As AI and emerging technologies reshape work, HR is being pushed into a bigger role: making sure the company’s workforce strategy keeps pace with its business strategy.

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In this episode, Matt Kirchner sits down with Dr. Peter Fasolo, former CHRO of Johnson & Johnson and now Director of the Institute for Leadership & Work at Boston University, to talk about the future workforce from one of the most senior vantage points in HR. Fasolo does not describe HR as a siloed function focused on policies and process. He describes it as a system tied to competitive pressures, customers, leadership, organizational design, and the business outcomes that matter most to the executive suite and the board.

Fasolo argues that as AI takes on more routine work, the value of HR has to become more strategic, not less: understanding the internal labor market, knowing where to build talent versus buy it, helping the company close capability gaps, and making sure the workforce is aligned with where the business is headed. With Matt pushing the conversation into practical territory, the episode becomes a broader discussion about leadership, culture, upskilling, and what companies will need from HR chiefs as the future workforce takes shape.

Listen to learn

• How HR leaders can tell whether the company actually has the skills and leadership depth its strategy requires
• Are mass layoffs truly due to AI, or is there more going on in these businesses?
• How to decide when to build talent, buy talent, borrow talent, or use AI
• Where companies should redirect their talent if they're able to automate tasks with AI
• Why the next phase of HR leadership is less about administering programs and more about helping the executive team build an organization that can compete

3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:

1. HR has to move closer to the center of business strategy. Fasolo makes the case that HR can no longer be defined mainly by process, policy, or employee programs. As work changes, the real job is helping leadership understand whether the company has the talent, structure, and alignment to deliver on its strategy.

2. The future workforce starts with maximizing the capabilities you already have. Before companies rush to hire, restructure, or blame AI for workforce disruption, Fasolo argues they need a much clearer view of their internal labor market, skill gaps, and job architecture. Workforce strategy starts with knowing what exists inside the business and maximizing your human capital.

3. Technology only creates value if leaders use the freed-up capacity well. AI and workforce disruption is all over the headlines, but here's a grounded way to approach it. If routine work takes less time, then organizational leaders need to redirect their people toward customers, coaching, judgment, problem solving, and the kinds of leadership work that technology cannot replace.

Resources: https://techedpodcast.com/fasolo/

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