WorkLab

Rigid org charts are quickly becoming a barrier to AI-fueled business impact. Microsoft's CVP of Workforce Transformation joins WorkLab host Molly Wood to share how the most forward-thinking companies are breaking down silos, building teams around skills, and embracing constant change. Discover why adaptability, curiosity, and a willingness to reinvent are the new must-haves for leaders and employees alike—and how your organization can unleash human capability for the AI era. Show Notes WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

AI's promise is real. But the challenge to realizing its value isn't technology—it's people. AI scientist, entrepreneur, and investor Rana el Kaliouby joins host Molly Wood to explore what can stall progress. The conversation explores how emotional intelligence, empathy, and communication are essential for human–AI teams to thrive. Rana makes the case that leaders must foster trust and readiness, rethink workflows, and keep humans at the center to unlock AI's full potential and ensure sustainable adoption. Show Notes WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

AI's promise is real. But the challenge to realizing its value isn't technology—it's people. AI scientist, entrepreneur, and investor Rana el Kaliouby joins host Molly Wood to explore what can stall progress. The conversation explores how emotional intelligence, empathy, and communication are essential for human–AI teams to thrive. Rana makes the case that leaders must foster trust and readiness, rethink workflows, and keep humans at the center to unlock AI's full potential and ensure sustainable adoption. Show Notes WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

The ever-increasing capabilities of AI have everyone wondering what it means for their career. LinkedIn's Chief Economic Opportunity Officer Aneesh Raman joins Molly Wood to explore why curiosity, adaptability, and action now matter more than certainty. Drawing from his new book, Open to Work: How to Get Ahead in the Age of AI —cowritten with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky—Raman makes the case that careers aren't being automated away. They're being reshaped for the AI era, by the people willing to move first. Show Notes WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

The ever-increasing capabilities of AI have everyone wondering what it means for their career. LinkedIn's Chief Economic Opportunity Officer Aneesh Raman joins Molly Wood to explore why curiosity, adaptability, and action now matter more than certainty. Drawing from his new book, Open to Work: How to Get Ahead in the Age of AI —cowritten with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky—Raman makes the case that careers aren't being automated away. They're being reshaped for the AI era, by the people willing to move first. Show Notes WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

As AI moves from assistance to execution, the key challenge for organizations flips from adoption to judgement. Leaders are deciding what to delegate to agents, what must remain human, and how accountability works when machines start doing real work. This season of WorkLab examines the impact of those decisions inside organizations: how work gets redesigned, how leaders stay in control without slowing progress, and why human skills like direction and discernment matter more as AI scales. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

As AI moves from assistance to execution, the key challenge for organizations flips from adoption to judgement. Leaders are deciding what to delegate to agents, what must remain human, and how accountability works when machines start doing real work. This season of WorkLab examines the impact of those decisions inside organizations: how work gets redesigned, how leaders stay in control without slowing progress, and why human skills like direction and discernment matter more as AI scales. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

Economist and public thinker Tyler Cowen joins host Molly Wood to explore why AI adoption is so challenging for many employees, organizations, and educational institutions. As he puts it, "This may sound counterintuitive, but under a lot of scenarios, the more unhappy people are, the better we're doing, because that means a lot of change." Listen in for unvarnished insights on what leaders can expect as they push their organizations to reinvent how they operate and create value with AI.  Show Notes: WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab Newsletter

Economist and public thinker Tyler Cowen joins host Molly Wood to explore why AI adoption is so challenging for many employees, organizations, and educational institutions. As he puts it, "This may sound counterintuitive, but under a lot of scenarios, the more unhappy people are, the better we're doing, because that means a lot of change." Listen in for unvarnished insights on what leaders can expect as they push their organizations to reinvent how they operate and create value with AI.  Show Notes: WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab Newsletter

EY's Global Consulting AI Leader Dan Diasio joins host Molly Wood to discuss the future of work and how companies can reinvent themselves as AI-first Frontier Firms. Learn how AI is disrupting the consulting industry, why investing in upskilling your employees is now mandatory, and why the right combination of mindset, skill set, and tool set matters more than ever. Listen in to discover practical strategies for leaders to drive transformation and compete with AI-native disruptors. WorkLab | Subscribe to the WorkLab Newsletter

EY's Global Consulting AI Leader Dan Diasio joins host Molly Wood to discuss the future of work and how companies can reinvent themselves as AI-first Frontier Firms. Learn how AI is disrupting the consulting industry, why investing in upskilling your employees is now mandatory, and why the right combination of mindset, skill set, and tool set matters more than ever. Listen in to discover practical strategies for leaders to drive transformation and compete with AI-native disruptors. WorkLab | Subscribe to the WorkLab Newsletter

The journey to becoming a Frontier Firm requires leaders to reimagine every aspect of their organization—quickly and without a playbook. Harvard Business School's Raffaella Sadun joins host Molly Wood to explore what makes a Frontier Firm, why reskilling is so hard, and how leaders can build cultures that thrive on experimentation and human–AI collaboration. Discover actionable strategies for navigating uncertainty, driving transformation, and empowering every employee to become an AI-enabled inventor.  WorkLab | Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

The journey to becoming a Frontier Firm requires leaders to reimagine every aspect of their organization—quickly and without a playbook. Harvard Business School's Raffaella Sadun joins host Molly Wood to explore what makes a Frontier Firm, why reskilling is so hard, and how leaders can build cultures that thrive on experimentation and human–AI collaboration. Discover actionable strategies for navigating uncertainty, driving transformation, and empowering every employee to become an AI-enabled inventor.  WorkLab | Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

Agents can become essential team members at any organization—if they're deployed thoughtfully. In this episode, Pascal Bornet joins host Molly Wood to share practical frameworks for helping leaders design and implement agentic AI, run high-impact pilots, and build the human skills—creativity, critical thinking, and social authenticity—that set Frontier Firms apart. Bornet is a coauthor of the recent book Agentic Artificial Intelligence: Harnessing AI Agents to Reinvent Business, Work and Life. Show Notes: WorkLab | Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter 

Agents can become essential team members at any organization—if they're deployed thoughtfully. In this episode, Pascal Bornet joins host Molly Wood to share practical frameworks for helping leaders design and implement agentic AI, run high-impact pilots, and build the human skills—creativity, critical thinking, and social authenticity—that set Frontier Firms apart. Bornet is a coauthor of the recent book Agentic Artificial Intelligence: Harnessing AI Agents to Reinvent Business, Work and Life. Show Notes: WorkLab | Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter 

The AI-first future of business is coming into focus, and it's time for every firm to become a Frontier Firm—a human-led, AI-operated org that buys intelligence like it's electricity, deploys it across workflows, and compounds it like interest. The burning question for leaders: How do we get there?     The latest season of the WorkLab podcast will light the way, kicking off on October 29 with Pascal Bornet, coauthor of Agentic Artificial Intelligence: Harnessing AI Agents to Reinvent Business, Work and Life. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

The AI-first future of business is coming into focus, and it's time for every firm to become a Frontier Firm—a human-led, AI-operated org that buys intelligence like it's electricity, deploys it across workflows, and compounds it like interest. The burning question for leaders: How do we get there?     The latest season of the WorkLab podcast will light the way, kicking off on October 29 with Pascal Bornet, coauthor of Agentic Artificial Intelligence: Harnessing AI Agents to Reinvent Business, Work and Life. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

Rajesh Jha is Microsoft's EVP of Experiences + Devices, which means he oversees a wide range of products, from Microsoft 365 productivity tools and Surface devices to Copilot. Jha played a pivotal role in integrating AI into the company's offerings, and he joined the WorkLab podcast to share insights on navigating the complexities of becoming an AI-first organization. He also offers actionable advice on how leaders can adapt and compete while bringing their teams (and customers) along. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  Click here to watch and subscribe to WorkLab on YouTube.  Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft

Rajesh Jha is Microsoft's EVP of Experiences + Devices, which means he oversees a wide range of products, from Microsoft 365 productivity tools and Surface devices to Copilot. Jha played a pivotal role in integrating AI into the company's offerings, and he joined the WorkLab podcast to share insights on navigating the complexities of becoming an AI-first organization. He also offers actionable advice on how leaders can adapt and compete while bringing their teams (and customers) along. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  Click here to watch and subscribe to WorkLab on YouTube.  Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft

The beauty industry is massive, fast-paced, and hard to predict. There are 20,000 brands worldwide, and microtrends can spread around the globe in hours. That's the challenge facing Kalindi Mehta, Global VP for Consumer Foresight Strategy and Predictive Analytics at the Estée Lauder Companies. In the latest episode, she lays out how AI is transforming her industry, and explains how the technology can help all companies be more agile, improve their decision making, and reimagine their workflows. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft  

Cassie Kozyrkov created the discipline of decision intelligence, combining the power of AI with data science to enable companies to make better choices. She's now an AI advisor, and she writes the popular Decision Intelligence newsletter. Kozyrkov joined the WorkLab podcast to discuss how leaders can maximize the potential of AI and data, why having too many options is as unhelpful as having too few, and how to avoid falling prey to confirmation bias. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  

AI has crossed an important threshold, says Microsoft CMO of AI at Work Jared Spataro: it now has remarkable abilities to think and reason. What does that mean for organizations? Intelligence is on tap. "You can now buy intelligence like you would purchase a commodity like electricity," he explains. Spataro joined the podcast to discuss what it means for business, how he already sees agents transforming workflows and team structures, and why leaders need to "hire their first digital employee" now. WorkLab Subscribe to the AI at Work newsletter

DJ Patil was the first-ever US Chief Data Scientist and has led some of the biggest data initiatives in government and business. He has also been at the forefront of leveraging AI to solve the thorniest problems companies face, as well as "stupid, boring problems in the back office." He joins the WorkLab podcast to discuss the potential of AI to change business, how leaders can drive technological transformation, and why it's vital for data scientists to never lose sight of the human element. WorkLab  Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

A core component of every company's value proposition is its unique expertise. "But AI is lowering the cost of expertise," says Harvard Business School professor Karim Lakhani, and that will require leaders to rethink every aspect of their organization. Lakhani has spent his career researching digital transformation, and he joins the WorkLab podcast to share insights on how leaders can avoid "falling asleep at the wheel" with AI, and what they can learn from the AI-native generation of MBAs.  WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter 

"It's time to replace the old linear model of success with a circular model of growth, in which goals are discovered, pursued, and adapted," says Anne-Laure Le Cunff. She left a successful tech-marketing career to study neuroscience, and now writes the popular Ness Labs newsletter, which features insights about how our brains work that can help us navigate uncertainty and nurture innovation. She joined WorkLab to discuss what leaders can learn from neuroscience, and how to tap the potential of AI in more creative ways. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft

Azeem Azhar's mission is to help leaders stay ahead of the curve at a time when technology, especially AI, is evolving at an exponential rate. He founded the Exponential View newsletter, which offers insights and advice to an eager audience of 116,000+ people who want to get ahead in a rapidly changing world. He joined us to discuss the potential for AI to help business leaders navigate uncertainty and describe some of the ways that AI agents and deep research will fundamentally change the way we work.  WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter 

AI is evolving at a mind-bending pace, reshaping every aspect of business. How can leaders filter out the noise to stay focused on transforming their organizations? How can they leverage the limitless potential of AI, agents, and deep research? How can they harness the latest technology to access untapped value, turbocharge their decision making, and maintain their organization's competitive edge? In the new season of the WorkLab podcast from Microsoft, we'll be exploring all of those questions and more. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft

Learning how AI can help with a few tasks won't lead us to unlock its true power—for that, we need to fundamentally change how we think about the technology. So says Conor Grennan, Chief AI Architect at the NYU Stern School of Business and founder of the consulting company AI Mindset, who has studied the challenges that employees and organizations face in their AI journeys. He joins us to share insights about how making behavioral changes can help everyone get the most out of AI at work. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter 

Kevin Novak founded the AI-focused VC firm Rackhouse Ventures in 2021 after a decade of trailblazing leadership roles in data science. He works closely with the founders of the AI-native startups he backs, giving him a bird's eye view of how they're leveraging AI to reinvent business. He joined the WorkLab podcast to share some of his learnings, as well as insights about the promise of AI agents, how AI is transforming what we'll be able to do with our data, and the perils of how we think about the future.  WorkLab  Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft

If you want to have a fascinating conversation about AI, talk to Jaime Teevan. In her recent discussion with WorkLab podcast host Molly Wood, Microsoft's chief scientist shared key insights informed by her decades of research into productivity and collaboration. They also talk about how conversations will become increasingly important as we level up our AI skills, and how leaders can challenge themselves and their teams to think more creatively about tapping the full potential of the technology. WorkLab  Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter 

"The biggest advice I have for CEOs is to ask, what are you trying to solve? What's your strategy? What's your business problem? And then we can think about how AI can support that." That's the message of Delphine Zurkiya, a senior partner at the strategy and management consulting firm McKinsey & Company who works with clients while also leading her division's AI initiatives. In this episode, we discuss AI adoption, reskilling teams for this new era of work, and the value of being completely transparent about when and how you use AI.     WorkLab  Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft

"With artificial intelligence and data at our fingertips, we now have the tools to address the world's most pressing problems. We no longer have excuses." That's the message of Juan Lavista Ferres, a Microsoft corporate vice president and the chief data scientist of the company's AI for Good Lab. He joined us to share key insights about the lab's work and highlight what business leaders can learn from Microsoft's efforts to harness technology to make the world a better place.  WorkLab  Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  Microsoft Podcasts – Stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft

"If you want to really understand artificial intelligence, a good starting point is to get better at understanding human intelligence," says Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. He's a professor of business psychology, Chief Talent Scientist at Manpower Group, and author of several books on talent, leadership, and technology. He joins host Molly Wood to discuss how AI can help unlock greater performance, from improving recruiting and decision making to freeing up more time to apply our unique human skills.  WorkLab  Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  Click here to stay connected, informed, and entertained with original podcasts from Microsoft

"My purpose is helping people do their best work by being the best version of themselves," says Timm Chiusano, a creative executive turned TikTok superstar. He's garnered more than a million followers with content sharing his insights about leadership, productivity, and creativity. He joins us to discuss the joys of managing, the value of authenticity, leadership strategies for incorporating technology into the workplace, and the value of being mindful and present in your work and personal lives. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

What does it take to transform your business from the ground up for the AI era? There's no better person to ask than Kate Johnson, President and CEO of the telecommunications company Lumen. In this episode of the WorkLab podcast, she talks about how AI is helping the company stay agile in the ever-shifting telecom industry. We also delve into the importance of changing company culture in tandem with its technology, and how she has prepared her teams for this new era of work. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

AI is transforming every aspect of organizations, from structure to culture. How can smart leaders harness its full potential to enhance productivity and get more out of collaboration? How can they ensure that it's functioning as a vital member of their team? How can they leverage its ability to add value, spot new opportunities, and help build out entirely new business models? In the upcoming season of the WorkLab podcast from Microsoft, we'll be exploring all of these questions. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter

Imagine a world where we each have our own personal tutor who knows exactly when we need more challenge, support, or motivation. Sal Khan believes AI can be that tutor. He's the founder of the online education nonprofit Khan Academy and the author of several books on education technology, and he's here to talk about how smart companies can leverage AI to make the skilling process more responsive, more personalized, more accessible, and more effective. We also delve into Khan Academy's experience crafting its own AI teaching tool.  WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  Khan Academy Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at news.microsoft.com/podcasts. 

Charles Lamanna is the Corporate Vice President of Business Apps and Platforms at Microsoft. In this episode, he explores how newly announced Microsoft Copilot capabilities help business leaders do more than boost their personal productivity using AI. They can reinvent their teams and even their entire business. Lamanna also shares how low- and no-code tools are democratizing AI by allowing anyone, not just software developers, to turn their great ideas into products. WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  

Michael Platt literally wrote the book on the neuroscience of leadership, and he's on this episode of the WorkLab podcast to explain how AI is transforming our understanding of the brain, as well as the way we work. Platt is the Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and a Professor of Marketing, Neuroscience, and Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. His research explores how our minds work in relation to communication, decision making, group intelligence, and team building. WorkLab  Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at news.microsoft.com/podcasts.

How is Accenture, the professional services company with more than 730,000 employees across the world, transforming its enterprise using AI? And how is it recommending its clients do the same? In this episode, we go behind the scenes with CEO Julie Sweet to learn how. She also shares why the firm is investing $3 billion into AI, concrete use cases from Accenture clients, and tips for leaders on hiring and recruiting.   WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at news.microsoft.com/podcasts.

Peter Lee, President of Microsoft Research, explains how AI is transforming every aspect of the medical industry, from research to diagnosis to how doctors communicate information. He also helps listeners grasp how what he's seeing in medicine is happening across all industries: ultimately creating systems that are less siloed and less confusing, more thorough, more efficient, more secure—and even more empathetic.  WorkLab  Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at news.microsoft.com/podcasts. 

Do you think AI will reduce the need for managers? Think again. As work becomes more efficient, the need for empathetic human oversight will increase, says Bryan Hancock, global leader of McKinsey's talent management practice. He explains why managers will play a critical role in building AI-powered organizations and ensuring that they thrive. In this episode, he shares why leaders must invest in their managers, and let those managers invest the time that AI saves them into better supporting their teams.  WorkLab  Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter 

The best leaders have a framework for stepping confidently into the unknown. This includes creating an AI-powered organization, a challenge that has many up at bat. In this episode, Dr. Britt Aylor, Director of Leadership Development at Microsoft, gives us a crash course in the adaptive leadership framework. In the WorkLab podcast from Microsoft, host Molly Wood talks with executives, educators, technologists, and researchers to get the actionable insights you need to future-proof your organization.  WorkLab Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter 

Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter, author, and productivity expert. He joins us on the WorkLab podcast to share insights on how to form good habits for the AI era, along with the secrets behind "supercommunicators" who have next-level conversation skills. His key insight: the ability to clearly articulate what you want is vitally important to how you interact with other people as well as AI, and it can even help you get clarity on how to best tackle challenges and seize opportunities.  WorkLab  Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter 

The year 2024 will be remembered as the moment when AI-powered organizations shifted into overdrive. How should leaders reinvent their processes for this new era? What's the best way for organizations to use the time that AI saves their teams? Join host Molly Wood for the new season of the WorkLab podcast, which explores the hard data, real-world lessons, and actionable insights you need to future-proof your organization. New episodes available February 28.  WorkLab  Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at news.microsoft.com/podcasts.

Nir Eyal is an entrepreneur and author of the bestselling book Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. He's harnessed that expertise to develop simple guidelines on how we can tune out distractions. In this episode of WorkLab, he shares his insights on how to maintain focus. Eyal is the last guest for season 5 of the WorkLab podcast, in which host Molly Wood has conversations with economists, technologists, and researchers who explore the data and insights into why and how work is changing.  WorkLab  Subscribe to the WorkLab newsletter  Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at news.microsoft.com/podcasts

Erica Keswin, a business strategist who's worked with the world's most influential brands, defines what a human workplace is, and how leaders can achieve it in the age of generative AI. She also talks about her newest book, The Retention Revolution. Keswin is the latest guest on Microsoft's WorkLab podcast, in which host Molly Wood explores the data and insights about the work trends you need to know today—from how to use AI effectively to what it takes to thrive in our new world of work. WorkLab Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at aka.ms/microsoft/podcasts Follow the Intrazone at aka.ms/TheIntrazone.

Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientific Officer at Microsoft, explains how generative AI has the power to supercharge human potential and why business leaders should see it as the world's best "ideas processor." Horvitz is the latest guest on Microsoft's WorkLab podcast, in which host Molly Wood explores the data and insights about the work trends you need to know today—from how to use AI effectively to what it takes to thrive in our new world of work.  WorkLab: Hard Data, Compelling Stories, Vital Insights

Dentsu Creative, one of the world's largest global creative agencies, is a part of the Microsoft Copilot Early Access Program. Global Head of Technology James Thomas shares how integrating Copilot is transforming workflows and enhancing creativity for his teams. Thomas is the latest guest on Microsoft's WorkLab podcast, where host Molly Wood explores the data and insights about the work trends you need to know today—from how to use AI effectively to what it takes to thrive in our new world of work.  WorkLab  Dentsu Creative

Aneesh Raman, a vice president at LinkedIn, explains how generative AI is changing work and expanding opportunities for people without standard career paths and educational backgrounds. Raman is the fourth guest for season 5 of Microsoft's WorkLab podcast, in which host Molly Wood has conversations with economists, technologists, and researchers who explore the data and insights about the work trends you need to know today—from how to use AI effectively to what it takes to thrive in a digital age.  WorkLab  Molly Wood Aneesh Raman