Future Ready Leadership With Jacob Morgan

Tesla Caps AI Spending at $200 a Week, and What Happens When AI Takes Over Human Relationships 03.07.2026 28мин

July 3, 2026: Tesla is capping employee AI spending at $200 a week after some engineers reportedly burned through thousands of dollars in tokens, showing that "free" AI was never really free. Then I get into the rise of social offloading, where people use AI not just to think for them, but to handle difficult messages, feedback, and human interactions.

Microsoft's $2.5B AI Support Bet, Fired AI Agents, and Why Admin Assistants May Make a Comeback 02.07.2026 21мин

July 2, 2026: Microsoft is putting $2.5 billion and 6,000 employees behind a new group designed to help customers actually use AI inside their businesses, following a similar move from Amazon. Then I get into why former chief AI officer Sol Rashidi fired half of her AI agents after spending more time babysitting them than getting work done. I also look at why administrative assistants may become more valuable in the AI era when they know how to use the tools, manage context, and apply judgment.

Companies Put Limits on AI Spending, Ford Rehires Humans, and Palantir's Alex Karp Calls Out the AI Vendors 01.07.2026 27мин

July 1, 2026: Companies are discovering that AI agents can drive token usage far beyond what they budgeted for, forcing leaders to bring cloud-style cost controls into AI spending. Then I get into Ford bringing back 300 veteran quality inspectors and engineers after its AI-driven quality checks missed what experienced humans could catch. Finally, I look at Palantir CEO Alex Karp's CNBC warning about token pricing, customer data, model control, and why more companies may start rethinking how much of their AI strategy they want to outsource.

The Companies Using AI the Most Are Hiring the Most & Amazon's $1B Bet on People 30.06.2026 25мин

June 30, 2026: New research from Ramp Economics Lab and Revelio Labs shows that companies spending the most on AI are not shrinking the fastest. They are actually growing headcount faster, including in entry-level roles many assumed would disappear first. Then I get into Amazon Web Services' $1 billion push to build a new unit of embedded AI engineers, sending teams directly into customer organizations to help turn AI pilots into real work. The bigger story is that AI is not simply replacing jobs. It is changing which jobs grow, which skills matter, and where the real bottleneck is.

Unisys CEO & President Mike Thomson on AI Hype, Layoffs, Data Centers, and the Workforce Reality Check 29.06.2026 53мин

I talk with Mike Thomson, President and CEO of Unisys, about the real state of AI inside companies. We get into why some organizations are using AI as cover for layoffs, why the backlash against data centers is often built on incomplete information, and why enterprise AI adoption will take years instead of weeks. Mike also explains why technical debt, messy data, governance, security, token costs, and workforce readiness are the real barriers leaders need to understand before they assume AI can simply replace people at scale.

ChatGPT 5.6 Is Here, California's AI Job-Loss Tracker, and Why Executives Don't Want the CEO Job 26.06.2026 24мин

June 26, 2026: OpenAI launched ChatGPT 5.6 with limited access to only 20 organizations, showing how frontier AI capability and government review are starting to split. Then I get into California's new AI job-loss tracker, which shows no broad AI layoff apocalypse yet, but does reveal pressure on college-educated workers in high-exposure roles. Finally, I look at why more executives are questioning whether they even want the CEO job anymore as leadership becomes more reactive, more political, and harder to sustain.

Meta Pauses AI Surveillance, Losing Access to Fable 5 Triggers Lawsuit, and Engineers Hit AI Paralysis 24.06.2026 31мин

June 24, 2026: Meta's employee surveillance program, which tracked keystrokes, mouse activity, and screenshots before a data exposure forced the company to pause it. Then I get into Legion's lawsuit against the U.S. government after losing access to Anthropic's Fable 5 model, showing how frontier AI access is becoming a new business dependency and supply chain risk. I also look at software engineers facing workplace paralysis as AI models keep changing faster than people can master them, and why AI rollouts may be burning out the very high performers companies need most.

The AI Productivity Paradox and the Real Question Behind Adam Grant's Research on Return-to-Office Mandates 23.06.2026 33мин

June 23, 2026: Companies are drowning in AI pilots, prototypes, and scattered use cases that make teams busier without necessarily making the business better. I talk about why the real advantage may come from finishing the few AI initiatives that matter instead of starting 300 that don't. Then I get into Adam Grant's new research linking return-to-office mandates with CEO narcissism, what the study actually found, where the methodology gets complicated, and why the better question for leaders is not "office or remote," but what arrangement produces the best outcomes for the team, the business, and the work being done

The Data Center Race Behind AI: Solidigm's SVP on Why Storage, GPUs, and Scale Matter 22.06.2026 44мин

I talk with Greg Matson, Senior Vice President and Head of Marketing and Products at Solidigm, about the storage infrastructure powering the AI boom. We get into why AI training and inference require massive amounts of data, how GPUs, SSDs, and data centers work together, and why storage can't be an afterthought for companies building enterprise AI. We also discuss the scale of today's AI data center buildout, how Solidigm is using AI internally, and what this means for the future of work, education, and the skills people will need in an AI-first world.

More Info on Anthropic's Fable 5 Shutdown, Fortune 500 Headcount Shrinks, and Why AI Ads Are Losing to Humans 19.06.2026 35мин

June 19, 2026: Anthropic's Fable 5 shutdown appears to be tied to SK Telecom, Project Glasswing, Amazon researchers, the White House, David Sacks, and a dispute over whether Anthropic should fix or de-deploy the model. Fortune 500 companies just hit record revenue, profit, revenue per employee, and profit per employee while shrinking headcount for the second year in a row, raising a bigger question about productivity gains without job growth. New data from LV8 founder Griffin Hadrill shows AI-generated creative ads are underperforming human-made ads by 3 to 5 times, which is a reminder that originality, emotional connection, and human judgment still matter.

AI Costs Are Rising, Ghost Jobs Face a Probe, and Wall Street's Talent Pipeline Is at Risk 18.06.2026 37мин

June 18, 2026: Companies are starting to count the real cost of AI after two years of broad experimentation, from rising token bills to the higher wage premiums commanded by AI-skilled workers. Then I look at Senator Ruben Gallego's push to investigate ghost jobs and whether AI-powered hiring platforms are distorting the labor data policymakers rely on. Finally, I break down Wall Street's hiring dilemma: AI can automate junior-level work, but it cannot replace the apprenticeship that develops future rainmakers, dealmakers, and senior leaders.

Anthropic's Fable 5 Gets Pulled, Meta's AI Transformation Stumbles, and PwC Reveals the AI Jobs Split 17.06.2026 40мин

June 17, 2026: Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 and Mythos models were pulled after a government directive raised concerns about jailbreak risks, creating a wake-up call for companies building critical workflows on frontier AI models they don't actually control. Then I get into Meta's AI transformation struggles, including layoffs, employee reassignments, low morale, surveillance concerns, and what leaders can learn from one of the most visible AI change-management failures so far. Finally, I break down PwC's 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer, which shows that AI isn't collapsing the labor market but splitting it into two tracks: roles where AI increases the value of human judgment, and roles where AI makes work easier for non-experts to perform.

How KPMG Is Embedding AI Into Work With Chief Digital Officer Kelle Fontenot 15.06.2026 54мин

Kelle Fontenot, Chief Digital Officer at KPMG, joins me to talk about how one of the world's largest professional services firms is embedding AI into the way work gets done. Kelle shares how KPMG is approaching enterprise AI adoption through its AIQ program, why AI requires close partnership between digital, HR, technology, and the business, and what it takes to drive change across 250,000 people globally. We also get into the realities of AI adoption inside a large, highly regulated organization: digital teammates, AI agents, tool overload, trust, security, and why traditional training alone doesn't change behavior. Kelle offers a practical look at how leaders can move beyond experimenting with AI and start making it part of the everyday flow of work without losing human judgment along the way.

SpaceX's Historic IPO, AI CEOs Head to the G7, and Jeff Bezos Bets $12B on the Future of Engineering 12.06.2026 20мин

June 12, 2026: SpaceX made history with the largest IPO ever recorded, raising $75 billion in its NASDAQ debut and instantly becoming one of the most valuable companies in the United States. But under the hood, this isn't just a rocket company anymore. It's a bet on Starlink, reusable rockets, and xAI's massive AI infrastructure. Then I get into the first-ever appearance of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind leaders at the G7 Summit, and what it means when the most powerful AI companies in the world are now part of global policy conversations. Finally, I break down Jeff Bezos' $12 billion raise for Prometheus, a new company building an "artificial general engineer" that could reshape manufacturing, aerospace, pharma, defense, and the future of high-skill knowledge work.

Palantir CEO Warns Against AI Layoff Bragging, Americans Fear AI Job Loss, and The Great Flattening Begins 10.06.2026 16мин

June 10, 2026: Palantir CEO Alex Karp is warning tech leaders that bragging about AI-driven layoffs is a major political mistake and could fuel backlash against the entire industry. Then I get into a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showing that 53% of Americans fear AI could put them or someone in their household out of work, which means AI job anxiety is no longer a fringe concern. Finally, I break down the "great flattening," with new data showing that 41% of employees say their companies trimmed management layers last year, and why eliminating too much middle management could create a serious leadership pipeline problem for the future.

Meta Invests $115M In Skilled Trades and Anthropic Releases Fable 5 (The World's Best Model) 09.06.2026 32мин

June 9, 2026: Meta is investing $115 million into America's Workforce Academy to train electricians, welders, plumbers, fiber technicians, and other skilled tradespeople for the AI infrastructure boom. This isn't charity, it's a talent pipeline for the data centers, wiring, fiber, and physical systems AI depends on. Then I get into Anthropic's release of Claude Fable 5, its most powerful publicly available AI model yet, and what it means for trust, accuracy, pricing, and accountability as AI moves deeper into business operations.

How Synchrony Became the No. 1 Best Company To Work For in America with CHRO DJ Casto 08.06.2026 45мин

We have all worked at a place where we felt like just another number in a spreadsheet. It is incredibly frustrating when you offer feedback that seems to vanish into a black hole of corporate bureaucracy. But what if your company actually treated your voice like a strategic roadmap for the future? In this episode, DJ Casto, the EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer at Synchrony, joins us to explore how his team transformed their culture to become the number one best place to work in 2026. DJ shares the secrets behind their decade-long journey of separation from GE Capital and how they climbed the rankings by anchoring their identity in the concept of trust. We dive deep into their philosophy of co-creation, where active listening through quarterly pulse surveys and roundtables allows employees to directly design the culture they want to inhabit. Discover how Synchrony applies agile software principles to HR by launching minimal viable products for benefits like personalized wellness coaches and on-site therapists to see what truly resonates with the workforce. We also tackle the modern challenge of AI, moving past the doom and gloom to discuss how technology can actually unlock human creativity and fulfill more enriched roles. You'll learn how to foster employee accountability through a focus on critical experiences rather than rigid job paths. This episode unpacks how you can build a high-trust organization where continuous improvement is a lifestyle rather than a one-time goal. Watch the full video on YouTube ---------- Start your day with the world's top leaders by joining thousands of others at Great Leadership on Substack. Just enter your email: ⁠⁠https://greatleadership.substack.com/ Quick heads-up: my new book, The 8 Laws of Employee Experience, is a practical playbook for building an environment where people do their best work—order a copy here: https://bit.ly/8exlaws

Why Hybrid Work Is Breaking Down and Why Anthropic's AI Warning Should Make You Skeptical 05.06.2026 39мин

June 5, 2026: Two stories today. First: hybrid work's approval ratings are climbing — but new research finds half of its believers quietly defected over three years. There's a name for what's breaking it, and most organizations haven't seen it yet. Second: Anthropic dropped internal data showing AI is writing 80 percent of its own code and outperforming human researchers on their own turf. The numbers are real — but so is the question of who's really behind the warning. One week after closing a $965 billion valuation and four days after filing for an IPO, Anthropic is calling for AI governance and oversight. That might be genuine concern. It might also be regulatory capture — the oldest playbook in business, where the most powerful incumbent shapes the rules in ways that lock out everyone coming up behind them.

Microsoft Makes a Badge That Watches, California Town Bans Data Centers, & Uber Cuts 23% of HR Function 04.06.2026 33мин

June 4, 2026: Microsoft unveiled a wearable AI badge at Build 2026 that can see, hear, and act on your behalf. I break down the real productivity upside, and the chilling effect on human communication that the tech press isn't talking about. Then I take a critical look at Monterey Park's landmark vote to permanently ban data centers — 86% to 14%, the first in America. I understand why communities push back. I also think this particular decision is a mistake, and I'll tell you exactly why.Finally: Uber just cut 23% of its entire HR and recruiting function at record revenue, with 95% AI adoption across engineering — then said AI had nothing to do with it.

Data Centers: What They Are, Why We Need More of Them, and Why Almost Everything You've Heard Is Wrong 03.06.2026 50мин

June 3, 2026: Most people use a data center dozens of times a day and have no idea what it is. Today I'm changing that. I break down exactly what data centers are, what "compute" actually means, why every new AI model needs exponentially more of it, and how short we currently are as a country — using real numbers from Goldman Sachs, FERC, RAND, and others. Then I take on the five biggest myths driving the backlash: that new data centers waste water, that they're an energy disaster, that they kill jobs, that taxpayers are funding Big Tech, and that they destroy communities. I debunk every single one with sourced data — because the misinformation around data centers is doing real damage to America's AI future. These buildings currently account for 80% of US economic growth according to S&P Global, they're funding the nuclear renaissance, and they're the front line in a race with China that we cannot afford to lose. This is the episode I'd send to anyone who thinks data centers are the enemy.