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

This week I discuss the real possibility that AI Agents could “turn evil” citing the example of Scott Shambaugh, a software engineer, who was attacked by an OpenClaw agent called MJ Rathbun.

Just so you understand: Scott is a real person but MJ Rathbun is an AI. Yet MJ took upon itself to openly attack Scott online, presumably for not accepting his open source code.

It’s a fascinating (ongoing) story, but it begs a bigger question: when a “human” (or agent) has total authority and power, does it then become evil? We saw this in the famous Stanford Prisoner Experiment, at Abu Ghraib, and in other examples I cite. Does this strange human nature translate directly into AI?

As you’ll hear, these new findings deliver many lessons for our corporate AI systems, and I explain how the issues of AI training, governance, and ethics become real. And this brings up the issue of AI regulation, legal accountability, and who is responsible for these behaviors.

Much of this is being played out in real time in the US War Department vs. Anthropic happening in the press as well.

Despite my most optimistic opinions about AI, “Power Corrupts” may be a statement that applies to AI just as it does to humans.

As AI becomes more embedded in enterprise decision-making, thoughtful governance, ethical design, and continuous monitoring become urgent.

Additional Resources

An AI Agent Published A Hit Piece on Me

The Rise of the Bratty Machines (NYT)

When AI Bots Start Bullying Humans, Even Silicon Valley Gets Rattled (WSJ)

BBC Finds That 45% of AI Queries Produce Erroneous Answers

Anthropic CEO says he’s sticking to AI “red lines” despite clash with Pentagon

OpenAI Steps Into The Breach in US War Department

Today I discuss the new economics of AI for us as business and HR leaders, and how this impacts vendors, HR buyers, IT, and investors. I also discuss how Agents, which are the new building blocks for our re-engineered companies, are now the nucleus of your world in HR going forward.

As I explain, this new world is clearly coming into focus but you need to prioritize your energies, and our Systemic HR AI Blueprint (explained) is here to help.

Stay tuned for a barrage of announcements about Galileo, which now has more than 1,100 enterprise customers. And please join our Pacesetters program so you can share your own company’s innovations and get recognition for all your company’s creation!

Also look at Galileo for Consultants, a new release of Galileo specifically designed for HR, organizational, leadership, and change consultants!  Galileo for Consultants includes a whole array of tools to help you with your career, business, and client projects. Galileo for Consultants (internal consultants too) will be invited to a special monthly webinar to talk about consulting projects, opportunities, and your consulting career.

Additional Information

Understanding NVIDIA’s Growth and Culture

Will Workday Thrive (or Survive) In The World of AI? (video)

Galileo for Consultants: Super-Powering Your Consulting Business

The World Is Accelerating: What Has Changed About Leadership?

Coming out of the pandemic almost every company started hiring globally, giving rise to the EOR (Employer of Record) market. An EOR enables companies of any size to easily hire, manage, pay, and reward employees in any country, and today more than 40% of all global employers use an EOR.

One of the leaders in this market is Oyster, a fast-growing company founded as a B-Corp, dedicated with a mission to make global employment a single, seamless marketplace. The founder of Oyster, Tony Jamous, is a fascinating entrepreneur who has a unique way of describing global employment. In this podcast I interviewed Tony so he can explain some of the strategic issues in building a global company of any size.

I think you’ll find Oyster a high value solution provider that combines world-class technology with a strong culture of global advice, support, and regulatory compliance to help companies grow.

(FYI we are partners with Oyster in Galileo: Oyster’s extensive global employment practices database is embedded in Galileo to assist you with many strategic HR policies around the world.)

Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube.

Additional Information

2026 Imperatives for Enterprise AI: The Road Ahead

The Definitive Guide to Corporate Learning

Oyster Announces Intelligent Global Employment – Redefining EOR Market

Get Galileo, The AI Agent for Everything HR

This week I explain some of the very cool things going on in AI-Fueled Recruiting (hot space), and also discuss how to start integrating all your talent acquisition tools. I also explain AMS One, the Workday Agent System of Record (ASOR), and why and how all these amazing AI agents are going to enable you to really rethink the operating model for talent acquisition.

This is a trillion dollar space and we all deal with it, and it’s also the area of HR where AI is the most mature. And as I explain, every innovation that takes place in talent acquisition has an impact on tools for internal HR, job mobility, career development, and even learning. In fact TA and L&D really are going to get locked at the hip going forward.

We will be launching our massive new research study on TA at Irresistible 2026, our flagship HR leadership conference in the world. It’s June 8-10 at the beautiful USC Campus in Los Angeles, and I promise you that you’ll see some amazing things there (including a tour of one of USC’s brand new research and arts centers).

Also come see us at Unleash 2026 in Vegas where we’ll be doing workshops for you on Galileo, highlighting the newest release – these hands-on workshops give you 90 minutes to see dozens of amazing AI use-cases and also teach you how to use Galileo as your copilot, teacher, and consultant in all areas of HR. (And listen to my keynote explaining the way AI has already started to change everything about HR.)

Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube.

Additional Information

2026 Imperatives for Enterprise AI: The Road Ahead

The Great Reinvention of Human Resources Has Begun

Secrets Of The High Performing CHRO

Get Galileo, The AI Agent for Everything HR

Alim Dhanji is a seasoned business executive (ex-President of Adidas Canada) who came back to HR with a fresh perspective on the business value of HR.

In this discussion Alim clearly articulates where and how he creates business value as a CHRO. This is a fascinating discussion about the value drivers of HR and AI and the process for redesigning work. He explains what he learned about the value of HR as a CEO, and how he then took that knowledge back into HR.

Sample Quotes:

“True change happens at the manager level, and there is a compression of demands at the people manager level. Our number one value diver is investment in the front-line people manager.”

“Managers just don’t have enough time in the day. Now by leveraging AI we can help managers create capacity to spend more time with teams and peers.”

Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube.

Additional Information

Secrets Of The High Performing CHRO

CHRO Insights Research Report

CHRO Insights Video (Youtube)

Introducing Galileo for Managers, The Leadership Guru At Your Fingertips

After many weeks of work with corporate HR leaders, technology companies, and implementation teams I’m realizing the word that describes AI is “confusion.” Too much going on, too many unanswered questions, and no clarity about what to do. And many of you have been asked (or told) to lead the “AI Transformation” (which is the wrong phrase, as I explain) to reduce cost.

Well I hope today’s podcast gives you some clarity. Obviously the space is changing quickly, but there is a clear strategy emerging. I discuss the technology market, vendor strategies, and most important of all, how you as a business leader can leverage AI without going down dead ends.

I hope this gives you clarity, and I urge you to read our 2026 Imperatives for Enterprise AI for more.

Topics covered:

• Why AI adoption isn’t a transformation — it’s a continuous learning process
• How to design an architecture that avoids vendor chaos and data silos
• The real ROI of AI: rethinking workflows and job structures, not just automating tasks
• Strategies for navigating a confusing vendor landscape and building your own solutions
• How to build a culture of trust and change, and empower employees
• What to tell employees so they’ll lean in to change
• The importance of speed, experimentation, and trusting the data over perfection.

If you’re in the middle of your AI strategy, please contact us. Our Systemic HR AI Blueprint will show you the way, and Galileo will help you with vendor analysis, process design, job redesign, and of course the training you need to enable your organization.

Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube.

Additional Information

2026 Imperatives for Enterprise AI: The Road Ahead

The Great Reinvention of Human Resources Has Begun

Get Galileo, The AI Agent for Everything HR

This week we introduce our massive new research “The Definitive Guide to Corporate Learning: From Static Training To Dynamic Enablement.”

As you’ll read, this $400 Billion market is going to change in a huge way, and the opportunity for value is massive. As I explain in this podcast, it’s time to change the paradigm of “skills development” and move to a model of dynamic enablement.

Traditional L&D is not going away overnight, but the new world of AI-Native Learning is very different: faster, less expensive, and far more useful and relevant to employees. And best of all, we’re turning training and upskilling into a process of dynamic, continuous change.

Listen to this podcast to understand what’s going on, and then read our research to build your own roadmap.

If you’re an HR leader, L&D professional, content creator, or technology vendor – this new world is exciting and ready. And I expect the traditional L&D market to double in size within ten years and reach well over a $Trillion as we finally solve the problem of global knowledge management.

Important vendors here include Sana (Workday), Disperz, Cornerstone (new products coming), Arist, Uplimit and likely solutions from OpenAI and others. The traditional learning vendors (LinkedIn, Coursera, Pluralsight, Skillsoft, and others) are now just beginning to adapt to this new world, so it’s a time for disruption and new business models.

Join us on this journey. Get Galileo to experience AI-Native learning, learn more, read the research, and benchmark your own organization.

Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube.

Additional Information

The Definitive Guide to Corporate Learning

2026 Imperatives for Enterprise AI: The Road Ahead

The Collapse And Rebirth Of Online Learning And Professional Development

Get Galileo, The AI Agent for Everything HR

AI Agents promise to revolutionize how we operate our companies, but this is much more than just recording meetings and summarizing emails. How do you build an Agent (and Superagent) architecture to re-engineer HR and what is the role of your core HCM platforms?

Well this is the trillion dollar question challenging every business software provider, and it has a huge impact on your HR and overall AI strategy. In this podcast I explain this topic and describe how employee onboarding, as an example, could be entirely redesigned for speed, scale, and agility.

This is a new world and for the first time in my career each of us, regardless of tech experience, will be able to redesign how our HR function works to move from “work productivity” to automation and tremendous new value creation strategies in HR.

Note that this week OpenAI announced its Frontier platform to help build enterprise agents. Microsoft recently introduced Agent 365 to help build enterprise Superagents. ServiceNow offers its Enterprise AI Control Tower, and Workday has introduced the Workday Agent System of Record. The space of agent management platforms is just beginning.

As you listen to this and ponder your situation I hope you consult Galileo for advice or call us. Our Systemic HR AI Blueprint is here to help you design and implement AI apps that will revolutionize HR and your business.

Enterprise AI is an exciting new domain and we are here to help.

Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube.

Additional Information

2026 Imperatives for Enterprise AI: The Road Ahead

The Great Reinvention of Human Resources Has Begun

Get Galileo, The AI Agent for Everything HR

AI-driven recruiting is on the hot seat and it’s only getting hotter.

Most job seekers now experience AI-interviewers, AI-based screening, and even chatbots that can automate the entire process. And as this market grows, two new lawsuits (one against Workday, one against Eightfold) have emerged, indicating the “fear” job seekers have about this technology.

In the meantime, vendors are gobbling up these tools.

This includes Workday’s $1 billion acquisition of Paradox (and Hiredscore), SAP’s acquisition of Smartrecruiters, Outmatch’s acquisition of Pymetrics (renamed Harver), UKG’s acquisition of Chattr (renamed Rapid Hire), Radancy’s acquisition of myInterview, Hirevue’s acquisition of Modern Hire, Cornerstone’s acquisition of Skyhive (following acquisition of Clustree), Lightcast’s acquisition of Rhetorik, and more.

Where is all this going?

As I discuss, this is an enormous ($840 billion) market and there’s a lot yet to come. As I discuss, we are entering a whole new set of demands, demands for quality, explainability, skills verification, and bias-detection.

One of the big new trends is what we call “vertical data labeling” to increase transparency and quality. (The pioneer here is a company called Findem.) So for you as a buyer or user, it’s a time to focus on data and AI accuracy and completeness.

Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube.

Additional Information

The Great Reinvention of Human Resources Has Begun

People Data For Sale: How The Talent Intelligence Market Really Works

The Talent Acquisition Revolution: How AI is Transforming Recruiting

Imperatives for 2026: What’s Ahead for Enterprise AI, HR, Jobs, And Organizations

Get Galileo: The World’s AI Agent For Everything HR

David Hughes, the Global People Leader for Costa Coffee (now at HSBC), discusses the company’s innovative approach to hiring using AI. Costa Coffee, a global brand with over 2,000 stores in the UK, faces significant hiring challenges due to high turnover rates and the need to hire thousands of baristas annually.

David explains how Costa has shifted its focus from hiring the “best” talent to finding the “best fit” talent that aligns with the company’s values and culture.

Using Sapia’s AI chat-based assessment, Costa has built a simple 5-question open chat survey that lets Costa identify the culture, behavioral, and work skills for best fit. This process not only scales to 350,000+ candidates, it also gives each candidate a personalized assessment and is rated 9 out of 10 on netpromoter score. In other words, candidates love it!

David emphasizes the importance of patience and bravery in adopting AI, highlighting the positive impact on both recruitment efficiency and candidate satisfaction.

Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube.

Additional Information

The Talent Acquisition Revolution: How AI is Transforming Recruiting (research)

The Great Reinvention of Human Resources Has Begun

The Art, Science, And Magic Of Recruiting In The World of AI (podcast)