The Josh Bersin Company

How is Workday driving its own AI transformation? The answer is a nine-month Change Leadership Program, designed for a critical audience that bridges strategy and execution: 300 key leaders in pivotal business areas.

In this episode, we speak with Michael Campbell, Director of Talent Development, and Kristen Hartley, Senior Principal of Executive Development at Workday — a 2026 HR Pacesetter Award winner — about how their team designed the Change Leadership Program, not as a traditional theory-based leadership course but as a dynamic learning experience built around real work application. And the results speak for themselves: measurable behavior change, stronger strategic alignment, and high goal achievement.

Among many innovations, Workday’s internal research identified five new leadership dimensions (these are highlighted in our Supermanager work):

Directors must lead change, instead of reacting to change

Lead in changing the business, not just executing for growth

Change leaders need cross-functional connections, not just within their domain

Leaders should focus on building scale and lift, not just output.

Michael is the Director of Talent Development at Workday, where he leads a team focused on leadership and executive development for enterprise talent. He brings over 20 years of experience, including previous roles as research and custom solution faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership.

Kristen is a Senior Principal of Executive Development at Workday, driving executive effectiveness, high-potential growth, and leadership onboarding. She specializes in learning design, dynamic facilitation, and high-impact executive coaching. Combining a background in organizational coaching with a human-centered approach, Kristen brings strategic problem-solving and commitment to personal growth to leaders.

You can apply to win a 2027 Pacesetter award, celebrated at Irresistible 2027, May 17-19 in Los Angeles.

Additional Background

Our new book: “Superpowered: How AI Unlocks the Superpower of People, Leadership, and Teams,” available this month.

The Rise Of The Supermanager: A New Role In The World of AI

Workday and The Josh Bersin Company Bring Galileo Agent to Workday Customers in Sana, Giving HR Leaders Instant Access to Trusted Expertise

 

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Introduction and Guest Welcome
(00:02:08) - Meet Michael and Kristin: Talent Development at Workday
(00:03:35) - Why Change Leadership? Identifying the Director-Level Need
(00:05:05) - Discovery Process: Defining the 'From-To' for Directors
(00:07:11) - Selecting the Target Audience of Change Agents
(00:09:11) - Program Structure: Nine-Month Design Overview
(00:10:06) - Phase One: License to Lead Change
(00:11:51) - Phase Two: Business Challenges and Network Diagnostics
(00:13:01) - Phase Three: Peer Problem Solving and Targeted Skill Development
(00:14:58) - Reflections on Design: Real Problems, Networks, and Personalization
(00:16:10) - Measuring Success: Goal Achievement and Behavior Change
(00:18:47) - Additional Results: Strategy Confidence and Cross-Functional Collaboration
(00:20:40) - Learning Formats: Virtual, In-Person, and AI-Powered Tools
(00:23:01) - Rethinking Design Principles: Application, Connection, Content
(00:25:29) - Lessons Learned: What Worked and What Didn't
(00:29:05) - Closing Thoughts and Thanks

This has been a big week for the AI industry, NVIDIA, US politics, and our partnership with Workday. In this podcast I give you some bigger historic perspectives on Jensen Huang’s transition, and also explain why this kind of thing happens. I hope this helps you make sense of this exciting, over-hyped industry.

Per my many meetings with clients this week, AI is just as transformational as you think – it’s just going to take longer than we hoped to see this technology play out in real-world corporate solutions. In HR, our HR2030® project now has 50+ companies joining in this process, let us know if you’d like to participate.

And I could not be more excited about our important partnership with Workday. Read more about it in today’s news release (demo included) and my article with more details.

If you want to understand the real business implications of AI on your job, company, and career, read our new book “Superpowered: How AI Unlocks the Superpower of People, Leadership, and Teams,” now available.

More Information

HR 2030: How AI Superagents Transform HR From Service Delivery to Dynamic Business Enablement

The Leader’s Guide To Multi-Agent AI Architecture

What is Galileo Jupiter Release And How Does it Integrate with Workday?

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Introduction and Galileo on Workday announcement
(00:00:35) - The Jensen Huang/Nvidia controversy unfolds
(00:02:30) - Chip sales to China and political fallout
(00:04:00) - Business, profit, and Milton Friedman's capitalism debate
(00:05:57) - Lobbying, regulation, and the AI politics parallel
(00:07:54) - Growth at any cost: lessons from corporate failures
(00:11:24) - Growth as outcome, not strategy
(00:13:42) - Companies as citizens and societal accountability
(00:14:41) - Hyperbolic AI executive rhetoric examined
(00:15:35) - Connecting corporate failures to political upheaval
(00:17:29) - Looking ahead: rational AI adoption and HR 2030
(00:18:40) - Closing remarks and Workday Rising invite

This week I give you my perspectives on the business lessons from the Blue Wave elections last week. As you’ll hear, the big message is all about what I call “Citizenship.” We are citizens within our companies, cities, states, and country. Citizens have responsibilities and important roles, seperate from “profit seeking.” And what I’ve learned from my book Irresistible, is that individuals always win at the end.

Listen up – this is a series of lessons for us as leaders, workers, job seekers, and professionals. The Blue Wave shows us how individuals eventually rise up to do “the right thing,” and this same lesson applies to our companies.

To understand the power of individuals in business, please read my book “Irresistible” and our new book explaining the role of AI in empowering people, “Superpowered.”

Big announcement coming later this week.

Additional Information

Why The Blue Wave Will Be Good for Business, AI, and Tech

US Workforce In 2035: A Few More Workers, A Lot More Output

Corporate Citizenship Redefined: Trust, Inclusion, and Responsibility

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Introduction and Travel Update
(00:00:17) - The Blue Wave: People Always Win
(00:01:29) - Two Years of Political and Economic Turmoil
(00:02:20) - Lessons for Leaders from the Election
(00:04:21) - Why Stability Benefits Business
(00:05:44) - Wages, Wealth Gaps, and Consumer Struggles
(00:06:10) - Interest Rates, Debt, and Labor Shortages
(00:08:18) - The Trust Crisis in Institutions
(00:09:10) - Debunking AI Job Loss Fears
(00:10:59) - Companies as Institutions and Internal Politics
(00:12:05) - Leadership, Listening, and Autonomy
(00:13:19) - Citizenship as a Business Concept
(00:13:41) - Stakeholders Beyond Shareholders
(00:15:04) - Employees as the True Stakeholders
(00:16:46) - Citizenship, Bias, and Business Culture
(00:18:13) - Competitors, Customers, and Final Thoughts
(00:19:18) - Closing Remarks and Teaser

Skills are changing faster than traditional learning models can keep up — especially as AI continuously reshapes jobs and work. For Cisco, a global technology company with more than 80,000 employees, that reality demanded a more agile, strategy-aligned, and unified approach to development. Enter Edge Up: the brand behind Cisco’s bold learning transformation.

In this episode, we speak with Marci Paino, Chief Learning Officer at Cisco — a 2026 HR Pacesetter Award winner — about how her team moved from fragmented legacy learning to a unified, AI-powered skilling ecosystem. Marci walks through four key pillars of Cisco’s learning transformation: AI-powered lifelong learning mindset, Cisco’s strategic capabilities, always-on modern learning, and a unified skilling environment. She also shares the results Cisco has seen: from replacing a 20-year-old tech stack three times faster than the industry average to a culture where employees embrace continuous learning.

Marci Paino is Cisco’s Chief Learning Officer, driving AI-era workforce readiness for 80,000+ employees and leading the cross-industry AI Workforce Consortium, backed by 20+ years shaping talent development and digital transformation at companies like American Express, Accenture, and Western Digital.

We awarded Marci a JBC Pacesetter award in 2026 for her leadership and strong AI-centric focus. If you have an innovative solution you’d like to share, join our Pacesetters Program.

Additional Information

Download the Pacesetter Research

Irresistible 2027: The Global HR Conference for Leaders and Teams (Sign up now: May 17-19, 2027)

Research: From Training to Dynamic Enablement

Your Learning: The Global HR Excellence Certification

Galileo goes Enterprise: The Jupiter Release

 

 

 

Chapters

(00:00:05) - Introduction and Guest Welcome
(00:01:54) - Marcy's Role and Cisco Learning Priorities
(00:03:40) - State of Learning Before Transformation
(00:05:35) - Overview of the Four Strategic Pillars
(00:08:06) - Defining Guiding Principles and Culture
(00:11:01) - Building the Skills Intelligence Engine
(00:14:38) - Modernizing the Technology Stack
(00:17:24) - Enabling Modern, AI-Driven Learning Experiences
(00:19:30) - EdgeUp Labs and Time to Grow
(00:22:43) - Measuring Success and Results
(00:27:12) - What's Next: Agentic AI and the Skills Flywheel
(00:29:36) - Key Takeaways and Closing Thoughts

More than 70% of US workers are frontline workers and most of our workforce is worried about AI. How do we as a country and we as employers help our people reskill, upskill, and educate themselves as adults?

Well Guild, which started its life as a tuition reimbursement management company, has pioneered a new model. By working with employers and credentialed education institutions, Guild gives employers a set of solutions to train, educate, certify, and license people for new, higher paying jobs. For companies in manufacturing, healthcare, airlines, and other regulated sectors Guild also helps “up-license” the technicians and specialists we need.

The solution to this problem is complex, and Guild took on this entire problem. The company works with many types of training and learning providers and also provides coaching, career pathways, and their own learning programs to help. For any company looking to fill critical talent gaps with new skills or new licensed workers, Guild is an amazing solution. Guild also focuses on giving employees a new sense of engagement and opportunity. Clients include Amazon, Pepsico, Lowes, and many other large organizations.

Bijal explains the market and solution in a comprehensive way, this is a good conversation to help you understand the entire scale of this challenge. She also unlocks some of the secrets of broad reskilling and behavior change programs, including AI transformation.

Additional Information

Guild Jumps Headfirst Into The Corporate Learning Market

The Capability Academy: Where Corporate Training Is Going

What Is Task or Work Intelligence And Can We Decompose Every Job For AI?

The Global HR Excellence Certification: Learn to be an AI HR Expert

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Introduction to Bijal Shah and Guild
(00:00:51) - Bijal's Background and Path to Guild
(00:02:43) - Guild's Original Model and Evolution
(00:03:21) - Problems Employers Are Solving Today
(00:05:49) - The Role of Education and Degrees Today
(00:07:59) - From Good Deed to ROI-Driven Solutions
(00:10:00) - Coaching, Human Connection, and Fragile Workforce
(00:11:42) - Guild's Core Solution Framework
(00:13:56) - Guild Academy and Behavior Change
(00:16:52) - Navigator and Local Pipeline Solutions
(00:18:23) - Amazon Case Study: Advanced Maintenance Technicians
(00:20:28) - Disrupting the L&D Industry Model
(00:22:30) - Managing Complexity as a Marketplace
(00:23:48) - Cross-Employer and Cross-Geography Aggregation
(00:25:54) - State and Government Partnerships
(00:27:29) - Motivation, Fear, and Career Reinvention
(00:29:59) - Durable Jobs and Economic Rebalancing
(00:32:46) - Stitching Together Benefits, L&D, and Talent
(00:33:48) - The Future of L&D and Capabilities
(00:35:16) - Closing Thoughts on AI and Behavior Change