WorkLab

John Maeda is the Vice President of Design and Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft. In his richly varied career, he's also been an artist, a professor, an author, a college president, and a business executive. His digital artwork, books, lectures, research, and teaching have explored how digital technology can empower creativity. He joined WorkLab to discuss how everyone can best leverage the potential of AI to unleash creativity and reduce tedium and repetitive tasks. WorkLab Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at aka.ms/microsoft/podcasts.

Our attention spans are getting shorter—much shorter—and Gloria Mark has the data to back it up. When she began researching the topic in 2004, people spent an average of 2 ½ minutes on any given screen before switching to another. In today's era of multitasking, we're down to a mere 47 seconds. Mark, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, and a visiting researcher at Microsoft, offers practical tips for how to restore balance—and a glimpse at how AI might help us with work wellbeing. WorkLab Attention Span - GLORIA MARK, PhD

Erik Brynjolfsson is a researcher, author, senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, and director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. He joined WorkLab to offer business leaders an overview of how AI will transform productivity. Brynjolfsson is the first guest of season 4 of the WorkLab podcast, in which hosts Elise Hu and Tonya Mosley have conversations with economists, designers, psychologists, and technologists who explore the data and insights into why and how work is changing. WorkLab

Best-selling author Daniel Pink explains how regrets from the past can help leaders make smart resolutions in the year ahead. Pink is the final guest of Season 3 of the WorkLab podcast, in which hosts Elise Hu and Tonya Mosley have conversations with economists, technologists, and researchers who explore the data and insights into why and how work is changing. WorkLab

How are workspaces changing, both in how they're used and how they're designed? What kinds of spaces, amenities, and activities encourage employees to work in person? To find out what's next for the office, the WorkLab podcast checked in with CBRE's Julie Whelan, who leads a global team of researchers tasked with identifying the trends that affect commercial real estate. WorkLab

Linda Hill, a Harvard Business School professor who also chairs the school's Leadership Initiative, joins the WorkLab podcast to offer advice on management. How do you lead when everything keeps changing? How do you rally people and build trust? How do you discover your own limitations—and overcome them? WorkLab

Microsoft's Head of People Analytics Dawn Klinghoffer leverages data to help leaders understand and improve employee experience. She isn't just trying to track productivity—she wants to know if employees are genuinely thriving and embracing a growth mindset. She's here to talk about the human energy crisis. What boosts employee energy? What drains it? What's the connection between thriving employees and organizational success? And how did "generating energy" become a leadership principle at Microsoft? WorkLab

Versha Sharma, editor in chief of Teen Vogue, provides her unique insights into what Gen Z wants from their employers, and Hannah McConnaughey, a communications manager at Microsoft, breaks down common work-related buzzwords her generation is using today. Sharma is the fourth guest of Season 3 of the WorkLab podcast, in which hosts Elise Hu and Tonya Mosley have conversations with economists, technologists, and researchers who explore the data and insights into why and how work is changing. WorkLab

Microsoft corporate vice president of Xbox Sarah Bond explains what games can teach us about the future of work. Today, 3 billion people on the planet play video games—which have a unique and powerful ability to enable collaboration, break down language and geographic barriers, build rapport, spark imagination, and create empathy. As companies explore new ways to enable teamwork, including forays into the metaverse, they can learn a lot about how to best proceed from games. WorkLab

Nela Richardson is the chief economist at ADP, a global provider of human capital management solutions. In this episode, she breaks down how the economy is affecting the labor market, the importance of skilling a new workforce, and why leaders should invest in their people above all else. Richardson is the second guest of Season 3 of the WorkLab podcast, in which hosts Elise Hu and Tonya Mosley have conversations with economists, technologists, and researchers who share insights on how work is changing. WorkLab