The Cusp with Paul Fain

In the latest episode of The Cusp, host Paul Fain talks with Greg Hart, the president and CEO of Coursera, which is one of the world's largest online learning platforms. Hart previously was the longtime technical advisor to Jeff Bezos, among other high-level roles at Amazon. He talks about Coursera's global perspective on the demand for AI-related skills, and how the technology is reshaping jobs.Subscribe to The Cusp wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Work Shift and The Job newsletter for agenda-free, in-depth reporting on connections between education and work.

Welcome to Season 2 of The Cusp. In this episode, host Paul Fain talks with Rachel Lipson, a senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce and the co-founder of Harvard's Project on Workforce. Rachel describes the ambition of the department's strategy on regional competitiveness, which combines workforce development with economic development while seeking to forge lasting partnerships between employers and community colleges. Subscribe to The Cusp wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Work Shift and The Job newsletter for agenda-free, in-depth reporting on connections between education and work.

Host Paul Fain introduces a quick run through of soundbites from the 15 guests who helped power the inaugural season of The Cusp brought to you by Work Shift. Special thanks to all of our guests, listeners, and supporters for a fantastic first season in 2024. Be on the lookout for more from us as Season 2 kicks off in 2025.

In the latest episode of The Cusp, host Paul Fain talks with Ron Smith, vice president of philanthropy at Salesforce. Smith, who has overseen more than $225M in giving, talks about how to be thoughtful about AI's rapid integration into education, to ensure that students aren't left behind. Ellie Bertani, president and CEO of the GitLab Foundation, also joins Fain for this episode. Bertani describes the foundation's data-based philosophy on AI and economic mobility. She also shares an optimistic vision for the future, with concrete suggestions about how to get there. Subscribe to The Cusp wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Work Shift and The Job newsletter for agenda-free, sophisticated reporting on connections between education and work.

Aneesh Raman is LinkedIn's chief economic opportunity officer. He's a former war correspondent for CNN and speechwriter for President Obama, among other star turns. In this episode, Paul Fain talks with Aneesh about his humanistic take on the potential for artificial intelligence to usher in a more meritocratic job market and society. Aneesh takes a sweeping historical look at the coming technological disruption, with plenty of specifics, including data from LinkedIn. Subscribe to The Cusp wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Work Shift and The Job newsletter for agenda-free reporting on connections between education and work.

Julia Lane is a renowned expert on public data. An economist, NYU professor, and regular advisor to the federal government, Julia recently advised the Commerce Department on President Biden's executive order on AI. In this episode, Paul Fain talks with Julia about her intriguing call for a new national center on data that would measure AI's impacts on jobs—a center that exists outside of government and would be stood up by philanthropy. Julia shares her thoughts about what we don't know about AI, and how her idea for a national center could answer big questions about how the technology is playing out in the labor market. Subscribe to The Cusp where you get our podcasts. And checkout Work Shift and The Job newsletter for agenda-free, sophisticated reporting on connections between education and work.

In this episode of The Cusp, host Paul Fain shares highlights from the midpoint of the show's first season. Among the experts featured are George Siemens, who discusses the integration of AI in universities, and Ben Armstrong, who shares research on AI's incremental effects on jobs. Katy Knight emphasizes the importance of keeping humans in the loop when tapping AI solutions, while Lydia Logan encourages educators to embrace AI tools. The episode also touches on the challenges of AI accessibility and the need for AI literacy in education, with perspectives from Alex Swartzel, Edith Yang, and Alex Kotran. Throughout these interviews, experts shared the importance of adaptability, critical thinking, and human skills in an AI-driven future, offering valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and workers as they navigate this technological shift.

The Center for Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Work from JFFLabs seeks to shape AI's impact on skills development, job quality, and equitable outcomes. In this episode, Paul Fain speaks with Alex Swartsel and Tiffany Hsieh, who help lead the center's work. They talked about AI-specific credentialing, how community colleges can best meet this moment, and much more. Lydia Logan also joined Fain for this episode. Logan is vice president of global education and workforce development for IBM, a vantage point that gives her rare insights on AI and the workforce. She discussed the value of durable skills in the age of AI, and the role for IBM and other big tech companies in AI skills training. Subscribe to The Cusp wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Work Shift and The Job newsletter for agenda-free, sophisticated reporting on connections between education and work.

The AI Education Project seeks to help both educators and students with foundational AI literacy. Alex Kotran, the nonprofit's founder and CEO, talks with Paul Fainin the latest episode of The Cusp. Kotran says not knowing how AI will change job roles keeps him up at night. But he says we have more certainty about what the skills of the future will be. Leigh Ann DeLyser follows Kotran in the episode. The co-founder and executive director of Computer Science for All, DeLyser talks about resources educators can tap to develop an equitable AI strategy, and to judge whether it's a success. Subscribe to The Cusp wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Work Shift and The Job newsletter for agenda-free, sophisticated reporting on connections between education and work.

MIT's Work of the Future initiative is researching how generative AI can contribute to higher-quality jobs. Ben Armstrong, an MIT research scientist and the initiative's co-lead, talks with Paul Fain in this must-listen episode. Ben describes what he and his colleagues are finding, offering a highly informed reality check on AI and its impacts. Following Ben is an interview with Katy Knight, executive director and president of the Siegel Family Endowment. Katy shares her take on the research from MIT, with an eye toward helping educators and workforce development pros prepare for the ripple effects across society as the technology takes hold. Subscribe to The Cusp wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Work Shift and The Job newsletter for agenda-free, sophisticated reporting on connections between education and work.

Host Paul Fain explains what to expect on The Cusp and why you should listen.

George Siemens is a trusted, veteran thinker about technology's impact on learning. A professor of psychology who has taught at several universities around the world, Siemens these days is helping to lead a project on artificial intelligence at Southern New Hampshire University. In this episode, Paul Fain talks with George about why he thinks AI will have a profound effect on teaching and learning. George frames this opportunity as a systems-change event, one college leaders must take on more proactively, including with strategies for workplace skills, social impacts, and more. Subscribe to The Cusp wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Work Shift and The Job newsletter for agenda-free, sophisticated reporting on connections between education and work.

Recorded live at SXSW EDU, this episode features three experts who are digging into AI's impacts on education and work: Riddhima Mishra, research director at Learning Collider; Edith Yang, senior associate at MDRC; and Debbie Wasden, senior vice president at the Burning Glass Institute. Paul Fain talks with the three panelists about research questions they're exploring, including how AI is reshaping jobs and what that means for educators. The conversation encompasses K-12, higher education, and the workforce, with a focus on how to ensure that lower-income learners aren't left behind. Subscribe to The Cusp wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Work Shift and The Job newsletter for agenda-free, sophisticated reporting on connections between education and work.