The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast Upskilling Your Team for What's Next
12 snips
Feb 26, 2026 Rob Levin, serial entrepreneur and author of The New Talent Playbook who helps SMBs solve talent challenges. He talks about upskilling teams for AI and redesigning workflows with an AI-first mindset. Culture, KPIs, remote hiring, and using AI to craft smarter metrics come up. Practical steps for expanding hiring reach and managing the human side of AI change are highlighted.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Hidden Talent Crisis For SMBs
- Small and midsize businesses face a hidden talent crisis where hiring the right people has become significantly harder since the pandemic.
- Rob Levin says this shift gives more leverage to employees and means owners can no longer rely on old hiring playbooks.
Capability Gap Is As Big As Hiring Gap
- SMBs not only struggle to hire talent but also must acquire new capabilities as technology changes faster.
- Levin recommends expanding recruiting reach (remote, Latin America, Asia) and upskilling internal teams when possible.
Invest In Upskilling Existing Employees
- Identify the exact new capability you need and find an employee who is willing and able to be upskilled into that role.
- Pay for external training, give time to learn, and plan to reward the employee with promotion and a raise when they deliver.
