January 7, 2026: Nearly a decade ago, I wrote The Employee Experience Advantage to challenge organizations to move beyond perks, surveys, and surface-level engagement. Since then, employee experience has become a top priority—but in many cases, we've lost sight of what it actually means.

In this episode, I share why post-pandemic workplace strategies focused on "giving everything to everyone" were unsustainable, how accountability and performance quietly disappeared, and why great employee experience isn't about making work easy—it's about enabling people to grow, contribute, and do meaningful work.

I also explain why employee experience is a leadership responsibility, not an HR program, and introduce a futurist framework built from conversations with over 100 CHROs around the world to help organizations design workplaces that are human, challenging, and future-ready.

If you're trying to cut through the noise and rethink what employee experience should look like for the next decade, this episode will help reset your perspective.

January 6, 2026: Is AI actually increasing productivity — or just shifting responsibility without reward?

In this episode of Future Ready Today, I unpack seven of the most important future-of-work stories shaping leadership decisions right now. From why Gen Z is entering the workforce anxious about AI, to new evidence that AI can slow work down instead of speeding it up, to the rise of empowered employees quietly ignoring return-to-office mandates, this episode explores what's really changing beneath the surface.

I look at why the U.S. government is reviving apprenticeships, how AI is enabling four-day workweeks only when leaders redesign work intentionally, why flexibility debates have shifted from where work happens to when it happens, and how expanding responsibility without expanding pay is setting the stage for the next trust crisis at work.

When a longtime CEO steps down, it's not just a change in leadership—it's a shift in the organization's heartbeat. After 40 years of service, Williams faced exactly that moment: a legacy to honor, a culture to protect, and a future to build. But how do you preserve stability while ushering in transformation? In this episode, Debbie Pickle, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer at Williams, talks about orchestrating a seamless CEO succession after long tenures and the CHRO's pivotal role in managing the culture, priorities, and structure during these executive transitions. She walks through creating a CEO Resource Guide, using tools like Hogan Assessments, 360 feedback, and development plans to prepare candidates, and crafting a thoughtful 30–60–90-day plan for the incoming CEO. Debbie also shares how Williams redefined its core values and replaced its mission and vision with a purpose statement, all while aligning the board of directors through strong governance principles like "noses in, fingers out." CHROs will learn all tips into managing leadership transitions through feedback loop, the importance of continuous learning during change, and how to become a true strategic partner and CEO whisperer in the organization. You'll learn how to guide your company through its next defining leadership chapter and balance what's changing vs. what's staying the same.

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Future-ready organizations are built, not hoped for. My latest book, -The 8 Laws of Employee Experience shows how. Preorder here: 8EXlaws.com