Future-Proofing Your Business—and Yourself—for the AI Era

AI is evolving at a mind-bending pace, reshaping every aspect of business. Organizational structures and the ways that we interact with technology—and each other—are racing to keep up. Add in today’s environment of economic, policy, and geopolitical uncertainty, and you can see the immense challenges faced by business leaders trying to steer their companies into an AI-first future.  

How can leaders filter out the noise to stay focused on transforming their organizations? How can they leverage the limitless potential of AI, agents, and deep research? How can they harness the latest technological innovations to access untapped value, turbocharge their decision making, and maintain their organization’s competitive edge? 
 
In the new season of the WorkLab podcast from Microsoft, we’ll be exploring all of those questions and more.  

WorkLab is hosted by Molly Wood, who has more than two decades of experience reporting on technology and business for CNET/CBS, the New York Times, Marketplace, Wired, and The Atlantic. Last season she explored the future of work with thought leaders like Lumen CEO Kate Johnson, Microsoft Chief Scientist Jaime Teevan, McKinsey & Company Senior Partner Delphine Zurkiya, and Conor Grennan, Chief AI Architect for the NYU Stern School of Business. This season, Molly will talk with more experts to unearth real-world lessons and actionable insights for helping business leaders thrive in the AI era.  

New episodes of the WorkLab podcast will be available starting March 5. Follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.  

Here’s a transcript of the season 8 trailer.  

MOLLY WOOD: AI is quickly transforming every aspect of work, from essential business processes to the fundamental structure of organizations. It can be difficult to keep up, let alone stay ahead of the curve.  

AZEEM AZHAR: One of the challenges for any business person is that they’ve been able to operate in a world where there has been a rule book. But what happens in a world where there isn’t a rule book because everything is being made up as we go along?  

MOLLY WOOD: On WorkLab, the podcast from Microsoft, we arm business leaders with critical insights on the topics they need to understand in this fast-moving age. AI agents, deep research, data-driven decision making, and of course, navigating uncertainty. I’m business and technology journalist Molly Wood, the host of WorkLab. In season 8 I’ll be talking to futurists, change agents, and forward-thinking executives about AI and the future of work. Our guests understand that just using AI doesn’t mean you’re getting the most out of AI.  

CONOR GRENNAN: What I was seeing in organizations was that they thought they were transforming. They were speeding up some processes using generative AI, but it wasn’t transforming how they were doing business across every department. If you can get your entire organization leveled up, the productivity gains are vast.  
 
MOLLY WOOD: We get to the heart of how leaders can shift their mindsets to take full advantage of these new AI tools. 

ANNE-LAURE LE CUNFF: If you create this culture where mindful use of AI is celebrated, then you are going to harness all of its benefits.  

MOLLY WOOD: In season 8 we’ll dive even deeper into the value AI can unlock—the ROI of AI.  

DELPHINE ZURKIYA: The biggest advice I have for CEOs is to say, you know, what is it you’re trying to solve? What’s your strategy? What’s your business problem? And then we can think about how AI can support that.  

MOLLY WOOD: WorkLab is the perfect guide for leaders looking to future-proof their skill set and make smarter decisions while leveraging the limitless potential that AI unlocks.  

CASSIE KOZYRKOV: You have to learn how to cut it off and limit your own options and get to where you’re trying to go faster. Because if you don’t, you are looking at potentially infinite good-ish possibilities. How do you choose? 

MOLLY WOOD: Season 8 of WorkLab launches March 5. Subscribe now for a sneak peek at the future of work.