The Future Of Less Work

What if the biggest signals about the future of work aren’t coming from boardrooms or technology labs but from workers themselves? ManpowerGroup’s 2026 Global Talent Barometer reveals a global workforce that feels confident in its skills, uneasy about AI, eager for stability, and increasingly determined to reshape the role work plays in their lives.In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Becky Frankiewicz, President & Chief Strategy Officer at ManpowerGroup, to explore what this data means for organizations, leaders, and anyone navigating their career in a year shaped by rapid technological change. Together, they unpack why workers trust their capabilities more than their credentials, why AI adoption is rising even as confidence in using it falls, and why job hugging is becoming the new quiet quitting driven by choice.The conversation dives into the forces reshaping internal mobility, the decline in degree requirements, and the surprising truth about why many employees would rather grow within their current organization than leave it. Becky offers rare insight into what human skills will matter most as AI takes on more tasks, and why reasoning, creativity, and contribution will remain uniquely human.If you’ve ever wondered what workers really want right now, how AI is redefining—not replacing—human contribution, or what the next era of career growth inside organizations will look like, this episode offers a clear, grounded view of the road ahead.https://youtu.be/YQs38CoBPfw Guest Information:Becky Frankiewicz is the President & Chief Strategy Officer at ManpowerGroup. In July 2017, Becky Frankiewicz joined ManpowerGroup as the President of ManpowerGroup North America. Prior to ManpowerGroup, she led one of PepsiCo’s largest subsidiaries, Quaker Foods North America. She was also named by Fast Company as one of the most creative people in the industry, anticipating and adapting to fast changing consumer demands. In 2020, Becky was appointed as a Board of Director for Energizer Holdings, Inc. She held a variety of senior leadership roles at PepsiCo, worked at Deloitte and Andersen Consulting and Procter & Gamble. Becky has a great educational track record, attaining top marks at the University of Texas, where she earned an MBA in finance, and a BA in Marketing. She has also completed executive training at Harvard Business School and IMD Business School in Switzerland. Want to dive deeper into this topic? Read Nirit’s Forbes article, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠"⁠Managing The Now And The Next Is Leadership’s Hardest Job Today", to explore these ideas further.  Links:2026 Global Talent Barometer  Chapters:00:00 – What Do Workers Actually Want in a World of AI?01:43 – What Does The Future of Less Work Really Mean for Employees?03:35 – When AI Takes Tasks, Who Redefines Jobs?05:39 – Why Are Workers Confident in Their Skills but Anxious About Technology?07:30 – Is Job Hugging a Sign That Power Has Shifted Back to Employers?09:25 – How Internal Mobility Is Replacing Traditional Career Ladders11:27 – Why Talent Shortages Are Forcing Companies to Build Skills Internally13:08 – Why Most Employees Aren’t Getting the Training They Need15:09 – What Skills Will Matter When AI Takes Over Routine Work?17:30 – What Can Humans Do That AI Agents Still Can’t?19:39 – Are Degrees Losing Their Value in the Job Market?21:44 – How Should Education Change in an AI-Driven Economy?23:47 – Are Skills the New Currency of Work?25:51 – Why Leaders Must Shift from Having Answers to Asking Questions27:35 – What Does the N=1 Workforce Mean for the Future of Work?29:45 – Is AI Really Transforming Work or Just Accelerating Automation?32:33 – How Should Organizations Approach AI Change Management?34:24 – How Can Individuals Stay Relevant as Work Keeps Changing?36:25 – What Role Do You Want Work to Play in Your Life?

What happens when competitive advantage no longer comes from having the right plan, but from how quickly you can adapt when the plan stops working?In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Arjan Singh, author of Competitive Success, to explore what strategy looks like in a world defined by uncertainty, AI, and constant disruption. As organizations move away from long-term planning cycles, the conversation reframes strategy as a living capability rather than a static document. Together, Nirit and Arjan unpack why traditional planning assumptions collapse in volatile markets, how corporate war games help leaders surface blind spots before they become costly mistakes, and why preparing for unlikely but high-impact scenarios matters more than predicting the future. They discuss how AI is reshaping decision-making by making data abundant while elevating the importance of human judgment, context, and cultural awareness. The conversation goes beyond strategy teams and into the future of work itself. Arjan explains how continuous preparedness is changing leadership roles, why middle management must shift from reporting to decision quality, and what happens to early-career roles when routine analytical work can be automated in minutes. They also explore the risks of over-optimizing for efficiency and underestimating the nuanced human contributions that differentiate organizations in an AI-saturated world. If you’re trying to understand how leaders, organizations, and individuals can stay relevant when certainty is gone and advantage is temporary, this episode offers a powerful framework for thinking, deciding, and competing in the future of work.https://youtu.be/uAJvbPT7DYkGuest Information:Arjan Singh, author of Competitive Success: Building Strategies with Corporate War Games, is an expert in helping companies develop data-driven strategies through war games, strategic and competitive analysis, scenario planning and building business early warning systems that deliver significant impact. He has advised 68 of the top 100 companies in the Fortune Global 500 list in building winning strategies. Singh is an Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Global Consulting at Southern Methodist University (SMU) COX School of Business.Chapters:00:00 – How Do You Build Strategy When You Can’t Predict the Future?01:21 – What Are Corporate War Games and Why Do Companies Use Them?02:30 – How Do You Plan When Markets Are Unstable and Assumptions Break?03:20 – Can You Prepare for Events That Seem Impossible or Unlikely?05:20 – What’s the Difference Between Scenario Planning and War Gaming?07:32 – Why Long-Term Strategic Planning No Longer Works08:51 – What Is Continuous Strategy and How Is It Different from Annual Planning?11:10 – What Decisions Should Humans Make When AI Handles the Data?13:19 – How Do Leaders Balance Data, Judgment, and People Impact?15:20 – Why Do Organizations Ignore Bad News and Worst-Case Scenarios?17:15 – How Do You Challenge Leadership Assumptions Without Getting Shut Down?19:33 – How Can Companies Identify Blind Spots Before Competitors Do?21:20 – Is Being Prepared a Competitive Advantage?23:22 – How Is AI Changing Management and Middle-Management Roles?25:48 – Which Jobs and Skills Are Most at Risk from AI Automation?27:44 – Are Companies Overestimating What AI Can Replace?28:56 – How Do You Build Comfort With Ambiguity and Uncertainty?30:14 – What Question Should We All Be Asking About the Future of Work?

Shinichiro Nakamura, a manufacturing expert and president of ONE to ONE Holdings, shares insights on the intersection of AI and manufacturing. He explains why low-volume, high-variation work still relies heavily on human expertise. The conversation dives into how Gen Z views manufacturing careers, highlighting the appeal of tech-enabled, safer roles. Nakamura discusses the cultural barriers AI faces, particularly in Japan, and the need to document tacit knowledge for future generations. This grounded dialogue sheds light on the evolving landscape of work in an automated world.

What if the most important skill for the future of work isn’t technical or strategic—but human?In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Claude Silver, the world’s first Chief Heart Officer and No. 2 executive at VaynerX, to explore what it really means to lead with heart. As the right hand to Gary Vaynerchuk, Claude has built a culture where empathy, belonging, and authenticity are not soft skills—they’re strategic advantages.Together, Nirit and Claude unpack how workplaces can scale humanity, how leaders can create belonging even across time zones and generations, and why fitting in is outdated in a world that demands genuine connection. Claude shares how her framework of emotional optimism, bravery, and efficiency helps leaders balance compassion with performance—and why fear around AI is an opportunity to rediscover what makes us uniquely human.They explore what “being yourself at work” truly looks like, how to design cultures where individuality is celebrated instead of suppressed, and why the heart—not the algorithm—will define the next era of leadership.If you’ve ever wondered how to build trust in a hybrid world, how to bring more humanity into leadership, or how to stay grounded as technology transforms what we do, this conversation will change how you think about work—and about yourself. https://youtu.be/bgxBXr_GrzQ Guest Information:Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX and author of Be Yourself at Work.  Claude Silver is on a mission to revolutionize leadership, talent, and workplace culture. She is the world's first Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX and partners with CEO Gary Vaynerchuk to drive their success. Silver has earned Campaign US's Female Frontier Award and AdWeek's Changing the Game Award and she electrifies audiences at national and international conferences and at organizations, including Meta, Google, US Government agencies, and the US Armed Forces. She has been interviewed on dozens of podcasts and featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal. She is the author of Be Yourself at Work: The Groundbreaking Power of Showing Up, Standing Out, and Leading from the Heart. Links:Website: https://www.claudesilver.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casilver/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claudesilver/?hl=en  Chapters:00:00 – What Does Being Yourself at Work Really Mean?01:15 – What Does a Chief Heart Officer Do?03:10 – Why VaynerX Created the Chief Heart Officer Role04:55 – What Makes Humans Valuable in an AI World?06:45 – Can Empathy Drive Business Performance?08:55 – Do Companies Still Need Humans When AI Is Everywhere?10:45 – What Is Authentic Presence at Work?11:05 – Emotional Optimism, Bravery, and Efficiency Explained13:35 – How to Face AI Fear Without Ignoring It14:50 – Why Fitting In at Work Is Outdated15:55 – How to Create Belonging in Hybrid and Remote Teams16:45 – Why Managers Are the Weakest Link in Culture17:20 – How to Train Managers to Build Trust18:05 – How to Build a Culture Where You Don’t Have to Change to Belong19:30 – How VaynerX Scales Culture Across Countries21:40 – Can Processes Kill Authenticity at Work?23:40 – How to Put People First During Layoffs and Hard Decisions26:30 – What Question Should We Be Asking About the Future of Work?28:55 – How AI Changes What Makes You Valuable at Work

In this enlightening discussion, Joe Hart, CEO of Dale Carnegie Training and leadership expert, and Matt Britton, CEO of Suzy and author of Generation AI, delve into the implications of AI on our humanity. They emphasize the importance of creativity, empathy, and effective communication in an AI-driven world. Joe highlights that leadership must prioritize trust and transparency. Both guests advocate for evolving education and developing human skills like problem-solving. Discover how individuals can embrace changes and future-proof themselves amid rapid technological advancements.

What happens when AI stops automating tasks and starts redesigning the workplace itself? In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Rakshit Ghura, Vice President and General Manager of Digital Workplace Solutions at Lenovo, to explore the bold ideas behind Lenovo’s Work Reborn research. Rakshit explains why most companies are still stuck digitizing old habits, even though nearly every organization claims to be transforming.Together, Nirit and Rakshit unpack the shift to hyper-personalization—how AI analyzes work patterns, digital friction, focus time, and preferred tools to tailor each person’s environment, even reconfiguring devices in real time. Rakshit expands the conversation beyond productivity, showing how intelligent systems can reduce burnout, support well-being, and create work that flexes around life rather than forcing people to bend around systems.The episode also dives into democratizing innovation, the rise of digital twins that take on the repetitive “boring parts” of work, and why the organizations that thrive will be those that redeploy human capacity toward creativity, differentiation, and new value.If you want to understand where adaptive workplaces are heading—and how AI can help every employee become the best version of themselves—this conversation offers a clear, human-centered view of what work reborn really looks like.https://youtu.be/a4-sxtVBmmQ  Guest Information: Rakshit Ghura is the Vice President and General Manager of Digital Workplace Solutions (DWS) at Lenovo, where he leads the company’s strategic initiatives in the digital workplace and cybersecurity domains. In this role, Rakshit is instrumental in shaping Lenovo’s vision for the future of work, focusing on areas such as workplace mobility, Device as a Service, Persona-based configuration, automation, analytics, employee experience, and collaboration, with a strong emphasis on consulting and advisory services. Prior to joining Lenovo, Rakshit served as the Senior Vice President and Global Head of Digital Workplace Services & ServiceNow business at HCLTech. During his tenure, he was responsible for defining, incubating, and creating the product roadmap and strategy for digital workplace services. Rakshit is a recognized thought leader in the industry, frequently sharing insights on the impact of Generative AI, the evolution of the hybrid workplace, and the importance of unifying people, culture, and technology to redesign the future of work. He has contributed to various industry discussions, including podcasts and whitepapers.  Chapters:00:00 – Why Work Needs a Complete Redesign00:57 – Digitization vs. Reinvention of Work02:30 – Why Companies Struggle to Transform04:18 – The Rise of Hyper-Personalized Workplaces06:21 – How AI Learns Your Work Patterns08:09 – Tailoring Devices and Systems to Individuals09:10 – AI That Flexes Work Around Life10:40 – Reducing Burnout With Intelligent Systems11:19 – How to Build Trust in Workplace AI13:10 – Using AI Without Creating Fear or Job Loss Anxiety15:35 – Why AI Skills Matter More Than AI Automation16:45 – How AI Democratizes Workplace Innovation17:13 – Leadership in an Employee-Driven Innovation Model17:59 – Where Organizations Get Stuck in AI Transformation18:52 – Why “Start Small, Scale Fast” Works for AI19:47 – People-First, Process-Second, Tech-Third Strategy20:50 – How Companies Can Keep Up With Fast-Changing AI Tools22:40 – The Role of Employee Learning in AI Adoption23:30 – Real Examples of AI-Enabled Workflow Redesign25:50 – How Digital Twins Reduce Digital Friction26:59 – Co-Creating With AI Across the Organization27:34 – Digital Twins and the Future of Every Job28:58 – Doing Less of What Doesn’t Matter With AI

Finance has always been about precision, proof, and trust — qualities now being redefined in the age of AI. According to OneStream’s new AI Pulse Report, three out of four CFOs are leading enterprise AI strategy, yet only a third have managed to scale it successfully. So what happens when the people who once managed numbers begin managing intelligence?In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Tom Shea, CEO of OneStream, to explore how AI is transforming finance — and, with it, the future of work. Tom shares why CFOs are uniquely positioned to steer the AI agenda, how finance’s “show-your-work” discipline is shaping enterprise trust, and why solving deterministic problems — where there’s only one right answer — is key to building real confidence in AI.The conversation delves into what happens when human judgment, context, and mentorship meet machine precision. From the risk of losing early-career learning to the emergence of AI agents as digital teammates, Tom and Nirit unpack what it takes to build systems that don’t just automate, but understand.If you’ve ever wondered how the rise of AI will reshape not just finance, but how organizations think, decide, and grow, this episode offers a grounded look at the future of intelligent work — where humans and machines learn to trust each other.https://youtu.be/Jy6-5ZYTPmw Guest Information:Tom Shea is the co-founder and CEO of OneStream, and one of the original architects of the OneStream platform. His mission is to transform the corporate performance management (CPM) ecosystem with a solution that combines power and flexibility with ease of use, deployment, and maintenance. For more than a decade, Tom has been dedicated to delivering value, success, and support to users – drawing on his deep understanding of finance and technology to drive fully innovative products. Before founding OneStream, he co-founded UpStream Software, where he invented and architected UpStream TB and UpStream WebLink, pioneering the Financial Data Quality Management space.Chapters:00:00 — Why CFOs Now Lead AI Strategy01:35 — Can AI Replace or Redesign Finance Work?03:33 — Deterministic vs Non-Deterministic AI in Finance05:39 — How AI Learns Corporate Context07:42 — Why Deterministic Problems Are the Hardest for AI09:45 — Will AI Eliminate Entry-Level Finance Roles?11:42 — Can AI Fix the Spreadsheet Problem?13:57 — How AI Frees Finance to Become Strategic15:35 — What Happens When AI Handles the Basics?17:44 — From Human-in-the-Loop to Trusted AI Agents20:00 — Why Finance Needs Explainable AI21:56 — Why So Many AI Pilots Fail24:15 — Productized AI vs Internal Experiments25:59 — Unlocking Full AI Value in Finance27:28 — Why AI Needs Context, Not Just Data29:02 — Coding Human Judgment Into AI Systems31:17 — The Real Opportunity: Turning Over Agency to AI32:55 — Will AI Replace Work or Give Us Superpowers? 

What happens when AI doesn’t just do our work—but starts shaping how we think?In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Dr. Kirsti Samuels—founder and CEO of KS Insight and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University—to unpack the overlooked risks AI poses to leadership and culture. From standardized thinking to conflict avoidance, the conversation challenges the idea that AI is an innovation partner—and asks what we lose when tools reward consensus, speed, and surface-level answers.Drawing on her work with heads of state, rebel leaders, and Fortune 500 executives, Kirsti explains why the best leaders create “pressure cookers” where discomfort leads to insight, and why psychological safety is no longer enough without dissent, disagreement, and deliberate resistance to vanilla answers. Together, they explore how to lead through change, why answers are cheap but good questions are rare, and why the real threat isn’t that AI replaces people—but that it teaches leaders to avoid being human.If you’ve ever wondered what leadership should look like in an AI-driven world—or what skills organizations must urgently develop—this conversation is your starting point.https://youtu.be/dKlwlEDJ5J8 Guest Information:Dr. Kirsti Samuels is the founder and CEO of KS Insight, a leadership and strategy consultancy based in New York City. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, where she teaches Leadership and Management in Moments of Adversity and Opportunity to Master’s students at the School of International and Public Affairs. As an entrepreneur and strategist with 25 years of experience, Kirsti specializes in tackling complex problems with innovative approaches. Her clients have included the President of the Comoros Islands, the leadership of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the U.S. Department of State, the Clinton Global Initiative, the United Nations, the World Bank, the American Hospital Association, and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Kirsti holds a Doctorate in Law from Oxford University, a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Bachelor of Science and Law from Sydney University  Links:https://ks-insight.com/  Chapters:00:00 — What Happens When AI Shapes How We Think?03:10 — Why AI Makes Everything Sound the Same07:30 — Can Leaders Train AI to Challenge Them?10:00 — The Real Skill Behind Innovation: Tolerating Discomfort12:00 — What High-Stakes Leaders Do Differently14:45 — Leadership Skills for a Volatile AI Era17:30 — How to Lead Change Without Breaking People20:00 — Why AI’s Warmth May Weaken Us22:00 — The Marshmallow Challenge: When Having the Answer Kills Innovation24:00 — How Social Discomfort Blocks Better Ideas26:30 — Can We Still Spark Innovation Without Face-to-Face?29:00 — Building Cultures That Welcome Pushback31:00 — Why Human Feedback Still Matters More Than AI33:00 — The Question We Should Be Asking About Leadership35:00 — The Deeply Human Skills AI Can’t Replace

As AI becomes capable of doing not just the work of our hands but also the thinking of our minds, one question looms large: what remains uniquely human?In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Dr. Tatyana Mamut — economic anthropologist and CEO of Wayfound — to explore the human value add in the age of AI. Together, they unpack how judgment, taste, trust, and relationships form the foundation of real value at work, and why replacing people with agents can strip away the very essence that makes an organization thrive. Tatyana shares how her company helps leaders navigate the “multisapiens workplace,” where humans and AI agents work side by side. She explains why AI should eliminate inhuman work, not human jobs — freeing people to focus on creativity, connection, and purpose — and how leaders must redesign management and culture to reflect this shift.The conversation moves from the classroom to the boardroom, covering why education must emphasize human skills, how AI can become a trusted collaborator rather than a threat, and why the future manager may oversee teams made up mostly of intelligent agents.If you’ve ever wondered what role humans will play when machines can do almost everything else — and how to redefine leadership, purpose, andmeaning in that world — this episode is your guide to what makes us human in the age of AI.Want to dive deeper into this topic? Read Nirit’s Forbes article, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠"⁠AI Isn’t Eliminating Jobs. It’s Eliminating Inhuman Work", to explore these ideas further.  Guest Information:Dr. Tatyana Mamut, is the CEO andCo-Founder of Wayfound where she is driving the next frontier of workforces through AI management for a more seamless multisapiens workforce. Leveraging her Ph.D in Cultural Anthropology, Mamut brings a unique approach to innovating in technology to use AI as the singular largest force for cultural shifts and impacts in the next century.Prior to Wayfound, she led product development and design at Pendo, where she met her co-founder Chad Burnette. She’s held other senior leadership roles at household tech names like Amazon, Salesforce, IDEO, and more. Wayfound is the #1 “Guardian Agent” for AI - a leading, independent AI agent supervision platform designed for business leaders and governance teams. Wayfound’s “AI Supervisor” captures and analyzes every Agent interaction and activity, assesses how well the Agents are performing and suggests improvements in near real-time, providing unparalleled insights through a single-pane observability dashboard. They’re tackling a $1.3T problem in the AI category to help integrate AI Agents alongside humans for a multisapiens workplace of the future.

What if the best leadership training isn’t about managing others but about managing yourself?In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Margaret Andrews, founder of the MYLO Center and author of Manage Yourself to Lead Others, to flip the traditional leadership script. Based on the most popular executive development program at Harvard, Margaret’s approach doesn’t start with people management frameworks or org charts—it starts with self-awareness.Together, Nirit and Margaret unpack why the future of leadership depends on understanding the stories we tell ourselves—about success, values, emotion, and power—and how those stories shape everything from our decisions to our relationships. They explore six deceptively simple questions that can help anyone lead with greater composure, empathy, and impact—and three more that show you where you’re growing next. Whether you’re navigating career change, rethinking how you lead, or managing in a time of transformation, this conversation offers a timely reminder: before you manage others, manage the person in the mirror.https://youtu.be/-_67w1JS9JYGuest Information:Margaret C. Andrews is a seasoned executive, academic leader, speaker, and instructor. She has created and teaches a variety of leadership courses and professional and executive programs at Harvard University and is the founder of the MYLO Center, a private leadership development firm. Her clients include Amazon, Citi, Continental, Walmart, Wayfair, and the United Nations. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.You can follow Margaret on LinkedIn (@margaretcandrews)Chapters:00:00 – Why Great Leadership Starts With Self-Awareness03:30 – What Is the First Step to Leading Yourself?06:00 – The First Question Every Leader Should Ask Themselves09:00 – What Events Changed the Way You Lead?12:45 – How Do You Define Success (Really)?14:15 – What Your Calendar Says About Your Values17:10 – What Makes You Mad Might Reveal What Matters Most18:55 – Why Leaders Must Understand Their Emotional Triggers20:45 – What Feedback Have You Heard Over and Over?22:10 – How Do You Want to Be Seen as a Leader?24:10 – Why Self-Awareness Is More Important Than Ever in an AI World26:10 – The Future of Less Work Is About Doing More of What Matters27:55 – What’s the One Question to Ask About Your Future Career?