The New Social Contract: Who Owns Workforce Transformation in the Age of AI?

Recorded live at the 2026 ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego, this session featured Colin Coggins, General Manager at Chegg Skills and Professor at USC; and Sam Hannani, Account Executive at Zoom.The speakers explored how the implicit social contract between universities, employers, and individuals had been fundamentally shifting. For decades, employers had provided job security and career progression, employees had offered loyalty and performance, and universities had prepared talent for workforce entry. In the age of AI, that model was unraveling, leaving urgent questions about who now owned workforce transformation.This cross-generational dialogue examined whether continuous upskilling had become the individual’s responsibility, what role skills providers should play in building scalable workforce systems, and how employers needed to redesign talent development as Gen Z became a growing share of the workforce. Panelists explored how the expectations, structures, and responsibilities surrounding work were being rewritten by rapid technological change.At its core, this conversation focused on how employers, education providers, and individuals could ensure talent grew alongside technology rather than fell behind it. By examining the evolving responsibilities of each stakeholder, the session highlighted what the new social contract of work might require to create resilient, adaptive, and future-ready workforce systems in the AI era.