Organizations are investing heavily in AI. Licenses are being purchased, usage is being tracked and employees are being encouraged to experiment.

But has the work itself actually changed?

In this episode of foHRsight, Mark Edgar speaks with leadership advisor and author Tom Mawhinney about the gap between adopting AI and genuinely redesigning work around what the technology makes possible.

Tom argues that the biggest opportunity is not simply to automate existing tasks or reduce headcount. It is to reconsider how roles are structured when AI can take on more of the analysis and production, while humans focus more deliberately on judgment, context and prioritization.

That shift raises an important question for HR. If entry-level work has traditionally been where people develop many of those capabilities through experience, how do organizations build them when some of that work disappears?

Mark and Tom explore why HR can play a critical role in answering that question, how to make the financial case for redesign rather than reduction, and why organizations do not need to transform every job at once. Starting with a few roles, testing what works and proving the value may be enough to begin.

Because having AI available across the organization is one thing. Building an organization that works differently because of it is another.

About Our Guest

Tom Mawhinney is a leadership advisor, author and keynote speaker whose work sits at the intersection of leadership, strategy and technology. Drawing on three decades as an executive, board member, founder and advisor, he helps organizations rethink how those three areas need to evolve together as the conditions around work change.

Resources Mentioned

• Tom Mawhinney: tommawhinney.io Tom Mawhinney
• Tom Mawhinney on LinkedIn: ca.linkedin.com LinkedIn
• Tom Mawhinney’s books: tommawhinney.io Tom Mawhinney
• So... Now What? Recognizing Four Organizational States in an AI-Driven World: goodreads.com

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