Five Ideas for Leading with AI From Gloria Steinem's Living Room
A recent "talking circle" held in Gloria Steinem’s living room gathered top women leaders to distill five practical ideas for leading with AI. The discussion emphasized mapping employee AI readiness, creating safe peer‑learning environments, confronting workflow discomfort, protecting time for AI skill‑building, and anchoring AI to purpose rather than mere efficiency. It highlighted the critical role of change management and women’s perspectives in shaping humane AI adoption. The insights arrive as companies like Meta monitor employee work to train AI agents and firms grapple with benefit cuts and evolving talent strategies.
Why Erik Brynjolfsson Is a 'Mindful Optimist' About AI
Stanford economist Erik Brynjolfsson describes himself as a “mindful optimist” about AI, emphasizing that the technology’s impact hinges on human choices. He warns that AI now handles the execution phase of most projects, making the ability to ask the right...
Which Workers Are Most Worried About AI?
A recent MIT study likens AI progress to a rising tide, indicating steady, broad improvements rather than sudden breakthroughs. Anthropic’s research builds on this view, analyzing how workers perceive the encroaching capabilities of AI. By combining an AI‑derived exposure score—measuring...
How Canva Boosts Morale Amid a ‘Vibecession’
Canva has turned workplace culture into a strategic asset, hiring a dedicated "head of vibe" in 2016 and expanding the vibe team to 70 employees by 2023. The group curates everything from office aesthetics and cafeteria menus to recognition rituals...
What AI's Impact on Engineering Tells Us About Where Org Design Is Headed
AI tools are accelerating software development, leading to a surge in senior engineering job postings despite earlier predictions of engineer displacement. US developer openings have risen for six months, reaching three‑year highs, while entry‑level hiring has dropped 25% year‑over‑year. Companies...
Book Briefing: ‘Self Help From the Middle Ages’ by Peter Jones
Peter Jones’s new title, “Self Help from the Middle Ages,” reexamines centuries‑old moral and practical advice through a modern lens. The book curates excerpts from monastic rules, chivalric codes, and medieval philosophers, translating them into actionable guidance for today’s professionals....
How One Company Is Using Pay Raises to Drive AI Adoption
Omnisend, a marketing automation platform with about 250 staff, is tying annual salary increases to employees' use of artificial intelligence. Workers can earn an extra 2% to 4% raise based on how they integrate AI tools into their daily tasks....
The New Talent Imperative: How Leading Organizations Are Getting Serious About AI Skills
Leading firms are realizing that AI tool investments alone won’t deliver value without a skilled workforce. A new virtual event on May 21 will reveal original data on how organizations define, source, assess, and develop AI capabilities for non‑technical employees. The...
Leading in the Age of AI: When Management Becomes the Differentiator
The April 28 virtual workshop, "Leading in the Age of AI," examines how artificial intelligence reshapes managerial responsibilities. Featuring leaders from DoorDash, McKinsey, Mento, and Charter, the session highlights that AI fluency alone won’t drive results; managers must translate technology into...
Seven Ways to Tackle the Elder-Care Crisis at Work
The article outlines seven practical strategies for employers to address the growing elder‑care burden among employees. It highlights that most companies lack visibility into how many staff are caring for aging parents, unlike child‑care data that is readily captured. Expert...
CrossFit as a Case Study in Corporate Action on Social Issues
A new academic study examined how thousands of CrossFit franchisees responded after founder Greg Glassman’s controversial remarks following George Floyd’s murder. By linking franchise actions to census‑derived community metrics, researchers identified three drivers of "community salience": network closure, ethnic segregation,...
Using AI to Track the Trends that Matter to You
Jacob Clemente outlines how he built an AI workflow that pulls YouTube podcast transcripts, uses a large language model to summarize them, and emails daily briefs. He leveraged Claude for workflow design and Claude Code to generate a minimum‑viable product, with...
Why 'Good Enough' May Be Ruining Your Business
Marcus Buckingham’s new book argues that businesses waste resources chasing modest satisfaction scores and should instead engineer "extreme positive experiences" that spark genuine behavior change. He shows that moving a rating from four to five, not from one to two,...
Will You Have Warning Before AI Can Do Your Job?
MIT researchers debunk the "crashing waves" myth of sudden AI job displacement, showing that AI progress resembles a rising tide. By testing over 40 large language models on thousands of realistic text‑based tasks, they found performance gains are steady and...
Book Briefing: ‘Crisis Engineering’ by Marina Nitze, Matthew Weaver, and Mikey Dickerson
Crisis Engineering, co‑written by former Healthcare.gov lead Marina Nitze, former Google engineer Matthew Weaver, and ex‑U.S. Digital Service chief Mikey Dickerson, offers a playbook for turning organizational emergencies into lasting advantage. Drawing on high‑profile recoveries and private‑sector consulting, the book...
How to Move Beyond AI Adoption to AI Depth
Chief People Officer Danny Guillory at Gametime has moved beyond counting AI adopters to measuring how deeply employees embed AI in daily work. Nearly 100% of staff now run AI agents for routine tasks, and Guillory’s own workflow includes AI‑drafted...
Why Your Company Needs a ‘Chief Disruption Officer’ Now
The article argues that companies are endlessly adding niche C‑suite titles—chief e‑commerce, chief digital, chief AI—to signal commitment to the latest trend. While such roles can centralize critical capabilities, they often become reactionary labels rather than catalysts for deeper change....
Book Briefing: ‘Hidden Patterns’ by Clay Parker-Jones
Clay Parker‑Jones, Airbnb’s head of organizational design, argues that generic best‑practice playbooks crumble when transplanted across firms. In his new book *Hidden Patterns*, he catalogs 75 bite‑sized assumptions, habits and norms that shape how teams collaborate. The text is designed...
The Gift of a Canceled Meeting
A recent study by Rutgers Business School finds that when a scheduled meeting is cancelled, employees perceive the reclaimed hour as longer than unscheduled free time. The perception shift stems from altered expectations about constant busyness. Participants who learned their...
The Hidden Cost of AI Tool Bloat—And How Managers Can Reduce It
Companies are rapidly subscribing to multiple generative‑AI tools—often both Claude and ChatGPT plus niche applications for recruiting, learning, and video creation. Research from Boston Consulting Group shows productivity actually drops when workers juggle more than three AI tools, a...
Book Briefing: 'Open to Work' By Ryan Roslansky by Aneesh Raman
LinkedIn chief executive Ryan Roslansky and chief economic opportunity officer Aneesh Raman have released a new book, Open to Work, arguing that artificial intelligence’s effect on employment is not set in stone. The authors contend that fear of AI is...
10 Lessons on AI Transformation—And Leadership—From Top HR Leaders
Charter’s Transform conference in Las Vegas gathered 4,000 HR and tech leaders to dissect AI’s rapid infiltration of the workplace. Speakers highlighted that AI adoption is a team sport, requiring shared experimentation and clear focus on high‑impact domains. They urged...
Don’t Try to Change Your Habits. Change What You Build.
The author argues that trying to reshape personal habits often stalls productivity, so instead he builds tools that work with existing behaviors. He illustrates this by creating an email alias that captures a keyword, note, and link, automatically populating a...
From Listening to Leverage: Turning Employee Voice Into Business Advantage in the Age of Al
Employee listening initiatives are gaining momentum, with the 2026 State of Employee Listening Report by Perceptyx showing a 27% year‑over‑year increase in program adoption. The report highlights that 68% of leading firms now tie employee feedback directly to performance metrics,...
What Makes People Quit—And Why It Matters Now
Organizational psychologist Anthony Klotz, who coined the “Great Resignation,” explains that employee turnover remains driven by “jolts” – events that prompt workers to reassess their jobs. In his new book *Jolted*, he identifies six jolt categories, ranging from direct workplace...
Book Briefing: ‘Genius at Scale’ by Linda A. Hill, Emily Tedards, and Jason Wild
‘Genius at Scale’ argues that large firms achieve innovation by fostering collaborative, experimental cultures rather than relying on lone geniuses. The authors, Linda Hill, Emily Tedards, and Jason Wild, illustrate this through case studies at Mastercard, Delta Air Lines, Procter...
From Listening to Leverage: Turning Employee Voice Into Business Advantage in the Age of AI
The 2026 State of Employee Listening Report shows AI‑driven listening programs accelerating, with a 27 % rise in AI‑augmented platforms. Leaders must shift from merely analyzing feedback to enabling rapid action, governed by transparency and clear governance. Speed of insight‑to‑action and...
The Companies Making Their Offices More ‘Fiercely Human’ for the Age of AI
AT&T has launched an on‑site therapy benefit at 20 U.S. locations, offering confidential mental‑health sessions to both white‑collar and frontline employees. The program targets rising stress linked to AI disruption, political tension, and job‑security concerns, aiming to help staff manage...
How Classic Cars Can Build Bridges Between Workers and Executives
Hertz staged a classic‑car show at its South Florida headquarters, inviting employees from corporate and field offices to display vehicles, vote on categories, and learn about new models from manufacturers. The two‑hour event blended personal passion with product education, creating...
Building an Agent that Coaches You as a Leader
Zapier’s chief people and AI transformation officer Brandon Sammut built an AI‑driven accountability agent using Cursor and Zapier MCP. The agent scans his Slack, Google Docs, calendar and other work apps each week, then produces a concise report comparing actual...
Download - Charter Leading with AI Summit 2026
Charter’s Leading with AI Summit 2026 convened executives, economists, and researchers in New York and San Francisco to address the "messy middle" of AI adoption—where isolated productivity gains have not translated into enterprise-wide transformation. Attendees exchanged lessons from two years of pilot...
The Gender Gap Hiding in Your Incentive Structure
The article reveals that many corporate incentive structures prioritize sheer output volume, unintentionally widening the gender pay gap. It explains the quantity‑quality tradeoff, where workers forced to increase production often sacrifice quality, a dynamic that disproportionately penalizes women whose contributions...
Why ‘Builder’ Is the Job Title of the Moment
AI coding assistants are reshaping software development, prompting a shift from traditional engineering roles to a hybrid “builder” function. Engineers now spend most of their time prompting AI and reviewing its output, while product managers need deeper technical fluency. Companies...
How Pro Bono Work Can Help Develop Human Skills
Employers are prioritizing human skills such as critical thinking, empathy, and judgment as AI automates routine tasks. Companies are pairing soft‑skill training with AI education, embedding learning in workflows, and using AI coaches for scenario practice. An emerging strategy is...
2026 New Employer Brand Summit
Charter announced the 2026 New Employer Brand Summit, scheduled for June 9, 2026. The event will bring together senior leaders, researchers, and HR practitioners to explore how companies can strengthen employer brands amid rapid change. Sessions will cover culture stewardship, trust‑building case...
Measuring AI's Real Impact on Work and the Economy
Stanford economist Nick Bloom presented new empirical evidence on AI adoption and its effect on jobs and productivity. By merging firm‑level surveys, payroll records, and real‑time usage data, his team quantified how generative AI is being deployed across industries. The...
Why HR and Tech Must Co-Lead AI Transformation
AI is reshaping enterprise priorities, prompting HR and technology leaders to co‑lead digital transformation. In a discussion with Workday CIO Rani Johnson and Box SVP and chief people officer Jessica Swank, the article highlights how AI is as much a people...
Block’s Layoffs Are an Outlier. Their Influence Might Not Be.
Block announced a 40% workforce reduction, framing the move as an AI‑driven efficiency push. The cut follows high‑profile restructurings by Elon Musk at Twitter and Andy Jassy’s office‑return mandate, which together expanded the range of acceptable corporate actions. Analysts warn...
AI Beyond the Basics
Helen Kupp, founder and CEO of Women Defining AI, highlighted how seasoned AI users are moving past routine tasks like writing and data analysis to embed artificial intelligence into strategic workflows. In a recent Charter Works session, she demonstrated several...
What AI Means for the Org Chart
AI is reshaping corporate structures by moving focus from hierarchical reporting lines to work‑centric designs. As autonomous agents take on complex tasks, traditional org charts no longer reflect how value is created. Leaders at Airbnb and LinkedIn argue that contribution...
Managing the Messy Middle: From AI Pilots to Business Impact
Over the past two years, firms have equipped employees with AI tools, launching large‑scale pilots and reporting isolated productivity gains. Yet many still struggle to translate those gains into measurable ROI. In a recent conversation, Zapier’s chief people and AI...
How AI Agents Are Changing Work
In a recent Charter Briefing session, Replit CEO Amjad Masad discussed how AI agents are reshaping the workplace. He highlighted current capabilities such as automated code generation, data analysis, and task orchestration. Companies adopting these agents report measurable productivity gains,...
How Walmart Is Preparing Two Million Workers for an AI Future
Walmart, the world’s largest private employer, announced a program to prepare roughly two million workers for an AI‑driven future. CEO Doug McMillon says every role—from software engineers to cashiers—will be reshaped by artificial intelligence. The retailer is rolling out large‑scale training,...
Redesigning Entry-Level Roles for the Age of AI
Entry‑level positions are being reshaped as AI tools take over routine tasks. Experts at a recent panel argued that organizations must redesign jobs to give new hires higher‑impact responsibilities and foster critical skills. They highlighted the need for robust recruiting,...
Beyond Reskilling: What Companies Can Do About AI Displacement
In a recent conversation, Khan Academy CEO Sal Khan highlighted how generative AI is accelerating workforce displacement across industries. The discussion emphasized that traditional reskilling programs are no longer sufficient to prepare employees for AI‑augmented roles. Executives are urged to...
How to Hire Great Talent Other Companies Screen Out
Companies often overlook high‑performing candidates because they rely on conventional credentials and automated filters. The article outlines practical strategies—such as blind resume reviews, skills‑based assessments, and partnerships with community talent pipelines—to surface talent that traditional hiring screens miss. It also...
How Much Is AI Hurting Entry-Level Hiring?
A Stanford working paper reports a 16% employment decline for 22‑ to 25‑year‑olds in AI‑exposed roles such as software engineering and customer service since ChatGPT’s release. The findings have become a reference point in the AI‑jobs debate. However, two senior...
What a Viral Essay on AI and Jobs Got Right—And What It Missed
A viral essay on AI and jobs argued that generative AI will automate routine tasks while boosting demand for high‑skill work, citing recent productivity gains. The piece resonated because it blended anecdotal evidence with selective data, sparking widespread debate. While...
Book Briefing: 'Revealing' By Leslie John
Harvard Business School professor Leslie John’s upcoming book, *Revealing*, argues that oversharing is an undervalued leadership tool. She contends most professionals default to undersharing due to fear of risk, yet strategic disclosure can improve trust and decision‑making. The book provides...
Top Takeaways From Charter’s Leading with AI Summit in New York
Charter’s Leading with AI Summit in New York highlighted a counter‑intuitive hiring strategy: double down on entry‑level talent while reshaping those roles for an AI‑augmented workplace. IBM’s CHRO, Nickle LaMoreaux, shared that the company is tripling entry‑level hires, even in...