The Coursera Podcast

Preparing young people for the future of work takes more than access to technology. They also need relevant skills, exposure to different career paths, and opportunities to apply what they learn.In this episode of The Coursera Podcast, Luis Fernando Ramírez, Minister of Education and Sciences of Paraguay, joins André Almeida, Vice President of Sales for Latin America at Coursera and Udemy, to discuss Jóvenes Conectados, a national initiative that brings together government, educators, employers, telecommunications companies, and Coursera to create new pathways for young people.Minister Ramírez shares what Paraguay has learned as the program has grown, including the strong demand for communication and other human skills and the value of letting students learn at their own pace. He also discusses how public-private partnerships can expand access, how digital learning can help education systems respond more quickly to changing workforce needs, and why confidence and a sense of purpose matter alongside job-ready skills.This interview is conducted in Spanish, with an English introduction and conclusion from Coursera’s Anthony Salcito.We also cover:🧠 Why critical thinking is becoming more important for young people🤝 How public-private partnerships helped Paraguay move faster🎓 What students’ choices reveal about how they want to learn💼 Why digital learning works best alongside real-world experience📱 How telecommunications partners are helping expand access📊 How learning data can help education systems adapt more quickly🌱 Why confidence and purpose are important measures of impactIf you’re interested in how governments, education systems, and organizations are using online learning to expand access to job-relevant skills, explore learning programs and resources on Coursera.org.

AI is moving routine work closer to the front lines of organizations, which means companies have to rethink who makes decisions, how teams are structured, and what people need to learn.In this episode of The Coursera Podcast, Arunav Sinha speaks with Nitin Mathur, a global marketing and digital transformation leader, about the organizational impact of AI. Nitin explains why leaders often see AI as a productivity tool when it is also changing where decision-making happens across a company.They discuss why many AI pilots never move beyond experimentation, how companies can redesign roles and workflows, and why judgment may become more valuable than knowledge of any particular tool. Nitin also shares his perspective on deciding what to develop internally versus what to hire for, and how marketing teams can balance fast, AI-enabled work with the slower work of strategy, brand building, and creative judgment.We also cover:🧠 Why AI is changing where decisions get made⚙️ What makes it difficult to scale AI across an organization🪜 Why companies may need to hire for judgment and develop technical skills🏢 How marketing teams can rethink their operating models💬 How brands can stay distinctive when everyone has access to similar tools🛡️ Why trust, customer insight, and human judgment still matter+++If you’re interested in building skills in AI, marketing, leadership, or digital transformation, you can explore courses, Professional Certificates, and learning programs on Coursera.org.

In this episode of The Coursera Podcast, Arunav Sinha and Trena Minudri speak with Ronda Moore, Chief Talent & Inclusion Officer at Aptiv, about how the company is preparing its workforce as AI, automation, and new technologies change the way people work.Ronda shares how Aptiv has made learning part of the employee experience, from protected learning time and personalized pathways to clearer opportunities for career growth. She also explains how the Enhanced Aptiv Academy, powered by Coursera, supports more than 23,000 employees and how Aptiv looks beyond course completions to outcomes like engagement, retention, and internal mobility.The conversation also explores how Aptiv decides which skills matter most as technology changes, how AI fits into its talent strategy, and why human skills still matter.We also cover:🏎️ How AI is changing the skills employees need🪜 How Aptiv connects learning to career growth and mobility🌎 Why access to learning matters across a global workforce🧠 Why human skills still matter in the AI era📊 How Aptiv measures whether learning is actually working+++If you’re interested in how organizations are building future-ready skills and creating meaningful career pathways, you can explore learning programs and resources on Coursera.org.

In this episode of The Coursera Podcast, Anthony Salcito speaks with Radha Chauhan, Chairperson of India’s Capacity Building Commission, about Mission Karmayogi and the challenge of preparing civil servants for changing roles, new technology, and rising expectations from citizens.Mrs. Chauhan explains India’s shift from rule-based training to role-based learning, how the iGOT Karmayogi platform is serving more than 16 million learners, and what Sādhana Saptah revealed about the appetite for learning across government.The conversation also looks at AI and digital skills, personalized learning, and how Mission Karmayogi is thinking about credentials, performance, and better public service.We also cover:🧭 What role-based learning means in practice📱 How iGOT Karmayogi supports learners across government🔥 What India learned from Sādhana Saptah🧠 Why AI adoption depends on more than technical skills🏁 How learning can connect to performance and citizen outcomes+++If you’re interested in how governments and organizations are building skills at scale, you can explore learning programs and resources on Coursera.org.

Bausch + Lomb is bringing AI into the daily rhythms of a 170-year-old global eye health company, from how employees learn new skills to how teams rethink routine work.In this episode of The Coursera Podcast, Anthony Salcito sits down with Devang Modi, COO and Chief AI Officer at Bausch + Lomb, about the company's approach to building AI fluency across its workforce.Devang shares how the Bausch + Lomb AI Academy, launched in partnership with Coursera, is helping roughly 8,000 knowledge workers build foundational AI skills. The program is mandatory, tied to performance, and designed to move employees from basic awareness to everyday application.The conversation gets practical fast: what Bausch + Lomb learned from early Copilot usage, how employees improved the quality of their prompts, why practice matters, and how teams are finding use cases in reporting, research, content development, reconciliation, and other work that can eat up valuable time.Devang also explains why scaling AI is as much a change-management challenge as a technology challenge. He discusses the role of leadership, governance, verification, human judgment, and employee-led sharing in building the trust needed to use AI responsibly at scale.We also cover:🧠 Why AI fluency depends on repetition, role-specific examples, and real work🏢 How Bausch + Lomb is embedding AI into a company with 170 years of history📈 What the company is learning from 300+ employee-shared AI use cases and 40,000+ hours saved🛡️ How guardrails, verification, and human judgment help teams move faster without losing control🚀 Why the next leap is redesigning workflows around AI instead of layering AI onto existing tasks+++If you'd like to explore AI and digital transformation learning programs that help teams build practical AI skills, you can find them on Coursera.org.

Artificial intelligence is moving quickly. Inside most organizations, the conversation has already moved beyond access. The challenge now is how to use these tools well—consistently, thoughtfully, and at scale.In this episode of The Coursera Podcast, Arunav Sinha and Marni Baker Stein sit down with Rasesh Shah, Chief Practice Officer at Fractal Analytics, to talk about what it actually takes to build that kind of capability.Rasesh shares how Fractal approaches learning through real business problems, why multidisciplinary teams often struggle to connect the dots, and how their 3C framework (Context, Connections, and Creativity) helps teams move from analysis to action.The conversation also gets into what leaders are wrestling with right now: how to move beyond pilots, how to measure impact, and how to turn AI momentum into something that actually improves performance.We also cover:🧠 Where teams tend to get stuck when working with AI🔗 Why connecting business, engineering, and data is harder than it looks📊 The questions leaders keep coming back to on GenAI🚀 What separates experimentation from real progress🌍 How AI is changing the way learning is delivered and supported+++If you’d like to explore AI and data science programs from Fractal, including Generative AI for Business – A Leaders’ Handbook, you can find them on Coursera.org.

One of the biggest life transitions that service members face is moving on to their next career.In this episode of The Coursera Podcast, Arunav Sinha and Anthony Salcito speak with Danielle Haro, Director of Transition Programs at the USO, about how personalized support, community, and skills-based learning help service members and military spouses navigate what comes next.Danielle shares how the USO creates individualized action plans, helps learners overcome impostor syndrome, and leverages online learning to expand access to in-demand skills, from cybersecurity to AI literacy. Drawing on her experience as a military spouse, she reframes “readiness” as continuous growth rather than a one-time milestone.We also cover:🎖️ The biggest challenges of military-to-civilian transitions 🧭 How personalized action plans cut through overwhelm 🧠 Why adaptability and AI literacy matter for every role 📈 How online learning builds confidence and momentum 🤝 The role of community and mentorship in career change+++If you’d like to explore new skills, discover a career pathway, or just take the next step in your own learning journey, you can find thousands of courses and professional certificates on Coursera.org.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Shonda Gibson and Dr. Mary Liz Brooks to explore how the Texas A&M University System is preparing students for a rapidly changing job market. Across its 11 campuses, Texas A&M is embedding industry-aligned credentials into degree programs to bridge academic learning and workforce needs—at scale.Shonda, who leads academic transformation for the entire system, shares how a community-of-practice model has driven adoption from the ground up, allowing each campus to tailor implementation while staying aligned to a shared vision. Mary Liz brings the classroom perspective, highlighting how students are engaging with Coursera’s Career Academy to build confidence, gain real-world skills, and shape their professional identities—before graduation.This conversation offers a powerful look at what’s possible when system-level innovation meets faculty-led experimentation, and how higher education can support student success far beyond the classroom.We also cover:🎓 What “career readiness” means in the age of automation and AI🔧 How Texas A&M embedded Career Academy directly into curriculum📊 The impact of over 20,000 learning hours and 4,700+ course completions🌍 Strategies for equity and access across rural and urban campuses🧩 What public universities can do to rethink ROI and lifelong learning+++Explore Coursera Career Academy and learn how institutions are embedding real-world learning into their degree programs: coursera.org/campus

We sat down with Valerie Singer, General Manager of AWS Global Education, to talk about how organizations are preparing their workforces for the AI era.Drawing on insights from From Cloud to AI: How Tech Leaders Are Investing in Skills Development to Drive Transformation, a new global survey from Coursera and AWS, Valerie shares why cloud and cybersecurity remain foundational to AI transformation, how hands-on learning is shaping the next generation of tech talent, and why AI literacy matters for everyone—not just technical roles. She also highlights how AWS is partnering globally to close skills gaps and expand opportunity, from professional certificates with Coursera to programs serving underserved communities.Whether you’re a business leader, educator, or lifelong learner, this episode offers practical lessons on how to build resilient teams and unlock opportunity through skills.We also cover:⚡ Why cloud infrastructure is the bedrock for AI at scale🔧 How hands-on learning and customization are reshaping training🌱 AWS initiatives to bridge skills gaps in underserved communities🧩 Why AI literacy matters across both technical and non-technical roles✨ Lessons from global workforce development models driving equity and access+++Explore AWS Professional Certificates and Specializations on Coursera, from Generative AI Applications to Cloud Solutions Architecture, and start building the skills to power the future of work.

We sat down with Dr. Jerry Wind, Lauder Professor Emeritus and Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School, to explore what creativity means in an era where AI can generate art, ideas, and strategies in seconds.A pioneer in marketing science and strategic innovation, Jerry shares how human imagination, intuition, and courage remain at the heart of innovation—even as generative AI reshapes the way we create and learn. He introduces lessons from his new Coursera course, Creativity in Business and Other Disciplines, and companion book, Creativity in the Age of AI, offering a bold framework for rethinking how we approach creativity across industries and education.Whether you’re a business leader, educator, or lifelong learner, this episode highlights practical ways to unlock new ideas, embrace experimentation, and challenge the status quo.We also cover:🎨 The role of AI in amplifying (not replacing) human creativity🔬 Why adaptive experimentation is essential for leaders💡 Lessons on courage, persistence, and unlearning from innovators across fields📚 How education must evolve to foster imagination alongside skills+++Explore courses on creativity, innovation, and leadership at Coursera.org to build the skills you need to spark new ideas and thrive in a rapidly changing world.