Future Ready Leadership With Jacob Morgan

A hard look at Citi’s shift to measurable outcomes and what it means for comfortable work. Discussion of Amazon’s flatter structures and productivity-per-employee focus. Exploration of how AI makes ambiguity intolerable and forces clearer accountability. Notes on shrinking management layers, faster promotion timelines, and the new sink-or-swim reality across industries.

The discussion reveals how traditional job structures are faltering in the face of rapid change. Meta's retreat from long-term roles highlights the struggle to find immediate value. Deloitte's move away from job titles signifies a shift towards capability-based assessments. The podcast also dives into the skills mismatch in hiring and the legal challenges facing AI screening tools. It emphasizes the importance of organizations redesigning work rather than just roles, suggesting that adaptability will define future success.

January 21, 2026: Most conversations about the future of work in 2026 focus on the obvious things: AI tools, hybrid policies, skills, and perks. That's not where the real change is happening. In this episode, I break down the top future of work trends for 2026 that actually matter—the ones quietly reshaping how work is structured, how value is created, and how organizations really operate. This isn't a prediction episode and it's definitely not a fluffy trend list. It's about a deeper shift in labor architecture, including: Why organizations are now managing a second workforce of AI agents—and why most leaders aren't prepared to govern non-human labor How work is turning into a product, making clarity more valuable than effort Why entry-level jobs are disappearing, and what that means for long-term expertise and leadership pipelines How governance is becoming culture, as systems—not slogans—are increasingly shaping behavior Why truly human work is becoming more valuable and more unequal at the same time Across all of these trends runs one idea most leaders underestimate: legibility. When systems execute work and decisions, organizations must be able to explain what's happening, why it's happening, and who is accountable. Grab a copy of my new book: https://8exlaws.com/ Request to join my CHRO group: https://futureofworkleaders.com/

January 20, 2026: Oxford Economics data suggests AI-driven layoffs are still a small slice of overall job cuts, raising questions about whether AI is being used as a convenient explanation for traditional cost cutting. At the same time, Goldman Sachs warns that up to 25% of work hours could be automated—not as a job apocalypse, but as a task-level shock that exposes poorly designed roles. I also unpack new PwC research showing that most CEOs aren't seeing meaningful ROI from their AI investments yet—and why that failure has more to do with broken workflows and leadership decisions than with the technology itself. Meanwhile, a quieter but more consequential shift is happening as physical AI and robotics move rapidly into logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, and other parts of the real economy. And finally, I explain why ServiceNow's partnership with OpenAI signals AI moving into the core "plumbing" of organizations—where it will force leaders to confront inefficiency, bureaucracy, and outdated ways of working. Grab a copy of my new book: https://8exlaws.com/ Request to join my CHRO group: https://futureofworkleaders.com/

Imagine an eighty-year-old grandmother discussing Russian literature with ChatGPT in her native tongue; it is a powerful reminder that AI is no longer a futuristic concept but a present reality that bridges generations. For CHROs, the challenge is not simply the technology itself, but rather shifting the human behaviour that interacts with these tools. In this episode, Joanne Rodgers, the CHRO of New York Life, shares the strategic roadmap used to scale AI adoption across 24,000 employees and agents by focusing on the mindset, skill set, and tool set. We explored the firm's Ignite AI initiative, which prioritised responsible AI and AI training, remarkably leading to the creation of over 10,000 self-made GPTs. We look into how they integrated mandatory AI goals into performance reviews while maintaining a strict human-in-the-loop governance model to protect the employee experience. Moreover, Joanne highlights the success of their career hub and talent marketplace, explaining how time-bound gigs have boosted internal mobility to 40%. This discussion is your fresh playbook in change management, demonstrating how to foster employee engagement and upskilling in a rapidly evolving landscape without sacrificing the essential human element. ---------- Start your day with the world's top leaders by joining thousands of others at Great Leadership on Substack. Just enter your email: ⁠⁠https://greatleadership.substack.com/ Future-ready organizations are built, not hoped for. My latest book, -The 8 Laws of Employee Experience shows how. Preorder here: 8EXlaws.com

The discussion dives into why Boomers are staying in the workforce longer while Gen Z faces challenges entering it. AI is reshaping the labor market, particularly in construction, but there's a real shortage of skilled trades like electricians and plumbers. Surprisingly, AI has already created over a million new jobs globally, though access to these roles is uneven. Insights reveal that firms deploying AI agents are altering the value equation in knowledge work, exposing the weaknesses in our talent pipelines.

Explore how AI is reshaping jobs by displacing tasks while keeping titles intact. Discover the paradox of promising productivity gains clashing with reports of increased rework and quality issues. Learn about the risk of capability debt and the need for organizational redesign to truly harness AI's potential. Hear firsthand accounts of the burden of verifying AI outputs and why job seekers are feeling a tightening labor market, despite stable job data. It's a thought-provoking look at the gap between data, leadership actions, and real-world experiences.

Transformational change often takes longer than expected, creating frustration for leaders. Key blockers include outdated technology, bad data, and bureaucracy. AI holds great promise but can exacerbate existing issues without clean data and modern systems. The role of the CHRO has evolved into a strategic partnership aligning talent and culture with business goals. Employee experience is a collective responsibility, not just an HR concern. Real transformation demands dedication and a long-term vision.

January 13, 2026: In today's episode, five stories reveal why work is starting to crack under pressure. New data shows employee financial stress is no longer a personal issue but a measurable drag on productivity, just as healthcare costs surge and job mobility slows. At the same time, a major study finds AI is already doing 20–40% of the work in many organizations, yet produces inconsistent and low-quality results when left without human oversight. Research also shows that always-on expectations and over-availability are quietly draining loyalty, even in places where right-to-disconnect laws exist. While employees remain physically present, many are mentally hedging, disengaging, or preparing exit options. On the hiring front, reporting confirms that cold applying still leads to jobs, but hiring systems are buckling under massive application volume and collapsing signal quality. Finally, a viral backlash calling to "fire 90% of HR" exposes a deeper trust and legitimacy crisis, raising hard questions about whether HR functions are delivering outcomes that match today's pace of change.

In this conversation, Jason Kidd, Chief Operating Officer of Chipotle, reveals secrets behind scaling culture for a workforce of 130,000. He discusses the importance of 'mastering the mundane' to ensure consistent operational excellence. Jason highlights Chipotle's impressive internal promotion rate and their innovative use of AI, 'Ava,' in recruitment. He emphasizes the balance of metrics and leadership intuition, offering insights into succession planning and the critical traits of future-ready leaders. It's a masterclass in nurturing a vibrant, high-performance culture.