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AI is changing the way we work at an unprecedented speed. How can business leaders stay ahead of the curve and champion emerging technologies to benefit themselves and their teams? On WorkLab, we talk to experts 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. Join host Molly Wood as she explores the science of work and ingenuity.
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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. WorkLab | Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter
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. WorkLab | Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter
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. Show Notes: WorkLab | Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter
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. Show Notes: WorkLab | Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter
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. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter
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. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter
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. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter Click here to watch and subscribe to WorkLab on YouTube. Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft
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. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter Click here to watch and subscribe to WorkLab on YouTube. Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft
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. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft
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. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter
AI has crossed an important threshold, says Microsoft CMO of AI at Work Jared Spataro: it now has remarkable abilities to think and reason. What does that mean for organizations? Intelligence is on tap. "You can now buy intelligence like you would purchase a commodity like electricity," he explains. Spataro joined the podcast to discuss what it means for business, how he already sees agents transforming workflows and team structures, and why leaders need to "hire their first digital employee" now. WorkLab Subscribe to the AI at Work newsletter
DJ Patil was the first-ever US Chief Data Scientist and has led some of the biggest data initiatives in government and business. He has also been at the forefront of leveraging AI to solve the thorniest problems companies face, as well as "stupid, boring problems in the back office." He joins the WorkLab podcast to discuss the potential of AI to change business, how leaders can drive technological transformation, and why it's vital for data scientists to never lose sight of the human element. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter
A core component of every company's value proposition is its unique expertise. "But AI is lowering the cost of expertise," says Harvard Business School professor Karim Lakhani, and that will require leaders to rethink every aspect of their organization. Lakhani has spent his career researching digital transformation, and he joins the WorkLab podcast to share insights on how leaders can avoid "falling asleep at the wheel" with AI, and what they can learn from the AI-native generation of MBAs. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter
"It's time to replace the old linear model of success with a circular model of growth, in which goals are discovered, pursued, and adapted," says Anne-Laure Le Cunff. She left a successful tech-marketing career to study neuroscience, and now writes the popular Ness Labs newsletter, which features insights about how our brains work that can help us navigate uncertainty and nurture innovation. She joined WorkLab to discuss what leaders can learn from neuroscience, and how to tap the potential of AI in more creative ways. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft
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. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter
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. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft
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. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter
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. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft
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. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter
"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. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft
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