Visionary leadership and AI: Shaping tomorrow’s workforce at the Milken Institute Global Conference

When you consider the future of work, does it spark excitement or anxiety? You wouldn’t be alone if you admitted to both. As I reflect on my recent participation at the Milken Institute Global Conference, I’m thinking a lot about the dual-challenges of technological advancement — and the very real pressure on business leaders to guide their organizations smoothly through what will undoubtedly be an extremely volatile environment over the next few years. 

AI brings with it a host of challenges and opportunities, and the Milken Institute Global Conference turned out to be an ideal environment for exploring its impact. I was able to hear from and speak to thinkers and practitioners from a diverse cross section of industries, perspectives, and geographies, and I wanted to share my learnings.

Reflections on major themes at the conference

The focus of this year's conference was “Shaping a Shared Future,” which meant the focus was not merely about adapting to change but thriving through inclusive growth.

Here’s my round up of the themes I noticed:

1. Integration of AI and skills development: At the heart of many discussions was AI's profound impact on work and the workforce. The consensus was clear: AI is not just a tool for enhancing efficiency but a catalyst for redefining work and creating new possibilities for organizations, simultaneously rendering some skills obsolete, raising premiums on others, and redefining how other skills are applied. As we delve deeper into the AI era, the concept of skills as the currency of work has never been more relevant.

2. Trust and transparency in AI deployment: Trust is the cornerstone of any significant technological adoption. This theme echoed strongly as we discussed the foundations of effective AI, such as the need for clean, reliable, and holistic data and models that are fit for purpose. It’s crucial that as we advance, we maintain rigorous standards to foster trust, especially in AI’s applications.  

3. From productivity to capacity for growth: Another significant shift discussed was AI’s evolution from use cases focused on driving productivity to creating new business models and capacity for growth. Those of you who have followed my work will know that this aligns strongly with my perspectives on work design which requires a clear understanding of where AI and other technologies can substitute versus augment versus transform human work. Such strategic reshaping will not only optimize operations but also open new avenues for innovation.  

4. Diversity as a driver of innovation: With leaders from varied sectors like business, finance, government and NGOs converging, the discussions at Milken highlighted how inclusive strategies are not just ethical imperatives but also business imperatives. The conference itself was a testament to this, with a mosaic of global voices and perspectives.

5. Sustainable and inclusive growth: Lastly, we saw acknowledgment that future growth must be sustainable and less resource intensive. Questions were raised not just about growing faster and more efficiently but also more responsibly, ensuring that our advances today do not compromise tomorrow's opportunities.

Visions for the Future: Leaders Shaping Tomorrow’s Workforce

I was delighted to take part in a panel discussion, hosted by Maneet Ahuja from Forbes Media, focusing on Visions for the Future: Leaders Shaping Tomorrow’s Workforce. We delved into critical aspects of building a resilient workforce amid rapid technological changes — including the necessity of developing adaptable skills that enable learning, unlearning, and relearning in the era of generative AI and beyond.

Our discussion emphasized the democratization of access to education and work. Initiatives like Grow with Google and OneTen, which my fellow panelists Lisa Cohen Gevelber and Debbie Dyson highlighted during our session, are prime examples of efforts to level the playing field. These programs are not just creating pathways to high-paying jobs and career advancements for those without traditional qualifications but are crucial to addressing the growing skills gap and fostering inclusivity. Jason Buechel of Whole Foods Market and Igor Tulchinsky of WorldQuant also highlighted important themes around the evolving role of leaders and the need to continuously adapt work processes to emerging automation, which is important for operational efficiency but also the overall work experience.

On the topic of leveraging technology for workforce development, I was excited to share insights on how some of the companies I work with are using AI and machine learning to redesign work and tailor learning experiences, enhancing the ability of workers to continuously upskill and reskill and helping leaders transform traditional work systems to better align with the emerging demands of a more machine-augmented operating model. For example, I shared how a large insurance company we collaborated with saw a 600% increase in the productivity of its data scientists as a result of the redesign of their work, enabling them to flow to opportunities as they emerged.  

Thoughtful conversations and takeaways

I was also fortunate to participate in other conversations at the conference, such as with Paul Irving, Sr. Advisor with the Milken Institute and an authority on longevity in the workforce, who stressed the importance of evaluating employees based on actual performance and capability rather than age, saying: "Biology is what counts, not chronology. So, what we must do is to figure out new ways – not just to train – but to evaluate employees based on actual performance and capability, not based on generation.”  

Another fascinating conversation was with Madame Nardos Bekele-Thomas, CEO of the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD. "In 2051, one out of four people in the population of the world will be an African,” she noted. Yet, “in Africa, there is a shortage of skills with all the technological advancements that are taking place.” Madame Nardos is spearheading efforts to engage the private sector in developing innovation labs and accelerator programs to equip the African workforce for the future.

A vision for future workforce strategies

For me, many of the insights at conference discussions and in sideline conversations strongly reaffirmed the themes explored in the recent MIT guide created in collaboration with Mercer.

That guide notes: "As new technologies and changing demographics disrupt organizations across the globe, finding a way to fill skills gaps has become increasingly urgent. But driving change at a large organization can become an exercise in frustration unless companies create and follow a solid plan."

Adapting to an AI-enabled world that is increasingly more volatile will require us to bend the demand and supply curves of work differently. Accomplishing the former will mean redesigning work to enable talent to flow to it as seamlessly as possible while ensuring the provision of assets and space to ensure its perpetual reinvention, even as we decouple growth from resource intensity. On the other hand, addressing the latter challenge will mean re-envisioning the human experience of work to meet all talent where they are and, on their terms, creating a more equitable, inclusive, and accountable culture.