In this solo episode of The Edge of Work, Al Dea explores how to grow your career in a time when AI, automation, and constant change are reshaping the workplace. He shares why traditional career paths and milestones are becoming less reliable, and why it is more important to focus on direction instead of fixed destinations.

Al offers practical guidance on taking agency of your development, building adaptable skills, and staying relevant even when the future feels uncertain. He also explains how employees can shift their mindset from waiting for clarity to actively creating career opportunities for themselves in a rapidly evolving world of work.

Links

• Al Dea: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/
• Al Dea’s Website: https://www.al-dea.com/

Michael Bungay Stanier is the Author of The Coaching Habit and Host of the Change Signal podcast. In this episode of The Edge of Work, Michael joins Al Dea to challenge conventional thinking around change management and introduce the concept of change mastery. Drawing on insights from his podcast and decades of experience, Michael explains why most change initiatives fail and what leaders must do differently in a world defined by constant disruption. He shares the three pillars of change mastery, distributed agency, organizational capacity, and technical excellence—and why successful change depends less on process and more on people.

Links

• Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelbungaystanier/
• Change Signal Podcast: https://thechangesignal.com/

In this solo episode of The Edge of Work, Al Dea explores why one of the most important responsibilities of leaders today is becoming a developer of talent. With leaders stretched thin and expectations constantly growing, Al makes the case for why developing people cannot be optional if organizations want better performance, engagement, and adaptability. He introduces the idea of practices of development, (aka PODs) small, practical actions leaders can embed into everyday work to help employees grow without relying on formal programs.

Links

• Al Dea: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/
• Al Dea’s Website: https://www.al-dea.com/

Ariel Leonard is the SVP of Talent at Frontier Communications, where she is helping lead a large-scale transformation of the company’s workforce and talent strategy. In this episode of The Edge of Work, Ariel shares how Frontier is shifting from traditional HR processes to a more skills focused, business aligned approach to talent. She explains how her team is rethinking workforce planning, internal mobility, and leadership development to support long term growth. Ariel also discusses the importance of building trust, creating clearer career pathways, and helping employees see new opportunities inside the organization.

Links

• Ariel’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arielleonard/
• Harvard Business Review Article: https://hbr.org/2025/10/your-transformation-cant-succeed-without-a-talent-strategy

Matthew Duncan is the Head of Future of Work & AI Thought Leadership at Microsoft, where he helps organizations understand how AI is reshaping work, leadership, and organizational design. In this episode, Matthew explains what it means to build a frontier firm that is human led and agent operated.

He shares why intelligence is becoming an on demand resource, how agents are changing the role of managers and early career talent, and why simply adding AI tools is not enough. The conversation also explores the mindset shifts leaders must make, what holds organizations back from adoption, and why this moment represents a major opportunity for those willing to rethink how work gets done.

Links

• Matthew’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewloysduncan/
• Microsoft WorkLab: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/

Dominik Rus is the Global Head of Learning and Development Innovation and Technology at TTEC, where he sits at the intersection of learning science, AI, and business performance. In this episode of The Edge of Work, Dominik shares how his team approaches learning innovation with a clear philosophy of science first, AI second.

He explains why scaling bad learning with new technology creates more problems than it solves, and how TTEC is using evidence based design, AI enabled practice, and agent driven tools to improve real world performance. The conversation also explores how learning roles are changing, what skills based and adaptive learning really mean, and what L&D leaders need to rethink as AI reshapes how work and learning get done.

Links

• Dominik’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominikrus/
• TTEC Case Study: https://writer.com/blog/ttec-customer-story/
• Article on TTEC’s Learning Wizards: https://writer.com/blog/ttec-customer-story/
• Dominik’s Paper on Science First, AI Second: https://leonardo.institute/SPARK/September2025/
• Dominik’s Blog on AI and Learning Design: https://www.ttec.com/author/dominik-rus-global-head-learning-science-innovation-and-technology

In this solo episode of The Edge of Work, Al Dea shares practical guidance for leaders who are navigating constant, overlapping change. Drawing from his work with organizations, conversations with podcast guests, and real world experience, Al breaks down why change feels so difficult at work and what leaders often miss about the human side of it. He explores common reactions to change, including fear, loss of control, and identity threats, and offers five pragmatic practices leaders can use to drive meaningful progress.

Links

• Al Dea: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/
• Al Dea’s Website: https://www.al-dea.com/

Rebecca Hinds is the Head of the Work AI Institute at Glean. In this episode of The Edge of Work, Rebecca joins Al Dea to unpack why meetings have become one of the biggest barriers to effective collaboration and how leaders can redesign them to actually get work done. Drawing from her research at Stanford, her experience leading innovation labs, and insights from her book Your Best Meeting Ever, Rebecca explains why meetings are often a symptom of broken collaboration systems. The conversation explores meeting overload, calendar “doomsdays,” asynchronous work, and the growing role of AI in meetings and leadership. Rebecca also shares lessons from the Work AI Institute on how organizations can navigate AI transformation with more intention and evidence-based leadership.

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-hinds/
• Website: https://www.rebeccahinds.com/
• Book: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Best-Meeting-Ever-Principles/dp/166806748X