The journey to becoming a Frontier Firm requires leaders to reimagine every aspect of their organization—quickly and without a playbook. Harvard Business School's Raffaella Sadun joins host Molly Wood to explore what makes a Frontier Firm, why reskilling is so hard, and how leaders can build cultures that thrive on experimentation and human–AI collaboration. Discover actionable strategies for navigating uncertainty, driving transformation, and empowering every employee to become an AI-enabled inventor. 

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Agents can become essential team members at any organization—if they're deployed thoughtfully. In this episode, Pascal Bornet joins host Molly Wood to share practical frameworks for helping leaders design and implement agentic AI, run high-impact pilots, and build the human skills—creativity, critical thinking, and social authenticity—that set Frontier Firms apart. Bornet is a coauthor of the recent book Agentic Artificial Intelligence: Harnessing AI Agents to Reinvent Business, Work and Life.

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Azeem Azhar's mission is to help leaders stay ahead of the curve at a time when technology, especially AI, is evolving at an exponential rate. He founded the Exponential View newsletter, which offers insights and advice to an eager audience of 116,000+ people who want to get ahead in a rapidly changing world. He joined us to discuss the potential for AI to help business leaders navigate uncertainty and describe some of the ways that AI agents and deep research will fundamentally change the way we work. 

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AI is evolving at a mind-bending pace, reshaping every aspect of business. How can leaders filter out the noise to stay focused on transforming their organizations? How can they leverage the limitless potential of AI, agents, and deep research? How can they harness the latest technology to access untapped value, turbocharge their decision making, and maintain their organization's competitive edge? In the new season of the WorkLab podcast from Microsoft, we'll be exploring all of those questions and more.

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Learning how AI can help with a few tasks won't lead us to unlock its true power—for that, we need to fundamentally change how we think about the technology. So says Conor Grennan, Chief AI Architect at the NYU Stern School of Business and founder of the consulting company AI Mindset, who has studied the challenges that employees and organizations face in their AI journeys. He joins us to share insights about how making behavioral changes can help everyone get the most out of AI at work.

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Kevin Novak founded the AI-focused VC firm Rackhouse Ventures in 2021 after a decade of trailblazing leadership roles in data science. He works closely with the founders of the AI-native startups he backs, giving him a bird's eye view of how they're leveraging AI to reinvent business. He joined the WorkLab podcast to share some of his learnings, as well as insights about the promise of AI agents, how AI is transforming what we'll be able to do with our data, and the perils of how we think about the future. 

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If you want to have a fascinating conversation about AI, talk to Jaime Teevan. In her recent discussion with WorkLab podcast host Molly Wood, Microsoft's chief scientist shared key insights informed by her decades of research into productivity and collaboration. They also talk about how conversations will become increasingly important as we level up our AI skills, and how leaders can challenge themselves and their teams to think more creatively about tapping the full potential of the technology.

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"The biggest advice I have for CEOs is to ask, what are you trying to solve? What's your strategy? What's your business problem? And then we can think about how AI can support that." That's the message of Delphine Zurkiya, a senior partner at the strategy and management consulting firm McKinsey & Company who works with clients while also leading her division's AI initiatives. In this episode, we discuss AI adoption, reskilling teams for this new era of work, and the value of being completely transparent about when and how you use AI.    

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"With artificial intelligence and data at our fingertips, we now have the tools to address the world's most pressing problems. We no longer have excuses." That's the message of Juan Lavista Ferres, a Microsoft corporate vice president and the chief data scientist of the company's AI for Good Lab. He joined us to share key insights about the lab's work and highlight what business leaders can learn from Microsoft's efforts to harness technology to make the world a better place. 

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"If you want to really understand artificial intelligence, a good starting point is to get better at understanding human intelligence," says Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. He's a professor of business psychology, Chief Talent Scientist at Manpower Group, and author of several books on talent, leadership, and technology. He joins host Molly Wood to discuss how AI can help unlock greater performance, from improving recruiting and decision making to freeing up more time to apply our unique human skills. 

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"My purpose is helping people do their best work by being the best version of themselves," says Timm Chiusano, a creative executive turned TikTok superstar. He's garnered more than a million followers with content sharing his insights about leadership, productivity, and creativity. He joins us to discuss the joys of managing, the value of authenticity, leadership strategies for incorporating technology into the workplace, and the value of being mindful and present in your work and personal lives.

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What does it take to transform your business from the ground up for the AI era? There's no better person to ask than Kate Johnson, President and CEO of the telecommunications company Lumen. In this episode of the WorkLab podcast, she talks about how AI is helping the company stay agile in the ever-shifting telecom industry. We also delve into the importance of changing company culture in tandem with its technology, and how she has prepared her teams for this new era of work.

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The AI-first future of business is coming into focus, and it's time for every firm to become a Frontier Firm—a human-led, AI-operated org that buys intelligence like it's electricity, deploys it across workflows, and compounds it like interest. The burning question for leaders: How do we get there?    

The latest season of the WorkLab podcast will light the way, kicking off on October 29 with Pascal Bornet, coauthor of Agentic Artificial Intelligence: Harnessing AI Agents to Reinvent Business, Work and Life.

AI is transforming every aspect of organizations, from structure to culture. How can smart leaders harness its full potential to enhance productivity and get more out of collaboration? How can they ensure that it's functioning as a vital member of their team? How can they leverage its ability to add value, spot new opportunities, and help build out entirely new business models? In the upcoming season of the WorkLab podcast from Microsoft, we'll be exploring all of these questions.

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Imagine a world where we each have our own personal tutor who knows exactly when we need more challenge, support, or motivation. Sal Khan believes AI can be that tutor. He's the founder of the online education nonprofit Khan Academy and the author of several books on education technology, and he's here to talk about how smart companies can leverage AI to make the skilling process more responsive, more personalized, more accessible, and more effective. We also delve into Khan Academy's experience crafting its own AI teaching tool. 

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Charles Lamanna is the Corporate Vice President of Business Apps and Platforms at Microsoft. In this episode, he explores how newly announced Microsoft Copilot capabilities help business leaders do more than boost their personal productivity using AI. They can reinvent their teams and even their entire business. Lamanna also shares how low- and no-code tools are democratizing AI by allowing anyone, not just software developers, to turn their great ideas into products.

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Michael Platt literally wrote the book on the neuroscience of leadership, and he's on this episode of the WorkLab podcast to explain how AI is transforming our understanding of the brain, as well as the way we work. Platt is the Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and a Professor of Marketing, Neuroscience, and Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. His research explores how our minds work in relation to communication, decision making, group intelligence, and team building.

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How is Accenture, the professional services company with more than 730,000 employees across the world, transforming its enterprise using AI? And how is it recommending its clients do the same? In this episode, we go behind the scenes with CEO Julie Sweet to learn how. She also shares why the firm is investing $3 billion into AI, concrete use cases from Accenture clients, and tips for leaders on hiring and recruiting.  

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Peter Lee, President of Microsoft Research, explains how AI is transforming every aspect of the medical industry, from research to diagnosis to how doctors communicate information. He also helps listeners grasp how what he's seeing in medicine is happening across all industries: ultimately creating systems that are less siloed and less confusing, more thorough, more efficient, more secure—and even more empathetic. 

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Do you think AI will reduce the need for managers? Think again. As work becomes more efficient, the need for empathetic human oversight will increase, says Bryan Hancock, global leader of McKinsey's talent management practice. He explains why managers will play a critical role in building AI-powered organizations and ensuring that they thrive. In this episode, he shares why leaders must invest in their managers, and let those managers invest the time that AI saves them into better supporting their teams. 

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The best leaders have a framework for stepping confidently into the unknown. This includes creating an AI-powered organization, a challenge that has many up at bat. In this episode, Dr. Britt Aylor, Director of Leadership Development at Microsoft, gives us a crash course in the adaptive leadership framework. In the WorkLab podcast from Microsoft, host Molly Wood talks with executives, educators, technologists, and researchers to get the actionable insights you need to future-proof your organization. 

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Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter, author, and productivity expert. He joins us on the WorkLab podcast to share insights on how to form good habits for the AI era, along with the secrets behind "supercommunicators" who have next-level conversation skills. His key insight: the ability to clearly articulate what you want is vitally important to how you interact with other people as well as AI, and it can even help you get clarity on how to best tackle challenges and seize opportunities. 

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The year 2024 will be remembered as the moment when AI-powered organizations shifted into overdrive. How should leaders reinvent their processes for this new era? What's the best way for organizations to use the time that AI saves their teams? Join host Molly Wood for the new season of the WorkLab podcast, which explores the hard data, real-world lessons, and actionable insights you need to future-proof your organization. New episodes available February 28. 

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Rajesh Jha is Microsoft's EVP of Experiences + Devices, which means he oversees a wide range of products, from Microsoft 365 productivity tools and Surface devices to Copilot. Jha played a pivotal role in integrating AI into the company's offerings, and he joined the WorkLab podcast to share insights on navigating the complexities of becoming an AI-first organization. He also offers actionable advice on how leaders can adapt and compete while bringing their teams (and customers) along.

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Nir Eyal is an entrepreneur and author of the bestselling book Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. He's harnessed that expertise to develop simple guidelines on how we can tune out distractions. In this episode of WorkLab, he shares his insights on how to maintain focus. Eyal is the last guest for season 5 of the WorkLab podcast, in which host Molly Wood has conversations with economists, technologists, and researchers who explore the data and insights into why and how work is changing. 

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Erica Keswin, a business strategist who's worked with the world's most influential brands, defines what a human workplace is, and how leaders can achieve it in the age of generative AI. She also talks about her newest book, The Retention Revolution. Keswin is the latest guest on Microsoft's WorkLab podcast, in which host Molly Wood explores the data and insights about the work trends you need to know today—from how to use AI effectively to what it takes to thrive in our new world of work.

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Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientific Officer at Microsoft, explains how generative AI has the power to supercharge human potential and why business leaders should see it as the world's best "ideas processor." Horvitz is the latest guest on Microsoft's WorkLab podcast, in which host Molly Wood explores the data and insights about the work trends you need to know today—from how to use AI effectively to what it takes to thrive in our new world of work. 

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Dentsu Creative, one of the world's largest global creative agencies, is a part of the Microsoft Copilot Early Access Program. Global Head of Technology James Thomas shares how integrating Copilot is transforming workflows and enhancing creativity for his teams.

Thomas is the latest guest on Microsoft's WorkLab podcast, where host Molly Wood explores the data and insights about the work trends you need to know today—from how to use AI effectively to what it takes to thrive in our new world of work. 

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Aneesh Raman, a vice president at LinkedIn, explains how generative AI is changing work and expanding opportunities for people without standard career paths and educational backgrounds. Raman is the fourth guest for season 5 of Microsoft's WorkLab podcast, in which host Molly Wood has conversations with economists, technologists, and researchers who explore the data and insights about the work trends you need to know today—from how to use AI effectively to what it takes to thrive in a digital age. 

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Christina Wallace is a Harvard Business School instructor, serial entrepreneur, and author of the book The Portfolio Life. In this episode of WorkLab, Wallace discusses how leaders and individuals need to rethink careers and personal growth in AI-powered work. She is the third guest for season 5 of the WorkLab podcast, in which host Molly Wood has conversations with economists, technologists, and researchers who explore the data and insights about the work trends you need to know today—from how to use AI effectively to what it takes to thrive in a digital age. 

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Sam Schillace's breakthroughs in collaboration technology and engineering leadership have helped transform the way we work. In this episode, the Microsoft CVP and Deputy CTO discusses his experiences with AI tools, and their potential to shift our productivity paradigm. Schillace is the second guest for season 5 of the WorkLab podcast, in which host Molly Wood has conversations with economists, technologists, and researchers who explore the data and insights into why and how work is changing. 

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No one can predict the future, but quantitative futurist Amy Webb is doing her best. In this episode of WorkLab, Webb shares the most plausible outcomes for what the future looks like with AI and what business leaders can do today to make sure their organizations are set up for success. Webb is the first guest for season 5 of the WorkLab podcast, in which host Molly Wood has conversations with economists, technologists, and researchers who explore the data and insights into why and how work is changing. 

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The AI era of work isn't coming—it's here. How can you stay ahead of the curve and make sure your employees and your organization are using AI to its fullest potential? Listen to the WorkLab podcast. This trailer introduces season 5, in which new host Molly Wood has conversations with executives, educators, technologists, and researchers who explore the data and offer insights on everything from how to use AI effectively to what it takes to thrive in the digital age. 

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Ethan Mollick teaches innovation and entrepreneurship at The Wharton School and writes the popular AI Substack One Useful Thing. In this episode of WorkLab, Mollick explains why business leaders should be using AI now and what it means for the future of work and education. Mollick is the final guest for season 4 of the WorkLab podcast, in which hosts Elise Hu and Mary Melton have conversations with economists, technologists, and researchers who explore the data and insights into why and how work is changing. 

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The beauty industry is massive, fast-paced, and hard to predict. There are 20,000 brands worldwide, and microtrends can spread around the globe in hours. That's the challenge facing Kalindi Mehta, Global VP for Consumer Foresight Strategy and Predictive Analytics at the Estée Lauder Companies. In the latest episode, she lays out how AI is transforming her industry, and explains how the technology can help all companies be more agile, improve their decision making, and reimagine their workflows.

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Can AI fix work? Microsoft Corporate Vice President Jared Spataro and Colette Stallbaumer, general manager of Microsoft 365 and the Future of Work, discuss the latest Work Trend Index report and share their experiences using Microsoft 365 Copilot to transform work. This is Season 4 episode 7 of the WorkLab podcast, which features conversations with economists, psychologists, and technologists who explore why and how work is changing. 

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In this episode of WorkLab, Jenny Lay-Flurrie shares why inclusion for people with disabilities—from the workplace to a product to a company's culture—benefits everyone. Lay-Flurrie is the sixth guest for season 4 of the WorkLab podcast, in which hosts Elise Hu and Mary Melton have conversations with economists, technologists, and researchers who explore the data and insights into why and how work is changing. 

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Gretchen Rubin is an expert on happiness and the author of the New York Times bestselling book The Happiness Project. In this episode of WorkLab, Rubin shares what she's learned from more than a decade of studying wellbeing—and how her findings can apply to our working lives.  

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New innovations in AI sound exciting, but how will they actually change the way we work? Marcus Wohlsen is here to share some insights. Wohlsen is a journalist, author, and the head of editorial at the storytelling firm Godfrey Dadich Partners, and he has a special expertise on the past and future of AI. He provides a unique perspective—and some much-needed context—to help us as we try to wrap our heads around how AI will transform the future of work. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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.  

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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.   

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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. 

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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? 

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Cassie Kozyrkov created the discipline of decision intelligence, combining the power of AI with data science to enable companies to make better choices. She's now an AI advisor, and she writes the popular Decision Intelligence newsletter. Kozyrkov joined the WorkLab podcast to discuss how leaders can maximize the potential of AI and data, why having too many options is as unhelpful as having too few, and how to avoid falling prey to confirmation bias.

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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? 

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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. 

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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.  

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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. 

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