The Josh Bersin Company

In this podcast I talk with Josh Secrest, VP of Marketing at Paradox (Workday) about how we segment the “frontline” into useful worker categories. As you will hear, the complex issues of hiring, training, managing, leading, and building operational excellence vary widely from role to role.

Many companies think “Frontline” is a category. As you’ll discover, this is not really true. Our new research shows that there are more than 800 “Frontline” worker job titles and they are not only industry-specific but also vary by skill type, skills depth, front or back office, licensing, and professional credential. And these dimensions play a major role in all HR, pay, reward, training, scheduling, and retention strategies.

This episode sets the stage for our follow-on podcasts where we detail the Five Types of Frontline Work, a body of research you’ll find even more useful in leading this important part of our companies. Remember, Frontline work makes up over 70% of all US (80% global) workers, and commands more than 3 $Trillion of pay and rewards investment.

Additional Information

Powering the Frontline Workforce: How Frontline-First Companies Thrive (research)

Josh Bersin Company Highlights Cost of Neglecting Frontline Workers (research)

An Exploration into the Frontline Workforce with Josh Bersin (video)

Tailor your HR and Management Programs for Frontline Work with Galileo, the Expert AI Agent for HR

As AI expands its role all over our companies, a big question comes up: What will AI Agents do to HR and all our human capital practices?

One could imagine the HR department “going away” or being replaced by agents, and managers interacting with this AI Agent Cloud for hiring, pay, promotion, hourly scheduling, and training. Is that where we’re really going?

This week we’re starting to introduce our HR 2030 Vision, which brings together the world of Systemic HR (HR as an integrated operation, not only COEs) and our AI Superagent/Agent architecture. Vendors are slowly moving in this direction and we see HR leaders and operating groups also moving this way at various rates of speed.

Many tech companies are moving in this direction quickly (Microsoft, Roblox, Google, others) while most other industries are still struggling to integrate systems and start their Agent journeys. This new vision, as bold as it seems, is very likely to come true in the next four years and it transforms HR into the business enablement function it always aspires to be.

We see HR 2030 as a collective program of innovation, learning, and technology exploration. If you’d like to join us in this effort please reach out, and use Galileo to ask your questions and help build your roadmap. Every HR leader and HR team in the world is pondering this future, and we are here to guide you down this amazing path ahead.

Topics:

HR2030, Agentic HR, Agentic AI, Future of Work, Digital Twin, HR Transformation, HR jobs and roles, HR operation, HR leadership

Additional Background

Agentic HR: Where Enterprise AI Is Going – Imperatives 

Why AI Is A Massive Job-Creation Technology, Despite What You Think

The Age of the Superworker (and Supermanager)

Get Galileo: The AI Superagent for HR

 

Chapters

(00:00:00) - HR 2030: The AI revolution
(00:06:13) - Human Capital Management: Rules and Cultural Rubrics
(00:17:59) - WSJD. HR 2030: The challenge

What does it look like when one of the world’s most innovative tech companies decides to write the playbook for agentic HR — from the inside? Brandon Roberts, Global VP of People Product, Analytics and AI at ServiceNow, joins Kathi Enderes for a conversation that crackles with real-world urgency and hard-won insight.

Under the bold leadership of CHRO Jacqui Canney – whose title as Chief People and AI Transformation Officer signals just how seriously ServiceNow is taking this moment – Brandon and his team have made a defining bet: empower every HR professional to experiment with AI, then ruthlessly prioritize based on value and feasibility.

The results are already turning heads. When an HR Business Partner came forward with an idea, it didn’t disappear into a committee. It became a live capability: HRBPs now work alongside a people data agent paired with Galileo, giving them real-time internal workforce data fused with external benchmarks, case studies, and research insights,  all available in the moment a business conversation demands an answer.  This is what it means to bring consulting-grade intelligence into the flow of work.

But Brandon’s story doesn’t stop inside HR. ServiceNow is also asking its HR team to do something far bigger: help lead the entire company’s AI transformation. That means building workforce AI capabilities and readiness at scale, redesigning jobs and work across the firm as AI reshapes what every role requires and writing the organizational playbook for AI adoption that others can follow.  It is a mandate that puts HR squarely at the center of enterprise strategy, moving from support function to transformation driver.

Brandon’s own career arc captures this shift. His role evolved from a focus on people analytics – historically centered on reporting and data analysis – into enabling the business to use insights about people and organizations to make better decisions and drive better outcomes, all powered by AI.  The people analytics function didn’t shrink but grew in strategic weight and importance.

This conversation is a must-listen for anyone trying to understand what agentic HR actually looks like in practice at one of the fastest-moving companies on the planet.

Additional Information

Podcast: Jacqui Canney, ServiceNow CHRO, Demystifies AI Transformation

Article: The Great Reinvention of Human Resources Has Begun

Research: The Superworker Organization: AI Goes Enterprise

Get Galileo: The World’s AI Superagent for HR

Chapters

(00:00:03) - What Works: Systems Thinking
(00:00:41) - ServiceNow CEO on the Company's Transformation of HR Using AI
(00:02:19) - WSJD Live: ServiceNow's AI-Powered HR Function
(00:05:41) - Six Pillars of the AI Revolution at ServiceNow
(00:08:48) - How Galileo is helping HR professionals be more strategic
(00:11:14) - How ServiceNow Is Bringing AI to HR
(00:14:44) - What specific skills do you need in your role around AI
(00:15:51) - WSJD: The HR Organization of the Future
(00:20:28) - WSJDLive: The AI and HR Transformation
(00:22:44) - WSJD Live: AI and HR Transformation
(00:24:24) - What Works in HR: Brandon Roberts & ServiceNow's Galileo

Today, as we read more stories about various layoffs (often using AI as an explanation), I’d like to suggest a big idea. AI Agents, defined as “Talent Redeployment Agents,” may be one of the most powerful new use-cases for AI in HR.

No I’m not talking about AI randomly selecting people and zapping them by email based on financial results (that could happen I suppose), but something much bigger. Listen in as I explain how the “decoupling” of workers from their employers has led to a new era of dynamic employee redeployment, which is only possible with AI.

We’re deep into studying these Superagent use-cases in companies around the world so if this conversation gets you excited (I think it will), please get hold of us we’d like to explain more.

Additional Information

Should an AI Agent Be Able To Fire You? Yes, And It’s Likely To Go Well.

Gloat Enters The Crowded War For AI Agents in HR

Why AI Is A Massive Job-Creation Technology, Despite What You Think

Be Careful With The Layoffs

Get Galileo, the AI Superagent for HR

Chapters

(00:00:00) - The Way Companies Are Layoff
(00:09:18) - The AI Talent Mobility Agent

Today I want to give you a peek into the huge topic of “building AI literacy.” We work with hundreds of companies and vendors that offer many types of training so I wanted to give you an overview.

This is a fast-changing topic because there’s a raging debate about what “skills” AI users need (ie. complex thinking? business acumen?). I do know AI learns from language so if you can’t put your needs or wishes into logical statements, you won’t get the most out of AI. But, as I explain, there are a range of other issues as well.

I also discuss how we teach people about bias, risk, auditability, data quality, tuning, and how “vibe coding” is a bit more complex than you think.

If you’re really stumped about how to use AI in your work, I urge you to get Galileo, our AI Agent specifically designed for HR, business leaders, and human capital consultants. It includes 400+ reusable workflows to get you started and an entire library of 700+ courses on various AI and HR topics.

We have received a spectacular group of AI Pacesetter applications and many explain how a particular company built AI literacy in detail. Come to Irresistible 2026 (June 8-10 in LA) to get the details.

(Check out the US Department of Labor’s AI-Ready Initiative too.)

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Advocacy of AI literacy
(00:01:26) - Six Rules of AI Training
(00:08:53) - Pacesetter: Trust, Security, and Legal Risk