The Josh Bersin Company

Insider Insights on Corporate Talent, Learning, and HR Technology, with analyst perspectives, executive interviews, and in-depth vendor analysis.

SAP Jumps Ahead In AI Agents With Joule, HCM Features, And More

This week I discuss SAP’s massive launch of AI agents throughout the suite, and the growing importance of Joule, SAP’s business agent for all employees. The architecture is now well built out and I explain how AI is permeating the ERP and HCM space. I also discuss our new Galileo – Joule agent-to-agent integration and how MCP and a2a protocols are changing the AI space from a single “agent platform” to a network or AI agents which can now talk to each other and cascade and embed functions in workflows. Listen to my recent podcast on OpenAi’s developer platform and how they also use MCP to bring applications together. Two big messages here: First, SAP really has its AI act together, making it possible for companies to get the best of SAP and other AI agents throughout their companies. Second, the new world of business agents is not “one platform” winning: it’s a network of specialized agents communicating with each other. While none of us wants hundreds of vendor solutions in our tech stack, this interoperability approach is really positive because it lets specialized agents (ie. Galileo) work with others (Joule, Microsoft Copilot, etc.) to help you craft the perfect solutions for your company. Additional Information SAP Jumps Ahead In AI Agents With Joule, HCM Features, And More The Financial Impact of AI on HR: New Research Series AI Pacesetters: The Six Secrets of AI Transformation Success  Galileo: The World’s AI Agent for HR and Management Galileo Learn: The World’s HR Academy For Teams Chapters (00:00:00) - SAP HR and Business Applications: AI for Jobs(00:07:24) - SAP's Smart Recruiters and Cloud-based JOU

10-08
10:43

OpenAI Just Dropped A Bomb On The Learning Market

This week OpenAI unleashed a new set of developer tools that let’s learning platforms (and content) embed itself into the ChatGPT platform. And they also explain how you can build agents and other learning tools within the ChatGPT interface. I’m not saying this is an enterprise-class platform (it’s not), but the paradigm is so simple it shows everyone how AI-native learning will work. Watch Sam Altman’s Dev Day 2025 Conference Speech (>see the learning demo at this link), OpenAI’s 800 million users can now “learn” on demand from courses developed anywhere, ask questions, and follow their curiosity wherever it leads. As I discuss, this simple demo brings the AI native experience in Galileo Learn to almost a billion consumers. Listen up and you’ll see how corporate learning, knowledge management, and enablement is now coming together in The Revolution of Corporate Learning. You can get your hands on this entire environment for $695 a year, which includes more than 750 courses on HR, management, leadership, and technology. The new world of learning has arrived. Additional Information Experience AI-Native Learning at Work: Get Galileo! The Revolution In Corporate Learning: Our Research Study New Research: The Talent Acquisition Revolution Workday Acquires Sana To Transform Its Learning Platform And Much More Join our AI Excellence Study! We’ll share world-class findings in AI transformation.   Chapters (00:00:00) - Will ChatGPT Revolutionize the Way We Learn?

10-07
07:11

AI Is Messing With The Job Market In Ways We Didn't Anticipate

Listen, I’m very positive on the potential for AI to reinvent our jobs, careers, and companies. But making us all Superworkers is much trickier than we think. This week I discuss the far-reaching implications of AI on jobs and careers, and explain why and how the new world of “no job growth” with “massive job reinvention” gives us a mandate and clear agenda as HR and business leaders. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information L.A.’s Entertainment Economy Is Looking Like a Disaster Movie (WSJ) The Rise Of The Supermanager: A New Role In The World of AI How Japan’s Culture Of Business Teaches Us About AI Transformation The Rise Of The Supermanager: A New Role In The World of AI The AI Revolution in Corporate Learning (new research) The AI Revolution in Talent Acquisition (new research) Get Galileo: The World’s AI Assistant for HR and Leaders Chapters (00:00:00) - How AI Is Affecting the Job Market(00:09:14) - The Future of Work Is AI(00:14:26) - Jobs in a dynamic world(00:22:16) - A few things to Watch Out For

10-04
25:20

How Japan's Culture Of Business Teaches Us About AI Transformation

This week I’ve been in Asia and in this podcast I describe how Japan’s economic history teaches us about AI transformation in our careers and our companies. I also describe my experience using Galileo on my 7 hour flight from Japan to Singapore. Takeaways Why has Japan’s economy has stagnated since the mid-80s. The aging population poses significant workforce challenges. Cultural beliefs in lifelong employment hold us back Wages in Japan are tied to tenure rather than performance. Companies must encourage experimentation to leverage AI. The integration of AI is a continuous process, not a one-time event. Access to information is revolutionizing decision-making in business. Language barriers are diminishing with technology. Embracing AI is essential for future career success. Additional Information Get Galileo: The World’s AI Assistant for HR and Leaders The Rise Of The Supermanager: A New Role In The World of AI The AI Revolution in Corporate Learning (new research) The AI Revolution in Talent Acquisition (new research) Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube.   Chapters (00:00:00) - A look at the Japanese economy(00:03:35) - Should You Work For the Same Company Your Career?(00:13:15) - SAP Japan: The Future of Work with AI

10-01
16:56

Performance Management In Age of AI. Why Culture Matters More Than Ever

This week I discuss the broad topic of “how do we manage individual performance” while employees become superpowered by AI? Do we need a different or new process? Should we push deliver metrics higher? Or do we change the model? As I explain in this discussion, the big change in work is how everyone is “super-charged,” enabling all of us to get more done (or higher quality) for a given cost. So one would guess we “raise the expectation bar.” However, as I discuss in this podcast, this really doesn’t address the issue. In the world of AI transformation we’re asking people to do different things, not just “more of the same.” So we need to refocus our performance management on the company’s core values and behaviors, not only output metrics. I also discuss this flawed idea of “beating the competition” to measure performance. Great companies are not evaluated by their ability steal customers or market share from competitors (nor are great countries, btw). Rather they are evaluated based on their growth and return to shareholders. In a time of rapid transformation this means focusing people on “value creation” not just “market share.” There are lots of philosophical issues to debate here, stay tuned for more to come on this topic. Additional Information The Rise Of The Supermanager: A New Role In The World of AI The AI Revolution in Corporate Learning (new research) The AI Revolution in Talent Acquisition (new research) Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Chapters (00:00:00) - The future of AI and human resources(00:00:55) - The Difference between Competition and Performance(00:07:28) - Performance Management in an AI World(00:12:16) - Who Wins the War on AI?(00:17:55) - SAP Connect: Work redesign and supermanager

09-28
19:15

Living In A Continuous Earthquake: Why Supermanagers Matter

Today, broadcasting from Asia, I discuss the wide range of disrupting change hitting our companies, employees, and leaders and the implications on management. As you’ll hear, AI is only one of many things changing our landscape, and we, as leaders, have to rethink our role. I introduce the idea of a Supermanager, and I explain how in today’s environment change comes from the front-line workforce, not only from the top. This democratizing change in work forces us to redefine what managers do. Despite the blogosphere, managers are not going away but many will be replaced, and you’ll see why this makes sense. I also discuss what I call “The Wisdom of Galileo,” and how our AI agent Galileo has become smarter and wiser than ever. I hope you enjoy this episode, there’s a lot to think about in here. Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube. Additional Information The Rise Of The Supermanager: A New Role In The World of AI The Wisdom of Galileo: 100 Use Cases and More The AI Revolution in Corporate Learning (new research) The AI Revolution in Talent Acquisition (new research)  

09-25
20:23

Julia Stiglitz On The Revolution in Online Learning

I have had the pleasure of knowing Julia Stiglitz, one of the founders of Coursera, for years. Her latest venture, Uplimit, is an AI-native corporate learning platform and it is one of the revolutionary systems in the market (complimentary to Galileo Learn, by the way). Julia and I had the opportunity to talk about how online learning has changed, the future of the corporate content market, and how Uplimit is using AI to create cohort-based learning that trains thousands of people at a time. Julia’s background gives her a fascinating perspective on the L&D revolution, one which all business and HR people should hear. (It’s about much more than content!) Additional Information The Revolution in L&D: AI Native Learning Arrives (research study) Workday Acquires Sana To Transform Its Learning Platform And Much More Experience AI Learning in HR and Management: Get Galileo Like this podcast? Rate us on Spotify or Apple or YouTube.  

09-23
24:27

What Happens In Vegas, Stays In Vegas - HR Tech 2025-6

Here’s my quick recap of HR Technology 2025, which was jam-packed with vendors like never before. The HR traffic was down but the vendor traffic was higher than I’ve seen in years. Why? Well $800 billion has been invested in AI infrastructure this year and many of these software companies are taking advantage of it. There are probably too many tools in the market again, but for you HR tech buyers, it’s kind of like a candy store of options. As I discussed in my keynote, it’s a tricky time to pick vendors, but as always it’s important to focus on the problem, not on the product or platform. We also announced the open web feature of Galileo, so now Galileo competes directly with ChatGPT. Read more about it here. And please read our new research on The Revolution in Talent Acquisition, launched this week. Additional Information Get Galileo®, the world’s AI agent for HR and Leadership. Like this podcast? Rate ust on Spotify or Apple. or YouTube.

09-19
13:59

How Sana Transforms Workday's Learning Platform, And Much More

Today, only a few weeks after acquiring Paradox and Flowise, Workday announced the acquisition of another AI company: Sana Labs. Sana, the company that we partner with for Galileo and Galileo Learn, is a pioneering AI-native platform designed for learning, knowledge management, and agentic applications. The Sana Agent and Sana Learning platforms give Workday a badly-needed upgrade to its learning solution, and also bring deep AI experience into the company. In this podcast I explain the acquisition in some detail, and also describe what we call “The Revolution in Corporate Learning.” Everyone in HR and business should read this research study because it explains one of the biggest business and career disruptions coming out of AI. Read my article about this and you’ll get a sense of how important this space is. Can Workday make Sana into something bigger and even more transformational? Let’s hope so – I describe the opportunity and the huge upside for businesses. And if you want to experience Sana yourself, just get Galileo! Additional Information The Revolution in Corporate Learning. See AI-Native Learning In Action: Get Galileo  

09-16
30:59

The AI Revolution in Talent Acquisition, and Perspectives On Tech and M&A

Preview of my big HR Tech keynote! This week I give you in-depth perspectives on the massive AI tech bubble, the massive revolution in talent acquisition systems, and what to expect from M&A in the future. We’re in a whole new world of HR Technology and vendors are scrambling to buy, build, or invest to keep up. I’ll be keynoting many events this Fall to discuss all these issues. Key Discussion Topics Tech and AI investment in 2025 is almost 2.5% of US GDP: is it sustainable? Talent acquisition and recruiting are bigger than ever, and it’s not just an HR function Candidate volumes (driven by AI) are forcing everyone to buy more tech AI is transforming every step of the hiring process, from job descriptions to assessments. Companies need to be cautious about AI with the big Workday Mobley lawsuit to be settled. Mergers and acquisitions in HR tech can lead to operational challenges and integration issues. Additional Information The Revolution in Talent Acquisition: New Research Join our AI Excellence Study Get Galileo: The World’s AI Assistant and Skills Academy for HR  

09-13
27:23

The Job Market Crash, Open AI's Job Strategy, And My Experience With Learning Agents

This week I summarize some massive news about the job market, job creation, and OpenAI’s move to enter the world of AI skills development and talent matching. Please read the detailed article for more details. In addition to diving into these topics, I also tell you my story of “learning agents” and why self-development and AI-powered learning is going to revolutionize your job, your HR team, and your company. It’s all connected: AI, job creation, self-development, and your career. I really want to encourage to you to get Galileo so you can experience this transformation in your career. Galileo is now the premier self-development and AI agent for HR, consultants, and L&D professionals, and we can show you how to propel your company forward into this new world of reinvented jobs, work, and companies. I hope to see many of you in the coming conferences around the world this Fall. Additional Information OpenAI Gets Into Job Placement While The Job Market Crashes Get Galileo, The AI Agent for Professional Development And Growth in All Areas of HR      

09-07
26:24

Taylor Stockton, Chief Innovation Officer for US Dept. of Labor

This week I’m excited to share my interview with Taylor Stockton, Chief Innovation Officer for the US Department of Labor. You will learn about the American AI Action Plan and the detailed America’s Talent Strategy: Building the Workforce for the Golden Age, two strategy documents which describe how the Federal Government is investing in AI technology, workforce readiness, apprenticeships, and new models for education and accreditation. While we used to think of the DOL as the agency that advocates for labor. Today they’re taking a forward-leaning role to reshape the economy through workforce education, development, and research in our new AI-powered business environment. Taylor is keenly aware of the issues employers and workers face, so I know you’ll find this conversation educational and inspiring. There’s a lot to do, but as you’ll hear the DOL is quite focused on the right issues. Additional Information Understanding America’s AI Action Plan Why AI Harm To Jobs and Humanity are Vastly Over-Hyped Read “America’s Talent Strategy” (pdf)

09-04
26:21

Labor Day Arrives: How AI Changes Everything For Workers

US Labor Day is always a time to celebrate workers. Well this year, unlike years before, the entire labor market is changed. Not only are many front-line workers in high demand, white-collar workers are experiencing a hiring slowdown and automation is impacting everyone. And for the first time in my career, the BLS expects very little job growth in the coming decade. As I discuss in this week’s podcast, it’s time to take a step back and understand that everything we thought we knew about the labor market has changed, and this change is going to accelerate. Listen in and you’ll see the big picture: how shortages will continue, how productivity will grow, and how new ideas like talent density and the Superworker and Supermanager will redefine our companies. And I also describe your new keys to career success. I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend, we’re in for exciting times ahead. Additional Reading US Job Market To Growth Rate To Drop By 75% In Next Decade (BLS) UK Birth Rate Falls to Record Low The Rise of The Superworker: AI Makes Employees are More Important Than Ever    

08-29
27:56

Will AI Obsolete Employee Surveys? Perceptyx Says AI Can Do Much More.

In this podcast Kathi Enderes interviews Joe Freed, Chief Product officer at Perceptyx, explains the company’s strategy to extend its employee engagement platform to provide nudges, manager tools, and in-depth analysis of employee needs. While the employee survey is not dead yet, you’ll see where things are going. Perceptyx is a well-known survey and analytics company, known for its highly customizable employee engagement tools. Joe explains how Perceptyx’s acquisition of Humu, Waggl, and Cultivate brought advanced AI and nudge technology to the company, and explains a vision of high-powered employee engagement tools for the future. Additional Information Employee Engagement and Happiness Crisis. What Should We Do? Perceptyx Acquires Cultivate Workday Throws Down The Gauntlet On Employee Engagement: Acquisition of Peakon  

08-28
31:33

Is Superintelligence Nonsense? Why The AI Market Stumbled.

The AI market boom took a pause last week when GPT-5 and some new research from MIT appeared. As you’ll hear, the expectations for AI are extraordinarily high and that causes a lot of bubble effects. Today I explain this bubble and where it’s going. I also discuss our latest experiences with AI transformation in business, and why “task automation” is not really the big opportunity ahead. You’ll see that the Superworker effect changes organization design, jobs, and reward systems. Lots of opportunities for productivity ahead. Galileo, the world’s AI agent for HR, is now the Power Tool you need to stay head. Global research, professional development, data, vendor analysis, and hundreds of HR and management tools, all in one AI platform. Get Galileo now. Additional Information The MIT Report And Why It’s Misleading: AI Definitely Pays Off From 2017: Why Superintelligence Is A Myth Workday to Acquire Paradox. A Bigger Deal Than You Think. Get Galileo, The World’s AI Assistant for HR    

08-23
20:23

Workday Acquires Paradox, A Bigger Deal Than You Think

This week I discuss Workday’s acquisition of Paradox, the pioneer in AI-powered conversational recruiting. As I describe in detail, this is a big deal – and it goes beyond Workday’s ability to now offer high-volume, conversational recruitment. Talent Acquisition itself is about to radically change with AI, and this moves Workday into a leading position in what we call “The Revolution in Talent Acquisition.” (Report coming out in October.) I also discuss the latest trends in AI transformation in general, and what we’ve now learned about HR job redesign and how AI really is changing the fundamentals of HR operating models (automating Systemic HR) and job design. For access to all our research, analysis, professional development, and tools, get Galileo, the world’s AI assistant for HR. Additional Information Will Chatbots Take Over HR Tech? Paradox Sets The Pace. The Systemic HR Operating Model: How AI Transforms The Function Learn about AI in HR: Join The Josh Bersin Academy (Galileo Learn)  

08-21
22:02

White Hot AI Dev Tool Market: Workday Acquires Flowise And More

The new battle for AI supremacy is now moving to the application development space, or IDE (Integrated Development Environments). These companies, like Cursor, Windsurf, Github Copilot, Replit, Google AI Studio, and Microsoft Power tools, are exploding with growth. Why? Because in the world of AI, we’re all application developers! (Listen to “We’re All Software Engineers Now” for more.) Well, as I explain in this market, the big players like Workday now want to be your development environment. In this podcast I explain this space and some history of IDE’s in the client/server era. (It more or less predicts where this is going.) Listen in and you’ll understand why billions of VC dollars are suddenly going into dev tools for AI, why you’ll be using one of these soon, and how Workday and others will respond. I also briefly explain how Galileo plays in this space. We’re coming up on HR Tech season so come see us at HR Technology Conference in Vegas (September), Unleash (October), and SAP Connect. More to Read Workday Flowise Acquisition Windsurf vs Copilot vs Cursor (a little geeky) Galileo Venus Release (Video: Galileo for Managers, Task Library Tools, Learning Integration) What Is Vibe Coding Anyway? 1994: Sybase Acquires Powersoft (how history repeats itself!) (NYT Download)      

08-15
14:06

The Amazing Story of Workhuman, Recognition Market Leader

In this podcast I interview Eric Mosley, the Founder and CEO of Workhuman, a $Billion dollar company that pioneered the market for employee recognition. Today Workhuman has more than 7.7 million users and is widely used by many of the largest companies in the world. What does Workhuman do? Well they help you build a corporate wide program for employee recognition and feedback that creates one of the most important positive engagement drivers one can find. Employees who feel appreciated and recognized are 4X more likely to be highly engaged and 4X more likely to see a growth path in their companies. Our research found that companies with a high recognition culture have a 70% lower voluntary turnover rate. And there’s much more: the information from recognition (Workhuman calls it “Human Intelligence”) gives you valuable information on skills, strengths, culture, and organizational health you can find. This is a story about entrepreneurship, culture, and the importance of human centered leadership, something that’s refreshing in a world where everyone always wants to talk about AI! Additional Information Our Recognition Research, explaining the power of appreciation and thanks. U.S. Employee Engagement Sinks to 10-Year Low (Gallup) Why Are Managers So Miserable at Work?  

08-12
37:36

AI Transformation Is Real: Conversation w/ Jacqui Canney from ServiceNow

This week I have an update on the “real world” of AI transformation, based on some important conversations I’ve had (and these folks will join the podcast soon.) First, I talked with the Department of Labor and also reviewed new research from Goldman Sachs and we do find that “AI is not wiping out jobs.” As you’ll hear, there is a slowdown in hiring, but actually AI is “creating new work,” despite Dario Amodei’s predictions that white collar jobs are going away. (I don’t know about you, but I rarely wear my white collar shirts any more, so he may be correct on the shirt front.) Second, listen to the discussion about software automation, Thomas Dohmke, who was interviewed on The Verge. That convo was fascinating: despite AI’s ability to write code, engineers will just write more code.  Listen to my explanation in the podcast. Third, I had a wonderful conversation with Jacqui Canney, the CHRO and AI Enablement Officer at ServiceNow. As you’ll hear, Jacqui’s team at ServiceNow has published their AI Playbook and AI Maturity Model which I encourage you to read. She described their governance model, use case approach, and more – and further convinced me that AI transformation is a people problem, not a tech problem. And one more thing: for those of you who think AI “destroys” or “disrupts” your company, I put together a ten minute video on our own AI journey and how AI amplifies and scales what we do, essentially creating a company of Superworkers. We are proving the Superworker company model right here. Additional Resources Get Galileo: Agent and Learn Bundle Goldman Exchange podcast on labor market The Verge interview with Thomas Dohmke from GitHub The Rise of the Superworker: Four Stages of AI in the Workforce The Josh Bersin Company’s AI Transformation  

08-08
21:31

Introducing Galileo™ for Managers, A Leadership Guru At Your Fingertips

This week we introduce Galileo for Managers, an exciting new part of the Galileo Platform – designed to help business professionals with day-to-day management. As you’ll hear in this podcast, Galileo for Managers brings together the best of AI with 25+ years of research into management, leadership, business, and HR. As I discuss in today’s announcement, Galileo for Managers revolutionizes the market for leadership development, coaching, and organizational change. And as HR budgets get tight, Galileo for Managers also helps HR teams scale and extend their leadership development to every manager and every leader. Listen to the details, you can license Galileo for Managers and learn more here. Additional Information Get Galileo for Managers (learn more) The Galileo Platform Strategy Explained (Video)    

08-06
05:40

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