DEI Means Designing Systems for Meritocracy

Many companies have scaled back public DEI commitments.

However, DEI isn’t failing; it’s stalling because it has lost its shared understanding, according to a new report from the Future of Work Alliance. Founder Denise Brouder argues that today, DEI often feels like a buzzword or a political minefield, while in reality, it has always been about fairness.

In an exclusive interview with Future Work, Denise shares that it’s a systems design challenge—a way of structuring work so that opportunity flows based on ability, not access or privilege.

This drives a need for clarity: “Everyone knows the word DEI, but nobody really knows what it means.” That ambiguity has real consequences. It leads to silence from leaders, stalled progress on teams, and missed growth opportunities.

The path forward isn’t guilt, but curiosity. What assumptions shape hiring decisions? Who gets promoted—and why? Inclusion starts by noticing who’s left out and being brave enough to ask why.

I keep a close eye on what our Future Work Experts are thinking, saying, and questioning. I break down the key conversations and brainstorm practical steps we can take to move forward.

This week:

AI & SKILLS

​Lead With AI: The New Entry-Level Job​

• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warns AI may replace 50% of entry-level white-collar roles within five years—and the data backs it. OpenAI’s Sam Altman says AI is evolving from intern-level support to experienced engineer capabilities, while Nvidia’s Jensen Huang cautions that workers who don’t use AI will be replaced by those who do.
• But leaders like Josh Bersin and Edie Goldberg argue these roles aren’t vanishing—they’re evolving into AI-fluent “first roles” where Gen Z, who treat AI as an operating system, hold a real edge.
• Companies like Zapier now require AI fluency in every new hire, prompting a rethinking of how businesses grow talent and build future-ready pipelines.

📝 Prompt:
- Where will your next senior hires come from if entry-level roles disappear?
- Which tasks can become human-AI learning opportunities, not just cost-saving automations?
- Are you hiring for degrees, or for people who can orchestrate, prompt, and build with AI?

​Redesign first roles for an AI-native workforce 👉​

SKILLS-BASED ORGANIZATION

​Sophie Wade: Skills and Tasks Are Now the Units of Work​

• Jobs are no longer the best container for work. Sophie Wade shows how automation, AI, and agile talent needs are pushing companies toward modular, skills-based systems, where projects, not job titles, drive contribution.
• With 55% of companies already shifting this way, leading firms like Unilever, Mastercard, and Revolut are breaking down silos, launching task-based pilots, and mapping internal talent by capability.
• Sophie offers a clear 12-week roadmap to transform how work gets done, starting with audits and ending in dynamic, skill-matched project ecosystems.

📝 Prompt: Start your shift with a Job Reality Audit
- Ask 3–5 leaders what % of work falls outside job descriptions.
- Run a Shadow Role pilot to log actual tasks.
- Map current projects and needed skills with a Project Pulse Board.
- Appoint a Work Transformation Lead to drive the process.

​Shift from job titles to skill-based systems 👉​

WORKPLACE STRATEGY

​Phil Kirschner: When You Lose Connections, You Stop Innovating​

• Coworking was never about square footage, it was about serendipity. Phil Kirschner argues the real value of coworking lies in creating “collision-rich” environments that dissolve internal silos and invite outside expertise in.
• With innovation suffering from social fragmentation and homophily, “permeable coworking” models—like startup guests, faculty-in-residence, or cross-functional hubs—can restore weak ties and spark new thinking. As AI accelerates change, companies must design spaces and systems that expand surface area for ideas, not just enforce attendance.

📝 Prompt: Audit your workplace for innovation blocks:
- Where are silos preventing fresh perspectives?
- What’s one “permeability pilot” you could launch—guest startup day, rotating expert-in-residence, or a shared innovation space?
- How might you design for collisions, not just co-location?

​Discover how “permeable” spaces drive innovation and revive weak ties 👉​

🔥 QUICK HITS:

​(Tech Leadership Crisis) It’s Not the AI, It’s the Managers // By Brian Elliott​

Burnout is skyrocketing in tech, but not because of AI alone. Brian Elliott shows that 84% of tech workers report burnout, with poor management, not remote work, as the primary driver. Only 27% say they have a great manager, while overloaded directors face a “death spiral” of pressure, layoffs, and unclear direction. As AI raises expectations, middle managers are being squeezed without support, threatening innovation from the inside out.

📝 Prompt: Audit your management layer. Who’s holding it together, and who’s quietly burning out?

​Explore Brian’s full breakdown of tech’s leadership crisis 👉​

​(AI HR Strategy) HR’s Velocity Test Starts Now // By Anthony Onesto​

Change is no longer gradual; it’s accelerating, and HR must lead from the front. Anthony Onesto urges HR leaders to become stabilizers in disruption by championing entrepreneurial culture, driving upskilling, and embracing AI as both accelerator and anchor. With 44% of worker skills set to shift by 2028 and 70% of companies bracing for repeated disruptions, the HR function must pivot from support to strategy.

📝 Prompt: What’s one process HR could automate this month to free time for human-centered innovation? Start there.

​Explore how HR can thrive in high-speed change with Anthony 👉​

​(AI Productivity Leap)Your Work, Now at 10x Speed // By Antony Slumbers​

Generative AI is no longer just impressive—it’s unlocking “superpowers” that compress weeks of work into hours. Antony Slumbers shows how agentic AI models can now research, analyze, code, and synthesize solutions with jaw-dropping precision, as seen in his 16,000-word AI-generated real estate response. As reasoning models evolve, the real opportunity lies not just in automation, but in expanding what gets done and how fast.

📝 Prompt: What’s one project your team has deprioritized due to time or cost? Try rebuilding it with AI.

​Explore how AI’s reasoning models reshape productivity with Antony 👉​

I track what’s worth your attention—bringing you the news and updates that matter most to how we work, lead, and grow.

This week:

LEADERSHIP & RESILIENCE

​MIT: Lead Without Predicting the Future​

In today’s volatile climate, marked by AI disruption, economic uncertainty, and political shocks, leaders must shift from prediction to adaptation.

Strategic resilience, as defined by MIT experts, means building flexible systems and rethinking leadership from the ground up.

• Instead of freezing in uncertainty (a reaction 42% of leaders report), teams should adopt an experimental mindset rooted in curiosity and learning.
• Agility now beats accuracy: the ability to sense and adapt outpaces the outdated goal of trying to forecast everything.
• Leaders should communicate early and often—because silence creates a vacuum that employees will fill on their own.
• Emphasizing “we” language, short-term clarity (e.g., 3-month goals), and sensemaking at all levels fosters trust and cohesion.
• Most importantly, effective leadership in chaos means prioritizing the crisis, not the noise, and focusing collective energy where it matters most.

📝 Prompt: Pick one ongoing uncertainty your team is facing, lead a short “sensemaking” session—collect what’s known, what’s assumed, and where the unknowns lie. Then ask: what small test or decision could move us forward without waiting for perfect clarity?

PURPOSE-DRIVEN LEADERSHIP

​Fortune 500: Purposeful Leadership Outperforms​

Fortune and Indiggo’s 2025 ROL100 ranking shows that companies with purpose-driven leadership consistently outperform peers in growth, profit, and EBITDA per employee.

Microsoft reclaimed the top spot, closely followed by Nvidia, Delta, Alphabet, and Eli Lilly—each exemplifying strategic clarity, leadership alignment, and focused execution.

Companies in the ROL100’s top 25 report 3-year revenue growth of 8.3% vs. 5.1% for the bottom 25, and $180K EBITDA per employee vs. $44K.

Health care and tech continue to dominate, each making up 24% of the top 25.

Indiggo’s leadership index (+109%) has even outperformed the S&P 500 (+91%), showing the financial value of leading with purpose.

📝 Prompt: Map your team’s alignment around four pillars—Purpose, Strategic Clarity, Leadership Alignment, and Focused Action. Score it from 1 - 5 and define where the gaps are. How might they be holding back performance?

EMPLOYER BRANDING

​Employer Brand Drives Business Results​

Charter found that a strong employer brand links to higher revenue, stock returns, and talent retention.

Companies like Alphabet and Salesforce outperformed peers with strong employee sentiment and Glassdoor scores.

Key brand drivers include leadership, career growth, culture, and wellbeing.

Cisco’s refresh shows how aligning the brand with business goals supports performance.

Experts confirm: how employees feel predicts how the business performs.

📝 Prompt: Take 20 minutes to reflect on your employer brand.
- First, list 3 core messages or values your company promotes externally (e.g. innovation, flexibility, belonging).
- Then, for each one, write down how it tangibly shows up—or doesn’t—in your team’s daily experience.
- Finally, bring this to your next team meeting and ask: “Do these feel real to you? Where are the gaps?”
- Use the feedback to identify one actionable step to better align brand with lived experience.

AI IMPLEMENTATION

​Your CEO’s AI Memo Decoded​

From Shopify to Fiverr, CEOs are rolling out urgent AI mandates, part pep talk, part pressure: learn AI or risk falling behind.

Despite varied tones, all memos share three messages: AI is inevitable, leaders are still figuring it out, and everyone must act now.

Implementation differs: Shopify ties AI to headcount, Walleye gamifies it, and Duolingo restructured teams, but none include clear KPIs.

That gap gives employees a unique chance to shape what “good AI use” means through small experiments, documentation, and shared learning.

📝 Prompt: This week, tell your team to be proactive before it becomes mandatory—run one AI experiment together. Capture the real context of use, share what worked (and what didn’t), and spot one way it could immediately improve how you work.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

​Memory, Not Resistance, Blocks Change​

Most leaders mislabel employee hesitation as "resistance to change," when it's often rooted in organizational memory and past failures.

André Pereira argues this framing flattens valid concerns and leads to poor planning and leadership abdication.

Studies show companies that treat feedback as insight, not obstruction, see far better implementation outcomes.

Shifting from “overcoming resistance” to “learning from memory” transforms change from conflict into collaboration.

Instead of measuring resistance, create memory maps, and lead with curiosity, not control.

📝 Prompt: What’s one concern raised in your last project that might actually be a memory, and what can it teach you now?

🔥 QUICK HITS:

• ​Trump vs. Musk: Alliance Shatters in Public Feud​Trump and Musk’s alliance collapsed in hours, with public insults, political threats, and financial fallout. Musk slammed Trump’s policies, teased a new party, and referenced Epstein ties. Trump threatened to cut contracts and called Musk “crazy.” Tesla stock dropped 14%. The rift shakes MAGA unity and puts billions in federal deals at risk.
• ​Xi Reconnects with Trump, Hopes for Trade Wins​After months of silence, Xi Jinping took Trump’s call, aiming to de-escalate tensions and lay the groundwork for tariff cuts and relaxed tech restrictions. Trump touted progress on rare earth supplies, but China expects more, including easing AI chip and student visa bans. Analysts say Xi acted to support China’s slowing economy, but caution that lasting gains depend on unpredictable follow-up from Washington.