Why AI Alone Won't Fix Health Care Staffing: Covista CEO Steve Beard

The US has no shortage of people who want careers in health care—or employers eager to hire them. Yet tens of thousands of qualified nursing and medical-school applicants are turned away each year, revealing a constrained pipeline with too few classroom seats, faculty members, and clinical placements to train the workforce the country needs. In this episode of C-Suite Perspectives, David Young, President of The CEO Center at The Conference Board, is joined by Steve Beard, Chairman and CEO of Covista, to examine why the health care workforce shortage begins long before employers try to fill open positions—and what it will take to build a larger, stronger, and more sustainable talent pipeline. Together, they discuss how educational institutions can expand access without sacrificing quality; how employer-educator partnerships can connect tuition assistance, clinical training, and employment; and why reducing administrative burdens is essential to retaining clinicians. They also explore how AI can personalize health care education and give clinicians more time with patients, the policy changes needed to increase training capacity and remove barriers to practice, and the leadership required to drive continuous change at scale.

Few industries have survived as many waves of disruption as music—from vinyl and MTV to streaming, AI, and now virtual artists. The performers who endure do more than react: they anticipate the next curve, reinvent without losing their identity, and keep experimenting before a crisis forces them to change.  In this episode of C-Suite Perspectives, Sara Murray, Managing Director, International at The Conference Board, is joined by Peter Corijn, Founder and CEO of VUCASTAR Consulting, Senior Fellow at The Conference Board, author, and recording artist under the name Paul Numi, to explore what business leaders can learn from the music industry about disruption and reinvention.  Together, they examine seven strategies for responding to a game changer; how artists including David Bowie, U2, Madonna, and Prince remained relevant; and why curiosity, resilience, diverse teams, and continuous experimentation underpin lasting success. They also discuss how leaders can innovate without abandoning their core identity, which capabilities organizations should develop before the next crisis, and whether generative AI can replicate the creativity and emotional experience that remain distinctly human.  More from The Conference Board:  Beyond AI Pilots: Building Future-Ready Companies  AI Is Transforming Organizations. How Will Yours Change?  C-Suite Outlook 2026: Uncertainty and Opportunity 

Health care systems face a widening capacity challenge: an aging population and rising rates of chronic illness are increasing demand for care, while persistent workforce shortages limit how many patients clinicians can serve. AI could help close that gap—not by replacing health care workers but by reducing administrative burdens, improving workflows, and enabling the existing workforce to deliver more and better care. In this episode of C-Suite Perspectives, Steve Odland, President and CEO of The Conference Board, is joined by Erka Amursi, Principal Researcher in the Human Capital Center at The Conference Board, to explore how AI can help health care organizations alleviate workforce shortages, increase productivity, and improve the delivery of care. Together, they discuss how AI is already supporting diagnosis, documentation, patient monitoring, and administrative work; why the greatest gains will come from redesigning workflows and operating models; and which new skills health care workers will need. They also examine the risks of overreliance, bias, privacy violations, and unclear accountability—and why effective governance should treat AI as a copilot for clinicians rather than an autopilot for patient care.

Leadership does not get easier—leaders get better at doing hard things. For Kristin Peck, navigating uncertainty requires discipline, a growth mindset, and the mental resilience to move forward without having all the answers. In this episode of C-Suite Perspectives, David Young, President of The CEO Center of The Conference Board, is joined by Kristin Peck, CEO of Zoetis, to explore how she leads the world's largest animal health company through rapid change. Together, they discuss how purpose and curiosity have shaped Peck's career, why culture is a competitive advantage, and how Zoetis uses innovation to address emerging needs in animal health. They also examine the connection between healthy animals, food security, and economic opportunity—and why empathy and "frustrated optimism" are essential qualities for today's business leaders. This episode is part of the Leadership in Challenging Times series from The CEO Center at The Conference Board. The series features discussions with the business leaders who are recipients of the Distinguished Leadership Awards.

The era of corporate climate pledges is giving way to the harder work of execution. As 2030 deadlines approach and AI drives demand for energy and infrastructure, companies are confronting difficult questions about which emissions they can control, what they can afford, and how their goals may need to evolve. In this episode of C-Suite Perspectives, Steve Odland, President and CEO of The Conference Board, is joined by Dr. Andrew Jones, Principal Researcher at the Governance & Sustainability Center of The Conference Board, to examine how companies set climate goals and the progress they are making across scope one, scope two, and scope three emissions. Together, they discuss why companies have made the greatest progress on emissions from purchased electricity, the financial and operational challenges putting climate commitments at risk, how AI is reshaping energy demand and corporate emissions—and why revising a target does not necessarily represent a retreat.

Reward is moving out of the HR back office and into the heart of business strategy. From improving frontline productivity to navigating AI and pay transparency, decisions about how employees are rewarded increasingly shape organizational performance, workforce trust, and a company's ability to compete.  In this episode of C-Suite Perspectives, Sara Murray, Managing Director, International at The Conference Board, is joined by John Beadle, Senior Research Fellow and Corporate Reward and Global Mobility Council Director at The Conference Board, to explore insights from the Future: Reward Europe 2026 event and what they reveal about the changing role of reward leaders.  They discuss why successful reward redesign begins with diagnosing the business problem, how global benefit standards are challenging traditional market-based approaches, and whether AI will make reward functions more effective or simply reduce head count. They also examine the unfinished work of EU pay transparency, differences between US and European compensation, the more disciplined use of ESG measures in incentive plans, and the emerging issues that should be on reward leaders' agendas for the year ahead.  More from The Conference Board:  What Employers Need to Know About EU's Pay Transparency Law  The New Reward Agenda: Strategy, AI, Transparency, and Trust  EU Workforce Regulation Outlook 2026: 5 CHRO Priorities  AI and the Workforce: Governing Risk, Opportunity, and Access 

A strong culture can help an organization navigate disruption—but the same beliefs and behaviors that drove success in the past can become barriers when the world changes. With AI accelerating uncertainty, how can leaders tell whether their culture is helping their organization adapt or holding it back? In this episode of C-Suite Perspectives, Steve Odland, President and CEO of The Conference Board, is joined by Erka Amursi, Principal Researcher in the Human Capital Center, to explore what makes an organizational culture strong, healthy, adaptable, and consistent, and how leaders can determine where their own culture needs work. They discuss a new four-dimension framework for understanding and measuring culture; why trust and psychological safety are especially important during periods of rapid change; and how leaders' actions, incentives, and communication shape the behaviors that take hold across an organization. They also examine how AI is challenging traditional approaches to change management and why transparency becomes even more important when leaders cannot offer employees certainty about what comes next

Could the Federal Reserve raise interest rates in September?   Yelena Shulyatyeva, Senior US Economist for The Conference Board, analyzes Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's latest remarks and discusses with Erik Lundh, Senior Global Economist for The Conference Board, why markets interpreted Warsh's message as increasingly hawkish. Shulyatyeva examines what Warsh revealed about the Fed's approach to inflation, why the speed of progress toward its 2% target matters, and what his comments suggest about the underlying strength of the economy and labor market.   The conversation also explores the market reaction to the speech, the economic data the Fed will consider before its September meeting, and why The Conference Board is not yet changing its forecast of no rate hikes this year.

FNB grew from a small bank into a major regional institution without abandoning the culture, communities, or risk discipline that helped make its expansion possible. In this episode of C-Suite Perspectives, David Young, President of The CEO Center at The Conference Board, speaks with Vincent Delie Jr., Chairman, President, and CEO of FNB Corporation and First National Bank, and a 2026 Distinguished Leadership Awards honoree, about the leadership decisions behind that transformation. Together, they explore how FNB has combined strategic growth with disciplined risk management; why decisiveness, collaboration, and a low-bureaucracy culture create competitive advantage; and how investments in AI, digital banking, and underserved communities are shaping the bank's next chapter. This episode is part of the Leadership in Challenging Times series from the CEO Center at The Conference Board. The series features discussions with the business leaders who are recipients of the Distinguished Leadership Awards.

Consumer confidence edged lower in August as expectations weakened, even as consumers' assessment of current conditions improved. Yelena Shulyatyeva, Senior US Economist, The Conference Board and Allen Li, Associate Economist, The Conference Board examine what the latest data reveal about jobs, inflation, and recession concerns.    They also preview Jackson Hole and discuss what Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's address could mean for interest rates, Treasury yields, and monetary policy.    For more from The Conference Board:  US Consumer Confidence  Forecast for the US Economy  Global Economic Outlook