People-first AI
In under 10 minutes, you’ll have the context and language you need to lead smarter AI conversations at work—and stand out as the go-to guide on your team.
"AI Didn't Work For Me" Before I Broke Down the Job
Welcome back. Most AI advice expires faster than milk. But there's one framework that's been quietly predicting technology adoption success decades before ChatGPT existed. It explains why some teams see game-changing results while others get disappointment. Why certain AI experiments take off while others fizzle out before they start. Once you understand task-technology fit, you'll never waste time on the wrong AI use cases again. Enjoy! --Neil AI @ WORK BRIEFING Mastercard’s approach to AI:...
Top 5 AI for HR Stories of 2025
Welcome back. I love the best-of lists that come at New Year's. We get to reflect on what's happened and think about how the past is prologue to the year to come. For this issue, I've created my own best-of list from the most-shared and discussed stories in my network. They help me reflect on all we've learned this year, and especially on how grateful I am for your readership and engagement. Before we get to the article, I want to say thank you! Having you here helps me keep writing. Here's...
2026 AI for HR Predictions: The Year Human Infrastructure Becomes the Competitive Edge
Welcome back. Well, 2025 is quickly coming to an end, and what a year it was. We watched AI capabilities skyrocket every quarter, and OpenAI reports accelerating, deepening adoption. Yet, most companies still can't explain their productivity gains. The bottleneck isn't the technology. It's human infrastructure. This week's feature essay reveals five predictions that will separate winners from the rest in 2026. Happy holidays! --Neil AI @ WORK BRIEFING McKinsey's Case that the Future of Work...
Want AI To Actually Deliver ROI? Here Are 3 Things You Can Do Next Quarter (No Massive Change Budget Required)
Welcome back. This week's issue centers on a gap most leaders haven't noticed: AI adoption is up, but AI value isn't following. The disconnect isn't technical. It's behavioral. Our feature essay reveals three simple strategies HR leaders can implement next quarter to turn random AI use into purposeful adoption (the kind that actually moves the ROI needle). Let's dive in. --Neil AI @ WORK BRIEFING Total Wage Exposure (MIT Iceberg Index): An MIT study on the U.S. workforce, which models 151...
You're Measuring AI Adoption Wrong. Here's What High-Performing Teams Track Instead
Welcome back. This week’s issue centers on a simple idea: most companies are measuring AI adoption in all the wrong ways—and it’s holding them back. Our feature essay breaks down a clearer, more actionable way to understand progress: not by counting how many logins, but by the behaviors that drive learning. And if you’re looking to put the essay’s ideas into practice, don’t miss this week’s training on how to take a team approach to solving problems with AI. Let's dive in. --Neil AI @ WORK...
Chief People Officers: Workforce Caution Today, Workforce Transformation Tomorrow
November 7, 2025 Welcome back. I’ve been hearing more conversations about not just how to adopt AI, but how work itself is changing because of it. So this week, we’re pausing our purposeful AI adoption series to take a wider view. We'll look at stories that offer clues about the evolving skills, roles, and pathways shaping the workforce in the AI era. We'll also share a practical AI prompt to help managers improve how they coach and develop their people. Enjoy! —Neil AI @ WORK BRIEFING...
I used to think AI adoption was the goal. Now I know that’s only the beginning.
Welcome back! Lots of exciting AI release news with big implications for HR and talent management leaders, including Claude skills and ChatGPT for Slack. But I'm very excited to start a series on a big reason AI initiatives stall. There are lots of challenges—from readiness gaps to psychological barriers—but a common thread through them is the assumption that getting people to use AI tools is the finish line. It's not. It's barely the starting line. This week I unpack what we should really be...
AI “workslop” is killing your team’s productivity
Hey there! We're trying something a little different for today's issue. We're jumping in to a bigger, better AI @ Work briefing, with more scannable summaries with commentary for why these stories matter as a people or talent leader adopting AI. Then, we have a step-by-step guide for building your own AI writing partner! Use this for everything from internal docs, to social posts, to employee comms. Enjoy! --Neil AI @ WORK BRIEFING HBR: AI-generated 'workslop' ends up costing more time. The...
The Severance Problem: Why Employees Won't Adopt AI (And How to Fix It)
Fresh off its Emmy wins, Apple TV's Severance isn't just great television—it's a perfect illustration of the psychological reason AI adoption can fail. In our Big Picture Essay, we'll unpack why people don't take the risks that new technology requires when they have no control over their work. We've also got some of my best posts in case you missed them, AI's economic index, lessons learned from a year of building agentic AI, and a prompt to write a better company overview in your job...
How to Work With AI-Resistant Company Cultures (Without a Complete Overhaul)
With the HR Tech Conference coming up next week, I've got AI-native tools on my mind. But, without a supportive culture, adopting AI tools is tough. In today's piece, we explore which company cultures tend to thrive with AI and how you can nudge yours towards becoming AI-ready. We also offer some helpful resources for guessing where AI in HR is going, how to select an AI-native vendor, and how to use AI as your personal skill gap analyst. Enjoy! --Neil p.s. - We're filling up our last AI for...
In under 10 minutes, you’ll have the context and language you need to lead smarter AI conversations at work—and stand out as the go-to guide on your team.