The Josh Bersin Company

Preview of my big HR Tech keynote! This week I give you in-depth perspectives on the massive AI tech bubble, the massive revolution in talent acquisition systems, and what to expect from M&A in the future. We’re in a whole new world of HR Technology and vendors are scrambling to buy, build, or invest to keep up. I’ll be keynoting many events this Fall to discuss all these issues. Key Discussion Topics Tech and AI investment in 2025 is almost 2.5% of US GDP: is it sustainable? Talent acquisition and recruiting are bigger than ever, and it’s not just an HR function Candidate volumes (driven by AI) are forcing everyone to buy more tech AI is transforming every step of the hiring process, from job descriptions to assessments. Companies need to be cautious about AI with the big Workday Mobley lawsuit to be settled. Mergers and acquisitions in HR tech can lead to operational challenges and integration issues. Additional Information The Revolution in Talent Acquisition: New Research Join our AI Excellence Study Get Galileo: The World’s AI Assistant and Skills Academy for HR  

This week I summarize some massive news about the job market, job creation, and OpenAI’s move to enter the world of AI skills development and talent matching. Please read the detailed article for more details. In addition to diving into these topics, I also tell you my story of “learning agents” and why self-development and AI-powered learning is going to revolutionize your job, your HR team, and your company. It’s all connected: AI, job creation, self-development, and your career. I really want to encourage to you to get Galileo so you can experience this transformation in your career. Galileo is now the premier self-development and AI agent for HR, consultants, and L&D professionals, and we can show you how to propel your company forward into this new world of reinvented jobs, work, and companies. I hope to see many of you in the coming conferences around the world this Fall. Additional Information OpenAI Gets Into Job Placement While The Job Market Crashes Get Galileo, The AI Agent for Professional Development And Growth in All Areas of HR      

This week I’m excited to share my interview with Taylor Stockton, Chief Innovation Officer for the US Department of Labor. You will learn about the American AI Action Plan and the detailed America’s Talent Strategy: Building the Workforce for the Golden Age, two strategy documents which describe how the Federal Government is investing in AI technology, workforce readiness, apprenticeships, and new models for education and accreditation. While we used to think of the DOL as the agency that advocates for labor. Today they’re taking a forward-leaning role to reshape the economy through workforce education, development, and research in our new AI-powered business environment. Taylor is keenly aware of the issues employers and workers face, so I know you’ll find this conversation educational and inspiring. There’s a lot to do, but as you’ll hear the DOL is quite focused on the right issues. Additional Information Understanding America’s AI Action Plan Why AI Harm To Jobs and Humanity are Vastly Over-Hyped Read “America’s Talent Strategy” (pdf)

US Labor Day is always a time to celebrate workers. Well this year, unlike years before, the entire labor market is changed. Not only are many front-line workers in high demand, white-collar workers are experiencing a hiring slowdown and automation is impacting everyone. And for the first time in my career, the BLS expects very little job growth in the coming decade. As I discuss in this week’s podcast, it’s time to take a step back and understand that everything we thought we knew about the labor market has changed, and this change is going to accelerate. Listen in and you’ll see the big picture: how shortages will continue, how productivity will grow, and how new ideas like talent density and the Superworker and Supermanager will redefine our companies. And I also describe your new keys to career success. I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend, we’re in for exciting times ahead. Additional Reading US Job Market To Growth Rate To Drop By 75% In Next Decade (BLS) UK Birth Rate Falls to Record Low The Rise of The Superworker: AI Makes Employees are More Important Than Ever    

In this podcast Kathi Enderes interviews Joe Freed, Chief Product officer at Perceptyx, explains the company’s strategy to extend its employee engagement platform to provide nudges, manager tools, and in-depth analysis of employee needs. While the employee survey is not dead yet, you’ll see where things are going. Perceptyx is a well-known survey and analytics company, known for its highly customizable employee engagement tools. Joe explains how Perceptyx’s acquisition of Humu, Waggl, and Cultivate brought advanced AI and nudge technology to the company, and explains a vision of high-powered employee engagement tools for the future. Additional Information Employee Engagement and Happiness Crisis. What Should We Do? Perceptyx Acquires Cultivate Workday Throws Down The Gauntlet On Employee Engagement: Acquisition of Peakon  

The AI market boom took a pause last week when GPT-5 and some new research from MIT appeared. As you’ll hear, the expectations for AI are extraordinarily high and that causes a lot of bubble effects. Today I explain this bubble and where it’s going. I also discuss our latest experiences with AI transformation in business, and why “task automation” is not really the big opportunity ahead. You’ll see that the Superworker effect changes organization design, jobs, and reward systems. Lots of opportunities for productivity ahead. Galileo, the world’s AI agent for HR, is now the Power Tool you need to stay head. Global research, professional development, data, vendor analysis, and hundreds of HR and management tools, all in one AI platform. Get Galileo now. Additional Information The MIT Report And Why It’s Misleading: AI Definitely Pays Off From 2017: Why Superintelligence Is A Myth Workday to Acquire Paradox. A Bigger Deal Than You Think. Get Galileo, The World’s AI Assistant for HR    

This week I discuss Workday’s acquisition of Paradox, the pioneer in AI-powered conversational recruiting. As I describe in detail, this is a big deal – and it goes beyond Workday’s ability to now offer high-volume, conversational recruitment. Talent Acquisition itself is about to radically change with AI, and this moves Workday into a leading position in what we call “The Revolution in Talent Acquisition.” (Report coming out in October.) I also discuss the latest trends in AI transformation in general, and what we’ve now learned about HR job redesign and how AI really is changing the fundamentals of HR operating models (automating Systemic HR) and job design. For access to all our research, analysis, professional development, and tools, get Galileo, the world’s AI assistant for HR. Additional Information Will Chatbots Take Over HR Tech? Paradox Sets The Pace. The Systemic HR Operating Model: How AI Transforms The Function Learn about AI in HR: Join The Josh Bersin Academy (Galileo Learn)  

The new battle for AI supremacy is now moving to the application development space, or IDE (Integrated Development Environments). These companies, like Cursor, Windsurf, Github Copilot, Replit, Google AI Studio, and Microsoft Power tools, are exploding with growth. Why? Because in the world of AI, we’re all application developers! (Listen to “We’re All Software Engineers Now” for more.) Well, as I explain in this market, the big players like Workday now want to be your development environment. In this podcast I explain this space and some history of IDE’s in the client/server era. (It more or less predicts where this is going.) Listen in and you’ll understand why billions of VC dollars are suddenly going into dev tools for AI, why you’ll be using one of these soon, and how Workday and others will respond. I also briefly explain how Galileo plays in this space. We’re coming up on HR Tech season so come see us at HR Technology Conference in Vegas (September), Unleash (October), and SAP Connect. More to Read Workday Flowise Acquisition Windsurf vs Copilot vs Cursor (a little geeky) Galileo Venus Release (Video: Galileo for Managers, Task Library Tools, Learning Integration) What Is Vibe Coding Anyway? 1994: Sybase Acquires Powersoft (how history repeats itself!) (NYT Download)      

In this podcast I interview Eric Mosley, the Founder and CEO of Workhuman, a $Billion dollar company that pioneered the market for employee recognition. Today Workhuman has more than 7.7 million users and is widely used by many of the largest companies in the world. What does Workhuman do? Well they help you build a corporate wide program for employee recognition and feedback that creates one of the most important positive engagement drivers one can find. Employees who feel appreciated and recognized are 4X more likely to be highly engaged and 4X more likely to see a growth path in their companies. Our research found that companies with a high recognition culture have a 70% lower voluntary turnover rate. And there’s much more: the information from recognition (Workhuman calls it “Human Intelligence”) gives you valuable information on skills, strengths, culture, and organizational health you can find. This is a story about entrepreneurship, culture, and the importance of human centered leadership, something that’s refreshing in a world where everyone always wants to talk about AI! Additional Information Our Recognition Research, explaining the power of appreciation and thanks. U.S. Employee Engagement Sinks to 10-Year Low (Gallup) Why Are Managers So Miserable at Work?  

This week I have an update on the “real world” of AI transformation, based on some important conversations I’ve had (and these folks will join the podcast soon.) First, I talked with the Department of Labor and also reviewed new research from Goldman Sachs and we do find that “AI is not wiping out jobs.” As you’ll hear, there is a slowdown in hiring, but actually AI is “creating new work,” despite Dario Amodei’s predictions that white collar jobs are going away. (I don’t know about you, but I rarely wear my white collar shirts any more, so he may be correct on the shirt front.) Second, listen to the discussion about software automation, Thomas Dohmke, who was interviewed on The Verge. That convo was fascinating: despite AI’s ability to write code, engineers will just write more code.  Listen to my explanation in the podcast. Third, I had a wonderful conversation with Jacqui Canney, the CHRO and AI Enablement Officer at ServiceNow. As you’ll hear, Jacqui’s team at ServiceNow has published their AI Playbook and AI Maturity Model which I encourage you to read. She described their governance model, use case approach, and more – and further convinced me that AI transformation is a people problem, not a tech problem. And one more thing: for those of you who think AI “destroys” or “disrupts” your company, I put together a ten minute video on our own AI journey and how AI amplifies and scales what we do, essentially creating a company of Superworkers. We are proving the Superworker company model right here. Additional Resources Get Galileo: Agent and Learn Bundle Goldman Exchange podcast on labor market The Verge interview with Thomas Dohmke from GitHub The Rise of the Superworker: Four Stages of AI in the Workforce The Josh Bersin Company’s AI Transformation