People-first AI
In under 10 minutes, you’ll have the context and language you need to lead smarter AI conversations at work—and stand out as the go-to guide on your team.
Want AI To Actually Deliver ROI? Here Are 3 Things You Can Do Next Quarter (No Massive Change Budget Required)
Welcome back. This week's issue centers on a gap most leaders haven't noticed: AI adoption is up, but AI value isn't following. The disconnect isn't technical. It's behavioral. Our feature essay reveals three simple strategies HR leaders can implement next quarter to turn random AI use into purposeful adoption (the kind that actually moves the ROI needle). Let's dive in. --Neil AI @ WORK BRIEFING Total Wage Exposure (MIT Iceberg Index): An MIT study on the U.S. workforce, which models 151...
You're Measuring AI Adoption Wrong. Here's What High-Performing Teams Track Instead
Welcome back. This week’s issue centers on a simple idea: most companies are measuring AI adoption in all the wrong ways—and it’s holding them back. Our feature essay breaks down a clearer, more actionable way to understand progress: not by counting how many logins, but by the behaviors that drive learning. And if you’re looking to put the essay’s ideas into practice, don’t miss this week’s training on how to take a team approach to solving problems with AI. Let's dive in. --Neil AI @ WORK...
Chief People Officers: Workforce Caution Today, Workforce Transformation Tomorrow
November 7, 2025 Welcome back. I’ve been hearing more conversations about not just how to adopt AI, but how work itself is changing because of it. So this week, we’re pausing our purposeful AI adoption series to take a wider view. We'll look at stories that offer clues about the evolving skills, roles, and pathways shaping the workforce in the AI era. We'll also share a practical AI prompt to help managers improve how they coach and develop their people. Enjoy! —Neil AI @ WORK BRIEFING...
I used to think AI adoption was the goal. Now I know that’s only the beginning.
Welcome back! Lots of exciting AI release news with big implications for HR and talent management leaders, including Claude skills and ChatGPT for Slack. But I'm very excited to start a series on a big reason AI initiatives stall. There are lots of challenges—from readiness gaps to psychological barriers—but a common thread through them is the assumption that getting people to use AI tools is the finish line. It's not. It's barely the starting line. This week I unpack what we should really be...
AI “workslop” is killing your team’s productivity
Hey there! We're trying something a little different for today's issue. We're jumping in to a bigger, better AI @ Work briefing, with more scannable summaries with commentary for why these stories matter as a people or talent leader adopting AI. Then, we have a step-by-step guide for building your own AI writing partner! Use this for everything from internal docs, to social posts, to employee comms. Enjoy! --Neil AI @ WORK BRIEFING HBR: AI-generated 'workslop' ends up costing more time. The...
The Severance Problem: Why Employees Won't Adopt AI (And How to Fix It)
Fresh off its Emmy wins, Apple TV's Severance isn't just great television—it's a perfect illustration of the psychological reason AI adoption can fail. In our Big Picture Essay, we'll unpack why people don't take the risks that new technology requires when they have no control over their work. We've also got some of my best posts in case you missed them, AI's economic index, lessons learned from a year of building agentic AI, and a prompt to write a better company overview in your job...
How to Work With AI-Resistant Company Cultures (Without a Complete Overhaul)
With the HR Tech Conference coming up next week, I've got AI-native tools on my mind. But, without a supportive culture, adopting AI tools is tough. In today's piece, we explore which company cultures tend to thrive with AI and how you can nudge yours towards becoming AI-ready. We also offer some helpful resources for guessing where AI in HR is going, how to select an AI-native vendor, and how to use AI as your personal skill gap analyst. Enjoy! --Neil p.s. - We're filling up our last AI for...
5 Human Skills HR Pros Need in the AI Era (And Why Everyone Should Develop Them)
Soft skills. Power skills. Human skills. No one can really decide what to call these non-technical, ‘developed capacities’ to learn, interact with others, and manage one’s work. But leaders do agree on one thing: these skills are becoming the differentiators in the AI era. Josh Bersin, a leading HR analyst, prefers the term "power skills" over "soft skills." He argues these non-routine cognitive and social abilities deserve the upgrade in terminology because they're the most difficult...
Stop Wasting Money on AI Until You Address This Hidden Readiness Gap
Everyone’s investing in agentic workflows, digital twins, open source LLMs, prompting, RAG, and LanguageGraphs. The list goes on and on… But the truth is that even with unlimited access to the best AI tools and systems, companies will waste millions if their workforces aren’t ready for change. Workers won’t take risks experimenting. Adoption champions won’t step forward. Employees won’t creatively add AI to their workflow. Teams will see AI as a hindrance to work, not an enabler. An unready...
5 AI Skills Every HR Pro Must Master (and why they matter for everyone else)
When LinkedIn's "Work Change" report came out in January 2025, they said out loud what we're all thinking. "Professionals can no longer ignore AI or assume it does not apply to their job. AI will be relevant to every job in the future and woven into most of our tasks." (Scary bolding mine.) And I'm apt to believe them. LinkedIn scans thousands of profiles that have added new skills. They also survey 2,500 businesses and 2,000 leaders. The work landscape is quickly shifting thanks to the AI...
In under 10 minutes, you’ll have the context and language you need to lead smarter AI conversations at work—and stand out as the go-to guide on your team.