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

Related Episodes:

The Attention Crisis: How leaders can fix focus and happiness in an AI Era - psychologist Jonathan Haidt

• Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc45ccc3

• Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/3zyur7s5

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

Adam Grant: Future leaders won't succeed without this key trait

• Read here - Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/fbym95jy

• Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ys2dtftj

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

Nick Thompson, The Atlantic: Why one CEO sets 'non -goals' - and what ultramarathons taught him about focus and mental toughness

• • Watch here - YouTube: https://youtu.be/Xh9PLsyptgA

  • Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/bdbrspj7

  • Read here - Listen: https://tinyurl.com/mtdhe37w

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

Related episodes:
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

The Attention Crisis: How leaders can fix focus and happiness in an AI Era - psychologist Jonathan Haidt

• Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc45ccc3

• Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/3zyur7s5

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

Adam Grant: Future leaders won't succeed without this key trait

• Read here - Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/fbym95jy

• Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ys2dtftj

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

Are you building game-changing AI solutions? Or just automating low-stakes work that makes the "irrelevant efficient"?

Nigel Vaz, Publicis Sapient's CEO and a digital transformation expert, talked to Meet The Leader to explain why many AI strategies fall short and what's needed to lead teams through technological change. In this episode, Vaz shares the questions that can refine your strategic discussions on AI and help close the gap between AI expectations and results. He also shares why the hardest part of AI transformation isn't the tech but getting the people part right -- and what helps teams transition.

Key Takeaways:

• The questions teams you're not asking nearly enough. Vaz explains how to refine your thinking to ensure your solutions aren't locked into yesterday's way of working
• The hidden gap that can derail your AI transformation: What separates promising AI experiments from work that actually changes how a business performs? He breaks down the blindspots that hold real innovation back.
• Get the people part right. Incentives, expectations and old measures of success can slow AI adoption more than the technology itself. Vaz shares what leaders often underestimate when asking teams to work in a fundamentally new way.
• How to learn and unlearn. Your value as a leader will depend on your capacity to learn. He shares how to deploy existing experience for new solutions.

Vaz shares key examples of how to put this thinking to work, including including a legacy modernization project that cut a 10-year timeline to under three and Publicis Sapient's own transition from a people-led services model to a people-and-product enterprise AI company. Learn more about this - including the innovative CEO GPT tool Publicis Sapient built that helps teams scale internal knowledge and context.

About this guest:
https://www.nigelvaz.com/about
https://www.publicissapient.com/

About this episode:
Transcript: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/ai-transformation-leadership-future-of-work/

Related episodes:
How to upskill for an AI Age: Workera CEO Kian Katanforoosh
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/7rbsu62e
Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/2p9zfazz
Watch here - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOxIFpQcBCs

Adam Grant: Future leaders won't succeed without this key trait Watch here:
Read here - Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/fbym95jy
Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ys2dtftj
Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVVIpttzUA

The Attention Crisis: How leaders can fix focus and happiness in an AI Era -psychologist Jonathan Haidt
Read here - transcript:: https://tinyurl.com/yc45ccc3
Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/3zyur7s5
Watch here - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bXp43TMMAI