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Are you struggling to engage your employees to consistently deliver customer excellence? Are company silos getting in your way of aligning teams and exceeding business goals? If yes, this episode will be incredibly valuable to you as host Stacy Sherman and renowned HR industry expert and author Josh Bersin unveil the secrets of the world's most enduring employee-focused organizations. You'll gain insights to foster a work environment that attracts and retains top talent. Likewise, you'll learn practical strategies and tactics for building an irresistible brand that starts with creating enjoyable employee experiences that fuel exceptional customer outcomes. Have a question or thoughts to share? Leave a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/StacySherman Learn more at DoingCXRight.com and subscribe to the newsletter for more actionable strategies.
Daniel moderated a live panel at Running Remote 2026 with Carmen Amara (Yelp), Brandon Sammut (Zapier), and Vinícius Coelho (Time Doctor) to discuss how AI is reshaping leadership, management, and career growth. ---- Sponsor Links:
Ray'n Terry, Chief People Officer at MOO, joined us on The Modern People Leader to discuss why AI should create more space for humanity at work instead of simply increasing productivity. We talked about balancing business performance with employee wellbeing, rethinking performance management in an AI-powered world, and why leaders must intentionally help people reclaim time, creativity, and connection.---- Sponsor Links:
Amy Reichanadter, Chief People Officer at Databricks, joined us on The Modern People Leader to discuss her upskilling journey throughout her career, creating consumer-grade employee experiences, and leading through rapid technological change. ---- Sponsor Links:
Cameron Price, Head of People & Talent at Medium, joined us on The Modern People Leader to discuss how people teams can lead AI change management through trust, curiosity, and human-centered design. We talked about AI fluency, balancing innovation with authenticity, measuring employee sentiment around AI adoption, and why humans-first leadership matters more than ever. ---- Sponsor Links:
Welcome to IRRESISTIBLE 2026 at USC in beautiful Los Angeles! Today we welcome 450 of our closest friends and introduce The Josh Bersin Institute Global HR Excellence Certification (GHRE). This is all focused on preparing you for HR 2030, which we also introduced today. Additional Information Josh Bersin Institute Launch Video HR 2030 Launch Video Details On Launch And New Galileo Capabilities Chapters (00:00:00) - HRUC2026: The Future of AI Jobs(00:02:47) - Josh Burson Institute Launches Global HR Excellence Program
Nir Leibovich, Product Executive at QuickBooks Workforce, joined us on The Modern People Leader to discuss why HR and finance teams struggle when data lives in silos and how unified systems create better business decisions. Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode306---- Sponsor Links:
Amy Schwartz, Chief People Officer at Wiz, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why HR alone can't create a high-performance culture, why relationships and influence matter more than HR systems, and why "picking up the trash" - a leadership philosophy she picked up working in casinos - has stuck with her ever since.---- Sponsor Links:
Laura Tomaino, Chief People Officer at Glooko, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why “People-First” leadership feels harder in 2026 and what it actually looks like to live up to that today.---- Sponsor Links:
Jevan Lenox, Chief People Officer at Writer, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why AI adoption alone is not enough, how companies can use “directed innovation” to drive real business outcomes with AI, and what high performance looks like in the AI era.---- Sponsor Links:
Kirsten Moorefield, Chief Strategy Officer & Co-Founder at Cloverleaf, Sarika Lamont, CPO at Vidyard, and Sarah Royer, Sr. Manager of People Ops at Nirvana Insurance, joined us on The Modern People Leader for a live discussion on AI coaching. We talked about what AI coaching actually means today, building these tools in-house versus buying, and why career growth will never be a perfect checklist.---- Sponsor Links:
Cara Brennan Allamano (Founder of PeopleTech Partners and former Chief People Officer at Lattice) and Jevan Lenox (Chief People Officer at Writer) joined Stephen at Fix Healthcare Live. They talked about the growing pressure on HR leaders and why modern people leaders need to rethink how they operate in a rapidly changing world.---- Sponsor Links:
Lindsay Jurist-Rosner, Co-Founder and CEO of Wellthy, and Stephan Dolling, AVP of Global Benefits & Well-being at Merck, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the rising pressures facing working families and what companies can do to support their employees that are caregivers.---- Sponsor Links:
Jessica Zwaan, VP People Strategy & Operations at Leapsome and author of Built For People, joined us for another MPL Build AMA. This time we talked about how to redesign your People team if you're running your team like a product team, why metrics like internal promotion retention matter more than traditional HR KPIs, and more.---- Sponsor Links:
Amin Palizban, Co-Founder & CEO of TopicFlow, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why managers are at a breaking point, how AI is transforming performance management, and what it takes to build AI-native people products that actually support managers in real time.---- Get the AI for Performance Management Toolkit: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/aiforperformanceSponsor Links:
James Seechurn, Author of ‘What Pay Costs' and ‘Nothing Left to Take Away', joined us on The Modern People Leader.We talked about why traditional “pay for performance” systems often fail—both because individual performance is hard to measure in knowledge work and because incentives don't actually drive better outcomes. We also explored a new definition of performance centered on innovation, and how companies can unlock it by creating the conditions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness instead of relying on compensation levers.---Sponsor Links:
Every major enterprise platform this quarter — Salesforce Headless 360, Workday Agent System of Record, Microsoft Copilot Studio, SAP Joule, Oracle agentic, ServiceNow Moveworks, IBM watsonx Orchestrate — is pitching a control plane for your AI agents. But none of them is solving the real problem: who inside your organization actually owns the agent workforce, and who's steering it at the speed agents now act? In this edition of Lens Four,
Every major enterprise platform this quarter — Salesforce Headless 360, Workday Agent System of Record, Microsoft Copilot Studio, SAP Joule, Oracle agentic, ServiceNow Moveworks, IBM watsonx Orchestrate — is pitching a control plane for your AI agents. But none of them is solving the real problem: who inside your organization actually owns the agent workforce, and who's steering it at the speed agents now act? In this edition of Lens Four,
Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why workplace dread is increasing in today's environment, what Claude has learned from Gen Z employees, and how leaders can leave their “heart print” on the people they work with.---- Sponsor Links:
Zachary Parris, who's re-imagining talent development for the AI era at Google, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how AI is turning HR leaders into builders, why product thinking is replacing traditional HR programs, and how anyone can now create impactful tools without a technical background. ---- Sponsor Links:
In this podcast I talk with Josh Secrest, VP of Marketing at Paradox (Workday) about how we segment the “frontline” into useful worker categories. As you will hear, the complex issues of hiring, training, managing, leading, and building operational excellence vary widely from role to role. Many companies think “Frontline” is a category. As you'll discover, this is not really true. Our new research shows that there are more than 800 “Frontline” worker job titles and they are not only industry-specific but also vary by skill type, skills depth, front or back office, licensing, and professional credential. And these dimensions play a major role in all HR, pay, reward, training, scheduling, and retention strategies. This episode sets the stage for our follow-on podcasts where we detail the Five Types of Frontline Work, a body of research you'll find even more useful in leading this important part of our companies. Remember, Frontline work makes up over 70% of all US (80% global) workers, and commands more than 3 $Trillion of pay and rewards investment. Additional Information Powering the Frontline Workforce: How Frontline-First Companies Thrive (research) Josh Bersin Company Highlights Cost of Neglecting Frontline Workers (research) An Exploration into the Frontline Workforce with Josh Bersin (video) Tailor your HR and Management Programs for Frontline Work with Galileo, the Expert AI Agent for HR Chapters (00:00:02) - Frontline Conversation(00:07:40) - The Importance of Qualifications in Your Sales Pitch(00:09:12) - Employment Segmentation(00:10:24) - Training costs of the logistics industry(00:14:01) - How to Find and Retain Talent in Healthcare(00:14:41) - One Restaurant Group's Shift From Part-Time Work to Full Time(00:17:13) - Discussing Full-Time vs Part-Time Jobs(00:18:14) - Josh Ferson(00:19:51) - The Future of Segmentation in Business
Deborah Yount, CHRO at Sutter Health, joined us on The Modern People Leader to share her journey from finance to leading HR at one of the largest healthcare systems in the U.S. We discussed how Sutter reduced turnover by nearly 40%, built a culture of leadership accountability, and scaled employee experience and development across 60,000+ employees.---- Sponsor Links:
Eva Majercsik (Chief People Officer) and Trevor Schulze (CIO) at Genesys joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how AI is reshaping how humans and machines work together, why CIO and CPO partnerships are more important than ever, and how to lead a human-centered AI transformation across the organization. ---- Sponsor Links:
Amit Rapaport, Co-Founder & CEO of Compete, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why most HR metrics don't matter to your CEO, how to think like a CEO when looking at workforce data, and more.---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/5-hr-rulesSponsor Links:
Beth Ley, Chief People Officer at Kendra Scott, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how to build the number one workplace for women, the “Great Talent Transfer” and Beth's vision for internal talent mobility, and what it's like to work with a visionary founder.---- Sponsor Links:
Matt McFarlane, Founder of FNDN, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how to build a successful HR consulting business, why niching down and strong branding matter, and how to create sustainable growth through content, community, and a portfolio career.---- Sponsor Links:
Most benefits strategies fail for one simple reason: employees don't know how to use them. Matt Scovil, Co-Founder and CEO of Medefy, joined us to break down why confusing benefits lead to higher healthcare costs, why behavior change is the real unlock, and how HR teams can turn benefits from a cost center into something employees actually use.---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode288Sponsor Links:
More and more companies are incorporating artificial intelligence into their workflows — from AI assistants that record and analyze meetings, to AI notetakers that keep track of what's said, to AI summaries and analyses of emails.Workers may know this technology is being used, but some of these tools, which record and monitor, can still catch them off guard. Still, Josh Bersin, an human resources industry analyst and consultant, says the productivity gains from these tools mean many employers are embracing them.Marketplace's Stephanie Hughes had him walk her through what he's seeing businesses try and what they're using at his company — including one HR tool that his company makes and sells called Galileo.
More and more companies are incorporating artificial intelligence into their workflows — from AI assistants that record and analyze meetings, to AI notetakers that keep track of what's said, to AI summaries and analyses of emails.Workers may know this technology is being used, but some of these tools, which record and monitor, can still catch them off guard. Still, Josh Bersin, an human resources industry analyst and consultant, says the productivity gains from these tools mean many employers are embracing them.Marketplace's Stephanie Hughes had him walk her through what he's seeing businesses try and what they're using at his company — including one HR tool that his company makes and sells called Galileo.
Alex Coonce (Chief People Officer) and Patrick Quigley (CEO) from Sidecar Health joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about building a strong CEO–CPO partnership, why culture must scale before headcount does, and how companies can become AI-native while staying transparent with employees.---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode287Sponsor Links:
In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Jordan Hammerstad about the new report out from the Josh Bersin company, The Definitive Guide to Corporate Learning.Jordan Hammerstad is Associate Director of Research at The Josh Bersin Company, where she leads the L&D Roundtable—an executive forum driving corporate learning innovation. Passionate about the intersection of behavioral sciences and the workplace, she pursued a bachelor's degree in neuroscience before obtaining her master's in human resources. As a certified HR practitioner, Jordan brings experience from multiple industries, including commercial real estate, higher education, industrial automation, retail, and transportation. Her research focuses on learning and development—notably dynamic skilling, performance enablement, and AI-first corporate learning transformations.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Kim Smith from Tilt joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how personalized leave support creates a better employee experience, what managers and HR teams often miss during leave transitions, and how to build a modern leave process that balances compliance, communication, and care.---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode286Sponsor Links:
Melissa Theiss, Head of People Ops at Kit, joined us on The Modern People Leader to break down how HR leaders can build real business acumen using practical frameworks like Track-Racehorse-Jockey, her PeopleOps maturity diagnostic, and a 90-in-90 listening tour. We also walked through how to turn employee feedback into an actionable backlog and use it to shape a people strategy that supports the business first while staying people-centric.---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode285Sponsor Links:
Understanding the Frontline Workforce. As our research point out, more than 70% of all US workers (80% Worldwide) work in a frontline (customer facing or operational facing) role. We all have teams in these positions so it's important for business and HR leaders to understand this space. This is the first podcast in a series with Josh Secrest, the head of marketing at Paradox, an innovative AI company that pioneered conversational recruiting from end to end. Not only does Josh S. know a lot about the frontline, he has leadership roles at the National Restaurant Association and National Retail Federation, and also has experience leading talent management at McDonald's and leading culture at Abercrombie. Josh and I will be sharing a series of conversations to help you understand best-practices in high-volume recruiting, frontline workforce management, and the economics and financial business case for automation in this space. This episode features a deep discussion on the critical role of frontline workers in the workforce, exploring how technology, management, and strategic support can transform frontline work environments. It highlights innovative practices and future trends in supporting frontline employees across retail, hospitality, and healthcare sectors. Keywords frontline workers, workforce strategy, HR technology, AI in HR, employee retention, frontline management, retail, hospitality, workforce support, digital transformation Key topics Importance of frontline workers Impact of technology and AI on frontline support Role of frontline managers in business success Additional Information Powering the Frontline Workforce: How Frontline-First Companies Thrive (research) Josh Bersin Company Highlights Cost of Neglecting Frontline Workers (research) An Exploration into the Frontline Workforce with Josh Bersin (video) Tailor your HR and Management Programs for Frontline Work with Galileo, the Expert AI Agent for HR Chapters (00:00:03) - Josh Seacrest(00:01:16) - Workers on the Frontline(00:02:26) - The Power of a Front-Line Manager(00:03:39) - The Impact of Frontline on Business(00:05:37) - The Role of Frontline Workers(00:11:59) - McDonald's On AI & The Future of Workforce(00:14:46) - Backline Manager: The Future of Data-driven Business(00:16:52) - Employee Care in the Future(00:19:38) - Give Your Employees More Money(00:21:23) - Fast Food On The Podcast(00:22:30) - The New Talent: 711 and More(00:25:48) - Josh on the Business of Segmentation
Jessica Zwaan joined us on The Modern People Leader for MPL Build's first-ever AMA, alongside Jalene Vandermey-Jackson from Workleap. We talked about what traditional HR mindsets must be let go to become builders, how to collect lightweight employee feedback to help build the right products, and more.---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode284Sponsor Links:
HR leaders are being asked to modernize faster than their organizations are ready for. New AI tools appear weekly, vendors promise transformation, and the pressure to “do something” keeps mounting. At the same time, most HR teams are still running complex, multi-step processes built for a very different era.In this episode, Josh Bersin helps cut through the noise by reframing what AI transformation actually looks like inside HR. Rather than chasing dozens of tools or fearing job displacement, he argues that the real work ahead is architectural. Deciding what to build versus buy. Determining which processes matter most. And putting human ownership around data, judgment, and governance so AI can scale responsibly.You'll hear why onboarding, learning, feedback, and career development are not isolated workflows, but interconnected systems that AI can finally stitch together if HR leads the design. Josh also explains why organizations that get this right will not reduce HR's importance, but elevate it.This conversation is for HR leaders who feel both excited and overwhelmed, and who want a clearer mental model for where to start, what to prioritize, and how to partner with IT without losing their seat at the table.About our guest Josh Bersin is a global HR industry analyst, researcher, and founder of The Josh Bersin Company. He has spent decades advising CHROs and executive teams on talent, leadership, and workforce transformation, and is a leading voice on how AI is reshaping the HR function in practice, not theory.Stay connected with foHRsightTo sign up for our monthly newsletter, foHRsight, visit http://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe Follow us on LinkedIn:Mark Edgar – www.linkedin.com/in/markedgarhr/Naomi Titleman Colla – www.linkedin.com/in/naomititlemancolla/future foHRward – www.linkedin.com/company/future-fohrward/Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/futurefohrward/Support the show
Diane Sadowski-Joseph, Co-Founder of Clarinet, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why most AI adoption stalls at “talking the talk,” how to choose the right AI use cases using the “trifecta” and the Five Frictions framework, and how “click cutters” can unlock compounding gains by removing cognitive and workflow friction.---- Here's everything Diane referenced: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/fivefrictionsSponsor Links:
If you're leading HR right now, it can feel like the ground is moving under your feet. You're still expected to deliver flawless service, keep costs down, and manage risk, while your CEO quietly expects you to redesign the workforce for an AI era that's arriving faster than most operating models can handle.In part one of this conversation with Josh Bersin, we explore a reframe that changes everything: AI isn't just personal productivity. The real disruption is enterprise-level “super agents” that automate whole sequences of work, and force HR to rethink hiring, talent strategy, and even the idea of “a job” itself.We also dig into why CHRO tenure may be shrinking, what that signals about expectations on HR leaders, and why “talent density” is becoming a more useful lens than traditional talent management as companies try to scale without simply adding headcount.About our guest Josh Bersin is a leading HR and workplace industry analyst and the founder of Bersin by Deloitte (now The Josh Bersin Company). He advises senior executives on HR, talent, and organizational transformation, with a sharp focus on what's actually changing inside companies as AI moves from experimentation to enterprise reality.Stay connected with foHRsight To sign up for our monthly newsletter, foHRsight, visit http://www.futurefohrward.com/subscribe Follow us on LinkedIn: Mark Edgar – www.linkedin.com/in/markedgarhr/ Naomi Titleman Colla – www.linkedin.com/in/naomititlemancolla/ future foHRward – www.linkedin.com/company/future-fohrward/ Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/futurefohrward/Support the show
Liz Bronson, VP of People at Skimmer, joined us on The Modern People Leader to talk about intentionally “flatlining” her career for a period of time to prioritize parenting. ---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode282Sponsor Links:
AI has been the main character in every conversation across every layer of business. This year, industry analyst Josh Bersin proposes a shift in AI's role: from an individual productivity tool to a tool for problem assessment.In this episode, Eric Chemi sits down with Josh to discuss the evolution of the $400B corporate learning segment of the HR industry, the relationship between analysts and startup companies, and how to assess business health through corporate leadership.Dig into Josh's latest research and advisory work with his newly released HR and Leadership Imperatives for 2026 report: https://joshbersin.com/imperatives/
Isabel Naidoo, Chief People Officer at Wise, joined us on The Modern People Leader to share how Wise builds a cohesive employee experience across global offices while still honoring local identity. ---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode281Sponsor Links:
Chase Warrington, Head of Operations at Doist, joined us on The Modern People Leader to break down how async-first work enables faster decision-making, stronger culture, and scalable operations. We talked about building trust without offices, the systems and rituals behind Doist's execution velocity, and why async workflows are foundational to effective AI adoption.---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode280Sponsor Links:
Jani Sanguino joined us on The Modern People Leader to share how Viva built an award-winning, manager-led AI transformation. We talked about the three AI competencies they prioritized, their 13-week manager-led learning path, and the most impactful use cases for their business.---- Go deeper on Viva's AI Journey in Roundtable with Jani (only 10 seats)Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode279----Sponsor Links:
We recapped MPL Live Austin with attendees Cindy Lopez (Senior Director, People & Culture, Pattern Bioscience) and Marlene Arroyo (Founder, Peoplecraft).---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode278Sponsor Links:
Jon Couture, CHRO at Vanguard, joined The Modern People Leader to share how Vanguard is balancing 50 years of legacy with the next 50 years of change. ---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode277Sponsor Links:
In this episode of The Modern People Leader, Sarika Lamont, Chief People Officer at Vidyard, joins us to unpack her non-traditional journey into HR and how AI is reshaping the role of People teams. She shared practical AI use cases from onboarding automation to AI coaching, along with the mindset shifts HR leaders must make to lead change rather than fear it. ---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode276Sponsor Links:
Peter Fader and Jessica Zwaan joined The Modern People Leader to explore how customer-based audit principles can be applied to employees.---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode275Sponsor Links:
Kirthi Mani, Chief People Officer at CLA, joins The Modern People Leader to explore why joy is a true competitive advantage and how people-first leadership drives sustainable performance. ---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode274Sponsor Links:
Pat Lencioni, founder of The Table Group and bestselling author behind The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The 6 Types of Working Genius, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about his origin story in organizational health, how Working Genius helps leaders prevent burnout by designing teams around strengths, and how HR leaders can build trust and stay grounded as AI reshapes work.---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode273Sponsor Links:
Brandon Sammut (Chief People and AI Transformation Officer at Zapier), Jenny Molyneaux (VP of People, Vercel), and Valerie Gobeil (Head of Talent Management, Workleap) joined us for a live session on how HR teams are actually using AI today. We talked about how to get organizations AI-ready, avoid “AI debt,” make smarter build vs buy decisions, and we walked through live demos of AI-powered performance reviews, hiring workflows, interview coaching, engagement insights, and more.---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode272Sponsor Links: