The Future Of Less Work

What if meaning isn’t something you find in your job—but something you can create in any role, on any team, starting today? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Wes Adams and Tamara Myles, authors of  Meaningful Work  and researchers at the University of Pennsylvania , to explore what it takes to unlock motivation in a world where paychecks alone aren’t...

Why are entry-level jobs disappearing—just as companies claim they can't find qualified talent? How can managers lead in a world where AI handles the tasks but not the people? And what happens when employees want stability while leadership pushes for agility? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Kyle Forrest, Principal at Deloitte Consulting and U.S....

What if productivity wasn’t just about how much people worked—but how they worked, who they collaborated with, and whether they were truly engaged? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Sam Naficy, CEO of Prodoscore , to explore the evolving science—and ethics—of measuring work. As more organizations embrace hybrid, digital, and AI-enhanced models, the ol...

DEI programs are under fire. Political pushback, budget cuts, and employee fatigue have left many organizations scaling back or quietly rebranding their diversity efforts. But what if the problem isn’t DEI itself—what if it’s the way we’ve been doing it? Why DEI training isn’t working anymore? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  speaks with  Dr. Flannery Stevens, Assoc...

What happens when AI becomes so ambient, so invisible, that it disappears into the background of work—while quietly transforming everything? How does voice AI change jobs? Can technology finally deliver on its promise to make work more human? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Punit Singh Soni, former Google executive and founder of Suki , a company re...

What happens when the next generation enters the workforce without ever knowing the “old way”—and starts reshaping work not by accident, but by design? What if Gen Z isn’t the problem, but the prototype? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Amanda Schneider, founder of ThinkLab,  the research division of Interior Design Magazine, to explore how digital-f...

Will voice replace the keyboard at work? How will AI and voice technology change how we work? In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Josh Blalock, Chief Evangelist at Jabra, to explore a future where conversation becomes the interface. From AI-powered noise-canceling to real-time voice translation, Josh shares how voice and smart audio are unlocking a new way t...

What happens when employment itself is declared obsolete—and a new model emerges, powered by AI, decentralized by design, and built around human value instead of job titles? Is traditional employment going away? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Deborah Perry Piscione , cofounder of the Work3 Institute and coauthor of  Employment Is Dead , to explore...

What if the biggest barrier to AI success at work isn’t the technology—but the disconnect between how leaders think it’s being used and what’s actually happening on the ground? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Rich Veldran, CEO of GoTo , to unpack new research revealing a striking misalignment: while 87% of IT leaders believe employees understand AI,...

What does enterprise AI transformation look like? What does it really take to move beyond AI experiments and transform an entire enterprise? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Dan Priest, Chief AI Officer at PwC US , to explore what happens when AI shifts from isolated use cases to a strategy for growth, innovation, and trust. Drawing on insights from...

What if our biggest workplace problem isn’t the volume of work—but the way our day is designed? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Alexia Cambon, Head of Research for Copilot and the Future of Work at Microsoft,  to explore groundbreaking new data from Microsoft 365. Based on trillions of productivity signals—from emails and meetings to chats and app u...

What if performance at work isn’t just about time, effort, or even skill—but energy? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Andrew Deutscher, founder of Regenerate and former VP at The Energy Project,  to explore why the way we measure and manage performance is broken—and what it takes to fix it. From redefining energy as a business construct to designing...

What happens when freelance work gets rebuilt from the ground up—with AI at the core, output as the metric, and community replacing isolation? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Stacy Pavlyshyna and Roman Sevast, co-founders of Awesomic , to explore how they’re redesigning the infrastructure of creative work. From AI-powered talent matching to subscrip...

What if the biggest risk to your organization isn’t burnout, disengagement, or even AI disruption—but a deeper, unnamed sense that something’s off? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host Nirit Cohen sits down with Dr. Erin Eatough and Dr. Shonna Waters, co-founders of Fractional Insights, to unpack the rising levels of  workplace angst —a leading indicator of underperformance, turnover...

What if fairness at work wasn’t just a value—but a system design challenge? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Siri Chilazi, researcher at Harvard Kennedy School   and co-author of  Make Work Fair , to explore how we move beyond performative DEI and redesign the infrastructure of work for real equity. From hiring and promotions to flexibility and team...

What happens when you stop organizing work around timelines and tasks—and start designing it around value, outcomes, and real capability? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Alex Adamopoulos ,  CEO of Emergn , to explore how organizations can move from project-based to product-based models, and why that shift changes everything—from how teams are struct...

What happens when the most important skill for the future of work isn’t technical—but navigational? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Hans Meeder, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education and author of  Preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce , to explore why career navigation may be the defining capability of our time. From middle school classrooms...

What happens when AI doesn't just automate tasks but transforms how we build trust, communicate, and define real work? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  sits down with  Michael Litt, co-founder and CEO of Vidyard , to explore the new frontier of human-AI collaboration. From AI-generated video avatars to real-time translation and agent-driven workflows, they dive...

What if the office wasn’t a place, but a platform? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host Nirit Cohen sits down with Mark Dixon, Founder and CEO of International Workplace Group (IWG), to unpack how hybrid work is reshaping where, and how we work. Long before “hybrid” was a buzzword, Mark saw the writing on the wall: people needed flexibility, and companies needed scalable, distributed...

How will AI affect hiring—and what does it mean for the future of talent? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work ,  Michael Kienle, Global VP of Talent Acquisition at L’Oréal , joins host  Nirit Cohen  to explore how global companies are navigating the shifting world of work. From AI’s role in recruitment to the growing importance of soft skills and human potential, Michael shares how L’Oréal...

How do you attract a new generation of workers to an industry often seen as old-fashioned? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work ,  Gregory Tink, Digital Transformation Director at Schneider Electric , joins host  Nirit Cohen  to explore how technology, innovation, and culture shifts are reshaping the future of manufacturing. Together, they dive into how AI, automation, and digitalization ar...

In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  is joined by  Colette Stallbaumer, General Manager of Microsoft 365 Copilot and Co-Founder of WorkLab , for a timely conversation about how AI is reshaping the very language we use to talk about work. Together, they unpack Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index, a report that doesn’t just offer predictions—it reframes how we define organi...

In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host  Nirit Cohen  is joined by  Delphine Donné, General Manager of Personal Workspace Solutions at Logitech , for a powerful conversation about redesigning work to fit people—not the other way around. Together, they explore what happens when organizations move beyond one-size-fits-all models and co-create work environments that prioritize flexibility,...

Can AI make work more human? What happens when the work your people used to find value in is no longer the work you need them to do? In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , host Nirit Cohen sits down with  Kelly Jones , Chief People Officer at Cisco, to discuss how AI is changing work and HR. Together they explore what it really takes to lead through a time when work is being redefined—by AI...

In this episode of  The Future of Less Work , Deputy CEO Silvija Martincevic joins host Nirit Cohen to explore the forces reshaping the future of work for hourly and shift work. What the Next Generation of Shift Work Really Looks Like? Why More People Are Working Two Jobs – And What It Means for the Future? How microshifts are redefining flexibility, and what Gen Z really wants from work? This is...