In this solo episode of The Edge of Work, host Al Dea explores how leadership development can evolve in the age of Artificial Intelligence. Drawing from his keynote presentations and conversations with talent and business leaders, Al shares now is the time to reimagine how we think about leadership development in a rapidly changing world of work. During this episode, Al offers 4 principles for how leadership development professionals can think and working differently to reshape and take advantage of opportunities in this new world of work.

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/
• Website: https://www.al-dea.com/

In this month’s “Work in Progress” segment, Al Dea is joined by Steve Hunt and Phil Kirschner to unpack three timely topics related to the intersection of talent and the workplace: Moderna’s decision to merge HR and IT, an experiment AI + teamwork experiment from P&G, and whether AI is wiping out the first rung of the career ladder. Together, they explore the implications of AI on job design, team dynamics, early career talent, and the future of work,and what leaders can do to prepare.

Links:

• Steve’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steventhunt/
• Steve’s Book: https://talenttectonics.com/
• Phil’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philkirschner/
• Phil’s Newsletter: https://www.flexos.work/the-workline

Articles Mentioned

• Moderna: IT and HR: https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-moderna-merged-its-tech-and-hr-departments-95318c2a?st=YTw4p4&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
• P&G and Teams: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5188231
• Aneesh Raman NY Times Op Ed: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/opinion/linkedin-ai-entry-level-jobs.html

Ruth Hickin is the Vice President of Workforce Innovation at Salesforce. In this episode, Ruth unpacks her team's efforts around digital labor, and shares how her team is preparing Salesforce’s workforce for the age of AI by investing in internal talent through skilling, career mobility, and human-centered design. During our conversation, Ruth provides the philosophy behind Career Connect, an AI-powered internal talent marketplace, and how it’s enabling employees to explore personalized career paths, skill development, and internal opportunities.

Finally, Ruth also shares Salesforce’s approach to job redesign, skill-based management, and the rise of agent collaboration in day-to-day roles.

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-hickin/
• Article: https://www.hr-brew.com/stories/2025/03/28/hr-leaders-prioritize-l-and-d
• Article: https://www.hr-brew.com/stories/2024/09/04/salesforce-ai-internal-talent-platform