandem approach — combining top-down and bottom-up — may prove a better fit.

    At the very least, organizations that want to get the transformation right should think about how they can help AI bubble up through the ranks, rather than just rush to hire a chief AI officer simply because others have taken that step. As AI permanently changes companies from top to bottom, it’s just a temporary solution.

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    Mike Murchison

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  • Bosses Said Workers Will Be Back In The Office After Labor Day (Or Else) — But Did They Succeed? Not Exactly. | Entrepreneur

    Bosses Said Workers Will Be Back In The Office After Labor Day (Or Else) — But Did They Succeed? Not Exactly. | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Numerous companies, ranging from Meta to Amazon and Blackrock, announced Labor Day as the key date in their return-to-office push this year — as they did in previous years. Numerous headlines spoke of “a post-Labor Day reset” and described how “Enough, Bosses Say: This Fall, It Really Is Time to Get Back to the Office.”

    Experts predicted that office attendance, which hovered around 50% in major U.S. cities this year, according to the “Back to Work Barometer” from the security company Kastle Systems, would grow significantly. For example, JLL, the real estate and investment management firm, said it would reach “between 55 and 65 percent.”

    Well, now that we’re approaching that time of resolution of predictions, it’s time to reassess the Labor Day push. Did it succeed, or did it flop?

    The data speaks: An initial surge, then a drop

    Executives and pro-office analysts envisaged a high tide of employees coming in, with an initial wave cresting shortly after Labor Day and continued growth after this initial wave. After a period filled with preparation, significant corporate announcements and employees gearing up for the anticipated office return, the data painted a much more complex picture.

    As summer vacations came to an end, there was a noticeable surge in the number of employees returning to their office spaces, increasing from 47% to over 50%. This was, perhaps, a combination of pent-up optimism, organizational pressures and the general hope that things were “returning to normal.” For a brief moment, it appeared as though the post-Labor Day return-to-office (RTO) strategy was working.

    However, a deeper dive into the data indicates this initial rise might have been deceptive. Was it merely the result of the confluence of summer vacations ending and the RTO push rather than a genuine, sustainable interest in returning to physical workplaces?

    Following this initial spike, pro-office CEOs and experts anticipated continued growth in attendance. To their chagrin, instead, they witnessed a decline. There’s a noticeable dip, so much so that current numbers are at the average of 50% or lower at most points earlier this year.

    If it lasted for a week or two, we could call this downturn just a mere statistical blip. By now, that perspective has become untenable. This development poses challenging questions and undeniably casts doubts over the effectiveness of the RTO strategy. It beckons experts and leaders alike to introspect: Was the strategy rooted deeply enough in understanding the evolved psyche of the modern worker, or was it a superficial attempt to recapture a past that perhaps no longer aligns with the present aspirations and constraints of the global workforce?

    Related: You Should Let Your Team Decide Their Approach to Hybrid Work. A Behavioral Economist Explains Why and How You Should Do It.

    The realities of a changed workplace

    The evolving dynamics of the workplace landscape in the aftermath of the pandemic cannot be overstated. The transition was not solely about physical relocation; it encapsulated a holistic shift in how we perceive and engage with our work environments.

    In my consulting projects aiding clients with RTO strategies, including this Fall after Labor Day, I conducted focus groups with employees, delving deep into their experiences and perspectives on the post-pandemic work environment. Their insights have been invaluable in painting a holistic picture of the evolving workplace landscape.

    Throughout the pandemic, these employees had significantly restructured their work habits. Adapting to the demands of remote work, many curated dedicated home office spaces that rivaled professional setups, emphasizing comfort and efficiency. They became proficient in virtual collaboration tools, substituting face-to-face meetings with digital alternatives and swapping casual office chats for virtual catch-ups. The elimination of daily commutes was a standout benefit, with many individuals redirecting that time toward professional development or personal wellbeing.

    Upon re-entry to traditional office environments, initial reactions were steeped in nostalgia. Employees appreciated the opportunity to reconnect with colleagues and immerse themselves in a familiar setting. However, this initial enthusiasm was relatively short-lived. The focus group discussions highlighted a growing awareness of the downsides previously taken for granted in office work. From grappling with rush-hour traffic to the hurdles of coordinating hybrid meetings and the diminished flexibility they had grown fond of during remote work, the challenges began to overshadow the benefits.

    Furthermore, health-related apprehensions were a consistent theme in these discussions. While the world has seen significant strides in combating the pandemic, its echoes remained in the form of lingering concerns about congregating in shared spaces, interacting in communal areas or navigating public transportation. Periodic news about emerging virus variants only exacerbated these feelings of unease.

    The focus on wellbeing in the focus groups resonated with a recent report from Gympass. Its findings show that employees positioned in an environment that doesn’t align with their preference are twice as likely to report feelings of struggle compared to those in their desired setting. Moreover, the capacity for employees to care for their wellbeing is intricately linked to their work environment. A robust 77% of individuals in their preferred workplace, whether that be entirely in-office, a hybrid model, or fully remote, express confidence in managing their wellbeing effectively. In contrast, this sentiment dips to 65% for those yearning for a different setup.

    Perhaps one of the most telling statistics from Gympass’s report is that over a third of all employees wish for a shift in their work setting to better align with their preferences. This substantial proportion underscores the pressing need for organizations to prioritize employee-centric strategies in defining their post-pandemic work paradigms. Recognizing and accommodating these preferences isn’t just about employee satisfaction; it directly influences productivity, wellbeing and overall company culture.

    In sum, the insights gathered from these focus groups underscored a critical realization: the post-pandemic work landscape isn’t about reverting to familiar norms. Instead, it’s a dynamic interplay of old routines, new preferences, and the continuous quest for a balanced, sustainable work model.

    The role of cognitive biases in the Labor Day RTO

    The widely anticipated post-Labor Day RTO push did not materialize as expected. While logistical and health concerns certainly played their roles, underlying cognitive biases significantly shaped the strategies and expectations of both employers and employees. Specifically, the status quo bias and the optimism bias played pivotal roles in the misconceived projections and subsequent responses.

    Many corporate leaders, influenced by the status quo bias, harbored a strong inclination to revert to pre-pandemic office dynamics. The office-centric work model was seen as the conventional and established approach, and thus, there was a strong push to return to it post-haste. This bias likely led many decision-makers to underestimate the shift in employee preferences and the genuine value many found in remote work. They assumed that since the office work model was the “standard” before the pandemic, it should naturally be the desired state after. This underestimation was glaringly evident when a significant number of employees resisted the post-Labor Day RTO, favoring the new status quo of remote work.

    The optimism bias caused a miscalculation on both sides of the RTO debate. On one hand, organizational leaders might have been overly optimistic about employees’ eagerness to return to the office. This overconfidence led to projections that did not match reality, resulting in vacant office spaces and misallocated resources.

    Conversely, some employees might have been overly optimistic about the continued feasibility and desirability of full-time remote work. While remote work offers several benefits, the optimism bias might have made some overlook the value of in-person interactions, networking opportunities, and team cohesion that an office environment fosters.

    The failed post-Labor Day RTO push serves as a case study on the importance of recognizing and accounting for cognitive biases in decision-making. By understanding these inherent tendencies, businesses can develop more accurate strategies and projections, ensuring that future transitions are smoother and more in tune with actual needs and preferences.

    Related: Why Hybrid Work Will Win Out Over Remote and In-Person — Whether You Like It or Not.

    Action steps for leaders: Navigating the RTO landscape

    Here’s what my focus groups revealed as the key action steps for leaders going forward if they want to navigate RTO effectively in a way that facilitates collaboration and innovation, reduces attrition and disengagement, and minimizes noncompliance and resistance.

    • Conduct regular employee surveys and focus groups: It’s imperative for leaders to maintain a pulse on employee sentiment. Regular feedback loops can offer invaluable insights into changing workplace preferences, concerns and aspirations. By creating open channels of communication, you signal to your employees that their perspectives are valued and integral to decision-making.
    • Re-evaluate the return-to-office strategy: Given the evolving landscape, it may be time to reassess your organization’s RTO strategy. Leaders should be open to iterating on plans, embracing flexibility, and making adjustments based on data, feedback, and current realities.
    • Prioritize employee wellbeing: As the Gympass report suggests, wellbeing is closely tied to work environment preferences. Consider implementing programs or resources dedicated to mental health, stress relief and overall wellbeing. This not only supports individual employees but also contributes to a more productive and harmonious workplace.
    • Invest in hybrid infrastructure: Recognizing that one size doesn’t fit all, consider investments in technology and infrastructure that support both in-office and remote work seamlessly. This includes robust video conferencing tools, collaborative software, and flexible office spaces designed for hybrid teams.
    • Offer flexibility and autonomy: Allow employees the autonomy to choose their work settings based on their roles, responsibilities and personal preferences. A more personalized approach to work arrangements can lead to greater job satisfaction and enhanced productivity.
    • Engage in transparent communication: Openly discuss the company’s stance, decisions, and the reasons behind them. By being transparent, you build trust and foster a culture of understanding and collaboration.
    • Stay updated on global and local health guidelines: While it may seem obvious, it’s crucial to ensure that your workplace adheres to the latest health and safety guidelines. This not only minimizes health risks but also reassures employees that their safety is a top priority.
    • Consider external consultation: Given the complexity and novelty of the current work landscape, consider engaging external experts, consultants or think tanks that specialize in future-of-work strategies. Their insights could provide fresh perspectives and innovative solutions.
    • Prepare for continuous evolution: The post-pandemic work world is still in flux. Leaders should adopt a mindset of continuous evolution, regularly revisiting strategies, seeking feedback, and being willing to pivot as circumstances and preferences evolve.

    In the end, successful navigation of the RTO landscape hinges on a leader’s ability to blend data-driven decisions with empathy, flexibility and foresight. It’s a challenging journey, but with the right approach, organizations can forge a path that aligns with the needs of both the business and its employees.

    Conclusion

    Let’s be clear: pro-office CEOs and experts failed in their predictions and policies around the post-Labor Day RTO. The failed push serves as a poignant reminder of the challenges that lie ahead in defining our post-pandemic work landscape. The very premise of it, anchored in hope and expectation, reveals the distance between aspiration and the practical realities faced by the global workforce. Data, anecdotal evidence and deep dives into employees’ experiences converge on a singular truth: the future of work isn’t about rehashing the past, but about sculpting a new future that resonates with current needs, aspirations, and realities.

    While nostalgic sentiments may pull us toward traditional office environments, the events unfolding post-Labor Day underscore the necessity for a more nuanced approach. The ebbs and flows in office attendance numbers are not merely statistical anomalies; they’re a testament to the profound transformation in work culture and worker psyche. To truly evolve, organizational leaders must embrace a proactive and empathetic leadership style that prioritizes listening, flexibility, and genuine consideration of employee preferences. The pathway forward isn’t about mandates or date-driven pushes but about creating an environment where both the organization and its members can thrive. Only by recognizing and addressing the multifaceted dimensions of this complex issue can we craft a workplace model that stands resilient, adaptive and sustainable in a world forever changed by the pandemic.

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    Gleb Tsipursky

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  • How TikTok’s Office Surveillance Could Backfire and Cost The Company Billions | Entrepreneur

    How TikTok’s Office Surveillance Could Backfire and Cost The Company Billions | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Recently, TikTok made headlines for the wrong reasons — introducing a badge monitoring app called MyRTO, aimed at enforcing its office attendance policy as part of a top-down return-to-office mandate. According to the New York Times, this app tracks employees’ badge swipes and can even penalize them for “deviations” from their expected attendance. While many companies are recalibrating post-pandemic work expectations, TikTok’s approach not only raises serious ethical issues but also amplifies broader concerns about its surveillance culture. Let’s deconstruct why this is a critical misstep for the platform.

    TikTok’s employee monitoring

    In an era where employee expectations have shifted toward greater work-life balance and flexibility, TikTok has chosen a path that is perilous for its brand, not to speak of employee retention, productivity, and morale. The company recently deployed an employee badge monitoring app called MyRTO. Built into TikTok’s own internal software, MyRTO monitors badge swipes as employees enter the office.

    The broad policy for TikTok employees involves coming to the office in person at least three times per week, and a smaller percentage is even required to be in five days per week. The MyRTO tool may demand explanations for absences when the employees were expected to be on-site. The data compiled by MyRTO is shared with human resources and is also made visible to the employees themselves. Notably, the company has even threatened termination for employees whose home addresses do not align with their designated office locations. The policy aims to create “transparency and clarity” about return-to-office expectations, according to a TikTok spokesperson.

    Related: It’s a Job Seeker’s Market — Here’s Why Employers Should Think Twice About Using Surveillance Technology

    The dangers of employee monitoring

    A Harvard Business Review article finds that such monitoring can have unintended consequences. The researchers conducted a survey of over 100 U.S.-based professionals — some under workplace surveillance and some not. The findings indicated a pronounced trend: employees under scrutiny were notably more prone to unauthorized break-taking, insubordination, willful property damage, stealing and purposefully working at a slow pace, among other rule-breaking behaviors.

    Of course, this survey only determined correlation — so to prove causation, the authors ran a second, experimental study. They asked another 200 U.S.-based employees to complete a series of tasks. Half of this cohort was informed they would be under electronic watch while completing specific assignments. Intriguingly, those aware of the monitoring exhibited a higher propensity for unethical conduct, such as cheating, compared to their unmonitored counterparts.

    How did the researchers explain these seemingly contradictory findings? Employees who knew they were being monitored were more likely to offload the responsibility for their actions to the authority figures conducting the surveillance. This reduction in a sense of personal agency made them more likely to act against their moral compass.

    To combat the erosion of agency and moral responsibility that the Harvard Business Review research highlights, and the harmful consequences of cheating and slacking off that results, leaders need to instill a sense of fairness in monitoring procedures. And given the employee leaks to the New York Times complaining about the MyRTO tool, TikTok clearly failed to do so.

    Moreover, other surveys reveal negative employee attitudes toward surveillance technology. A survey by 1E of 500 IT managers and 500 non-manager IT workers, for example, finds that 73% of IT managers said they wouldn’t feel comfortable instructing their staff to deploy productivity surveillance tech. More than a quarter of IT managers indicate an uptick in employees quitting (28%) and difficulty hiring new employees (27%) when these tools are in use. More than half of IT workers (52%) said they would turn down an otherwise desirable position if they knew the company used employee productivity surveillance technology. Three-quarters of IT workers say requiring them to deploy such software to track other employees would negatively impact their willingness to remain in their current position. In fact, 30% would begin actively applying for different jobs. In turn, a report from Morning Consult of a survey of 750 technology workers finds that at least 1 in 2 tech workers said they would not accept a new role in their field if the company used a surveillance technique.

    Thus, the tech workers at TikTok are highly likely to be disengaged, demotivated, and disillusioned by the MyRTO surveillance technology. It will lead to increased attrition and loss of productivity.

    Amplification of PR nightmares

    Perhaps even more problematic is the own goal of doubling down on the association of TikTok with surveillance. The social media platform has been subjected to legislative grillings in Capitol Hill sessions and dangled on the precipice of national bans — largely due to apprehensions around surveillance concerns and its alleged affiliations with the Chinese government. As such, the company is already navigating a precarious PR landscape, making it particularly vulnerable to any additional reputational tarnishes.

    The introduction of the MyRTO initiative exacerbates this fragile situation. Far beyond the physical badges, the program serves as a symbolic embodiment of a corporate culture that leans towards Orwellian control mechanisms over fostering an atmosphere of mutual trust and individual autonomy. The narrative now being constructed — whether intentionally or inadvertently — is one where TikTok is willing to sacrifice the organic relationships between management and workforce on the altar of hyper-surveillance and omnipresent oversight.

    Moreover, in our contemporary climate, where viral information can be disseminated globally within seconds, a PR misadventure of this magnitude carries exponential risks. It’s not merely a matter of immediate negative press; the long-term ripple effects can permeate stakeholder trust, impact user growth, and even invite further regulatory scrutiny. The imbued perception of a dystopian corporate environment can be a latent liability, hindering future partnerships and tarnishing the brand in ways that are complex and multifaceted, yet cumulatively catastrophic.

    So, while the MyRTO initiative might have been conceived with an eye toward enhancing the return to office mandate, its inadvertent contribution to a burgeoning narrative of corporate overreach likely outweighs any benefits the platform could hope to gain. Therefore, TikTok faces a strategic imperative to rapidly reassess its stance on employee monitoring in the interest of averting a full-blown reputational implosion.

    While TikTok claims it has invested $1.5 billion in ensuring that user data is secure and confined to U.S. soil, actions speak louder than words. The surveillance measures essentially throw gasoline on an already raging fire of mistrust and skepticism. They make it increasingly difficult for TikTok to argue against the narrative that it’s a tool for “control, surveillance and manipulation.”

    Related: Returning to The Office Without a Strategy Is The Biggest Mistake You Can Make. Follow These 4 Steps for a Perfect Transition.

    Conclusion

    In the grand scheme, the MyRTO tool might appear to be a small, internal administrative change. However, this ‘minor’ change encapsulates everything that’s potentially problematic about TikTok’s strategy and public image. The platform needs to recognize that its actions echo far beyond the confines of its offices, influencing not only its brand reputation but also the broader conversations about ethical corporate behavior and workplace culture in the 21st century.

    TikTok’s deployment of MyRTO is a tactical win but a strategic loss. While it may achieve short-term compliance from employees, it erodes trust and adds another layer to the growing wall of skepticism surrounding the company. It’s a move that reflects not adaptability and forward-thinking, but rigidity and an outmoded understanding of productivity. Companies aspiring for a resilient and favorable position in the marketplace should treat this not as a model but as a cautionary tale.

    As businesses pivot to new modes of work, those that embrace transparency, employee autonomy, and ethical conduct will find themselves leading the pack, as I tell client companies who I help figure out their flexible work models. Companies caught in a time warp, clinging to surveillance and control, will likely find the path ahead much more challenging.

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    Gleb Tsipursky

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  • AI Is Coming For Your Jobs — Anyone Who Says Otherwise Is In Denial. Here’s Why. | Entrepreneur

    AI Is Coming For Your Jobs — Anyone Who Says Otherwise Is In Denial. Here’s Why. | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It was not long ago that my office was a hive of human activity. The soundtrack? The busy clicks and clatters of a dedicated executive assistant masterfully juggling my appointments, memos and ceaseless travel plans. Fast forward to today, and the buzz of the office is decidedly different. It’s the steady hum of AI tools, seamlessly managing those same tasks with a level of efficiency that’s hard to match.

    Despite the countless articles out there insisting that executive assistants can never be replaced by machines, as the CEO of a public company, it’s actually the very first place I looked to integrate AI. Today, I use three specialized AI tools to automate most of the tasks my executive assistant used to handle. One for scheduling, one for drafting standardized communications and one for travel planning. Pleasantly, it’s been an incredible success.

    This integration of AI hasn’t just streamlined my own day-to-day – it’s a powerful symbol of a larger change sweeping across our business landscape. AI is indeed coming for people’s jobs, and anyone who insists otherwise is sticking their head in the sand.

    Instead of wallowing in denial, the authors of these articles need to realize that although AI will take away some jobs, it will also create new jobs. The AI revolution will be an incredibly potent catalyst, triggering the development of a wave of new roles and opportunities. The landscape will shift from a large number of lower-level support roles to a smaller number of more advanced tech-forward support roles.

    Some executive assistants might morph into AI tool gurus, masters of these digital resources. Others might decide to take a different path, leveraging their skills in entirely new ways. This dynamic, ever-changing scenario is what our AI-influenced world is really about — not job eradication, but evolution and adaptation.

    Just think about the new roles that AI is already starting to create. Roles focused on AI ethics, keeping us grounded in our values as we navigate this technological frontier. Or the growing demand for pros who can steer these intricate AI systems, interpret the torrent of data they produce and guide businesses on how to weave AI into their operations most effectively.

    • Already, AI’s influence is reshaping sectors like healthcare, manufacturing and customer service, birthing roles we couldn’t have imagined a few years ago. It’s not spelling doom for our workforce; it’s inspiring a fascinating job evolution, blending human creativity and AI’s analytical power. We’re standing at the precipice of an exhilarating wave of professional growth and adaptation, with a horizon full of promise.

    A couple of decades ago, AI and machine learning were the stuff of sci-fi movies. But today, they’re right here, integral parts of our daily lives. The New York Times aptly called this an “A.I. explosion,” but that doesn’t mean it’s cause for alarm. Change can be daunting, sure, but it’s also an opportunity for growth, for evolution, and for pushing boundaries.

    Instead of fretting over the changes that AI brings, let’s flip the narrative. We’re not being replaced; we’re being given the chance to soar higher, fueled by AI’s empowering boost. So let’s embrace it, roll with the changes, and shape the future we want to see.

    Transforming the way the world does business

    There is no doubt that AI is changing work as we know it. Just a few years ago, automation and technology in work environments were mostly limited to repetitive, manual tasks. Generative AI technology like ChatGPT has placed these technologies firmly within the realm of white-collar work.

    Whether you are using AI-powered applications to deliver social media content, accelerate your research of new subjects or help you draft an eye-catching cover letter, generative AI can support those tasks.

    While that may not be enough to alleviate all fears surrounding AI and other emerging technologies, now is the time to realize that AI is here to stay. Rather than fighting its growing presence, forward-looking companies and their leaders need to embrace this technology and learn to leverage it to build their businesses.

    Automating repetitive tasks was one of the first areas of business in which AI proved invaluable. AI technology simply outperforms humans when it comes to data analysis by crunching far larger amounts of data more accurately and in a shorter time. AI also recognizes patterns within the data and presents them to human decision-makers.

    Plus, AI delivers the kind of data-driven insights that leadership teams have been dreaming of for decades. Integrating AI analysis into tasks like understanding customer behavior can give your business an unparalleled competitive advantage and enhance future decision-making today.

    AI can also contribute to your customer experience. When customers need help, AI-powered chatbots, and virtual assistants are excellent first points of contact. Even if they cannot resolve the customer’s issue, they can guide the query toward the best person and let the customer know their concern is being dealt with.

    Even the earliest incarnations of AI had customer experience at their heart. Remember the first personalized product recommendations you received on online shopping platforms? Like the viewing suggestions on streaming services, they are AI-based ways of improving customer service.

    How to foster innovation and growth in your organization

    At its core, AI looks at problems differently from how humans would. The technology may be mimicking human behaviors, but it is not exactly copying them. This means it brings an entirely fresh perspective to the table, offering innovative solutions and pinpointing previously unseen market opportunities.

    So, how can businesses encourage their teams to embrace rather than fear AI? The key lies in empowering individual team members to use these tools and leverage them for their work. Education and skills development is one of the foundations of empowerment. Modern workplaces have long encouraged lifelong learning, and AI is no exception. Making resources for AI training accessible online is one way of encouraging more of your employees to learn more about their capabilities.

    The modern workplace must commit to this ethos of continuous learning, especially in the context of AI. By offering readily accessible AI training resources online, organizations can nurture an environment that encourages employees to continually expand their understanding of AI, thus demystifying the technology and promoting its adoption.

    Undoubtedly, one of the most widespread anxieties related to AI is its potential to render certain jobs redundant. This concern is not unfounded. History bears witness to numerous technological transitions, where machines eventually took over tasks once performed by humans. However, this shift allows for evolution by creating a need for highly skilled professionals to supervise and orchestrate these advanced tools.

    AI does not exist to replace human capabilities, but to augment them. It thrives when paired with human intellect and creativity, thus leading to an ecosystem where humans and AI coexist and collaborate. By encouraging this synthesis and providing avenues for learning and growth, organizations can mitigate the threat of job loss. Instead, they can catalyze a transformation that redefines jobs, creating a new breed of roles that leverage both human creativity and AI’s computational prowess. The future is not about AI vs. humans, but rather AI and humans, working together to foster innovation and drive growth.

    5 step framework for cultivating an AI-forward organizational culture

    Navigating the evolving business landscape requires a dynamic approach, particularly when it comes to embracing AI. Instilling a culture that is AI-forward within your organization isn’t a mere switch you flip overnight. It’s an ongoing journey requiring commitment and collaboration from every part of your business. This journey may seem daunting, but with a strategic five-step plan, we can turn perceived challenges into tangible advantages, fostering a thriving ecosystem that leverages AI’s potential to its fullest.

    1. Educate yourself and your team

    Most people fear what they do not understand. Learning more about AI helps break down barriers. Because technology is developing extremely fast, it is important to commit to staying informed about the latest advancements and opportunities. Ensure that your business allocates sufficient resources for continuous learning and development across the entire organization.

    2. Evaluate and identify areas for AI integration

    How would AI benefit your business the most? Assess the organization’s workflows, customer interactions and decision-making processes to identify the areas where AI can truly add value. Look for spaces where AI could improve process efficiency or enhance the user experience of a website or an app. Once you have quantified the potential impact and the feasibility of potential initiatives, it becomes easier to choose the most promising options.

    3. Foster a culture of innovation and collaboration

    Big transformations like the transition toward emerging technologies are rarely made without some degree of experimentation or trial and error. Encourage this experimentation with AI among your team and make it clear that not every trial is going to be a success. Create a supportive environment for your employees to develop their ideas, share insights, and experiment with AI-based tools and systems.

    4. Implement ethical AI practices and policies

    The U.S. government recently called upon leading AI developers like Google CEO Sundar Pichai and OpenAI’s Sam Altman to make ethical AI developments a priority. If your company is struggling to overcome concerns about this technology, putting ethics at the heart of your transition toward AI may help.

    Develop clear guidelines and principles for the responsible use of within the business and review them regularly. Ensure that AI-driven decisions across all levels of the company are transparent, unbiased and respect individual privacy. The easiest way to do this is to involve relevant stakeholders in all aspects of the transition process.

    5. Measure and celebrate success

    Do not be afraid to evaluate the impact integrating AI has had on your organization. Mark milestones and celebrate successes, but be ready to make adjustments as well. The company’s overall performance, customer satisfaction and employee engagement are all excellent indicators. Sharing success stories will generate trust as will being open about setbacks. Adapting your AI integration strategy should be part of your plan.

    Conclusion

    AI-based applications, tools and solutions are here to stay, and these technologies will change the way we think about and conduct work. Embracing these technologies at an organizational and individual level now will prepare companies and their employees for a successful future.

    For anyone in a C-suite role, it is time to rethink how to make the best use of assistants. Most of us no longer need to follow the traditional one-to-one executive assistant model. What we will need, though, is someone skilled enough to handle AI tools and platforms on behalf of the entire C-Suite. Whether that role will become known as an AI manager or remain an executive assistant is not critical. What matters more is that we need to prepare our current assistants for the near future where there is a new need for fewer, more advanced support roles.

    Overcoming fears of the unknown and an all-too-human resistance to change is instrumental to securing the future of the business. It will also help improve AI as we currently know it. Start by assessing the opportunities for your business now, and leverage AI proactively. Together, we can create a better future for individuals and businesses alike.

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    Jessica Billingsley

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  • 10 AI Tools That You Should Be Using In Your Business This Year | Entrepreneur

    10 AI Tools That You Should Be Using In Your Business This Year | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    We hear a lot about AI, and there’s no question that this technology will have a great impact on our businesses in the next few years. But what about now? Here are 10 AI tools that you can use today to help increase productivity and hopefully profits.

    This is the conversational chatbot created by OpenAI that started the hype late last year and it really does have a lot of things a business owner can be hyped about. Use it to write blogs, suggest better ways to create emails, analyze your website to improve search results, do advanced math, create HR policies and a number of other functions. You should also play with OpenAI’s Dall-E 2 app which can create images using text commands (i.e. “a horse standing by a river.”) that can be used on company communications or your website.

    Microsoft owns 49% of OpenAI (and ChatGPT is hosted by Microsoft servers) so a lot of ChatGPT’s functionality will soon be part of the Copilot app which can already be used with Bing searches but will also be a major part of Office in the next year. You’ll use Copilot to analyze spreadsheets, create templates, update presentations and even have it attend Teams meetings on your behalf.

    Related: The Future Founder’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence

    Bard is Google’s answer to ChatGPT and Duet is the application that will use Bard’s underlying Large Language Model to power Google’s business apps in a very similar fashion to Microsoft Copilot. The release of these features is expected within the next six months, but already Gmail is using Bard’s AI to help write emails and check grammar.

    Very similar to Dall-E, Crayon is an advanced image generator that uses AI to generate art, photos, drawings and other graphics directly from your text descriptions. The quality is excellent and the variety of choices is seemingly endless. Use this for images on your website or other promotional content.

    If your business is heavily into content, Heywire is a powerful content generator that uses AI to glean information from the Internet and automatically turn it into stories, articles and other blog forms. The application uses real-time, journalistically validated data that you can publish. The tool can help further establish you and your company as a thought leader in your industry. It can also establish multiple “personalities” for whoever you want to be seen writing and creating social posts based on the content it generates.

    Ever bump into a really interesting video and then see how long it is and then say to yourself “I don’t have the time.” Eightify solves that problem. This AI app will watch the video for you and then summarize it into specific points of interest. As a business owner, we often have to wear all the hats. Which means we have to be knowledgeable about a bunch of different subjects. There’s so much great content on video that can help us run our business and with this app, we can absorb much more information than ever before.

    I’ve been using Temi for years and, as a writer, swear by it! It’s a powerful AI-driven transcription service. I upload audio and video recordings I’ve made and within minutes, Temi transcribes it into words — and it’s close to flawless. Transcribing a 10-minute recording costs just a few bucks too.

    Need a good, professional form for your business? Maybe a job application? A quotation template? A request form for people visiting your website? Feathery uses AI to create professional-looking forms in just minutes. You can save and edit forms as you create them and customize them for your business. All of this is done through a natural language interface.

    Related: Previous Tech Revolutions Rewarded the Builders — This AI Revolution Will Reward the Users. Here’s Why.

    Want to prepare your prospective employees for a job interview? Or perhaps you’re a freelancer or remote independent contractor that’s scheduled to speak with a prospective client. Interview.ai uses AI to walk you through the conversation in advance. Its mock interviews will help you hone your speaking skills and its algorithms generate interview questions that are tailored to the job and to the industry. The platform promises to deliver customized questions that are both technical and situational, all based on the information you provide beforehand.

    So many of us are using video in our businesses for campaigns, case studies, testimonials or just to generate some buzz. The videos go on our website but of course, we want to do more with them. That’s where Opus Clip comes in. Using their AI-generated platform you can upload a long video and it will break it down into shorter, more digestible clips that can then be posted on social media or included in your email campaigns.

    Pretty cool, right? And I’m just scratching the surface. All of this reminds me of the early days of the iPhone and its smartphone competitors where apps began appearing — and then proliferating. I expect the same to happen during this AI revolution. So there are lots more to come. But in the meantime, play with these tools and I promise good results — and better productivity.

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    Gene Marks

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  • Why Hybrid Work Will Win Out Over Remote and In-Person | Entrepreneur

    Why Hybrid Work Will Win Out Over Remote and In-Person | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The Covid-19 pandemic has handed us a Rubik’s cube, transforming how and where we work. With the gift of hindsight, we can start to solve this complex puzzle, understanding what works best for productivity working from home, per a new white paper on this topic by researchers from Stanford University, University of Chicago, and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.

    This compelling research provides a new and definitive level of insights that I will be sharing with clients who I help guide in figuring out the future of work.

    The discordant notes of fully remote work

    When considering work from home, it’s crucial to differentiate between two distinct styles: fully remote and hybrid work.

    Studies by Emmanuel and Harrington (2023) and Gibbs et al. (2022) highlight the discordant notes of fully remote work. To illustrate, imagine workers as runners on a track. When the gun fires, and workers go fully remote, our sprinters stumble, tripping over an 8% to 19% reduction in productivity.

    Challenges in communication and innovation — likened to a game of telephone where messages get distorted — can stifle productivity. Like playing Jenga in the dark, building new connections becomes more challenging in a remote setting (Yang et al., 2021).

    Now, imagine trying to cook up a Michelin-star meal in a cluttered kitchen. The ingredients of creativity are there, but the chaos makes it harder to focus. Brucks and Levav (2022) found that fully remote teams struggled in this cluttered kitchen, producing lower-rated product ideas.

    An orchestra without a conductor might start playing out of tune. Similarly, in a remote setting, it’s easier for employees to deviate from tasks, leading to the “shirking from home” phenomenon. It’s the proverbial battle between the allure of your Netflix queue and that daunting spreadsheet.

    Thus, fully remote work is best for individual contributors who are self-motivated. Those employees who work in more collaboration-focused roles, or individual contributors with poor motivation, would best work in a hybrid setting.

    Related: Remote Work Skeptics Are Forgetting Their Most Valuable Asset: Their Customers. Here’s Why.

    The harmony of hybrid working

    The researchers find the rhythm of hybrid working more harmonious. As though conducting an orchestra with precision, hybrid work schedules allow employees to strike a balance between remote and in-office work. The recent research sings in its favor.

    An early study by Bloom et al. (2015) serves as our overture. Picture employees as instruments in an orchestra. In a hybrid setting, our instruments were 13% more melodious. They hit more notes (9% more working time) and hit them with more finesse (4% greater efficiency per hour).

    Additionally, studies by Choudhury (2020) and Choudhury et al. (2022) demonstrate that the sweet melody of hybrid work can increase productivity and job satisfaction. Employees not only produced more (a 5% to 13% increase in productivity) but also felt happier doing it.

    Furthermore, Bloom, Han, and Liang’s (2022) randomized control trial lends more support to this tune. It revealed that productivity either stayed the same or increased by around 4%. A perfect harmony, you might say.

    Our encore is the positive self-assessments of hybrid workers. As if applauding their own performance, hybrid workers reported 3% to 5% increases in productivity (Barrero et al., 2023). The international echo was similar, with positive reports from around the world (Aksoy et al., 2022).

    Conducting the future of work

    Blanket return to office mandates, especially for full-time in-office work, harm productivity by decreasing employee engagement. That’s why I see so many clients adopting a flexible hybrid work model as the most harmonious tune for productivity. Like a symphony that hits all the right notes, it’s poised to become the standard performance for advanced economies.

    So why, you might ask, would an organization choose the discordant notes of fully remote work? The researchers find that it boils down to cost savings, like tuning your business guitar to play more economically. Remote employees require less office space and can be hired at lower wages.

    So overall, depending on the organization and business model, you might get a higher return on investment from remote workers even for collaborative roles. In other words, the reduction in productivity per employee might be overcome by the reduced cost of each employee.

    Moreover, the researchers only evaluated remote work productivity where managers used traditional, office-based collaboration and leadership methodology. I’ve seen fully remote teams and even companies succeed when they apply new techniques and effective technology stacks to work remotely; it does take more discipline and effort to do so, and requires training managers to manage remote teams.

    The researchers themselves suggest that as technology improves, the number of people working remotely will increase. Still, at this stage, for most clients, I recommend a hybrid-first, flexible model, where teams make the decisions on when they need to come in together based on the activities best done in the office: synchronous collaboration, mentoring and training, socializing, and nuanced conversations. That approach results in the highest engagement and productivity while boosting retention and wellbeing.

    Related: Employers: Hybrid Work is Not The Problem — Your Guidelines Are. Here’s Why and How to Fix Them.

    Final bow

    Let’s take our final bow and appreciate this: Remote work is here to stay. But let’s be discerning conductors, choosing the most harmonious tune – the hybrid work model. Not only does it strike the right balance for productivity, but it also sets the stage for a more dynamic, adaptable, and resilient business environment.

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    Gleb Tsipursky

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  • Is the Future of Work a Utopia or a Dystopia? | Entrepreneur

    Is the Future of Work a Utopia or a Dystopia? | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Distributed team management is increasingly relying on data-driven decision-making, automation and much more granular performance tracking. What will be the eventual result of this trend in the future of work?

    Will employees be treated as replaceable numbers as their every waking moment is monitored? Or will the ability to track and quantify more soft skills allow for a more fair and objective way to recognize and develop global talent?

    Let’s take a look at the recent trends in managing distributed teams and predict how these trends could lead in both good and bad directions.

    Related: What Is the Real Future of Work?

    The elephant in the room

    The technological, cultural and workplace changes driving the future of work promise a better world. Automation and digital manufacturing technologies offer the promise of shorter working hours and more time for leisure — but those promises haven’t been directly delivered.

    Still, a titanic, nerve-wracking question mark provokes utopian and dystopian future visions.

    Utopians see a future where technology enables and facilitates a global workforce that is able to interact seamlessly — where opportunity is no longer bound by borders, and anyone has access to highly skilled work. Without this future, innovation ability at a global level will stall and put humanity at risk of extinction. If, or when, our planet is ever faced with an existential crisis, being able to leverage the entire human race efficiently to solve it is our only hope.

    Dystopians see automation and global talent access as a way for money-hungry leaders to further cut costs while maximizing profits at the expense of their workers. The profit maximization theory introduced by Milton Friedman in the ’70s saw the death of the stable middle class and has caused the income gap to rise exponentially ever since. Unless mediated and executed responsibly, AI and distributed workforce could cause further separation as fortunes are concentrated at the top of the pyramid. The rise of contract workers will create a race to the bottom as employees are forced to underbid each other for the limited “human work” available.

    The elephant in the room then is predicting which reality will unfold.

    Trends in managing distributed teams

    Most of us have used products and services from companies like Stack Overflow, Zapier, Stripe, Automattic, InVision, Gigster and GitHub that successfully operate distributed teams. These enterprises have succeeded at remote management minus physical face-to-face communication. Among the trending approaches used in managing co-located workers that can yield results when applied to distributed teams include:

    • Data-driven decision-making: This involves using facts, insights and metrics to make strategic business decisions that align with a company’s goals, strategies and initiatives. Instead of making assumptions, the technique leverages accurate, verified data to understand a business’s needs. The process comprises collecting and analyzing data through research and drawing insights that benefit the company.

    • Automation: Companies are future-proofing by building cross-platform automation infrastructure that facilitates asynchronous work and reduces human capital expenses and latency while enhancing productivity and team experiences. This helps to address the most significant challenges facing remote teams, like loneliness, unplugging after work and communication/collaboration across teams.

    • Performance tracking: Companies are accurately monitoring productivity and performance levels among remote teams by implementing data-driven performance evaluations to assess each staffer’s progress within their role. The assessments that are performed using various tools like Asana, Jira, 15five and Impraise, etc., also allow the employer to align the company’s objectives with daily tasks and actions.

    • Collaboration tools: During the pandemic, we saw massive spikes in use and stock prices of remote tooling such as Zoom, Atlassian and others. While there are a few tools (Microsoft Teams, GSuite) that own a large portion of market share, we are seeing insurgents move into the space that “unbundle” these platforms. These new tools offer hyper-focused capabilities that often outperform the incumbents. Using remote work-first tools is imperative to success. Trying to shoehorn tools made for IRL work for distributed teams will fail.

    Related: Will Artificial Intelligence Lead Us to a Utopian Future? Elon Musk & Jack Ma Discuss Its Prospects

    The future of work’s potential dystopian outcome

    What can we expect in the event of a dystopian outcome? Most jobs we reckon as “safe” will become candidates for AI takeover, with displacements only comparable to the industrial revolution. “Data-driven decision-making” will cause the increasingly rare human employee to be seen as just another cog in the machine — easily expended and replaced. “Low-skill” work that cannot be automated will be outsourced to low-cost regions, effectively building a Mariana Trench in the U.S. class gap.

    Amazon has been criticized for ceding tasks like human-resource operations to bots that use software to manage and oversee contract workers. A contract driver recently lamented after being terminated by an algorithm that tracked him and decided “he wasn’t doing his job properly.”

    The gig economy, where workers don’t receive statutory benefits, will become the order of the day and probably plant the seeds of radicalism as workers become a permanent underclass with no prospect of advancement. Companies will turn to cost-cutting arrangements that favor them regarding salaries and only pay as and when they need work done.

    The book Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future draws the most vivid picture:

    “There’s an old joke that the factory of the future will have two employees: a human and a dog. The human’s job will be to feed the dog, and the dog’s job will be to keep the human from touching any of the machines. Is that actually what the company of tomorrow will look like?”

    The future of work’s potential utopian outcome

    On the other hand, there’s great potential for a utopian outcome as AI and data seamlessly integrate into all aspects of life to deliver greater efficiency. The wave of automation will increase efficiency as machines perform repetitive tasks cheaper and better than humans. The emerging AI-powered distributed teams will decimate the traditional 9-to-5 jobs, and companies will repackage the existing work into part-time and contract jobs or outsource on a need basis.

    We see the future workforce taking a “portfolio” approach in which they’re able to pick and choose what work they want to do and when they want to do it. This ability to opt-in will create a workforce that feels more fulfilled and stable than what we have today.

    By leveraging the wealth of democratization of business intelligence software and available digital insights, managers will make data-driven decisions based on accurate trends and tangible visualizations. This will remove many of the biases and prejudices that cause many good employees to go undervalued. We have seen from internal studies that distributed workers are supportive of algorithmic performance tracking if they know how they are being measured. However, when not told how they are being measured, we saw immediate backlash.

    The result will be a proper work-life balance that will eliminate stress and burnout while boosting clarity of mind and creativity.

    Related: 3 Elements at the Forefront of Global Team Success

    What is the future of work?

    What’s important to understand is that when we think about a “utopian” or “dystopian” future, we’re looking 30 to 50 years down the road. You have to imagine how differently future generations will perceive “work.” Millennials have a drastically different work philosophy than Baby Boomers, which only represents an 18-year difference. It is our job to see this future and lay the groundwork to enable it.

    The trends in managing distributed teams we mentioned aren’t based on future predictions, though. They are happening right now. How will your company use them to build and manage successful teams that help lead us toward the utopian side of things?

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    Cory Hymel

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  • How New Businesses Can Take Advantage of the Future of Work | Entrepreneur

    How New Businesses Can Take Advantage of the Future of Work | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The future of work we have all been waiting for came faster than we expected, completely reshaping how to start and run businesses. Enterprises and established businesses are currently struggling to rethink their offices and company culture as the human cloud and hybrid work models come into greater demand. Unfortunately, traditional organizational structures and 9-5 work cultures are difficult to break free from when they’ve been how the company operates for years.

    New businesses aren’t burdened by any existing, outdated processes and policies that can limit growth and productivity in the future of work. Today’s entrepreneurs and startup founders have the ability to organize their business from the ground up to take full advantage of the benefits of the future of work.

    So, if you were starting a new business designed for the future of work, what would it look like?

    Related: 4 Things for Employers to Consider About the Future of Work

    Incorporate distributed teams into your organizational chart

    Traditional companies have an established, top-down org structure, and any freelance, contract or gig workers are considered “other” or outside the organization. This structure isn’t viable in an era where the workforce is becoming increasingly freelance, contract, remote, fluid and distributed.

    Apart from showing each employee’s job and who is accountable to whom, a startup’s organizational structure streamlines the flow of communication and information from the company’s leadership to all workers and team members. The future of work demands a more flexible and inclusive organizational structure, bringing on board a fragmented workforce while fully addressing the roles and communication channels available between the organization and its team members working outside the company. Remote and distributed workers can help meet your company’s needs when their employer meets their expectations and fulfills their psychological needs of belonging and recognition.

    Adopt a non-linear chain of work

    When developing the org chart, you should also allow for more decentralized decision-making instead of a traditional hierarchy. As the work model gradually adopts the new concept of employment, startups and budding entrepreneurs must move away from the traditional top-down management structure and adopt a non-linear or decentralized business model. Top-down, linear management slows down the pace of work and limits the potential for team members to contribute innovative ideas.

    Decentralized decision-making will be particularly valuable as you embrace outsourcing and allow for the expertise of people outside the organization to be added to the conversation.

    Related: 4 Reasons Decentralized Business Management Is Booming

    Embrace outsourcing

    As companies look to innovate at scale, outsourcing software development and leveraging staff augmentation have become increasingly common. In fact, having a large in-house team isn’t really necessary at all in the future of work.

    Outsourcing development to distributed teams allows your company to stay lean while rapidly responding to the latest tech opportunities. By comparison, traditional companies that expanded their tech staff in the past several years are now being forced to downsize their teams as the overall market and tech landscape changes. In addition to avoiding the costs of constantly scaling up and down to meet your current needs, outsourcing provides access to expert software teams that can improve the speed and quality of your development cycles.

    Consider remote and asynchronous work

    The future of work increases the chances that you will end up hiring across international borders, as data from the Remote Workforce Report 2023 shows 44% of firms are increasing cross-border hiring. To fully enjoy benefits like greater productivity and higher retention rates, you’ll need to create corresponding distributed processes for your teams in different time zones and geographical locations that must work together to deliver results despite not sharing common office spaces.

    A change in the work environment demands a corresponding operational change to maximize efficiency and productivity; you may want to implement asynchronous processes instead of traditional ones. With remote teams, work will not be happening in the same place at the same time; you must establish async communication and coordination processes for remote workers because the future of work means work can happen in different places at different times. Going async from the start means workers don’t have to be online simultaneously, as they can work autonomously and still deliver expected outcomes.

    Related: How to Be a Truly Asynchronous Workplace

    Create workflows for distributed teams

    A recent study found that 72% of the polled workers wouldn’t consider accepting offers from companies that didn’t offer flexible work options, as they preferred a better work-life balance. As the future of work provides prospects for workers to operate from the most exotic places, you should future-proof your new startup by creating a workflow for your remote teams that makes work-related communication easy to increase productivity.

    Make plans for implementing clear and visible workflows showing how team members and managers collaborate to reap the benefits of remote working. A tailor-made workflow is a tool that will make it possible for your managers to track all tasks and focus on high-value tasks. More visibility, such as seeing teammates’ conversations on dealing with work-related obstacles, will help others learn lessons and avoid repeating the same conversations all over, thereby enhancing efficiency and creating better teamwork.

    Large organizations worldwide are already implementing new ways to stay ahead of the competition. Luckily, entrepreneurs have an advantage because they can design a business perfectly organized to take advantage of the future of work. As businesses rely on outsourcing, asynchronous work and distributed teams, the organizations that are best able to support these new structures will see the most success.

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    Cory Hymel

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  • How to Future-Proof Your Tech Career

    How to Future-Proof Your Tech Career

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    One of the most significant shifts we are witnessing is the disruption caused by evolving technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain. While they are still far from being perfectly refined, we are already seeing more significant use of AI and blockchain-based innovations across industries.

    Add to this the cyclical nature of the economy — the current downturn and the inevitable headcount reductions — that are making many tech professionals, not unlike myself, wonder what their career in tech will look like five to ten years from now.

    Seeing disruptive technologies

    There will inevitably be a move towards simple tasks automation in user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) development and design. Neural networks trained on huge data sets are set to significantly speed up and simplify the work of engineers and even replace some of those engineers to some extent.

    To stay in demand, I believe it is becoming essential for tech professionals to expand their horizons, including by deepening their knowledge of higher mathematics to help improve their skill set for solving complex architectural and scaling problems. Being able to come up with creative solutions and solve tasks in unorthodox ways is already important, but the trend toward valuing out-of-the-box thinking will only intensify going forward, in my view.

    The most in-demand skills in 2020, for example, were cloud computing, artificial intelligence, analytical reasoning, people management, and UX design, according to research by LinkedIn. These skills are expected to remain highly sought after as technology advances and organizations look to leverage innovation to drive growth.

    However, It’s not enough to simply possess these competencies because your skills and knowledge must be continuously updated to keep pace with the ever-evolving technology landscape.

    Learning new tricks

    To stay ahead of the curve, tech professionals must be proactive in their own continuous learning and professional development.

    For example, platforms such as Coursera, Udemy and Codecademy offer a wide variety of courses, ranging from beginner to advanced level, that can help tech professionals brush up on the latest technologies and best practices. Additionally, attending industry events and networking with peers can provide valuable insights into the latest trends and developments in the field.

    Learning doesn’t have to be formal or certificate-based. The most important thing is for a person to have a thirst for knowledge, a desire and the drive to want to become a better version of themselves every day, and a good grasp of advanced mathematics and similar STEM disciplines as a strong foundation for continuing to build future skills.

    Vetting soft skills

    Regarding future-proofing your career in tech, I would stress that soft skills are nearly as important as hard skills or technical knowledge and abilities specific to your field. Soft skills refer to the personal attributes and qualities important for working effectively with others. These include communication, problem-solving, and leadership — all are key for future career advancement.

    When interviewing candidates for positions at FunCorp, a developer of entertainment tech products, including apps for meme lovers, certain soft skills are the key to success. We look for people who enjoy creating and are not solely focused on completing the tasks set for them. We also want the type of person focused on ongoing personal development with the passion and drive to continue learning and evolving. This type of person will make sure to continue learning to make up for any gap in the hard skills they may possess.

    Staying motivated

    Striving to be a professional committed to ongoing personal development can go a long way. Motivating yourself to keep learning and upgrading your tech expertise can also be challenging. Luckily, several strategies can help.

    Setting specific and measurable goals for yourself is a great way to stay focused and remain on track. For example, you could set a goal to complete a certain course or certification by a certain date, or aim to attend a certain number of industry events every year. Breaking larger goals into smaller, more manageable tasks can also make them less daunting.

    Another effective strategy is to find a community of like-minded individuals motivated to learn and grow. Sharing progress and setbacks with them can provide a sense of accountability and motivation. Reward yourself for completing tasks or reaching milestones. Continuously remind yourself of the benefits of learning and upgrading your tech skills, such as increased job opportunities or higher pay. Setting yourself up for a brighter professional future should be a great incentive!

    It’s also important to find the right learning methods that work for you, such as taking online courses, attending workshops or regularly participating in online forums relevant to your specialization. Keeping yourself updated with the latest trends and what’s happening in the industry can help you to stay motivated and engaged. But it’s also essential to take a break if you feel burnout and revisit your goals with a fresh perspective from time to time.

    After all, nothing is set in stone when it comes to thinking about and planning for the future beyond 2023. Despite the recent turbulence, I believe the tech sector is still the place to be. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in computer and information technology occupations is projected to grow 11% from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all other occupations. So the demand will continue to be there as long as your technical and soft skills stay current and well-aligned with ongoing technological advancements.

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    Denis Litvinov

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  • Free On-Demand Webinar: How to Raise Capital & Scale A Business

    Free On-Demand Webinar: How to Raise Capital & Scale A Business

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    As a groom in 2005, our next guest experienced first hand how difficult it was to find an online resource that would help him execute his wedding plans more efficiently. He vowed to build a tech-forward company that would make planning less stressful and frustrating for engaged couples. Since co-founding WeddingWire in 2007, Timothy Chi led the company from an internet start-up to a multimillion-dollar leader in the wedding planning industry. He also led the merger of WeddingWire with The Knot and its collective brands under one umbrella – The Knot Worldwide – the largest provider of wedding marketplaces, websites, planning tools and registry services in 16 countries across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

    In the next Leadership Lessons episode, Chi will chat with series host Jason Nazar about the greatest lessons he learned from his 25+ year career. Topics include:

    • Entrepreneurship & co-founding companies

    • How to raise capital & scale a company

    • The future of work & workplace culture

    • Servant leadership

    Watch now!

    About The Speakers:

    Timothy Chi is co-founder of WeddingWire and CEO of The Knot Worldwide, a leading global wedding planning company comprised of over 1,900 employees worldwide. Previously, he co-founded Blackboard Inc. where he helped the company grow to over 600 employees, raised $100M in capital with a valuation of $750M, and took the company public in 2004. Chi holds a B.S. degree in Operations Research/Industrial Engineering from Cornell University and a M.S. degree in Engineering Management from Tufts University. He is a member of the Young President’s Organization in Washington, D.C.

    Jason Nazar is a serial tech entrepreneur, advisor, and investor with two successful exits. He was most recently co-founder/CEO of workplace culture review platform Comparably (acquired by ZoomInfo), and previously co-founder/CEO of Docstoc (acquired by Intuit). Jason was named LA Times’ Top 5 CEOs of Midsize Companies (2020), LA Business Journal’s Most Admired CEOs (2016), and appointed inaugural Entrepreneur in Residence for the city of Los Angeles (2016-2018). He holds a B.A. degree from the University of California Santa Barbara and his JD and MBA from Pepperdine University. He currently teaches Entrepreneurship as an adjunct professor at UCLA.

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    Jason Nazar

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  • Free Webinar | January 31: How to Raise Capital & Scale A Business

    Free Webinar | January 31: How to Raise Capital & Scale A Business

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    As a groom in 2005, our next guest experienced first hand how difficult it was to find an online resource that would help him execute his wedding plans more efficiently. He vowed to build a tech-forward company that would make planning less stressful and frustrating for engaged couples. Since co-founding WeddingWire in 2007, Timothy Chi led the company from an internet start-up to a multimillion-dollar leader in the wedding planning industry. He also led the merger of WeddingWire with The Knot and its collective brands under one umbrella – The Knot Worldwide – the largest provider of wedding marketplaces, websites, planning tools and registry services in 16 countries across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

    In the next Leadership Lessons episode, Chi will chat with series host Jason Nazar about the greatest lessons he learned from his 25+ year career. Topics include:

    • Entrepreneurship & co-founding companies

    • How to raise capital & scale a company

    • The future of work & workplace culture

    • Servant leadership

    Don’t miss out—register now!

    About The Speakers

    Timothy Chi is co-founder of WeddingWire and CEO of The Knot Worldwide, a leading global wedding planning company comprised of over 1,900 employees worldwide. Previously, he co-founded Blackboard Inc. where he helped the company grow to over 600 employees, raised $100M in capital with a valuation of $750M, and took the company public in 2004. Chi holds a B.S. degree in Operations Research/Industrial Engineering from Cornell University and a M.S. degree in Engineering Management from Tufts University. He is a member of the Young President’s Organization in Washington, D.C.

    Jason Nazar is a serial tech entrepreneur, advisor, and investor with two successful exits. He was most recently co-founder/CEO of workplace culture review platform Comparably (acquired by ZoomInfo), and previously co-founder/CEO of Docstoc (acquired by Intuit). Jason was named LA Times’ Top 5 CEOs of Midsize Companies (2020), LA Business Journal’s Most Admired CEOs (2016), and appointed inaugural Entrepreneur in Residence for the city of Los Angeles (2016-2018). He holds a B.A. degree from the University of California Santa Barbara and his JD and MBA from Pepperdine University. He currently teaches Entrepreneurship as an adjunct professor at UCLA.

    [ad_2]

    Jason Nazar

    Source link

  • Free Webinar | January 31: How to Raise Capital & Scale A Business

    Free Webinar | January 31: How to Raise Capital & Scale A Business

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    As a groom in 2005, our next guest experienced first hand how difficult it was to find an online resource that would help him execute his wedding plans more efficiently. He vowed to build a tech-forward company that would make planning less stressful and frustrating for engaged couples. Since co-founding WeddingWire in 2007, Timothy Chi led the company from an internet start-up to a multimillion-dollar leader in the wedding planning industry. He also led the merger of WeddingWire with The Knot and its collective brands under one umbrella – The Knot Worldwide – the largest provider of wedding marketplaces, websites, planning tools and registry services in 16 countries across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

    In the next Leadership Lessons episode, Chi will chat with series host Jason Nazar about the greatest lessons he learned from his 25+ year career. Topics include:

    • Entrepreneurship & co-founding companies

    • How to raise capital & scale a company

    • The future of work & workplace culture

    • Servant leadership

    Don’t miss out—register now!

    About The Speakers

    Timothy Chi is co-founder of WeddingWire and CEO of The Knot Worldwide, a leading global wedding planning company comprised of over 1,900 employees worldwide. Previously, he co-founded Blackboard Inc. where he helped the company grow to over 600 employees, raised $100M in capital with a valuation of $750M, and took the company public in 2004. Chi holds a B.S. degree in Operations Research/Industrial Engineering from Cornell University and a M.S. degree in Engineering Management from Tufts University. He is a member of the Young President’s Organization in Washington, D.C.

    Jason Nazar is a serial tech entrepreneur, advisor, and investor with two successful exits. He was most recently co-founder/CEO of workplace culture review platform Comparably (acquired by ZoomInfo), and previously co-founder/CEO of Docstoc (acquired by Intuit). Jason was named LA Times’ Top 5 CEOs of Midsize Companies (2020), LA Business Journal’s Most Admired CEOs (2016), and appointed inaugural Entrepreneur in Residence for the city of Los Angeles (2016-2018). He holds a B.A. degree from the University of California Santa Barbara and his JD and MBA from Pepperdine University. He currently teaches Entrepreneurship as an adjunct professor at UCLA.

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    Jason Nazar

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