Meet The Leader

Entry-level jobs provide a special window into the wider changes we'll see to job design and skill development. In this episode of Meet the Leader, Peter Brown of PwC explains how entry-level roles are transforming and breaks down new research on what employers really want from entry-level workers now. He also shares how these roles can continue to serve as training grounds for career skills like collaboration, critical thinking, and relationship building and why a thoughtful redesign of these roles will be key to future leadership development. Top names from our Chief People Officer community also share the advice new grads need to know in a fast-changing job market.
Key takeaways:
The most dire headlines about entry-level jobs are not yet backed up by data.
Employers are increasingly prioritizing applied experience and skills over degrees alone.
Employers are expecting more 'seniorized' skills earlier.
New grads should focus on outcomes rather than tasks and look for ways to build human skills on purpose.
Peter Brown is PwC's global workforce leader and a co-author of the World Economic Forum report Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Entry-Level Work. Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, the future of work, and the biggest trends shaping business. This is the third episode in a 3-part series on AI and jobs.
 
About this episode:
PWC: Pwc.com

Report - PWC 
AI 2026 Jobs Barometer
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/ai/ai-jobs-barometer.html

Hopes and fears
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/workforce/hopes-and-fears.html

Report - World Economic Forum
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Entry-Level Work: A Framework for Safeguarding and Reinventing Early Career Pathways: https://www.weforum.org/publications/artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-entry-level-work-a-framework-for-safeguarding-and-reinventing-early-career-pathways/


Related episodes:

AI and Jobs series: Upskilling's 'Messy Middle' and Fixing the Skills Mismatch
Listen here - Spotify:  https://tinyurl.com/2vddb3k3


Read here - Transcript:  https://tinyurl.com/2fnuacsz
AI and Jobs Series: What one company stopped doing - an HR exec shares lessons shaping the future of work
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/49xjtnyj

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AI 'workslop' is a leadership problem. Here's how to fix it
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2mxkzwc3

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4evh8yk6

Watch here - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTAbIqqAf4Y

How to Lead People Through AI Change: Questions to Ask from a Transformation Expert
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ykk9r7hb

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/yc2azrwv

Watch here - Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/yyv24pvd

New research shows many labor markets face a skills mismatch, not a talent shortage. And in the 'messy middle' of the AI transformation, that mismatch will be harder for leaders, workers and hiring managers to ignore as they build future-ready teams. To compete, companies will need to focus on skills-based hiring to ensure worker capabilities reflect what rapidly evolving roles require. In this episode, Maria Flynn, CEO of non-profit Jobs for the Future, explains why skills, not degrees will be the currency of the future workplace, and why education and workforce systems built for the past are struggling to keep pace with AI-era job shifts. She shares changes needed in how workers are trained, assessed, tested and hired. Flynn also discusses the importance of designing quality jobs in all sectors and how worker voice and agency matters in both AI training and implementation and how this can reduce turnover, strengthen AI adoption, and close gender gaps.
Key takeaways:
• What is the skills mismatch - and what hiring managers need to understand to build their teams
• How skills-based hiring can expand across hiring, advancement and talent management
• Why successful AI adoption needs worker input, better job quality and inclusive workforce design
Part two of our three-part AI and Jobs series. Subscribe to Meet the Leader for more conversations on leadership, AI, skills and the future of work. 


About this episode:
Jobs for the Future: https://www.jff.org/

Research - JFF:
JFF AI for Workers & Learners Survey: https://info.jff.org/ai-for-workers-learners-2026-survey
JFF American Job Quality Study: https://www.jff.org/idea/the-american-job-quality-study/


Research - World Economic Forum:
Report: 2026 Chief People Officer Outlook, World Economic Forum:  https://www.weforum.org/publications/chief-people-officers-outlook-may-2026/


Related episodes:
AI and Jobs Series: What one company stopped doing - an HR exec shares lessons shaping the future of work
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/49xjtnyj

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/27fjhud8



AI 'workslop' is a leadership problem. Here's how to fix it
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2mxkzwc3

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4evh8yk6

Watch here - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTAbIqqAf4Y

How to Lead People Through AI Change: Questions to Ask from a Transformation Expert
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ykk9r7hb

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/yc2azrwv

Watch here - Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/yyv24pvd

As AI grows more powerful and takes on more rote work, what should humans stop doing? Fertility benefits company Progyny took on this question as a company to re-evaluate routines and norms and how AI might help work evolve. Chief Human Resources Officer Cassandra Pratt shares how teams there are using AI to reduce rote work, rethink job design, improve meeting culture and give people more time for the human side of work that machines cannot do, such as building trust and strengthening relationships. The first in a three-part AI and Jobs series.

Key takeaways:
The importance of clear goals and prep during AI implementation
How the "Start, Stop, Continue" framework from author Barry O'Reilly can reduce burnout and sharpen execution
How to turn teams into superfans of your company and business to strengthen engagement
What fluid job design will look like in the years ahead - and how to help teams navigate it

About this episode:
Progyny: https://progyny.com/

Book: Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results, Barry O'Reilly 
Report: 2026 Chief People Officer Outlook, World Economic Forum:  https://www.weforum.org/publications/chief-people-officers-outlook-may-2026/


Related episodes:
AI 'workslop' is a leadership problem. Here's how to fix it
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2mxkzwc3

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4evh8yk6

Watch here - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTAbIqqAf4Y

How to Lead People Through AI Change: Questions to Ask from a Transformation Expert
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ykk9r7hb

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/yc2azrwv

Watch here - Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/yyv24pvd

Top leaders from NVIDIA, Walmart International, TIAA, Goldman Sachs and NYU share career advice, leadership lessons and practical ways to stay resilient through uncertainty in an AI age. This an inspiring collection of advice and personal anecdotes shared at this spring's commencement addresses can help anyone from new grads to veteran professionals navigate coming AI shifts and other big career pivots.
In this episode: 
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang on AI and maximizing your potential

TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett on the advice she gives her team

Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt's 3 tips on how to have an amazing life

Former Walmart CEO Kathryn McLay's advice on the early career moment that helped her keep perspective

Goldman Sachs Chairman & CEO David Solomon on why he still DJs - and the importance of cultivating passions outside of work

About this episode:


Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Carnegie Mellon Commencement address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZh_0uRgrg4
Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, NYU Commencement address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvoyGjK8vTA
TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett, Florida A&M Commencement address:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taN6-b7bqAk
Former Walmart CEO Kathryn McLay, High Point University Commencement address:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxpja7ih1VI
Goldman Sachs Chairman & CEO David Solomon, Wharton MBA Commencement address: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSop6XzzY9w
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Workslop – low-quality work produced through poor human-AI collaboration – is wasting time, slowing teams down and limiting the productivity gains leaders expect from AI. But the problem isn't always the technology – it's often a signal to leaders that teams need more support. Workslop often reflects unclear standards, weak direction and poor feedback. In this episode, BetterUp CEO Alexi Robichaux explains why AI can amplify both good and bad leadership standards, and why leaders need to define what excellent work looks like before AI scales a team's output. He also shares how AI coaching can help managers find ways to hone hard-to-improve soft skills, practicing difficult conversations, tricky performance reviews and tough feedback, all in a safe space before those moments happen with real teams.

Key takeaways in this episode:


AI amplifies clarity or confusion. Set clear standards before AI scales your team's work.

Workslop is a leadership warning sign. Poor AI output can reveal unclear direction and weak feedback. It can be a sign teams need more guidance or support. 

Managers need practice. AI coaching can help leaders sharpen direction and rehearse how they give feedback or tackle difficult conversations.

Rethink how you invest in people. AI investment is overwhelming planning conversations. But are you putting that diligence into how you develop your talent?



About this guest:
Website: https://www.betterup.com/

Research: The Hidden Cost of AI-Generated Busy Work: https://www.betterup.com/workslop

Article: Workslop: Why AI performance depends on how we think, talk and lead: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/01/why-ai-performance-depends-on-how-we-think-talk-and-lead/

About this episode: 
Read here - Transcript: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/alexi-robichaux-ai-workslop-leadership-coaching

Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTAbIqqAf4Y

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The Attention Crisis: How leaders can fix focus and happiness in an AI Era - psychologist Jonathan Haidt 
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc45ccc3

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Watch here - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bXp43TMMAI

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