What happens when artificial intelligence meets work that can’t be fully documented, standardized, or abstracted?

In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Shin Nakamura, President of ONE to ONE Holdings, to explore the limits of AI through the lens of manufacturing. Drawing on his experience leading factories across Japan and Vietnam, Shin offers a grounded view of why much of today’s work still depends on human judgment, cultural context, and knowledge that lives in people rather than systems.

The conversation moves beyond the familiar blue-collar versus white-collar debate to examine a deeper divide: work that can be reduced to tasks versus work that requires adaptation, situational awareness, and tacit expertise. Together, Nirit and Shin unpack why low-volume, high-variation environments resist automation, how language and culture quietly shape whether AI succeeds or fails, and why so much critical knowledge has never been written down in the first place.

They also reflect on what Gen Z’s career choices reveal about this shift, why career security is being redefined around capability rather than job titles, and how AI risks widening gaps by making some forms of work visible while leaving others invisible.

If you’re trying to understand where AI delivers real value, where it falls short, and what kinds of work are likely to endure in an automated world, this conversation offers a rare, on-the-ground perspective from the factory floor.

https://youtu.be/WupIMAo_G7g

Guest Information:

Shinichiro (SHIN) Nakamura, President of one to ONE Holdings:

Shin is a manufacturing and global thought leader in the secondary steel processing industry. He is the President of ONE to ONE Holdings, which operates steel tube-making factories in Japan and Vietnam and provides inline galvanizing technology to tubing companies worldwide. His original family business, Daiwa Steel Tube Industries, is one of the largest producers of inline-galvanized steel tubes in East Asia.

From leading cross-border operations to overseeing factory-level development, Shin works directly within the type of blue-collar workforce that younger professionals are increasingly gravitating to. This gives him a close view of how job preferences are shifting, why some young workers are choosing skilled manufacturing roles over traditional office careers, and what industries like his are doing to attract and retain new talent.

Shin is a past Regional Chair of the YPO North Asia region and currently serves on the Board of Governors at the Asia School of Business. He previously worked as a consultant at Bain & Company and received his MBA from MIT Sloan, specializing in New Product & Venture Development.

Chapters:
00:00 — Why Gen Z Is Choosing Manufacturing Over Office Jobs
01:31 — Why Young Workers See the Future of Work Differently
03:08 — How Income Inequality Is Reshaping Global Career Choices
04:59 — How Automation and Robotics Are Changing Factory Jobs
06:00 — Why Some Manufacturing Jobs Cannot Be Fully Automated
07:33 — What Young Workers Expect From Modern Factory Jobs
09:44 — Are White-Collar Job Losses Pushing Talent Into Manufacturing?
10:36 — How Manufacturing Must Change to Attract Skilled Talent
12:40 — How AI Adoption in Manufacturing Depends on Economics
13:58 — Does AI Work Equally Well Across Languages and Cultures?
15:35 — Why AI Struggles With Tacit and Cultural Knowledge
17:26 — Why Japanese Manufacturing Knowledge Is Hard to Digitize
19:17 — Where AI Stops Working in Craft-Based Industries
20:52 — Why Shorter Careers Threaten Knowledge Transfer
21:55 — How Manufacturers Make Blue-Collar Jobs More Attractive
22:56 — The Most Important Question About the Future of Work

What if the most important skill for the future of work isn’t technical or strategic—but human?

In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Claude Silver, the world’s first Chief Heart Officer and No. 2 executive at VaynerX, to explore what it really means to lead with heart. As the right hand to Gary Vaynerchuk, Claude has built a culture where empathy, belonging, and authenticity are not soft skills—they’re strategic advantages.

Together, Nirit and Claude unpack how workplaces can scale humanity, how leaders can create belonging even across time zones and generations, and why fitting in is outdated in a world that demands genuine connection. Claude shares how her framework of emotional optimism, bravery, and efficiency helps leaders balance compassion with performance—and why fear around AI is an opportunity to rediscover what makes us uniquely human.

They explore what “being yourself at work” truly looks like, how to design cultures where individuality is celebrated instead of suppressed, and why the heart—not the algorithm—will define the next era of leadership.

If you’ve ever wondered how to build trust in a hybrid world, how to bring more humanity into leadership, or how to stay grounded as technology transforms what we do, this conversation will change how you think about work—and about yourself.

https://youtu.be/bgxBXr_GrzQ

Guest Information:

Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX and author of Be Yourself at Work.

Claude Silver is on a mission to revolutionize leadership, talent, and workplace culture. She is the world's first Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX and partners with CEO Gary Vaynerchuk to drive their success. Silver has earned Campaign US's Female Frontier Award and AdWeek's Changing the Game Award and she electrifies audiences at national and international conferences and at organizations, including Meta, Google, US Government agencies, and the US Armed Forces. She has been interviewed on dozens of podcasts and featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal. She is the author of Be Yourself at Work: The Groundbreaking Power of Showing Up, Standing Out, and Leading from the Heart.

Links:

Website: https://www.claudesilver.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casilver/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claudesilver/?hl=en

Chapters:

00:00 – What Does Being Yourself at Work Really Mean?
01:15 – What Does a Chief Heart Officer Do?
03:10 – Why VaynerX Created the Chief Heart Officer Role
04:55 – What Makes Humans Valuable in an AI World?
06:45 – Can Empathy Drive Business Performance?
08:55 – Do Companies Still Need Humans When AI Is Everywhere?
10:45 – What Is Authentic Presence at Work?
11:05 – Emotional Optimism, Bravery, and Efficiency Explained
13:35 – How to Face AI Fear Without Ignoring It
14:50 – Why Fitting In at Work Is Outdated
15:55 – How to Create Belonging in Hybrid and Remote Teams
16:45 – Why Managers Are the Weakest Link in Culture
17:20 – How to Train Managers to Build Trust
18:05 – How to Build a Culture Where You Don’t Have to Change to Belong
19:30 – How VaynerX Scales Culture Across Countries
21:40 – Can Processes Kill Authenticity at Work?
23:40 – How to Put People First During Layoffs and Hard Decisions
26:30 – What Question Should We Be Asking About the Future of Work?
28:55 – How AI Changes What Makes You Valuable at Work

As AI takes on not just what we do—but how we decide, create, and
communicate—the question isn’t how fast technology will move. It’s how
deeply we’ll remember what makes us human.
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with
Joe Hart, CEO of Dale Carnegie, and Matt Britton, CEO of Suzy and author of
Generation AI, to explore how people can future-proof themselves in an
AI-driven world.
Together, they unpack what happens as AI redefines work—from the end of the
knowledge economy to the rise of new “co-creation” roles where humans and
machines work side by side. Matt shares why creativity, curiosity, and
problem-solving have become the new competitive edge, while Joe reveals why
empathy, trust, and communication will matter more than ever for leaders
navigating change.
The conversation dives into how education and training must evolve, what
leadership looks like when teams include both people and intelligent agents,
and why agility and emotional intelligence—not technical mastery—will
determine who thrives next.
If you’ve ever wondered how to stay relevant when machines can do almost
everything, this is the episode to listen to.
https://youtu.be/ZSDsDWcs8nc
Guest Information:
Joe Hart, CEO of Dale Carnegie Training, is a transformational leader and
co-author of the Wall Street Journal's #3 Bestseller, Take Command. Guiding
the globally recognized Dale Carnegie organization, he infuses the brand
with a modern perspective, impacting millions worldwide. He is an inspiring
leader who seeks to bring out the best in others. Hart is considered an
acclaimed thought leader whose incisive commentary regularly appeared in
Newsweek and Rolling Stone. With captivating speaking engagements and a
popular leadership podcast, Take Command, his influence extends across
industries. Prior to Dale Carnegie, he helped found Asset Health, an
innovative company that works to revolutionize workplace wellness.
Matt Britton is one of the world’s leading
voices on artificial intelligence, generational change, and the future of
work. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Youth Nation and the
2025 national bestselling book Generation AI, which explores how AI and
Generation Alpha will reshape every corner of society. A sought-after
keynote speaker and host of The Speed of Culture podcast with Adweek, Matt
has advised more than half of the Fortune 500 and shared insights with
audiences around the world. He is also the founder and CEO of Suzy, a
venture-backed consumer intelligence platform trusted by companies like
Netflix, Coca-Cola, and P&G.
Matt Britton and Joe Hart / Dale Carnegie co-created Human by Design
: Future-Proofing Yourself
in an AI-Driven World course, predicting that roles requiring creativity,
critical thinking, and complex problem-solving as well as effective
communications will remain. These human-centric skills are essential in
navigating the evolving workplace.
Chapters:
00:00 – What Makes Us Human in an AI World
01:10 – The End of the Knowledge Economy
03:05 – Human Skills AI Cannot Replace
04:40 – Why Leadership Matters in the Age of AI
06:50 – Will AI Replace Jobs or Redefine Them?
09:50 – How Humans Stay Valuable in an AI Workplace
11:50 – What AI Still Gets Wrong About Humans
13:30 – How Learning Must Change for the AI Era
15:20 – The Rise of the AI-Powered Solopreneur
17:15 – Can Organizations Keep Up With AI Change?
19:10 – Who Gets Left Behind in the AI Revolution?
20:50 – How to Build AI Fluency in Daily Life
22:50 – Building Trust in a Digital and AI-Driven Workplace
24:55 – Why Caring Is a Critical Leadership Skill
26:40 – How to Future-Proof Your Career With AI
27:55 – The One Question to Ask About Your Future With AI
29:10 – Doing More of What Only Humans Can Do

What happens when AI stops automating tasks and starts redesigning the workplace itself?

In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Rakshit Ghura, Vice President and General Manager of Digital Workplace Solutions at Lenovo, to explore the bold ideas behind Lenovo’s Work Reborn research.

Rakshit explains why most companies are still stuck digitizing old habits, even though nearly every organization claims to be transforming.

Together, Nirit and Rakshit unpack the shift to hyper-personalization—how AI analyzes work patterns, digital friction, focus time, and preferred tools to tailor each person’s environment, even reconfiguring devices in real time. Rakshit expands the conversation beyond productivity, showing how intelligent systems can reduce burnout, support well-being, and create work that flexes around life rather than forcing people to bend around systems.

The episode also dives into democratizing innovation, the rise of digital twins that take on the repetitive “boring parts” of work, and why the organizations that thrive will be those that redeploy human capacity toward creativity, differentiation, and new value.

If you want to understand where adaptive workplaces are heading—and how AI can help every employee become the best version of themselves—this conversation offers a clear, human-centered view of what work reborn really looks like.

https://youtu.be/a4-sxtVBmmQ

Guest Information:

Rakshit Ghura is the Vice President and General Manager of Digital Workplace Solutions (DWS) at Lenovo, where he leads the company’s strategic initiatives in the digital workplace and cybersecurity domains. In this role, Rakshit is instrumental in shaping Lenovo’s vision for the future of work, focusing on areas such as workplace mobility, Device as a Service, Persona-based configuration, automation, analytics, employee experience, and collaboration, with a strong emphasis on consulting and advisory services. Prior to joining Lenovo, Rakshit served as the Senior Vice President and Global Head of Digital Workplace Services & ServiceNow business at HCLTech. During his tenure, he was responsible for defining, incubating, and creating the product roadmap and strategy for digital workplace services. Rakshit is a recognized thought leader in the industry, frequently sharing insights on the impact of Generative AI, the evolution of the hybrid workplace, and the importance of unifying people, culture, and technology to redesign the future of work. He has contributed to various industry discussions, including podcasts and whitepapers.

Chapters:

00:00 – Why Work Needs a Complete Redesign
00:57 – Digitization vs. Reinvention of Work
02:30 – Why Companies Struggle to Transform
04:18 – The Rise of Hyper-Personalized Workplaces
06:21 – How AI Learns Your Work Patterns
08:09 – Tailoring Devices and Systems to Individuals
09:10 – AI That Flexes Work Around Life
10:40 – Reducing Burnout With Intelligent Systems
11:19 – How to Build Trust in Workplace AI
13:10 – Using AI Without Creating Fear or Job Loss Anxiety
15:35 – Why AI Skills Matter More Than AI Automation
16:45 – How AI Democratizes Workplace Innovation
17:13 – Leadership in an Employee-Driven Innovation Model
17:59 – Where Organizations Get Stuck in AI Transformation
18:52 – Why “Start Small, Scale Fast” Works for AI
19:47 – People-First, Process-Second, Tech-Third Strategy
20:50 – How Companies Can Keep Up With Fast-Changing AI Tools
22:40 – The Role of Employee Learning in AI Adoption
23:30 – Real Examples of AI-Enabled Workflow Redesign
25:50 – How Digital Twins Reduce Digital Friction
26:59 – Co-Creating With AI Across the Organization
27:34 – Digital Twins and the Future of Every Job
28:58 – Doing Less of What Doesn’t Matter With AI

Finance has always been about precision, proof, and trust — qualities now being redefined in the age of AI. According to OneStream’s new AI Pulse Report, three out of four CFOs are leading enterprise AI strategy, yet only a third have managed to scale it successfully. So what happens when the people who once managed numbers begin managing intelligence?

In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Tom Shea, CEO of OneStream, to explore how AI is transforming finance — and, with it, the future of work. Tom shares why CFOs are uniquely positioned to steer the AI agenda, how finance’s “show-your-work” discipline is shaping enterprise trust, and why solving deterministic problems — where there’s only one right answer — is key to building real confidence in AI.

The conversation delves into what happens when human judgment, context, and mentorship meet machine precision. From the risk of losing early-career learning to the emergence of AI agents as digital teammates, Tom and Nirit unpack what it takes to build systems that don’t just automate, but understand.

If you’ve ever wondered how the rise of AI will reshape not just finance, but how organizations think, decide, and grow, this episode offers a grounded look at the future of intelligent work — where humans and machines learn to trust each other.

https://youtu.be/Jy6-5ZYTPmw

Guest Information:

Tom Shea is the co-founder and CEO of OneStream, and one of the original architects of the OneStream platform. His mission is to transform the corporate performance management (CPM) ecosystem with a solution that combines power and flexibility with ease of use, deployment, and maintenance. For more than a decade, Tom has been dedicated to delivering value, success, and support to users – drawing on his deep understanding of finance and technology to drive fully innovative products. Before founding OneStream, he co-founded UpStream Software, where he invented and architected UpStream TB and UpStream WebLink, pioneering the Financial Data Quality Management space.

Chapters:

00:00 — Why CFOs Now Lead AI Strategy
01:35 — Can AI Replace or Redesign Finance Work?
03:33 — Deterministic vs Non-Deterministic AI in Finance
05:39 — How AI Learns Corporate Context
07:42 — Why Deterministic Problems Are the Hardest for AI
09:45 — Will AI Eliminate Entry-Level Finance Roles?
11:42 — Can AI Fix the Spreadsheet Problem?
13:57 — How AI Frees Finance to Become Strategic
15:35 — What Happens When AI Handles the Basics?
17:44 — From Human-in-the-Loop to Trusted AI Agents
20:00 — Why Finance Needs Explainable AI
21:56 — Why So Many AI Pilots Fail
24:15 — Productized AI vs Internal Experiments
25:59 — Unlocking Full AI Value in Finance
27:28 — Why AI Needs Context, Not Just Data
29:02 — Coding Human Judgment Into AI Systems
31:17 — The Real Opportunity: Turning Over Agency to AI
32:55 — Will AI Replace Work or Give Us Superpowers?

What happens when AI doesn’t just do our work—but starts shaping how we think?

In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Dr. Kirsti Samuels—founder and CEO of KS Insight and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University—to unpack the overlooked risks AI poses to leadership and culture. From standardized thinking to conflict avoidance, the conversation challenges the idea that AI is an innovation partner—and asks what we lose when tools reward consensus, speed, and surface-level answers.

Drawing on her work with heads of state, rebel leaders, and Fortune 500 executives, Kirsti explains why the best leaders create “pressure cookers” where discomfort leads to insight, and why psychological safety is no longer enough without dissent, disagreement, and deliberate resistance to vanilla answers. Together, they explore how to lead through change, why answers are cheap but good questions are rare, and why the real threat isn’t that AI replaces people—but that it teaches leaders to avoid being human.

If you’ve ever wondered what leadership should look like in an AI-driven world—or what skills organizations must urgently develop—this conversation is your starting point.

https://youtu.be/dKlwlEDJ5J8

Guest Information:

Dr. Kirsti Samuels is the founder and CEO of KS Insight, a leadership and strategy consultancy based in New York City. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, where she teaches Leadership and Management in Moments of Adversity and Opportunity to Master’s students at the School of International and Public Affairs.

As an entrepreneur and strategist with 25 years of experience, Kirsti specializes in tackling complex problems with innovative approaches. Her clients have included the President of the Comoros Islands, the leadership of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the U.S. Department of State, the Clinton Global Initiative, the United Nations, the World Bank, the American Hospital Association, and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.

Kirsti holds a Doctorate in Law from Oxford University, a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Bachelor of Science and Law from Sydney University

Links:

https://ks-insight.com/

Chapters:

00:00 — What Happens When AI Shapes How We Think?
03:10 — Why AI Makes Everything Sound the Same
07:30 — Can Leaders Train AI to Challenge Them?
10:00 — The Real Skill Behind Innovation: Tolerating Discomfort
12:00 — What High-Stakes Leaders Do Differently
14:45 — Leadership Skills for a Volatile AI Era
17:30 — How to Lead Change Without Breaking People
20:00 — Why AI’s Warmth May Weaken Us
22:00 — The Marshmallow Challenge: When Having the Answer Kills Innovation
24:00 — How Social Discomfort Blocks Better Ideas
26:30 — Can We Still Spark Innovation Without Face-to-Face?
29:00 — Building Cultures That Welcome Pushback
31:00 — Why Human Feedback Still Matters More Than AI
33:00 — The Question We Should Be Asking About Leadership
35:00 — The Deeply Human Skills AI Can’t Replace

As AI becomes capable of doing not just the work of our hands but also the thinking of our minds, one question looms large: what remains uniquely human?

In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Dr. Tatyana Mamut — economic anthropologist and CEO of Wayfound — to explore the human value add in the age of AI. Together, they unpack how judgment, taste, trust, and relationships form the foundation of real value at work, and why replacing people with agents can strip away the very essence that makes an organization thrive. Tatyana shares how her company helps leaders navigate the “multisapiens
workplace,” where humans and AI agents work side by side. She explains why AI should eliminate inhuman work, not human jobs — freeing people to focus on creativity, connection, and purpose — and how leaders must redesign management and culture to reflect this shift.

The conversation moves from the classroom to the boardroom, covering why education must emphasize human skills, how AI can become a trusted collaborator rather than a threat, and why the future manager may oversee teams made up mostly of intelligent agents.

If you’ve ever wondered what role humans will play when machines can do almost everything else — and how to redefine leadership, purpose, and
meaning in that world — this episode is your guide to what makes us human in the age of AI.

Want to dive deeper into this topic? Read Nirit’s Forbes article, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠"⁠AI Isn’t Eliminating Jobs. It’s Eliminating Inhuman Work", to explore these ideas further.
Guest Information:

Dr. Tatyana Mamut, is the CEO and
Co-Founder of Wayfound where she is driving the next frontier of workforces through AI management for a more seamless multisapiens workforce. Leveraging her Ph.D in Cultural Anthropology, Mamut brings a unique approach to innovating in technology to use AI as the singular largest force for cultural shifts and impacts in the next century.

Prior to Wayfound, she led product development and design at Pendo, where she met her co-founder Chad Burnette. She’s held other senior leadership roles at household tech names like Amazon, Salesforce, IDEO, and more. Wayfound is the #1 “Guardian Agent” for AI - a leading, independent AI agent supervision platform designed for business leaders and governance teams. Wayfound’s “AI Supervisor” captures and analyzes every Agent interaction and activity, assesses how well the Agents are performing and suggests improvements in near real-time, providing unparalleled insights through a single-pane observability dashboard. They’re tackling a $1.3T problem in the AI category to help integrate AI Agents alongside humans for a multisapiens workplace of the future.

What if the best leadership training isn’t about managing others but about managing yourself?

In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Margaret Andrews, founder of the MYLO Center and author of Manage Yourself to Lead Others, to flip the traditional leadership script. Based on the most popular executive development program at Harvard, Margaret’s approach doesn’t start with people management frameworks or org charts—it starts with self-awareness.

Together, Nirit and Margaret unpack why the future of leadership depends on understanding the stories we tell ourselves—about success, values, emotion, and power—and how those stories shape everything from our decisions to our relationships. They explore six deceptively simple questions that can help anyone lead with greater composure, empathy, and impact—and three more that show you where you’re growing next.

Whether you’re navigating career change, rethinking how you lead, or managing in a time of transformation, this conversation offers a timely reminder: before you manage others, manage the person in the mirror.

https://youtu.be/-_67w1JS9JY

Guest Information:
Margaret C. Andrews is a seasoned executive, academic leader, speaker, and instructor. She has created and teaches a variety of leadership courses and professional and executive programs at Harvard University and is the founder of the MYLO Center, a private leadership development firm. Her clients include Amazon, Citi, Continental, Walmart, Wayfair, and the United Nations. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

You can follow Margaret on LinkedIn (@margaretcandrews)

Chapters:
00:00 – Why Great Leadership Starts With Self-Awareness
03:30 – What Is the First Step to Leading Yourself?
06:00 – The First Question Every Leader Should Ask Themselves
09:00 – What Events Changed the Way You Lead?
12:45 – How Do You Define Success (Really)?
14:15 – What Your Calendar Says About Your Values
17:10 – What Makes You Mad Might Reveal What Matters Most
18:55 – Why Leaders Must Understand Their Emotional Triggers
20:45 – What Feedback Have You Heard Over and Over?
22:10 – How Do You Want to Be Seen as a Leader?
24:10 – Why Self-Awareness Is More Important Than Ever in an AI World
26:10 – The Future of Less Work Is About Doing More of What Matters
27:55 – What’s the One Question to Ask About Your Future Career?