Designing Leadership Development for a Rapidly Changing Industry
BY Ade Akin March 18, 2026For Mark Monaghan, the future is something he’s eagerly awaited since he was a child, bonding with his father while watching Star Trek. The popular science-fiction show painted a positive picture of what a technologically advanced future could look like, and Mark couldn’t wait to be a part of it. “I remember even my mom, growing up one day, told me, ‘Mark, stop wishing your days away,’” Monaghan said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s February virtual conference. “And now it’s here. The future is here, and it’s happening so fast.”Monaghan, now the VP of global organizational development at iQor, a global customer experience company with 47,000 employees across 11 countries, is uniquely positioned to help shape that future. He detailed how his lifelong passion for science fiction has informed his real-world mission to use technology to deepen human connections through innovative leadership development during the session. The Data-Driven Foundation of CoachingiQor’s journey with advanced technology isn’t a recent pivot. Monaghan says the company purchased a big-data firm called Key Metrics about 12 years ago, long before artificial intelligence (AI) became a boardroom buzzword. This early adoption allowed them to begin analyzing the massive amounts of data generated in their 50-plus call centers, transitioning voice calls into digital data to identify patterns and coaching opportunities.Mark Monaghan, the VP of organizational development at iQor, spoke with From Day One's editor in chief, Steve Koepp (photo by From Day One)This data-centric approach became the bedrock of their internal coaching systems. iQor’s technology team built a proprietary coaching database called SCAN, with a new AI-integrated version, Coach IQ, on the horizon. One tool, dubbed “coach to coach,” uses AI to audit recorded coaching sessions between managers and supervisors, pinpointing specific areas for improvement. “We also learned a lot about AI, learned how the different models learned,” Monaghan said. “It’s just kind of soaked into us. We can use this.”The iLead Program: Measuring the ImmeasurableThe core of Monaghan’s work is the award-winning iLead mentoring program, which has earned 49 learning and development awards, including a gold Brandon Hall Award and a silver Stevie Award. The program operates on a leadership competency model that categorizes leaders from “leading oneself” to “leading a vision.” Each level is tied to five key competencies.iLead’s ability to measure development makes it revolutionary. Monaghan partnered with Fidello to build a system where mentors and mentees complete competency assessments. If a mentee rates themselves a five on “managerial courage” but their mentor gives them a two, a dashboard highlights the delta. The mentor can then assign a curated learning journey from iQor’s Skillsoft library that’s tied directly to that competency.“In Trinidad five years ago, we were able to identify that resolving conflict was the number one competency for our supervisors,” Monaghan elaborated. “We were actually able to move the needle from ‘needs development’ to ‘developed.’ That’s actually the first time I’ve ever been able to measure learning within the work environment that was measurable.”iQor uses a tool called “iTrack” to ensure these mentoring relationships are productive. iTrack allows mentees to confidentially rate each session. If scores dip, Monaghan’s team can investigate trends and offer gentle course corrections, ensuring conversations remain focused on career growth, instead of solely focusing on daily performance metrics.The Next Frontier: AI Mentors and Second Nature SimulationsAlways looking ahead, Monaghan is now introducing an AI mentor bot into the iLead system. The bot analyzes past session notes, assessment gaps, and learning assets to generate a tailored, 30-minute discussion agenda for mentor-mentee meetings. “As far as I can tell, this platform doesn’t exist anywhere else,” he added.Similarly, iQor is leveraging a simulation tool called Second Nature to train supervisors. Instead of just listening to calls, new hires can now practice complex conversations with realistic avatars. After the simulation, they receive complete feedback on what they could have done better, which can also be reviewed by trainers. “It’s a completely different level,” Monaghan said.Despite his passion for technology, Monaghan’s philosophy is firmly rooted in servant leadership. He worries about the loneliness epidemic and the role recent tech advancements have played in pushing people apart. His motivation now, in what he calls the “fourth quarter of his career,” is about legacy.“If I can help my leaders become servant leaders, help them remove barriers from their own lives, give them the confidence, recognition, and support that they need, you can really, really help people,” he said. “Every few months, I’ll get somebody from somewhere in my career that reaches out, and thanks me for a conversation. I think about that. That’s really what motivates me.” For Monaghan, the future of work isn’t just about using technology like artificial intelligence to build more efficient systems; it’s about using these tools to build more connected, capable, and confident people.Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photo by PeopleImages/iStock)
How a Culture of Learning Equips the Workforce for What’s Next
BY Katie Chambers March 16, 2026When the pandemic hit, the hospitality industry lost many workers. At Soho House, the impact was dramatic, with roughly 80% of the workforce disappearing either temporarily or permanently. Rebuilding meant more than simply re-hiring. It offered an opportunity to rethink how people learn on the job. During an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s February virtual conference, Lauren Goodman, regional head of people and development at Soho House, shared how the company redesigned its learning and development approach from the ground up, creating role-specific onboarding guides and self-paced training that allow employees to build skills while working rather than racing through rigid certification timelines. The results were striking. Turnover dropped about 25% year over year from 2022 to 2023, and the company now averages around 32% turnover, below the hospitality industry standard, says Goodman. The shift showed how personalized, flexible learning programs can play a direct role in retention.What Employees Want to Learn TodayBecause the modern workplace is changing rapidly, employees are looking for programs to help them keep up. “One of the big things that is top of mind for so many organizations now is agility and learning and how to be more adaptable and resilient,” said Priscila Bala, vice chair at LifeLabs Learning. “The half-life of many of the skills that we have is about 18 months. Cycles are compressing so much.” So, faster and shorter are better. “We don’t have people asking for those large, generic programs anymore. They want short, practical learning tied to the job, real-time feedback from their boss,” said Marcus Cazier, head of L&D, Americas, bioMérieux. This is also due to shrinking patience and attention spans, Goodman says. Plus, they are looking to the future: “They’re also looking for us not just to train them on their job, but that growth mindset as well.”Of course, AI is one of the factors driving rapid change, so employees are hoping to stay abreast of the latest technology. “At Autodesk, it’s primarily around upskilling and AI, also the impact that AI is having on both teams, individuals, and the organization, in addition to specific workflows and how workflows are changing as a result of AI integration and building an AI native mindset,” said Michel Riyad Nabti, senior director of learning & development at Autodesk. Panelists spoke about "How a Culture of Learning Equips the Workforce for What’s Next" during the virtual session (photo by From Day One)Employees are also preferring less structured programs, opting for self-directed opportunities instead. “We’ve also noticed that when we do optional micro trainings, we get a more positive response and a larger response than when we have a formalized, mandatory two-hour training,” Goodman said. “To me, it’s helpful to know we might still do the full two hours, but we’re going to do it in a ‘micro’ setting, so that way it’s more appealing to our team, and hopefully they retain it better, too.” But Bala emphasizes that L&D shouldn’t feel too optional or separate from other business initiatives—otherwise, it will fall by the wayside in favor of what feels like more pressing work priorities. “The folks that are really successful are the ones that actually make it as part of an execution strategy, instead of treating learning as if it’s a separate thing that happens outside of business,” she said. “When people learn individually, you don’t get their colleagues to recognize what’s happening. They don’t have a shared language, it becomes so much harder to reinforce what are really the norms that are going to help us be more efficient and effective.”Building an Effective L&D Program AI can be an important partner in providing up-to-date, personalized learning plans to employees. “We’re making a transformation from L&D being a content provider, Content Manager, to being a strategic partner across the enterprise, and part of that transformation is building a learning ecosystem,” Nabti said. Autodesk has “internally designed learning programs in addition to external vendor provider programs that can provide that kind of personalization and an impact to each individual when meeting them, where their needs are.” Launching a one-size-fits-all program can be tricky among corporations with a variety of roles, from front-of-house hourly workers to designers, executives, and beyond. “How do you ensure that L&D is consistent among all those employees?” asked session moderator Corinne Lestch, journalist and founder, the Off-Site Writing Workshop. Cazier shares that his organization, which does business all over the world, offers peer-to-peer review and training sessions where participants can practice customer conversations with each other and give real-time feedback, which becomes especially important when educating each other on cultural and linguistic nuances. “It’s allowing us to immediately embed what they’re learning into conversations. And then we are also connecting these behaviors to their bonuses and to their merit. We have begun holding leaders accountable for how they accomplish things and to ensure that they’re doing it in the way that the organization wants things done,” Cazier said. “We have aggressive growth goals, but we also have a high ethical standard, and we have a very deep, humanistic approach that we’re proud of, and we don’t want to lose as we try to evolve the organization.” Soho House, which employs everyone from dishwashers to graphic designers, feels this acutely. “Making sure that everyone feels really valued throughout that training process is critical,” Goodman said. “Getting buy-in from several key stakeholders [is also crucial], because it’s not just one aspect of the business, but it’s really what makes the whole business successful.” Corporate brand, values, and identities should be embedded in all L&D programs, including how those values “trickle down” across the team. Then, you can demonstrate how different skills contribute to and uphold those values during day-to-day work. Skills assessments should ideally be paired with L&D programs to establish a baseline of current skills and assess whether training has been effective. “What are the skills and competencies that we are mapping so that the learning can be intentional? People want their capability-building to be purposeful,” Bala said. Panelists agree that providing L&D opportunities is also important to building a culture of psychological safety and freedom, allowing workers to feel comfortable experimenting, growing, and forging their own path. “That’s so crucial in this inflection point that we’re currently in,” Nabti said. “Having a culture of experimentation and agility that’s aligned to the company’s culture is crucial for our success, and also detaching us from this expectation that every initiative has to be successful. That culture of experimentation frees us up to explore areas where we may have really big performance goals.” Asking employees what they want to learn is key to building a healthy, sustainable, and attractive L&D program. Soho House includes a question about learning goals in its performance reviews at all levels. “What is it that they want to learn so that we can help support their learning objectives as a human and as an individual? Having that as a requirement has helped to create that culture of learning and development,” Goodman said. “None of us knows it all. Let’s ask you, on a formalized basis, what [do] you want to learn at the end of the year? Did we commit to that as the employer? Did we help support you there? If not, how do we do better next year?”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photo by kasto80/iStock)
How Schneider Electric Is Powering a Skills-First Future
BY Grace Turney March 12, 2026Dina Yorke almost didn’t apply for the job that would help define her career. The role, a finance business partner position, was a perfect fit—except for one puzzling line in the job description: this person will manage HR. “What finance person manages HR?” she remembered thinking. It was her husband who finally pushed her to take the leap. “Put your name in. What do you have to lose?”Nearly 20 years later, Yorke is the VP of learning excellence at Schneider Electric, a 190-year-old global energy technology company. The unconventional path she took, crossing from finance to operations to global HR, reflects the very argument she now makes for why companies must stop organizing talent around rigid job titles and start building everything around skills.That philosophy took center stage during a fireside chat at a From Day One’s February virtual conference, where Yorke spoke with Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, a business reporter at the Seattle Times. Together they explored how AI and skills-based talent strategies are reshaping the future of work, from the shop floor to the executive suite.Skills as the FoundationSchneider Electric has made a strategic decision that most companies haven’t yet: skills are no longer just a component of HR; they are the organizing principle for everything the company does with its people, from hiring and development to internal mobility and, eventually, compensation. “We’ve made the decision strategically to put skills as the foundation of everything we’re doing in HR,” Yorke said.Yorke of Schneider Electric spoke with journalist Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton during the virtual session (photo by From Day One)Part of what makes this shift consequential is its scale. Schneider is in the process of expanding its global career architecture from 800 job codes to more than 3,000. This granularity allows the company to see, for instance, that a learning experience architect with two years of experience and one with twenty shouldn’t share the same code. They have different proficiency levels across the same critical skills, and the company needs to be able to track that gap.Across those 3,000 roles, Schneider has identified approximately 1,150 critical skills. Some, like digital fluency and AI literacy, cut across nearly every job in the company. Others are specific to engineering, sales, or learning and development. The goal is to give both employees and managers a clear map: here is where you are, here is where the business needs you to go, and here is how to get there.The Urgency Behind the StrategyWhy now? Yorke pointed to data from the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 to frame the stakes. One-third of current skills will be obsolete by 2030. More than 60% of business leaders say the shortage of talent and skills is among their most pressing concerns. And nearly 60% of the global workforce will need to be reskilled or upskilled in the coming years.“We know we’re not going to be able to buy ourselves out of this,” Yorke said. “We’re not going to be able to go hire all the people out there. We have to invest in our people.” The calculus is straightforward: build, don’t just buy. That means creating the internal pathways, tools, and culture that help employees grow into the roles the business will need, before those roles become vacant or critical.AI as a Career Development ToolAt Schneider, AI is not an abstract future concern; it’s already embedded in the systems employees use every day to manage their careers. The company’s internal talent marketplace, called the Career Hub, allows employees to assess their own skills against their job code, identify gaps, and receive personalized recommendations for jobs, projects, mentors, or learning opportunities.A newer feature, the coffee chat function, offers something more casual than formal mentorship—a way for an employee to simply connect with someone at a different level or function to understand their career path. Soon, the platform will also generate learning recommendations directly tied to individual skill gaps, meeting employees wherever they are in their development journey.The company has also piloted and is preparing to roll out an AI coaching tool called Nadia, trained on Schneider’s own HR and management philosophy. Yorke described using it herself to prepare for high-stakes conversations, work through performance management processes, and rehearse presentations, all by talking out loud rather than typing. “I used to say, could I put a USB into my brain?” she said. “Now I just talk to Copilot or I talk to Nadia. They transcribe, and then I can edit.”Shop Floor to Top FloorOne of the session’s most striking points was Yorke’s insistence that AI capability-building isn’t just for knowledge workers. Schneider operates a global supply chain and manufactures its own products, which means it has to think about AI literacy across an extraordinarily wide range of roles and education levels.“Think about it: we go from the shop floor, because we do have our own global supply chain, all the way up to the top floors,” she said. The company has set up computer rooms in its manufacturing plants so that shop floor employees can access digital and compliance training. More pointedly, Schneider has built AI governance and ethics into its company-wide compliance curriculum. This training flows from executive leadership down to production workers every year.Yorke noted that many frontline workers have been using AI in the form of automation for years. “A lot of our employees have been working with AI for years,” she said. “Maybe when some people think AI, they automatically think generative AI. AI is machine learning. It’s automation.”Enthusiasm for AI at Schneider is matched by a structured approach to managing its risks. The company’s AI strategy is anchored in the National Institute of Standards and Technology AI Risk Management Framework, a set of principles that Yorke said shapes the company’s entire approach. Layered on top of that framework is a global committee overseeing AI strategy, an internal hub of AI experts who consult on both internal and external applications, and an ongoing risk management process.The company has also updated its trust charter (an internal governance document) to explicitly address data privacy and intellectual property in the context of AI. “We need to make sure it’s well protected,” Yorke said, noting that employees sharing content with AI tools must understand what protections are in place.For employees who feel nervous about the technology, Yorke’s approach is transparency over pressure. The key, she said, is being clear about what a tool is designed to do and, just as importantly, what it is not for. “We have to recognize that employees are going to be at different stages of comfort.” The company’s response is not to mandate adoption but to build a culture where curiosity is rewarded, experimentation is safe, and the resources to learn are widely available.The Human Skills Still Matter MostFor all the emphasis on technology, Yorke returned repeatedly to a simpler message: human intelligence is the anchor. The skills she credits most for her own career, critical thinking, communication, empathy, stakeholder management, are the same ones she believes will matter most in a world where AI handles data synthesis and routine tasks.“It’s our brains that are going to be the ones that help drive the decisions,” she said. The role of a person in an AI-augmented workplace isn’t to compete with the machine, but to apply judgment, context, and interpersonal skill to what the machine surfaces.Her parting advice to the audience was characteristically direct: invest in your human skills. Build robust governance before rolling out AI tools. Be transparent with employees about why and how the tools are being used. And above all, stay curious. “You don’t have to be the early adopter,” she said, “but get out there and try.”The internal barriers, she added, are almost always the most dangerous ones. After all, she nearly talked herself out of the job that changed everything.Grace Turney is a St. Louis-based writer, artist, and former librarian. See more of her work at graceturney17.wixsite.com/mysite.(Photo by Barks_japan/iStock)
Learning and Development, Powered by AI: How Innovations Are Bringing the Next Wave
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza March 06, 2026“Already, I can’t go back to not having AI,” said Stephanie Smith-Ejnes, the VP of people and organization at Sony Pictures. “It is so ingrained in my day-to-day work and how efficient I am and how efficient my team is. The path forward is seeing AI as a force-multiplier and not a replacement for learning professionals.”Given the number of creatives employed by Sony, the will-it-or-won’t-it replace-me conversation is one Smith-Ejnes has been having a lot lately. And while she can’t imagine her working life without it, she’s sympathetic to those who still see it as a threat to their livelihood. It’s up to leaders like her, she explained, to lead the way with AI adoption, making the case for it as an enabler, and not a threat.During a panel discussion on how L&D teams are innovating with artificial intelligence at From Day One’s February virtual, Smith-Ejnes and her fellow panelists outlined how they’re pioneering AI in their organizations, setting the standard for adoption and responsible use.Building an AI-Native OrganizationDespite its widespread adoption, many companies and teams are far from proficient in AI. Talent development platform Infopro Learning uses a three-stage maturity model when helping clients advance. The first—and necessary—step is the “bolt-on” stage in which teams are curious and exploring with tools by adding them to existing processes, said CEO Sriraj Malick.The second is when teams are learning how to use AI to save time and money, creating new work capacity. Companies enter the third stage—that is, the AI-native stage—when teams can work within an AI infrastructure. “The infrastructure is learning as your team members are doing, so the knowledge and the intelligence compounds for the organization, for the team, and for every team member,” Mallick said.Journalist Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza moderated the virtual session (photo by From Day One)Companies advance at different speeds, of course, and even the most innovative are still experimenting. For instance, customer-service platform Qualfon has developed its own AI-powered roleplay simulator to help employees master customer conversations. Learners have always asked for more practice, said the company’s VP of learning and development Marvie Wright, and now they can get it. Not only are these sessions measurable (tracking how quickly someone speaks or whether they over-use vocalized pauses like ums and ahs), “it also allows us to individualize and personalize the learning, and it gives immediate feedback,” she said. Personalization is something L&D teams have long talked about, “but finally, it’s a reality.”As AI promises to automate rote tasks that have previously occupied inordinate amounts of time, human skills are becoming the most necessary and coveted, says Brittany Dougan, senior director of L&D at government services contractor Maximus. The good news is, “we’re really good at them, and we know how to develop them in the organization, so it puts [L&D teams] in a position to be true business partners.”The Problem of ComplianceSome leaders in tightly regulated industries, like defense and healthcare, are finding AI adoption a challenge. “Compliance cultures are built on control and documentation, but really meaningful AI adoption requires iteration and failure and learning—it’s structured freedom,” said Heather Lambert, the VP of learning and development at healthcare provider Wellpath.To afford workers with as much freedom as possible, Wellpath uses sandbox environments in which users are given access to tiered permission zones based on clearance and need, with guardrails to prevent users from mishandling data. “When people understand that there is a boundary and why it exists—whether it’s HIPAA or data privacy—they’re more likely to respect it,” said Lambert. “If they know why, they won’t try to work around it.”“L&D teams will be the ones to set the standard for AI use within an organization,” said Smith-Ejnes. “If I sit back and I say, ‘let’s just wait and see what this is going to be,’ then the decisions are going to be made for me. But if we jump in as a strategic partner, then we become decision-makers with the business.”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism. She is the host of How to Be Anything, the podcast about people with unusual jobs.(Photo by Kosamtu/iStock)
Using Technology to Fill the Gaps in Your Marketing Funnel
BY Katie Chambers February 05, 2026“I’ve always looked at data and patterns to solve customer and business problems and marketing problems,” said Shana Sood, chief marketing and communications officer at Prudential. She has always leveraged her background as a data analyst in her current role, which focuses on customer marketing and technology, she said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s January virtual conference. When reaching the customer requires a multi-layered approach, analytics can help fill the gaps, she says.Sood envisions Prudential’s technology as serving two layers of customers: B-to-B-to-C, from the tech team to the financial advisors to the clients. She analyzes both existing technology stacks and new models to determine the best approach to “collect the breadcrumbs all the way from the start,” identifying client needs and simplifying financial jargon so end users can better understand it. “For me, how technology bridges this gap is: first, tell us how the customer is speaking about these products, how the customer is thinking about these products, [and] how they shop. What are their journeys?” she said. “And then, how do I then prop up my advisor with the right tools and the right education to be able to [provide] the right product based on whatever the customer needs at that point.”The key, she says, is “data-driven personalization,” which integrates with the content management system, Adobe website interaction insights, and the Salesforce marketing cloud. Prudential’s platform includes a feedback loop that shows the customer journey: what they searched for on the website and where it led them. It then uses that info to identify the best emails to send the customer based on their current needs. It also helps determine the next best action, such as a phone call from an advisor to help the customer with their financial decisions. “All of this is made possible with data pipelines between multiple systems,” Sood said. Because financial decisions impact many areas of a person’s life, they can be highly emotional moments. Sood sees retirement planning and life insurance selection as major emotional hurdles. “These things very quickly and very vehemently trigger avoidance from the customer, because as humans, we don’t want to see ourselves old. We want to avoid the topic of not being here,” she said. No matter how simple or complex the product, the customer must be emotionally ready for the conversation. And of course, an already fraught discussion can easily become bogged down by financial compliance language and daunting legalese.It’s Sood’s job to bridge the gap between emotional need and financial product being sold: “When you have a kid, you’re going on Google and you’re searching for, ‘How do I finance their education?’ You’re not searching for, ‘How do I open a 529?’” When the average consumer doesn’t know what “529” means, including that phrase in all your financial messaging may not help. But bidding on keywords like “confused about kid’s education” will. “You’re almost translating,” said moderator Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, business reporter at the Seattle Times. Incorporating Emerging Technologies Sood sees AI as the latest step in a much longer evolution of data-driven marketing. For decades, teams have used statistics and manual analysis to predict customer behavior. AI “has removed a lot of those manual gymnastics.” Rather than replacing human judgment, AI is accelerating it, especially through generative and agentic use cases that help scale content and decision-making.At Prudential, that means empowering advisors with AI tools that synthesize complex product information into clear, conversation-ready guidance. Instead of navigating a “labyrinth of pages and microsites,” advisors can prompt an AI agent to surface the most relevant products for a client’s needs, streamlining preparation while leaving the final judgment firmly in human hands. Sood says AI reduces friction and manual labor, but “it is [ultimately] the judgment of the advisor on what packet to use and what to say.” AI’s greatest gift to the industry has been streamlining a process that has long existed. Shana Sood, chief marketing and communications officer at Prudential Financial, was interviewed during the fireside chat (photo by From Day One)Sood cautions that AI should be used sparingly in the financial services industry because it involves taking risks with people’s money. Identifying fraudulent behavior is a serious concern possibly best left to human critical thinking. She also warns that website personalization techniques have to be carefully employed so that they are compliant with FINRA and SEC regulations, subtleties that sometimes AI does not understand. That is my biggest challenge [with AI],” Sood said. “I have to be very mindful, and I have to adopt the regulatory framework in using and scaling a new tool.” The implementation of AI tools, she says, should involve a thorough exploration of customers’ needs, many rounds of testing and case studies, consultations with legal and regulatory experts, and an intentional measurement plan that notes both financial successes and harms. Sood sees herself as a “realist” when it comes to technology. I’ve worked in the data grind so much that I am always aware of the 100 ways we can fail in adopting a new technology,” she said. “You can adopt a new shiny tool, but then if your processes and people are not structured to use it, then it’s going to fail.” And she emphasizes that less is more: KPI’s need to be consolidated at a business level. “If a company has multiple product teams or multiple business divisions, and each of them is incentivized to sort of make their email program deliver more click-throughs and more engagement, they will keep bombarding their customers with their next best message without realizing that ultimately it’s the same customer that is being reached out [to] by all three of them.” Sood says strong vendor partnerships help organizations strike the right balance between healthy skepticism and falling behind, especially as competitors adopt new technologies. She emphasized the importance of digging beyond headline success stories to understand how and why a tool delivered results, and whether those conditions actually apply in a financial services environment. Once relevance and adaptability are established through due diligence, the goal is to move quickly into testing, embracing early adoption without skipping the hard questions.A Legacy Company Looks to the Future As Prudential enters its 151st year, the corporate culture continues to innovate and grow. “At Prudential, there is a very intentional strategy to carve out innovation centers. Not blunt-force tools to disrupt everything. There is a very careful balance,” she said. “We carve out a very intentional sort of audience, a test case [for a specific] environment, we will try a new tool, and we will see how it does.” Progress is not just about chasing new technologies but also refining the ones already in place. To better reach their audiences, Sood says companies should start by maximizing the value of their existing technology and data, “milking the cash cow” of the current tech stack. Most organizations already hold rich customer, behavioral, and churn data, but it lives in siloed systems that prevent teams from spotting patterns or delivering timely, personalized experiences. Simply connecting those systems isn’t enough. Without cross-channel orchestration, aligned content, and clear next-best-action strategies, even unified data won’t translate into meaningful customer engagement.Looking ahead, Prudential anticipates a major wealth transfer from Baby Boomers to Millennials. Don’t assume that the wealth transfer will keep your paradigm the same. “Don’t assume you can use the same language [and] tactics to be able to resonate with who the wealth is being transferred to. If it is more women, if it is more young customers, then you have to change how you’re staggering on the digitization spectrum,” she said. The organization is currently researching future customer needs, motivations, behaviors, and communication styles to refine how it presents itself to them. “Anything that can simplify and unify—that is what is most needed in the financial services landscape.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photo by ArtemisDiana/iStock)
How Does Your Brand Show Up in the New Era of GEO?
BY Ade Akin February 04, 2026Damien Slattery couldn’t help but notice how fast culture around him had changed during a recent commute on the F train in Brooklyn. The subway car he rode in would have been filled with people reading newspapers or magazines decades ago, but everyone now stared at electronic screens. For Slattery, the SVP of strategic growth and partnerships at Inc. and Fast Company, this observation highlighted the tremendous shift facing marketers today. The blueprint has been completely rewired, and AI is now directing its future. Slattery, a media veteran who has led marketing campaigns for major brands like Time and Sports Illustrated, discussed this technological shift and more during a thought leadership spotlight at From Day One’s January virtual conference. We’ve now moved past the era of search engine optimization (SEO) into a new chapter that’s defined by answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO), he says. “The AI universe has just re-engineered and reimagined what search prioritizes,” Slattery told session moderator, Steve Koepp, From Day One’s editor in chief and co-founder. “Brand leaders today have to be thinking about these AI models working behind the scenes to cite, summarize, and trust your narrative, your product, your service.”The Rise of the Answer EngineThe transition from keyword-focused SEO to AI-prioritized AEO represents a fundamental change in how brands must approach content. Slattery recalls the early days of digital search, where the marketing goal was to rank high for specific search queries. Today, AI-powered search engines prioritize providing the best, most concise answer rather than simply listing links to potential answers. “I had CNBC on early this morning, and they had the OpenAI CFO on from Davos, and she said something that really kind of crystallized our conversations today,” Slattery said. “The best answer is no longer or not necessarily the paid answer, right? The best answer is going to be served.”Today’s marketing teams should aim to be selected as an authoritative source by AI. “It’s a new muscle we all have to build,” he said. “And it’s going to make us better marketers, better storytellers, and [help] leverage the power and might of AI more strategically.”Koepp noted this new landscape is fragmented among several competing AI platforms, unlike the Google-dominated era of SEO, where marketers mostly focused on learning the rules to rank high on Google’s search engine. Slaterry says brands must now ensure that their core narratives and data are trustworthy enough to be recognized as the best source of information across multiple “answer engines.”Building Trust in an AI-Driven WorldThe age-old concept of trust remains vital as AI transforms the marketing landscape. Slattery points to the Edelman Trust Barometer, which found in 2023 that businesses are more trusted than governments and institutions. That trust has gone local. “We have to be super rigorous,” Slattery said regarding building trust with targeted audiences. He emphasizes what he calls “trust signals,” which include verifiable reviews, professional credentials, detailed FAQs, and accurate product descriptions. Damian Slattery, the SVP of Strategic Growth & Partnerships and Inc. and Fast Company (Mansueto Ventures), spoke during the virtual session (photo by From Day One)In keeping and building trust, Slattery warns against losing the human element that makes up the core of branding as organizations rush to adopt AI. He referenced a new campaign from Equinox titled “Question Everything But Yourself,” which uses absurd, AI-generated imagery, like a woman biting a dog that’s really a cake to deliver its messaging. For him, it’s an example of how an organization can brilliantly leverage AI’s capabilities to deliver a profoundly human message.“Brands need to keep it real,” Slattery said. “That can become the thing that makes AI surmountable for those who feel like, where do I start? You start by keeping your brand human and then chipping away at these things that will make your brand discoverable and trusted.”This human focus connects directly to its customers, the ultimate targets of a company’s branding. “It’s customers who infuse the meaning into the brand,” Slattery said, recalling a colleague who was turned off by a poorly personalized message on her Starbucks cup. Every touchpoint, from social media to customer service, shapes that personal relationship, and a single misstep can alter perception.The Impatient, Agentic FutureSlattery also explored the near-future implications of AI and marketing, describing an “impatience economy,” where AI shortens the consumer journey from consideration to purchase into mere seconds. This raises a potentially disintermediating puzzle.“Once an agent knows the consumer well, the trust follows in the agent, not the brand,” Slattery said. “The agent is winning the relationship and the trust, as this intermediary with the brand.” The risk is that customer loyalty shifts to the AI assistant that knows their preferences, rather than the brand itself.For chief marketing officers, the mandate is clear. Brands must lean into the new reality of generative engine optimization by ensuring their content is structured for AI discovery, their data is impeccable, and their narrative is both grand and granular.The journey from the folded newspapers on the F train to the glowing screens of today took a few decades. The next leap will be into a world where AI agents do our searching and synthesize our choices at the speed of light, and that’s coming in the next several years.“What got you here won’t get you there,” Slattery concluded, echoing management guru Marshall Goldsmith. The work of adapting to the answer engine economy starts now for brands that wish to matter in the future.Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photo by Sandwish/iStock)
More Than Efficiency: How Marketers Are Using AI to Deliver the Most Value
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza February 02, 2026Marketers have graduated from the experimental phase in marketing, moving beyond simple efficiency plays and content generation to embed the tech in processes and cross-departmental collaboration, reinventing the way campaigns are designed, funded, executed, and measured. The question facing marketers in 2026 isn’t whether to use AI, but where it delivers the most value. During From Day One’s January virtual conference on AI and marketing tech, four marketing leaders discussed ways they’re using AI to transform marketing strategies and outcomes.The most natural entry point into AI for marketers is content creation, says Honora Handley, VP of global marketing and AI strategy at Thomson Reuters. Drafting emails and crafting messaging are the low-hanging fruit many teams reach for first. But, she said, “a lot of the impact is really around creativity with workflows.” Routine tasks like approvals and ad-buys are all being rebuilt with AI agents that make the process more efficient and effective, especially across departments. While marketing might have workflow for budget requests, accounting and finance has another to approve requests and disburse funds. Good workflows mean those teams can communicate through their processes without inventing a whole new process. On a daily basis, Handley said, “it’s about carving out the time to think differently about how we’re using AI with the plethora of tools that the company has provided.”Tailoring campaigns has never been easier and more precise. This is a coup for account-based marketing. “Now there’s really no excuse not to have specific assets for individual people,” said Jeff Coyle, the head of strategy at Siteimprove and co-founder of MarketMuse. “We went from what was a scarce resource to infinite ability. Now it’s all about making sure everything you do is of the highest quality and editorial integrity.”Panelists spoke on the topic "From Insight to Execution: Using AI to Transform Marketing Strategies and Outcomes" during the virtual conference (photo by From Day One)Panelists agreed that AI has helped them make better, faster decisions. They can now spot underperforming ads and reallocate budget, sort leads, and pick the best calls to action, subject lines, and headlines in record time and with laser precision. There’s no shortage of AI-powered tools for marketers to accomplish these things, but whether a tool is worth the cost is down to business requirements, said Apoorva Shah, who leads marketing at Tata Consultancy Services. The first litmus test is comparing the tool’s capabilities to marketing goals. “Are we trying to improve our pipeline or demand gen? Are we trying to improve our content velocity? Do I want to improve my return on ad spend?”It also depends on whether the tools can connect to other systems and achieve that cross-departmental flow. “Efficiency and time savings alone aren’t as important as also making sure that we’re getting something meaningful from it,” said Michelle Kelly, the VP of digital marketing at Ecolab. Though marketing teams are adopting AI tools with increasing speed—and making great use of them—some are still under the impression that being AI ready means starting over. The most common misunderstanding about AI readiness is that marketers have to build something entirely new, says Coyle. A better strategy is to enrich what you already have, including processes for developing marketing assets and updating them.But make no mistake, every page of the website matters, he says. This is true both substantively (PR content affects product content) and technically (AI engines have to be able to read and interpret your content).As AI becomes infrastructure rather than novelty, the advantage will go to marketing teams that treat it as a connective tissue, not just a content engine. Panelists agreed: the real value comes from improving workflows across systems and teams. AI isn’t replacing marketing fundamentals. It’s raising the bar for how they’re executed.Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism. She is the host of How to Be Anything, the podcast about people with unusual jobs.(Photo by pixdeluxe/iStock)
Matching Employee Expectations to Economic Realities: Where Leaders Should Focus
BY Kristen Kwiatkowski January 07, 2026From expanded mental health support to virtual healthcare access, employers have adapted to employees’ evolving needs since Covid. But those offerings are only part of the picture. Many workers are also asking for more affordable healthcare benefits. How can employers respond to these requests, and what other forms of economic support do employees expect from company leaders?These concerns were addressed during an executive panel discussion moderated by Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, business reporter with The Seattle Times, at From Day One’s December virtual conference. Ulu-Lani Boyanton started off the session by asking what the panel guests often hear from their employees regarding healthcare wants and needs. “Employees want comprehensive benefits that make showing up to work easier as they grow and raise their families and care for their personal health,” said Gianna Cruz, director of client success at Maven Clinic.“In our latest State of Women’s and Family Health Report, 69% of those who were surveyed said that they would take or have considered taking a new role or a new job because it offers better reproductive and family benefits to them and their families,” said Cruz.“I think what we’re really seeing now is a push to personalization,” said John Von Arb, VP of total rewards for Essentia Health. Expanding voluntary benefit strategies in addition to the core benefits offered is what people are now looking for, he says. “Generational differences within the workforce today do drive a lot of the conversation around what the needs are because one size does not fit all anymore,” he said.Kimberly Young, SVP of total rewards at Amentum, a global leader in innovative technology solutions and advanced engineering, highlighted the importance of affordability and a work-life balance as benefits sought after by employees. “Obviously affordability is the number one priority, so a lot of the feedback is targeted towards the escalating costs,” said Young. “From a premium perspective they want turnkey care for a much lower cost.” “And they want something that covers a work-life balance,” added Young. “We find ourselves today trying to balance all of that.” How Employee Needs Changed Post-CovidThe needs of employees and their economic concerns have also changed since Covid. For healthcare industry professional Von Arb, it’s undeniable that Covid played a big part in changes within his organization. It was a “game-changer” for the industry, he said. Mental health support became a focal point, with about 150 employees trained in peer-to-peer support, he said.Since Covid, clients now view Maven’s benefits as a core part of a strong, effective benefits package rather than a nice-to-have, says Cruz. There’s also more of a focus on overall access to care, and specifically access that might have been limited during Covid. In general, there’s a push for equitable access in a virtual setting at a global scale. Post-Covid, there’s been a greater emphasis on mental health and wellness, Young says, along with increased focus on activity and flexibility as many employees continue transitioning back to work. Meeting Employee Expectations Regarding BenefitsThe panelists shared a range of approaches to meeting employee expectations, from offering greater choice and flexibility in plans to providing holistic support, chronic disease management, and tools that support lifestyle changes.Panelists spoke about "Matching Employee Expectations to Economic Realities: Where Leaders Should Focus" during the virtual panel session (photo by From Day One)Essentia Health strives to handle much of its benefits in house from the health plan perspective, Von Arb says, while identifying gaps where additional support is needed. The organization continues to focus on chronic disease management, covering weight loss medications such as GLP-1s, and exploring options that support lifestyle and life management changes.The organization also “built out a more robust value-based design strategy,” he said. This is done by getting groups of leaders together from the various departments. Doing so helps to answer the question, “How do we get members to engage with their own health journey?”Young stated that choice and flexibility based on different plan designs along with a robust mental health program were some solutions her company has offered to employees. “We’ve tried to introduce a variety of benefits that touch all aspects of the employee experience,” said Young. Cruz added that employers are expanding women’s and family health benefits and that employees increasingly expect more holistic support. She is especially enthusiastic about Maven’s maternity program, which helps employees in rural or underserved areas access care and supports them throughout pregnancy and the post-pregnancy period.How Technology Plays a RoleTechnology is also changing workers’ support in a major way. “Technology extends the ability for individuals to access, not just care, but high quality care if they live in an area where access is limited for whatever reason,” said Cruz. “Clients really utilize Maven’s round-the-clock virtual support.” “We’re focused on data-driven personalized coordinated care and helping employers deliver that to their employees and we’re also really focused on offering a seamless patient experience,” said Cruz. Technology and AI can really help members with their journey. When AI is used, it can help employees navigate all the options from a healthcare perspective, says Young. Personalization is vital because everyone’s journey is different. But to be effective, it has to be employee friendly, Von Arb said. From an HR perspective, many AI tools have made progress in this area, though some payroll, benefits, and HR systems still lag in using AI to support the employee experience.Ultimately, the discussion underscored that effective benefits strategies are no longer about adding more offerings, but about designing systems that are accessible, affordable, and responsive to employees’ real lives. As expectations continue to evolve post-Covid, employers face growing pressure to listen closely, personalize thoughtfully, and leverage technology in ways that genuinely support health, well-being, and long-term economic security.Kristen Kwiatkowski is a professional freelance writer covering a wide array of industries, with a focus on food and beverage and business. Her work has been featured in Eater Philly, Edible Lehigh Valley, Cider Culture, and The Town Dish. (Photo by Benjamas Deekam/iStock)
Technology and Talent: How HR Leaders Are Future-Proofing the Workforce
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza December 22, 2025What does it take to turn a workplace into a learning machine? During a panel discussion at From Day One’s December virtual conference on the future of work, executives made one thing clear: it’s not about programs or policies, it’s about empowering employees to take charge of their growth.First, organizations that support continuous learning make it easy to access training for both technical and durable skills, especially for what Becky Karsh, VP of talent and growth at F5, calls critical roles. That means personal development plans, plus the ability for employees to nominate themselves for learning and development opportunities.Second, they embrace internal mobility. “Now that you have employees learning new skills, it’s going to make them more marketable for more open roles in the company,” said Melanie Stave, SVP, NA career development & mobility practice leader, at LHH. “Ensuring that that is an avenue for movement is key.” And finally, when it comes time to fill open roles, those companies look at internal talent first. “I really think it falls to senior leadership,” Stave added. “They really need to champion this mindset.”HCSC’s VP of talent solutions Shannon Fuller backs what he calls a “train-your-replacement” culture. “When you have a replacement and successor in place, it’s much easier to move talent across the organization,” he said. At HCSC, employees are encouraged to lead their own development, thinking not only of who will take their place, but also where they will go next. “Oftentimes, we’re waiting on our manager and we’re waiting on goals,” he said. “I encourage people to drive their own car.”Giselle Battley, global head of emerging talent & learning at Yahoo, suggests that organizations host internal career weeks where employees can meet with recruiters about open roles within the company. “Especially in large organizations, you often don’t know what opportunities are available,” said Battley. Events like this give employees the chance to move fluidly throughout the organization, building their skills while strengthening the company’s overall talent base.Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza, journalist and From Day One contributing editor, moderated the session about "Technology and Talent: How HR Leaders Are Future-Proofing the Workforce" (photo by From Day One)Future-proofing doesn’t always require changing roles. It can also mean short-term projects in different departments, which satisfy curiosity, strengthen employee networks, and add cross-functional skills to the organization’s reserves.Of course, such programs demand time and attention from HR. To make them sustainable, Stave recommended offering plenty of self-serve resources, setting clear goals and timeframes for temporary projects, and making it clear where completing these projects and acquiring new skills can lead.Skill development isn’t limited to technical capabilities like AI proficiency or data engineering–it also includes durable skills, like how to lead a team. “I don’t think we’re moving away from the fundamentals,” said Karsh at F5. “In fact, I think we need to double down on them. Leadership is an art that needs to be honed like a craft.”Panelists noted that building skill-based programs requires knowing what skills already exist within the organization. “The problem in doing this kind of infrastructure work is that the right hand often doesn’t talk to the left,” said Kason Morris, global director of skills-based organization strategy at Merck. “If we’re democratizing access to opportunities, we need to speak in a language of experiences and skills,” he said. That means, for example, not letting a university degree stand in for actual abilities.In fact, HCSC is in the process of removing degree requirements, focusing instead on the skills people have–whether built up in school, on the job, or elsewhere, says Fuller. Morris says we’re moving toward a time when conversational AIs will help not only develop skills, but identify them as well. “That’s intelligence for the employee and intelligence for the business,” he said.Continuous learning isn’t just a strategy, it’s a mindset and a culture. By empowering employees to own their growth, embrace new challenges, and share knowledge across the organization, companies can not only keep pace with change but lead their industries.“We all started this journey right by being scared of AI,” Stave said. “But after all the research and the personal benefits we’ve seen–it’s just so nice to hear all the good stuff that’s coming.”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism. She is the host of How to Be Anything, the podcast about people with unusual jobs.(Photo by EyeEm Mobile GmbH/iStock)
How AI Can Work as a Partner to Augment Human Capabilities, Rather than Replace Workers
BY Ade Akin December 16, 2025Imagine having a new team member who shadows your best salesperson to fetch data and learn unspoken rules, like why one client is more responsive to a direct approach while pitches have to be carefully framed for another. This apprentice never forgets a lesson and shares their nuanced understanding with colleagues. That’s the vision of AI that Ari Lehavi, the head of applied AI at Moody’s, is bringing to life, shifting the focus from task automation to capturing and scaling the institutional wisdom that companies are built on. Lehavi shared this idea and more during a fireside chat at From Day One’s December virtual conferenceThe transformative potential of AI lies in human-AI collaboration based on a continuous, two-way learning street that’s designed to augment human judgment rather than replace it, he told moderator Rebecca Knight, contributing writer at Harvard Business Review. Shifting From Automation to AugmentationAI-doomers often frame the technology as the worst thing that’s happened to job security in human history, but Lehavi sees it more as a collaborative tool that enhances human performance and encourages organizations to do the same. Ari Lehavi, general manager, head of applied AI at Moody’s, spoke during the fireside chat (company photo)“I do think that there’s been some orientation around thinking about AI as a way to generate efficiencies and automation, and I don’t think that’s the best use of AI,” he said. “Increasingly, I’m seeing a shift in the way that companies are thinking about it as an accelerant of performance, rather than as a way to generate efficiencies.”The central question then becomes how to increase productivity and work quality with AI. Lehavi says one of the ways that organizations can accomplish this is by using AI to handle simple, repetitive tasks, freeing up employees to focus on work that requires uniquely human skills, such as judgment, empathy, and innovation. “The hard cases, the edge cases, the complex areas, the mentoring of other people, the management, the development of skills in other individuals, the expansion of what’s possible in their role,” Lehavi added, pointing out what humans excel at. The Importance of Bi-directional DesignLehavi says “bi-directional design” is necessary to optimize human-AI collaboration. Most AI tools used today have a single directional design. You ask questions, and it answers. True partnership requires a feedback loop where humans teach AI context and nuance, he says. “AI has information that it can pick up from documents, from data that can help you assemble research faster,” Lehavi said. “But that has a very limited kind of lift that it creates.” The exponential gain happens when AI begins to understand how and why you make decisions. “It has to kind of almost get into your head.”AI provides value, like summarizing key points from a large text library, in a bi-directionally designed system, but it also identifies gaps in its understanding. It learns to ask questions such as “Why did you make that decision?” This leads to humans working with AI, explaining the nuanced instincts that come with experience. Capturing the reasoning behind human decision-making enriches the AI model's understanding, allowing it to provide more insightful recommendations in the future. The information learned by the AI can be packaged and shared, creating a “collective organizational wisdom” that other employees can access. A Concrete Case: Augmenting the Sales ProfessionalLehavi shared an example of how bi-directional communication between humans and AI works in the real world from within Moody’s sales department. A standard CRM stores data, but misses the subtleties that define a veteran sales rep’s success. Insights like the unspoken politics of a client company, the specific pain points a key decision-maker is sensitive to, or the historical context of a relationship. Moody’s built a system that starts by giving sales team members AI-generated leads, matching market pain points to the solutions it provides. The AI responds with questions such as. “Tell us what we don’t know, tell us, you know this person,” Lehavi said. “We know the general profile, but we don’t know this particular relationship in this particular instance, and what exactly is the dynamic that would make this deal move faster and closer.”The seller feeds the nuance context back to the AI, which then refines its recommended messaging and value propositions. The system also identifies patterns in these seller-client relationships and provides recommendations such as: “What you’ve told us about this individual and this company seems a lot like three others that we’ve encountered, and this framing of this message really resonated.” The sales team member tests the hypothesis, and the result, positive or negative, is fed back into the AI model, expanding its institutional knowledge. Lehavi views AI more as an apprentice than an intern. “Initially, the apprentice gets more value from you than you get from the apprentice,” he said. You invest time teaching the algorithm your ways, then the dynamic eventually flips. “You’re starting to get that much more value. And then you know that you have a true partner, so you can move up to the next level in your career.”With AI managing more of the administrative burden and research, sellers have more time and mental space to focus on the irreplaceably human aspects of their role: deepening relationships with clients and crafting persuasive value propositions. For leaders, it means scaling the impact of top performers, so other employees benefit from the institutional knowledge they help build. The Undocumented Layer of Human JudgmentThe critical insight Lehavi stressed throughout the conversation is appreciating the vast, often invisible complexity of most professional roles. He points to what he calls “the undocumented layer of human judgment” that exists in every position, from customer service to legal departments. Studies suggest that around 10% to 40% of what knowledge workers do is based on this tacit understanding.“Whenever I see enterprise implementations that end up where people kind of feel like they didn’t accomplish what they were supposed to accomplish, I often link that to the underappreciation of how much of the work that gets done is unwritten, and is based on judgment and experience,” Lehavi said.The routine portions of a job that knowledge workers spend 60% of their time on might be automatable. But the high-value edge duties, where crucial relationships depend on nuanced judgment, are where human-AI collaboration must focus. The goal is to design systems that bring the right information and context to the surface to help their human counterparts make faster, more-informed decisions. Lehavi advises companies to build systems that ask “why.” AI models that learn from human experience and improve the performance of their human collaborators. This allows organizations to move beyond simply automating tasks with AI, and start codifying, scaling, and institutionalizing their collective knowledge–their most valuable asset. Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photo by KTStock/iStock)
How Innovative Companies Put Advanced Technology to Work
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza December 10, 2025HR leaders are on the front lines of AI adoption in the workplace. They’re responsible not just for finding ways to make their own departments more productive and efficient, but for ensuring that it can be smoothly applied throughout the organization. At a panel discussion at From Day One’s November virtual conference about how innovative companies are putting advanced tech to work, leaders shared how AI is reshaping their organizations, from hiring to data privacy.How AI Is Saving One Company Thousands of Hours At Vail Resorts, one major success has been in taming application volume, an enormous relief for a company that employs 50,000 workers, roughly 80% of whom are seasonal. “Our first attempt with leveraging AI is around modernizing the talent-acquisition process,” said Shiv Akumala, senior director of HR and finance. The hospitality company launched a mobile-friendly UI interface where candidates can apply for jobs that match their skill sets and their experience.Behind the scenes, the platform analyzes applications and automatically schedules screening calls and interviews. For a team accustomed to manually sorting through seasonal hiring surges, the impact has been dramatic. This first attempt at AI has saved the talent acquisition team thousands of hours, Akumala says.Vail’s use of AI doesn’t stop at hiring. The company is also using tools that forecast labor needs in real time, factoring in guest bookings and weather conditions to help managers schedule workers more accurately. Instead of relying on instinct or static staffing plans, managers can use dynamic models to understand exactly when demand at resorts will spike.Training a Modern Workforce on AIAt S&P Global, leaders saw the promise of AI early. The data and intelligence firm began training its workforce on artificial intelligence in 2018, well before the 2022 release of ChatGPT created the current AI boom.All new hires get exposure to AI tools and principles, regular hackathons challenge teams to develop their skills, and employees are incentivized to solve their problems with AI. Journalist and From Day One contributing editor, Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza moderated the session (photo by From Day One)Executives model this behavior. CEO Martina Cheung and CPO Girish Ganesan have spoken at company all-hands meetings about how they use AI, both in and outside the office. That openness matters, says Tiffany Clark, S&P’s global head of people solutions and well-being. “That’s what really encourages and incentivizes our employees to leverage AI.”Making AI Simple and PersonalFor some, the AI learning curve is steep, and a slower introduction is needed, said Tyson Foods’ HR tech leader Devina Desai. The challenge is ensuring the tools are accessible enough for everyone to participate. “We need to make the experience for our team members basic,” she said.So, Tyson created a simplified, one-stop user experience within its HR administration system. Instead of navigating multiple portals with discrete credentials, employees can log in to a single platform to review dental insurance, submit medical claims, or learn about financial benefits. When everyday tasks like these become easier, Desai says, employees are more likely to use their benefits. Line managers get their own tailored dashboards with analytics, attendance records, and tardiness data–and each user sees exactly what they need.Ensuring Data Privacy Amid a Surge of AIIf efficiency is one side of AI adoption, data protection is the other. “We have very important internal employee data, so I always think about the possibility of leakage,” said Róisín Daly, head of people solutions at fintech company Stripe.As HR tech vendors began adding AI features, Daly’s team scrutinized the fine print. “We were suddenly faced with this problem: They’re processing our data and the lawyers don’t exactly know how to handle this, because it’s very new.”Daly must handle HR data–which includes troves of personally identifiable information, or PII–differently than her counterparts in other functions handle their data. While non-PII employee information may sit safely in the cloud, sensitive personal data requires iron-clad protections. The slightest bit of leakage is problematic at best, and catastrophic at worst.“That’s how leaders in the HR space tell me that they lose sleep, so I’m very focused on the experience, both from an internal data storage perspective and a vendor relationship perspective.”Clark agreed: “HR data is not the same as other forms of data. The biggest part is getting people to understand that difference, and then making sure we have firm data governance and data safeguards.”At pharmaceutical company McKesson, rigorous review is standard for every AI-enabled initiative. Ajeeth Anand Viswanath, senior director of HR tech services, says the company uses a three-tier approval model. First, legal reviews the use case. If it passes, it’s on to a senior specialist or data architect. Only after clearing those hurdles does it go to an executive-level board that assesses risk, exposure, and alignment with company priorities. “It’s a long process, as there are multiple questions,” he said. “Even the attorneys are present.”As the rate of change accelerates workplace transformation, HR leaders will have to contend with the way AI both simplifies and complicates the discipline. Whether it’s speeding up hiring, simplifying frontline tools, or tightening data protections, each organization is reckoning with how to deploy AI in ways that serve both the business and its people.Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism. She is the host of How to Be Anything, the podcast about people with unusual jobs.(Photo by JLco - Julia Amaral/iStock)
How Technology Can Enhance the Full HR Spectrum, from Recruiting to Retirement
BY Katie Chambers December 02, 2025Love it or fear it, AI is here to stay. In implementing AI and other new tech, leaders need to bring along the entire organization and drive a mindset shift, which includes an appreciation of how agentic AI will boost efficiency and productivity. Organizations must also consider the importance of anticipating risks and concerns about bias while utilizing these tools. During a fireside chat at From Day One’s November virtual conference, Kim Shockley, the VP of HR technology & automation at HP, shared how her organization is making the most of emerging technologies. The Evolution of HR TechnologyDuring her 12 years working in HR technology, Shockley has witnessed rapid changes. Most companies had HR solutions “on prem” (meaning on a server on the premises) but now work mostly with cloud-based technologies. “HCM [human capital management] software vendors [have] become the standard, and companies [are] moving to really focus on an implementation of that across all capabilities” she said. “This huge explosion in the HR tech marketplace [is] focused on innovation and delivering best of breed technologies and really encouraging us to think outside of the box of what can I do beyond the standard of HR deliverables.”Many workplace software companies like Workday and Success Factors are acquiring and merging with others to provide all-in-one solutions, she says. “What’s happening now has the potential to leapfrog us and shift us significantly in a different direction, and that we in five years may look completely different than what we look today in our technology environments.” Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, business reporter at the Seattle Times, moderated the session with Kim Shockley of HP (photo by From Day One)The myriad of options can be overwhelming, so Shockley advises focusing on impact. Many HR tasks are “foundational [and] transactional, it’s the things that we have to do to help to run the business,” she said, referring to tasks like payroll and PTO. “And then there are other things in a business that HR delivers that have potential to deliver competitive advantage or strategic differentiation. A lot of these are in the talent space. They may be related to your employee value proposition,” she said. This is where technology beyond the core HCM can be beneficial in terms of talent support and development. Implementing Technologies That Promote Growth “Who do we want to be? We want to be an organization where talent is attracted to come to us, and then we are developing them, providing them the tools and opportunities to learn and grow so that they have choices in the future,” Shockley said. HP has implemented a talent intelligence platform that helped it become a skills-first organization and allowed employees to find new roles within the organization based on their skill-set, boosting talent retention. The tech also provides career pathing to help employees see how they can grow within HP. “I may see that I can switch functions where I may not have ever considered that before, because I have the skills to go there,” she said. Mentoring matches and stretch projects have all been optimized with AI technology. The software doesn’t just boost retention. “That same platform serves us on the recruiting side too, and helps us to find the right talent externally. It’s a skills platform. It allows us to find candidates based on AI algorithms and an AI model that does map candidate matching that has been a game changer for us in terms of us finding the right people, finding folks with the right skills, and moving them through the process,” Shockley said. While AI can certainly help HR leaders, they must be sure to use it responsibly, making sure systems “are designed and deployed in a fair, safe, and aligned manner with human values,” Shockley said. “HP as an enterprise has AI governance principles around trust, safety, security, and accountability. We have, on top of that, commitments for our people organization that take that a step further because of our responsibilities.” One of these is “human in the loop,” ensuring that a human is always involved and that AI is not solely making decisions related to humans. HR partners with employment attorneys and compliance departments to understand and define best use, high risk, and forbidden use cases. Encouraging the Mindset ShiftAgentic AI offers opportunities to transform and automate business processes. “I can create an end-to-end workflow that drives more productivity into our processes, for both HR and for our employees and it also can impact the employee experience,” Shockley said. This rapid evolution is both exciting and challenging. “I have to be in the mode of executing, because I can’t wait for everything to be perfect. I need to be moving forward and learning and taking advantage… I have a bigger risk in not acting than in acting today,” she said. The information overload can be significant. Leaders need to encourage teams to be ready for AI, which Shockley calls a “mindset shift.” “With your average person, there’s still a lot of unknowns around AI—a lot of questions, maybe some anxieties and fears,” said moderator Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, business reporter at the Seattle Times. Shockley says encouraging experimentation is the best way to get employees comfortable with emerging technologies. “You have to actually put the tools in the hands of your people. It doesn’t have to be complex,” she said. Starting small with simple tools like Microsoft Copilot can help workers understand the value of AI. From there, you can expand into more complex company-wide technologies, like HP’s career mapping tool that lets employees dream and aspire to an exciting future. AI implementation is most effective when approached with purpose and clear intent, Shockley says. “It’s easy to say, ‘That’s cool. I want that.’ But if you start going at it that way, you often don’t get the outcome that you were after because you didn’t really define the outcome. And so, we always come back to, ‘What are we trying to accomplish?’ And let’s start there and then let’s figure out what’s the right technology to deliver on that.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photo by Summit Art Creations/Shutterstock)
How to Be a Thoughtful Adopter of HR Technology in an Age of AI
BY Ade Akin November 26, 2025The pressure for HR teams to be first adopters as new software and AI tools are launched is intense. However, for Dibyendu Sharma Mondal, the head of people analytics, HR technology, strategy, and operations at Unisys, the key to successfully integrating new technology into existing systems isn’t quick adaptation, but being a “thoughtful adopter.”Mondal outlined his people-centric philosophy to minimize fatigue and maximize impact when new technologies are rolled out at From Day One’s November virtual conference, in a fireside chat moderated by Nicole Smith, the editorial audience director at Harvard Business Review. “We want to take the technology which makes sense for our business, not just each and everything that comes in,” Mondal said. “We are a very, very people-centric organization. We listen to the end users. We talk to them. We invest in enabling and supporting those users.”Managing Transformation Overload and Building TrustMondal calls one of the significant hurdles leaders face regarding integrating new technologies “transformation overload.” It’s the fatigue teams feel from constant change. He says the antidote for transformation overload is to demonstrate the value new systems bring from the start. “If you show that what you’re building is going to be beneficial for them, then you see the engagement happening,” Mondal said. The goal of embracing new tools should be to empower employees to work more efficiently. This turns the adoption of new technologies into a collaborative endeavor rather than a top-down push for change. Dibyendu Sharma Mondal, head of people analytics, HR technology, strategy & ops at Unisys, shared his insights during the fireside chat (photo by From Day One)“Building trust is the biggest element,” he said. New systems must be reliable if their insights will be considered when executives make decisions. Trust is built through data quality and effective governance, and it’s reinforced when the technology’s scope expands to answering critical business questions beyond the HR silo, connecting people data to other functions. Measuring What Matters: Beyond Login RatesMondal says that HR departments must move beyond superficial metrics, such as login rates, when measuring adoption success. “The most obvious [metric] people look [at] is how many people logged into the system, and what’s my login ratio,” he said. He says the benchmark technology adoption should be measured by its business impact, and proposes three additional metrics to monitor. First, has the adoption of this new technology moved a critical business metric, like reducing time-to-fill for open roles? How much time are people spending on the system, and what kind of questions are they asking? And is the system becoming the unified source of truth for organizational discussions? Leaders should “go back, redesign, rethink” if over 60% of the targeted users aren’t actively using the tool after 60 to 90 days. “Every technology comes with a cognitive cost,” Mondal said. “The question is whether the user sees the payoff that justifies this cost to them.”For example, an employee tasked with learning how to use a complex analytics platform will only endure the high cognitive cost if the payoff, like better insights, time savings, increased conversions, outweighs it. Therefore, the role of technology implementers is to minimize this unnecessary cognitive burden by improving user interfaces, reducing onboarding time, and enabling intuitive navigation.AI and the People-Centric FutureThe conversation turned to artificial intelligence, and Mondal sees synergy between people analytics and AI, opening up possibilities ranging from predicting attrition risks to personalizing career development paths. Unisys has been an early adopter of generative AI tools within its people analytics systems, significantly boosting adoption rates by satisfying employee curiosity with a conventional interface. However, Mondal remains cautious about AI. “What keeps me awake at times is how do you really eliminate the issue about bias and how do you build trust?” he said. Mondal redirected the focus from flashy solutions to core problems when asked about the next big technology to cause significant disruption. “You have to be able to build a real-time analytics system that allows you to answer real HR problems,” he advised. The goal is a consolidated, self-service system that helps HR leaders solve business problems, whether that involves AI, augmented reality, or more foundational data architecture.The Leadership Behaviors That Drive AdoptionLeadership must set the tone when pushing their teams to embrace new technology. He highlights three behaviors leaders should embrace. First, lead by example: “Use the tool yourself and talk about what they are enabling today,” Mondal said. Adoption increases when teams see their leaders using a new technology. He also encourages creating a safe space to experiment. Innovation requires trying new things, and leaders must create psychological safety for this experimentation.His last tip is to show the connection. Help people see how learning a new tool benefits them personally and contributes to the team and company’s goals.Ade Akin covers workplace wellness, AI, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photo by pixdeluxe/iStock)
Strategies for Effective Global Workforce Collaboration
BY Carrie Snider November 13, 2025In today’s global economy, collaboration is measured by an organization’s ability to bridge borders. As companies expand across continents, effective global workforce collaboration has become both a business necessity and a competitive advantage.At From Day One’s October virtual conference, HR leaders from global organizations shared the lessons they’ve learned leading diverse, distributed teams—offering a roadmap for turning global complexity into global strength. For global organizations, the success of an international assignment often hinges less on logistics and more on people. Ranjith Menon, senior VP of corporate HR at HGS, says that one of the most overlooked factors in global mobility is the well-being of the employee’s family. “The number one predictor for a failure of such an international assignment, according to me, is also the spouse or the partner’s adjustment in the country,” he said. “Most of the time we need to keep in mind that it’s a dual-career challenge.”While HR teams often focus on visas, compliance, and tax equalization, Menon believes the key to long-term success lies in supporting the full family experience. Employees may face isolation, culture shock, or challenges accessing healthcare and education for their children—factors that can quickly erode engagement. “No matter how much cross-cultural training or other support we provide to spouses and children, there is still a challenge that needs to happen,” he says. Creating “a home away from home” becomes essential for retaining both the talent and their commitment.Subadhra Sriram, founder of Workforce Observer, moderated the discussion among leaders (photo by From Day One)Repatriation, also known as the return home, is an equally critical phase that requires careful planning. Too often, employees worry they’ll be “out of sight, out of mind,” unsure how their new skills will be applied. “Our job doesn’t stop at sending someone successfully and helping them assimilate in the foreign country,” Menon says. “It also involves bringing them back successfully and making sure all those experiences are properly utilized in the home country organization.”At HGS, that process starts early. Employees are paired with a mentor in their home country who stays in touch during the assignment, ensuring a smooth reintegration that brings both global insight and renewed engagement to the team. Building Psychological Safety Across CulturesFor global teams to thrive, collaboration depends not only on structure and technology but on trust—something that can look very different across regions and cultures. Jennifer Cone, director of process, experience & analytics for talent acquisition at Intel, says the key is listening deeply and responding with cultural sensitivity. “We overcome psychological safety challenges by not just listening, but hearing and reacting to what employees in each of the regions are saying,” she said. “What feels like growth and opportunity in one culture can feel very different in another.”At Intel, the emphasis is on creating practices that foster inclusion and mutual respect, regardless of geography. Cone observed that after the pandemic pushed teams to remote work, many initially faced “meeting overload.” But over time, teams discovered better rhythms of communication. “It’s more about the practices—the cadence and regularity that builds trust,” she said. “You have to create predictability in how people connect.”Part of that trust comes from designing structures that support global employees. Cone advised organizations in the audience to be thoughtful and intentional about their org design. When expanding internationally, it helps to co-locate at least two employees together, rather than leaving a single person to work alone across borders. “Two people in a location have more of a sense of connection and belonging,” she said.She also emphasized that compliance and transparency are foundational to safety. “Compliance should be built into the process and tools, not treated as an add-on,” she said. By integrating global standards with local flexibility, Intel creates consistency without sacrificing regional authenticity.Ultimately, Cone believes psychological safety is a discipline. “It’s about creating the space where people can bring their full selves to work,” she said, “and know that their perspectives, no matter where they sit in the world, are valued.”Leveraging Technology and Local ExpertiseAs global workforces become increasingly distributed, organizations must bridge not only time zones but also cultural and regulatory divides. Roberta Richards, HR director at Netcracker Technology, oversees HR strategy for more than 12,000 employees working on telecommunications software projects worldwide. What makes the company unique is that many of the employee teams are sitting at customer sites in different countries, rather than centralized in one office, Richards says. This decentralized model demands both technological agility and cultural intelligence.Technology plays a vital role in keeping these far-flung teams connected. “We have different WebEx IM chats, multiple group chats, and tools to send messages to entire teams or the entire company,” she said. The organization has also leaned on Zoom recordings and AI-powered transcription to make global communication more inclusive. “I think people are still trying to figure out how to adopt AI as a tool in their company,” she said, “but it’s going to be a major influence in how we collaborate moving forward.”Still, even the most advanced technology can’t replace local knowledge. When Netcracker enters a new country, Richards said the company relies on in-country partners to navigate compliance and cultural nuances. “It’s okay to rely on local experts,” she emphasized. “They’re going to know the law inside and out, what confidentiality covenants you can include in contracts, and so on.”Ultimately, success comes from balancing global consistency with local adaptability. “We have multiple cultures working on projects in new countries that no one’s ever worked in before,” she said. “So trying to determine those cross-cultural collaborations between the teams and communication is essential.” By pairing smart technology with trusted local expertise, Netcracker builds stronger, more resilient global teams.As global workforces continue to evolve, one truth remains: collaboration begins with connection. Whether that connection comes from helping an employee’s family adjust abroad, building psychological safety across cultures, or combining digital tools with local expertise, the heart of collaboration is understanding.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photo by VectorMine/Shutterstock)
Building a Borderless Workforce With Creativity, Culture, and AI
BY Katie Chambers November 11, 2025Marketing and advertising firm Ogilvy is careful never to refer to itself as a “legacy” organization, despite its storied history. “It feels a little stodgy,” Maria O'Keeffe, global chief people officer, Ogilvy, said during a fireside chat at From Day One’s October virtual conference. “We are a founder culture. There was one individual [David Ogilvy] who created Ogilvy. We believe in being a legendary brand.” The organization’s legendary status is rooted in its work's ability to transcend geography and culture. And it does this not only through its products, but within its corporate culture as well. During the session moderated by Nicole Smith, editorial audience director at Harvard Business Review, O’Keeffe shared how the firm builds a borderless workforce by integrating talent across regions while honoring local identities. Borderless Creativity Ogilvy’s workforce is spread across 120 offices in 90 countries, with major clients including the Coca-Cola Company, IBM, Nestle, Unilever, and PWC, to name just a few. “We have breadth and depth pretty much in every corner of the world that you can possibly imagine,” O’Keeffe said.The organization’s “borderless creativity”" approach shapes its business. “It defines both how we work and what our end product should look like,” she said. The client’s ad campaign is always the priority, then internal talent is matched to it regardless of their location. And the end product is just as “borderless” as the talent that creates it. “We want to ensure that our campaigns are multifaceted and not single output, so they can be interpreted culturally very differently from market to market,” O’Keeffe said. Nicole Smith of Harvard Business Review interviewed Maria O'Keeffe of Ogilvy during the fireside chat (photo by From Day One)One of Ogilvy’s most iconic examples of this approach, O’Keeffe says, is its work for longtime global client Dove. Ogilvy’s “borderless creativity” has kept Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign alive and relevant for decades across diverse markets. For example, Ogilvy is helping Dove get the Crown Act passed in the United States, to help combat racial discrimination against Black women in the workplace due to cultural hair styles. Meanwhile in London, Ogilvy and Dove launched the “Turn Your Back” campaign, encouraging young women not to use filters on social media to alter their true appearance, but instead to turn their back to the camera. While the elements of both campaigns are country-specific, the themes and goals are universal. “Those are examples of [how] we try to find the issue in the local market and then create a campaign that can be borderless and applicable across the board,” O’Keeffe said. Building Culture Across BordersDespite its global spread, Ogilvy maintains a cohesive culture among all its employees from the moment they join the team. “Every single new employee goes through a global onboarding that is consistent in every market. We have it translated into multiple languages to make it something that people truly understand,” O’Keeffe said. “Our values are global, and we don’t deviate from those values. Those are disseminated, they’re on walls, they’re on documents, they’re in communications.” But the organization also recognizes that naturally, there will be cultural differences from office to office and country to country, and that diversity should be embraced. “There’s certain tenets of the agency, like borderless creativity, that drill down into every single employee's experience,” she said. “But from there, we recognize that every region and every market has different cultures, and so we rely upon the leaders and team members in those markets to create a culture that is complementary to the global one, but very personal to the local one.” This is accomplished by having the company’s inclusion and impact teams create employee resources groups that respect the needs of each market. “Our expectation is that we meet people where they are through local leadership and regional leadership.” Technology is the key to building this culture quickly and effectively, O’Keeffe says. Ogilvy broadcasts local, regional, and global town halls to encourage ongoing and open communications that feel “conversational.” Employee surveys can help drive data, but rather than a cold email detailing the results, O’Keeffe and her team will create a video sharing the stats to make it more personal. Quick and efficient communications have also been integral in tackling recent political turmoil that can affect employees. The changes to H1B visas, which now cost $100K as opposed to the previous cost of just a few thousand dollars, “impact the decisions that you make around your workforce globally [including] talent acquisition and workforce planning,” said Smith. For HR, O’Keeffe says, knowledge is power. Stay on top of the latest news, find out how other organizations are navigating the changes, and rely on partnerships with governments and agencies to help you understand best practices. Tackling Changing TechnologiesAdvancements in AI are changing the way employees do business at Ogilvy. But it’s also inspiring some trepidation in workers who fear being replaced by machines. O’Keeffe and her team have stayed on top of the messaging and encouraged early adoption. “We pride ourselves on the human brain, and the creative product that comes out of that,” she said. Employees are encouraged to use Ogilvy’s proprietary AI tool WPP Open each day. “It gives us AI as a creative partner. It helps us mock-up ideas quickly,” she said. AI can also provide feedback on cultural nuance, letting employees know whether an idea that works in one region could have a negative connotation in another. And workers in administrative roles use AI to create outlines and summarize meetings, saving them time and boosting efficiency. Organizations must embrace AI to stay relevant, O’Keeffe says. “I don’t know a company that will survive without doing that.” AI adoption hasn’t been formally written into the organization’s strategy and KPI’s yet, she says, because “we wanted it to be a voluntary, comfortable, safe space for people.” For now, Ogilvy is monitoring AI usage on employee laptops to better understand how it’s used, whether it’s effective, and if additional training is needed. O’Keeffe says Ogilvy embraces a notion of “divine discontent.” “We never want to be too comfortable. This is an industry that is made up of diverse perspectives and diverse ideas, and so ‘divine discontent’ for us means hearing different perspectives in uncomfortable ways. We debate and we disagree and we poke holes in the work deliberately, because it’s important that the work that we do is culturally relevant,” she said. All of this comes down to a willingness to learn and grow, which has been a core tenet of O’Keeffe’s own career. She encourages anyone working in HR who wants to move into a global position to adopt an inquisitive attitude. Earlier in her career, she actively sought out opportunities that allowed her to travel and meet workers from around the world, far outside her home base of Chicago, and has now been in global leadership positions for nearly 10 years. “You have to be curious. You have to be open to new experiences, new ways of doing things, new points of view,” she said. “Listen. Ask a lot of questions. Be uncomfortable. Raise your hand for the things that you’ve never done before with people you’ve never done it with.”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photo by Noko LTD/iStock)
Empathy at Scale: Leading a Global Workforce With Cultural Intelligence
BY Ade Akin November 07, 2025Courtney White didn’t have a foolproof playbook to guide him when he started his two-decade career in global leadership. What he had was a set of assumptions that included a belief that organizational culture could be scaled like a process and that clarity was a universal concept. “What I found out over my time is that I was wrong,” White said during a thought leadership spotlight at From Day One’s October virtual conference. “Global workforce leadership isn’t just about strategy. It’s about stewardship. It really doesn’t require an individual to be everywhere. It just requires you to be deeply somewhere.”White, the head of HR for agricultural solutions, North America at BASF, was interviewed by Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, a business reporter at The Seattle Times, to discuss the nuances of managing international teams. He shared many hard-earned lessons, framing them as “tuition” paid for the masterclass in empathy, adaptability, and context that his experience in global leadership has given him. White says his first global project didn’t go to plan, primarily because he assumed the strategies he had successfully used in the U.S. would work for Latin America until a colleague gently pulled him aside to say, “We don’t do business before we do people.”“That was a moment that really resonated with me,” White said. “It cracked open my understanding that it really wasn’t about mastering geography. It was about mastering empathy, adaptability, and context.”The Three Pillars of Global LeadershipWhite turned his experience managing international teams into a core leadership philosophy that’s built on three strategies. First, elevate cultural intelligence by treating it as a critical leadership skill rather than a soft skill.Second, practice time zone empathy by using calendars thoughtfully to create a more inclusive environment and ensure team members aren’t consistently burdened by inconvenient hours.And lastly, champion local autonomy while maintaining global alignment—a balance that, as White notes, drives innovation and keeps teams accountable.White discussed a transformation project involving a Canadian team that was given the freedom to localize the rollout. “They didn’t just deliver it. They reimagined what could be done,” White said. Their version was so effective that it was adopted globally. “When you give people the room to lead, they don’t just often meet expectations, they redefine them.”The Pitfall of the "One-Size-Fits-All" PlaybookWhite notes that one of the most common traps for global leaders is the belief that “your way is the right way.” He recalled a time when he had to defend a global rollout that had failed in two of five regions. His choice was to double down or own the failure. He chose the latter.This mindset also impacts career development. A high-potential employee in Mexico was once passed over because she didn’t self-promote, as it conflicted with her cultural norms. “If you’re using the same playbook for career growth in Tokyo, Toronto, or Texas, you’re not advocating,” White said. “You’re assuming.”Courtney White of BASF spoke with Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton of the Seattle Times on the subject "Empathy at Scale: Fostering Global Collaboration" (photo by From Day One)This realization led White and his team at BASF to implement a “broad banding” system for careers that’s designed to honor local norms while operating within the organization’s global framework. “Talent shouldn’t be limited to geography or even cultural biases,” he said.White also learned the importance of time zone empathy the hard way, after scheduling a recurring meeting that was perfect for him, but required his colleague to join him at midnight. When he realized his error when the person missed his call, he apologized. “Inclusion has to be a practice, and time zone empathy is bigger than logistics,” White said. He and his team now rotate meeting times and rely more on asynchronous tools. “It’s another sign of leadership when the systems are designed such that they respect the fact that people have lives and not just output. You can’t build trust in a time zone you ignore.”The Secret Ingredient: Nuance in CommunicationCommunication is everything in a world where companies are increasingly made up of globally dispersed teams. White says nuance is the “secret ingredient” that makes conversations productive. He learned this lesson after telling a colleague at BASF’s German headquarters he needed something “ASAP.” They delivered it in 24 hours, though he had just meant sometime that week. The tone, timing, and translation of words all matter enormously. Now, White makes a habit of asking, “How did that land?” instead of assuming his message was understood.“Words travel fast,” White said. “What I’ve also learned, though, is that meaning doesn’t. And so as intentional as we are with the words, we have to be as intentional with the meaning.”Ade Akin covers workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(NanoStockk/iStock)
Unified by Innovation: Tech’s Role in Global Workforce Management
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza November 06, 2025Artificial intelligence may be the most exciting new hire, but it’s not ready to make tighter-knit teams. As companies race to automate recruiting, performance reviews, and even written feedback, some HR leaders are asking a different question: Can technology actually make people feel more connected at work?That question is top of mind for Claude Silver, chief heart officer at global marketing firm VaynerX. Her team is experimenting with AI to generate personalized, quarterly feedback for employees—part of an effort to give people more consistent check-ins with their managers. But she’s yet to find something AI-powered that really facilitates interpersonal relationships. “I really want some AI tools that strengthen human relationships,” she said. “Bottom line: belonging and trust. I want to find a way that AI can help us with the connection moments.”Until AI can do it, companies are finding other ways to use technology to foster interaction, especially as teams become bigger and more global. That was the topic discussion among a panel of HR leaders during From Day One’s October virtual conference on smart strategies for collaborating across borders.At fintech company NCR Atleos, global executive director of talent and learning, Curtis Brooks is using tech to create learning communities where employees exchange leadership lessons and self-reflect. “People are starting to comment, and when one person comments, it creates the space for the next person,” he said. That kind of engagement, while modest, can spark a ripple effect of connection across teams.Too Many Tools, Not Enough ConnectionBut as companies add tools, they risk overwhelming the very people they’re trying to connect. HR tech stacks have grown taller–and unwieldy. Information and data are stored across disparate systems, team communications are fragmented, and unvetted tools can introduce security risks.Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza, journalist and From Day One contributing editor, moderated the session (photo by From Day One)The first test of whether a tool is worth using is whether it creates connection or friction, says Carol Cochran, senior director of HR at BOLD. Cochran recalled a team that relied on a pulse-check tool for frequent feedback. When that platform was retired, the team tried to recreate it on their own, adding so many new questions that it became a miniature engagement survey. “Suddenly it shifted right from being a pulse check useful for line managers to a mini-engagement survey where they were asking questions that, frankly, line managers aren’t in a position to really address,” Cochran said. “That was going to create more friction than connection.”Picking and ChoosingAt Google, global HR leader Jasmine Dolfus uses a four-part rubric to decide whether new tools are worth adding. Step one: assess needs and local compliance requirements. Step two: compare against standardized business criteria to ensure equity and consistency. Step three: make sure the change won’t disrupt or disadvantage other teams or regions. And finally, monitor the impact once the tool is in use.At NCR Atleos, Brooks applies an 80/20 rule. About 80% of technology and processes should be universal to the company, while 20% should be unique to specific teams or geographies. “It’s employee-driven, business-directed, and organizationally enabled,” he said.Cochran says that at BOLD, which recently acquired CareerBuilder and Monster, the challenge has been integration. Each company brought its own HR systems, workflows, tools, and habits. “At least in the beginning, you have to save a lot more than you can cut to keep business continuity,” she said. “There’s so much change hitting people that you don’t want to pull away the tools they need to stay functional and operating–even if it’s just a communication platform, because that’s what they’re used to.”That cautious approach may be what keeps these HR leaders grounded amid all the AI hype. For all the promise of automation, the real opportunity lies in designing systems that strengthen, not replace, human relationships.“We all need to understand AI, to use AI, and to not be afraid of it,” said Silver. “But at the end of the day, when I put my hand on your shoulder and say, ‘I got you,’ AI is not going to do that.”Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism. She is the host of How to Be Anything, the podcast about people with unusual jobs.(Photo by Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock)
Optimizing Productivity and Efficiency in Times of Constraint
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza October 22, 2025As companies face tighter budgets, leaner teams, and pressure to boost productivity, one thing has become clear: Success depends less on scale and more on resourcefulness. The winners aren’t necessarily those with the biggest teams or deepest pockets—but those that can make the most of what they have. That was the takeaway from an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s September virtual conference. Panelists shared how they’re tackling the modern dilemma of how to stay effective when everyone is stretched thin.Balancing Priorities and Capacity“One of the biggest disconnects between leadership’s expectations and employees’ day-to-day is capacity versus priority,” said Joanna Eagan, senior director of people services at Core & Main. “Leaders tend to set ambitious productivity goals with the best intentions, but employees are juggling competing demands, a lot of administrative tasks, and often outdated tools. It can feel like leadership is asking for more without taking anything off their plates.”Ryan Sattler, director of HR tech and intelligence at M&T Bank, agreed that clarity is often a problem. “I don’t think many organizations do a particularly good job at clarifying and articulating where employees should be spending their energy,” he said. It’s easy to keep doing the same things, even when leadership has set new priorities. Leaders, Sattler added, should focus on strategy, removing obstacles and setting direction, rather than dictating day-to-day work.Managing Change From the Inside OutWhen every quarter seems to bring a new system, workflow, or AI automation, change fatigue becomes a real problem. By the time new initiatives reach the frontline, those workers often haven’t been part of the conversation. “We need to focus on listening to our employees and their experiences, reprioritizing low-value work so they can get on board with the pivots being asked of them,” said Eagan.To help new tools catch on, HR tech platform Deputy designates “AI Champions”—enthusiastic early adopters who can model success for their peers. “Instead of having something come from the top down, we’re building excitement and momentum from the middle of the organization and from the bottom up,” said Sejal Daswani, Deputy’s chief people officer.Journalist and From Day One contributing editor, Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza moderated the discussion (photo by From Day One)“Change is difficult for everyone, even if we know it’s going to make our life easier,” added Heather Mannings, executive director and HR business partner at Quest Diagnostics. Her team makes changes with a lot of explanation, and welcomes input from employees on how to make it better—after all, they’re the ones using it.Simplifying Work Through Smart AutomationCore & Main began its automation journey by targeting tedious, error-prone parts of payroll, and ultimately gaining hundreds of hours in productivity. Deputy reports similar benefits: Internal surveys found that AI tools are saving employees five to ten hours per week in writing, messaging, and presentation work.As tools multiply, integration remains a challenge. “I haven’t met a customer or frontline employee yet who says they don’t have enough apps, tools, or systems,” said Dave Nixon, CEO and co-founder of Enablo, an all-in-one communications platform for frontline workforces. The problem is integration. Companies are aspiring to reduce complexity for frontline workers—a single “digital front door” where they can check shifts, report incidents, and get company updates.The next era of productivity isn’t about squeezing more hours out of employees, it’s about removing friction, clarifying priorities, and designing systems that let people focus on work that matters. Whether through automation, better communication, or smarter change management, organizations are finding that efficiency in 2025 doesn’t come from doing more—it comes from doing less, better.Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism. She is the host of How to Be Anything, the podcast about people with unusual jobs.(Photo by miniseries/iStock)
Activating Learning in the Age of AI: Practical Approaches and Tools That Make an Impact
BY Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza October 13, 2025As companies rush to integrate AI tools into daily workflows, a challenge has emerged: how to make the technology feel less like a threat and more like a skill everyone can master. Across industries, from tech to media, employers are rolling out training programs that make AI literacy fundamental and fully integrated.At biotech firm Genentech, every employee receives training in foundational AI principles, ethics, and responsibility. The company encourages staff to experiment with tools in sandbox environments, supported by live sessions and peer learning where colleagues can show off what they’ve built or learned. They’ve even developed internal “tech geniuses” who act as one-on-one tutors.“We want to make sure everyone’s got the same starting place, but also room to experiment and explore in such a way that they want to learn more and be more advanced in their capabilities,” said Heidi Schisel, Genentech’s VP of people and culture, during an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s August virtual conference. At Aspen Dental, the company appointed a head of artificial intelligence to its IT team and made AI training mandatory. But not everyone was immediately enthusiastic. Right away, employees were worried about their job security, says Katie Stangel, VP of learning and development. Others feared they’d be seen as “cheating” if they used AI. To normalize the tools, Stangel created a Teams group dedicated to sharing and celebrating responsible AI use. “People are starting to celebrate and call out when they’ve used it, saying, ‘I use ChatGPT to help me with this outline,’ or ‘I used Articulate AI to help me with the design and development of the course.’ We celebrate that,” she said. Panelists spoke about learning in the age of AI during the virtual session (photo by From Day One)Experts say AI literacy develops in stages—from unstructured experimentation to true automation and augmentation of work. Leaders, especially, often try to skip steps, said Amelia Rosenman, director of programs at the Experience Institute, but “learn out loud” cultures are key if adoption is to be company-wide. “If the leader isn’t showing that they’re making mistakes, or that they haven’t figured out all of the answers, then everyone feels that they should have it all figured out by now,” she said. “Share both your successes and your failures. That’s what creates that safe environment, that risk-free sandbox.”No one needs to be an expert yet, says David Wentworth, VP of talent at frontline learning management platform Schoox. “Let’s move past that and focus on results: What are we trying to do? Always tie it to real problems and real outcomes,” he said. The good news is, many companies already have standard operating procedures and ethics guidelines they can apply right away to get AI training up and running. “Don’t think that you have to start a whole new paradigm about how to approach this thing,” Wentworth said. “You’re probably 60, 70, or 80% of the way there. Just tweak it a bit to fit your current needs.”At multimedia company Scripps, AI tools are helping new reporters develop their skills faster. “Human coaches are amazing, but there’s something about an AI mentor that’s completely nonjudgmental,” said Ginger Summers, senior director of L&D. Their AI tool gives feedback on drafts, helping reporters think critically about sourcing and permissions, without having to tap their peers. About 20% of newsroom employees now use the tool one to two hours per day, saving roughly 20 minutes of work each time. “They’re still learning to use it,” Summers said, “but the time savings are amazing.”This is an excellent example of a successful roll-out of AI as a learning and development tool. Ultimately, said Rosenman, companies must be clear about why they’re implementing AI, and the results they’re achieving. If employees fear that AI is threatening their jobs, panic will quickly spread.“There’s so much opportunity for the smartest, most creative minds in media to eliminate the drag that keeps them from doing the work they do,” read a late-summer edition of the business newsletter Feed Me. “This instinct, too often, is to hire a COO, a CTO, a chief of staff, or a small army of ops staff, but if you develop prompt engineering skills, commit time to investing in these tools, you can replace huge chunks of that infrastructure and stay small, fast, and creative.”While some companies may be looking for ways to cut their workforces in half, many companies want to become more efficient without hiring anyone new or expand expertise more quickly, said Rosenman. When employees know that, the message shifts from existential threat to helpful teammate.Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism. She is the host of How to Be Anything, the podcast about people with unusual jobs.(Photo by gorodenkoff/iStock)
Making Sense of Work Models: When In-Office, Remote, and Hybrid Models Succeed
BY Jennifer Yoshikoshi October 08, 2025As of 2024, five in 10 full-time employees in the United States have remote-capable jobs, according to a study by Gallup. Remote work has become “a new normal for people,” said Peter Cappelli, co-author of In Praise of the Office: The Limits to Hybrid and Remote Work, during a fireside chat at From Day One’s September virtual conference. Cappelli, management professor and director of the Center for HR at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, spoke with Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, Seattle Times business reporter, about the changes, benefits, and disadvantages to remote work culture, and how to make the most of it. Changes to Telework CultureThe rise of full-time remote work skyrocketed during Covid and has shifted the culture of remote years after restrictions have been lifted. In 2021, Cappelli wrote, The Future of the Office: Work from Home, Remote Work, and the Hard Choices We All Face, a dive into what employees and managers should be thinking about when exploring the benefits and disadvantages of remote work. “The story about remote work before the pandemic was not a particularly happy one but the context was quite different. That is, they were looking at situations where people were remote but their colleagues were largely in the office,” said Cappelli.Peter Cappelli spoke about his book In Praise of the Office: The Limits to Hybrid and Remote Work during the session (photo by From Day One)Pre-pandemic remote workers were less committed, had lower engagement, experienced a greater sense of isolation and their career progression was worse, he added. Since then, the telework culture has dramatically changed. More employees prefer working from home or on a hybrid schedule, especially as companies are starting to call for them to return to the office. According to the Gallup study, “Six in 10 employees with remote-capable jobs want a hybrid work arrangement. About one-third prefer fully remote work, and less than 10% prefer to work on-site.”“The current story does not look like the pre-pandemic story at all,” said Cappelli. His newly released book explores how hybrid work can be done effectively and what can be done to fix the current work environment. The Pros and Cons to Remote WorkHaving the option to work from home has become the new normal and many employees have built their lives around being able to work remotely. But Cappelli found that while there are some benefits to this, there are also impacts to the social networks of remote workers. Through a series of focus groups, Cappelli and his colleague found that internationally, individuals who worked from home did not interact or develop relationships with others who also worked remotely.“There’s pretty good evidence from other research on this showing that networks of employees, networks of people, shrunk during the pandemic, and it has not really rebounded,” he said. Working in the office however, allows for greater opportunities to learn from each other and to develop a more efficient work flow, Cappelli says. If a problem were to be solved in the office, employees would be able to solve it quickly. Remotely, you’d have to ping the person, try and set up a Zoom meeting, schedule it and that may take even a few days, he said. “The things that we started to see about human interaction are basically solving problems that come from the nature of office work, and if you’re not face to face, you don’t have the ability to solve those problems,” said Cappelli.Experienced employees within a company know their team and interact with them regularly. For them, working remotely may be more favored. But for new hires entering an entirely remote environment, they get lost, Cappelli says. New employees are also unable to find their way because they are unable to observe the company’s culture while working from home. Employers are also seeing that in hybrid work environments, employees are still not coming back to the office even on “anchor days.” Attendance is about 4% on these days,” according to Cappelli. Remote meetings are also becoming less productive and engaging for workers, with many attending with their cameras off or having artificial intelligence agents taking notes for them.Management in an Era of Hybrid WorkCappelli says that the reason why the workplace environment isn’t “delightful” is because the problem has always been with the “top of the house” managing their employees and driving its policies. “I don’t think (top leaders are) taking it very seriously,” he said. As company leaders cut resources, training and supervision while increasing workload, the workplace environment begins to worsen employee mental health problems. While many corporations are issuing return-to-office policies, Cappelli observes that its leaders are not doing a great job at making the transition easy for its workers. If companies want to return to an in-person work environment, “it’s going to require a lot of work from people at the top of the house to take this change management process seriously and so far, they haven’t really given any inclination that they’re willing to do it,” said Cappelli. Jennifer Yoshikoshi is a local news and education reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.(Photo by vm/iStock)
