What if the biggest risk in workforce transformation isn't AI replacing people—but leaders failing to adapt fast enough?

If you're leading a company today, you're navigating one of the fastest workplace shifts in decades. AI is putting data, insights, and answers at everyone's fingertips, which means the traditional leadership playbook is quickly becoming outdated. In this episode of The CEO Project, you'll hear why workforce transformation isn't just about adopting new technology—it's about changing how you lead, communicate, and motivate teams in a world where analytics are instant but human leadership matters more than ever.

By listening to this episode, you'll learn how to:

• Understand how AI is reshaping leadership expectations and what workforce transformation means for CEOs today.

• Adapt your leadership style so you can move faster, make better decisions, and lead teams effectively in an AI-driven workplace.

• Balance data, technology, and human intuition to motivate teams and stay competitive as the pace of change accelerates.

Play the episode now to discover how forward-thinking leaders are navigating workforce transformation—and why the CEOs who adapt fastest will gain the biggest advantage.

Check out:

• 06:40 – Why many young professionals enter the workforce unprepared and the practical career habits leaders should be teaching the next generation.

• 16:10 – The core idea behind Rewired Leadership: how AI is forcing leaders to rethink how they make decisions, motivate teams, and communicate.

• 23:30 – Why empathy, intuition, and human leadership skills are becoming more valuable as AI makes analytics and information instantly available.

About Mark Zides

Mark Zides is a seasoned business leader, CEO, investor, and leadership advisor with more than 35 years of experience helping organizations perform at a high level as leadership, strategy, talent, and artificial intelligence continue to converge.

A two-time bestselling author of The #PACE Process for Early Career Success and Rewired Leadership™, Mark focuses on the human side of AI-driven transformation. His work challenges a common assumption in the market—that better technology automatically produces better outcomes. Instead, he argues that sustained performance comes from leaders who think clearly, listen deeply, and make better decisions as AI becomes more embedded in how work gets done.

What if AI engines could drive 10–15x more traffic to your online store—and most businesses don't even realize it's happening yet?

If you run an online store or sell products through e-commerce channels, AI engines are quickly becoming the new gateway to customer discovery. Instead of relying solely on traditional search or marketplaces, companies are now seeing massive traffic surges simply by optimizing their sites for how AI answers questions and recommends products. In this episode, you'll hear how one e-commerce CEO is leveraging AI engines to dramatically increase visibility—and how you can apply the same ideas to grow your own online store.

By listening, you'll discover how to:

• Position your website so AI engines recommend your products when customers ask buying questions.

• Use simple AI-driven content strategies—like FAQs and structured answers—to dramatically increase organic traffic.

• Navigate the rapidly changing e-commerce landscape where AI, Amazon advertising, and global competition are reshaping growth.

Play the episode now to learn how CEOs can tap into AI engines to unlock the next wave of online store growth.

Check out:

• 03:45 – From One Used Book to a Global E-Commerce Business
  Rupesh shares how a single online sale sparked the idea that eventually grew into a company partnering with over 1,500 brands across 40+ countries.

• 10:40 – How AI Engines Are Driving Massive Website Traffic
  A deep dive into how optimizing websites for AI-driven questions—through FAQs and structured content—can generate dramatic traffic increases.

• 22:15 – The Two Big Changes Reshaping Amazon Sellers
  Rupesh explains how advertising and Amazon's AI tools are changing the rules of visibility—and why brands must adapt quickly to stay competitive.

Rupesh Sanghavi is the founder and CEO of Ergode, an e-commerce-first, omni-channel brand growth company that has partnered with over 1,500 brands, expanded reach to 40+ countries, and acquired over 15 consumer brands. His entrepreneurial journey began with reselling a single used book and has since grown into leading a global portfolio of businesses across categories.

Under his leadership, Ergode has scaled into a trusted name with 18+ years of experience, 96% lifetime positive feedback, and a 250+ member workforce worldwide. Twice a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year, Rupesh is known for blending resilience and vision with a hands-on, relatable style.

Outside of business, he writes a blog called Cloverbites, where he shares reflections on leadership and life. An avid traveller who has visited 100+ countries, he draws inspiration from diverse cultures and experiences that shape both his business outlook and personal growth.

Are you building a profitable company — or a business that actually proves capitalism can be a force for good through conscious capital?

As a CEO, you feel the tension every day: grow the business, deliver profit, develop your people — and do it in a way that's socially responsible and sustainable. Meanwhile, capitalism itself faces a perception problem. Your employees want meaning. Your customers expect integrity. And the market punishes anything that smells short-term or exploitative.

In this episode of The CEO Project, you'll explore how conscious capital isn't about soft ideals — it's about building a company that earns trust, scales profitably, and strengthens its moral authority to exist.

By listening, you'll learn how to:

• Build a high-growth company rooted in trust behaviors that actually change stakeholder perception

• Balance profit and purpose without falling into coercive "check-the-box" stakeholder models

• Lead through crisis with accountability and culture intact — even when tough financial decisions must be made

Press play now to discover how conscious capital can help you grow your business and elevate its impact — without sacrificing performance.

Check out:

06:45 – The Perception Problem in Business
Curtis shares the eye-opening CEO summit moment that exposed the trust gap in the IT industry — and why changing perception became his company's mission.

18:30 – Conscious Capitalism vs. Stakeholder Capitalism
A powerful breakdown of classic capitalism, stakeholder models, and the "big tent" philosophy of conscious capital — including why inspiration beats coercion.

32:15 – Leading Through Crisis Without Losing Culture
A real-world example of navigating COVID, protecting profitability, and strengthening trust when 90 executives voluntarily gave up compensation to keep the company strong.

About Curtis Hite

Curtis Hite is the CEO of Improving – an international software consulting and training company which he founded in 2007. With a focus on Conscious Capitalism, the company has grown to 2000+ employees across 19 offices and greater than $280 million in revenue. Improving has been named 15 times to the Inc. 500/5000, consistently being recognized as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the U.S. The company has also received more than 100 local and national best place to work recognitions.

Are you leaving deals on the table because your LinkedIn presence isn't backed by proven strategies that actually build credibility and authority?

If you're leading a company, driving growth, or building your personal brand, LinkedIn isn't optional anymore—it's where buyers, partners, recruits, and even AI engines go to decide if you're legit. And here's the problem: what used to work on LinkedIn (post and hope, chase likes, blast press releases) doesn't work now. The platform has shifted. Reach is down. Algorithms are smarter. And if you're not showing up as a true topic authority, you're invisible—sometimes before you even get the meeting.

This episode breaks down what's actually happening behind the scenes and how you can adapt using proven strategies that align with the new AI-driven reality.

By listening, you'll discover how to:

• Position yourself (and your company) as a credible topic authority that LinkedIn's algorithm wants to reward

• Create content that sparks real conversations instead of getting ignored or "thumbed" into oblivion

• Leverage your team to multiply reach and influence without relying on expensive ads or outdated tactics

Hit play now and learn the proven strategies that will help you turn LinkedIn from a passive profile into a powerful growth engine for your business.

Check out:

• 08:45 – The moment Richard explains why LinkedIn completely changed its algorithm in 2025—and how it now evaluates your credibility before showing your content to anyone.

• 18:30 – A powerful breakdown of why company pages struggle with reach and how to use your people (not just your brand page) to multiply authority and visibility.

• 33:15 – The eye-opening shift from selling to humans to selling to AI engines—and what that means for your LinkedIn content and overall digital strategy.

Richard Bliss is the CEO of BlissPoint Consulting and author of Digital-First Leadership, He helps C-suite executives and sales teams transform digital hesitancy into market authority. He is a global speaker across 22 countries, and former Army Artillery Officer. Richard builds scalable influence systems that turn leaders into recognized voices in their markets.

Your LinkedIn presence should work harder than you do — building authority, attracting opportunities, and making you top of mind in your market. Richard works with executives who understand that in the 21st century, influence isn't just earned in the boardroom — it's built in the feed.

If mastering negotiation could instantly increase your business worth, how differently would you handle your next deal?

You negotiate every day—whether you call it that or not. From acquisition offers and partnership terms to real estate, compensation, and vendor contracts, you're constantly shaping outcomes that affect your company's growth and long-term business worth. The problem? Most leaders treat negotiation like a tug-of-war over price. In this episode, you'll learn why mastering negotiation is really about leverage, psychology, timing, and knowing when to walk away.

By listening, you'll gain:

• A smarter framework for mastering negotiation that goes beyond price and focuses on leverage, certainty, and deal structure

• Proven tactics like "never go first," strategic silence, and the flinch to strengthen your position without creating conflict

• A clearer understanding of motivation and timing so you can spot desperation, avoid overpaying, and protect your business worth

Press play now to sharpen your negotiation edge—and make your next deal one that compounds your business worth instead of quietly eroding it.

Check out:

• 07:45 – Leverage Changes Everything
  A practical breakdown of how leverage actually works in real deals—foreclosures, timing pressure, experience, and certainty of close—and why price is rarely the most important factor.

• 18:30 – The Power of Walking Away
  A sharp discussion on why the best negotiators are willing to walk, how desperation shifts leverage, and why "who comes back first" often determines who really has the power.

• 29:10 – The Flinch, Silence & Controlling the Pen
  Tactical gold: how to use silence to make the other party negotiate against themselves—and why drafting the agreement gives you structural control over the deal.

Onyi Odunukwe is CEO of Glo Tanning Centers, Inc. His specialties are:

• Marshaling limited resources to the most productive uses with the aim of creating maximum value for the company's stakeholders.
• Developing and cascading the organization's strategy/mission statement to the lower-ranking staff, and implementing appropriate rewards/recognition and coaching/corrective practices to align personnel with company goals.
• Planning by prioritizing customer, employee, and organizational requirements.
• Maintaining and monitoring staffing, levels, Knowledge-Skills-Attributes (KSA), expectations and motivation to fulfill organizational requirements.
• Driving performance measures for the operation (including a consideration of efficiency versus effectiveness), often in the form of dashboards convenient for review of high level key indicators

What if improving front line performance—not more marketing or new leads—was the fastest way to grow your business worth?

If you're feeling pressure to grow revenue while controlling costs, this episode speaks straight to that tension. You'll hear how leaders in hospitality use front line performance, personalization, and smart systems to capture revenue that's already there—while creating better customer experiences and stronger loyalty. The same thinking applies to any business with customer-facing teams and real growth goals.

What you'll gain from listening:

• How front line performance directly impacts revenue and loyalty, without turning your team into pushy salespeople

• What it really takes to evolve from a services model to SaaS, while keeping your culture and your people intact

• Where AI disruption actually adds value today, helping managers coach better and make faster, data-driven decisions

Play the episode to spot practical front line performance ideas you can use right now to increase revenue and strengthen your business worth.

Check out:

• ~10:30 – Unlocking revenue through front line performance
  Where the conversation digs into how connecting frontline teams to real guest needs drives incremental revenue without hurting the experience—and why this applies far beyond hospitality.

• ~28:00 – AI disruption that actually works at the front line
  A practical discussion on how AI is being used to analyze performance data, deliver coaching insights, and improve results—without replacing people or overcomplicating the system.

• ~44:00 – The real challenge of moving from services to SaaS
  A candid breakdown of the cultural and identity shifts required to transition from a services model to SaaS, including what leaders often underestimate and how to bring the team along.

About Geoffrey Toffetti

Geoffrey Toffetti is the CEO of Frontline Performance Group (FPG), based in Florida. The firm partners with over 2,500 hotels across 120+ countries, helping them drive millions in incremental revenue. His personal journey in hospitality started humbly, as a car valet at a Florida hotel.

Today, Geoffrey leads FPG, where they work with top brands like Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt, among others. He has guided the company through strategic growth, including the acquisitions of the company's primary competitors—Drake Beil in the U.S. and TSA Solutions in Asia, the latter during the height of the COVID-19 crisis.

Geoffrey can share insights on conversion from a services business to SaaS, global expansion, leading a remote workforce, how leaders can build resilience by making bold yet calculated decisions, staying agile in unpredictable markets, and building a corporate tribe rather than a team. FPG is always pushing forward and he excited to say their next bold move is just around the corner.

Is your business worth more than your physical inventory… because of the digital assets you don't even realize you own?

If you're like most CEOs, you've delegated websites, domains, ad accounts, logins, and even AI tools to other people—and assumed everything was automatically "yours." But this episode is a wake-up call: your digital assets are some of the most valuable (and vulnerable) parts of your business, and losing control of them can create chaos during growth, vendor changes, or a future sale.

Paige Wiese breaks down how to protect what you've built before it becomes a costly blind spot.

By listening, you'll walk away with:

• A clearer understanding of what counts as critical digital assets—from domains and hosting to analytics, SaaS tools, and intellectual property

• Practical questions to ask vendors and agencies so you don't get locked out of accounts you paid for

• A smarter way to prepare your company for scaling, exiting, or AI disruption by organizing and safeguarding your digital footprint

Hit play now to learn how protecting your digital assets today can increase your business worth tomorrow—and save you from painful surprises later.

Check out:

• 5:40 – The most important questions to ask before hiring an agency
  Paige explains how CEOs can avoid losing ownership of domains, ad accounts, and logins right from the start.

• 12:15 – The hidden danger of email and asset transfer during an exit or sale
  A practical discussion on why business emails, history, and contacts become a major issue when transitioning ownership.

• 21:30 – How AI tools are becoming the newest digital asset risk
  Paige shares why companies need policies around AI accounts now—before employees unknowingly train tools on proprietary data.

About Paige Wiese

Paige Wiese (W-ee-s) is the founder and CEO of Tree Ring Digital, a top-ranked Denver-based marketing agency that develops high performance websites and digital marketing strategies for businesses nationwide. Under her leadership, Tree Ring Digital has helped thousands of businesses across industries streamline their online presence, protect their digital assets, and achieve healthy growth through data-driven marketing strategies.

During her sixteen years in the industry, Paige realized that digital asset management often exists in a knowledge silo, leaving companies unprepared for growth or transition. This led her to develop a proprietary digital asset management service that tracks and protects a company's crucial data points, protecting brands and maintaining legacies.

Are your current growth strategies actually increasing your business worth—or are hidden constraints quietly keeping you stuck as your company scales?

If you're feeling stretched thin, hitting growth ceilings, or wondering why scaling feels harder than it should—this episode is for you. Carl Gould breaks down the real stages of business growth and the predictable pinch points that trip up founders, especially as AI disruption accelerates change and raises the bar for how companies scale, systemize, and create long-term value.

By listening, you'll walk away with:

• A clear framework for identifying exactly where your business is stuck—and what that says about your next growth move

• Practical insight into how to shift from founder-driven hustle to scalable systems without killing momentum

• A sharper understanding of how to build a company that's not just growing, but increasing in enterprise value and exit readiness

Hit play now and steal proven growth strategies that help you scale smarter, protect your time, and build a business that's actually worth more at every stage.

Check out:

• [~12:30] – Carl explains why most founders get stuck in Stage 3 and how ego and control quietly cap business growth

• [~28:45] – A clear breakdown of systems vs. flexibility—and why consistency (not creativity) is what actually scales companies

• [~47:10] – The moment your business becomes a true asset, including the leadership shifts that dramatically increase business worth

About Carl Gould

Carl Gould is a globally recognized authority on business growth and entrepreneurship who built three multi-million-dollar companies by age 40. He is the Chief Growth Advisor at 7 Stage Advisors and has mentored the launch and scaling of over 5,000 businesses, with his methodologies now used in 35 countries and by more than 7,000 certified coaches worldwide. A multi-award-winning author and speaker, Carl co-authored Blueprint for Success with Stephen R. Covey and Ken Blanchard and wrote the bestselling The 7 Stages of Small Business Success. Known for his high-energy, real-world approach, he has delivered over 1,200 keynote speeches and lectures at institutions including MIT and Rutgers.