Latest news with #talentmanagement
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Astronomer CEO Andy Byron raved about Kristin Cabot months before being caught on Coldplay kiss cam
Astronomer CEO Andy Byron sang Kristin Cabot's praises when she was hired in November 2024 as the company's Chief People Officer– eight months before they went viral for apparently getting busted on Coldplay's kiss cam. Byron noted Cabot's leadership abilities in an Astronomer press release from Nov. 19. 'Kristin's exceptional leadership and deep expertise in talent management, employee engagement, and scaling people strategies will be critical as we continue our rapid trajectory,' he said. 'She is a proven leader at multiple growth-stage companies and her passion for fostering diverse, collaborative workplaces makes her a perfect fit for Astronomer,' he continued. Cabot — who was praised for 'preserving and enriching company culture at organizations experiencing rapid growth' in the hiring announcement — also mentioned Andy by name in the press release. 'I prefer to think of my role as people strategy versus traditional human resources, as the real magic happens when you align the people strategy with the business strategy,' Cabot said. 'There are plenty of companies out there where a leadership team doesn't recognize the value that a strong people leader and people team can bring to a company.' 'It's not just about benefits or catered lunches. There's so much more to it, and I was energized in my conversations with Andy and the Astronomer leadership team about the opportunities that exist here.' Byron and Cabot's alleged cheating was revealed on Wednesday evening when they were filmed in an intimate embrace at a Coldplay concert. Their horrified expressions prompted the cheating speculation. The two are reportedly married to other people. Byron's wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, deactivated her Facebook page after the TikTok video went viral. In the video, when the kiss cam panned to a man in a blue polo shirt with his arms around a woman wearing a black tank top, she quickly put her hands up to hide her face and turned around. The man also looked embarrassed and ducked down so he couldn't be filmed. Martin appeared bewildered by their behavior. 'Alright, c'mon, you're ok,' he said when they attempted to hide their faces. 'Uh oh, what?' 'Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy,' he continued as the amused audience laughed. According to LinkedIn, Byron has been the CEO of Astronomer — a company that empowers data teams to bring mission-critical analytics, AI and software to life — since July 2023. Page Six has reached out to Astronomer for comment but did not immediately hear back. Solve the daily Crossword


Forbes
16-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
AI Is Changing Talent Management—Here's What To Watch For
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang believes AI will create many new job opportunities. (Photo by Patrick T. ... More Fallon / AFP via Getty Images) Whether AI will create millions of jobs or drive mass unemployment is still hotly debated—most recently by the Chief Executive Officers of two technology giants, Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Anthropic's Dario Amodei. What is not debated, however, is AI's disruptive effect on the talent landscape. Tech firms' aggressive recruiting of AI talent is perhaps best exemplified by Meta's reported $300 million pay packages. Microsoft's layoffs, which appeared to coincide with AI investments, illustrate how talent needs can shift. AI's talent impact goes way beyond tech firms. Most employers (69%) are planning to hire for skills in designing AI tools and enhancements to support business goals, especially in big data, network, cybersecurity and technological literacy, according to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs 2025 report. Given the increasingly strategic importance of talent and talent management, here are four questions to assess your firm's understanding of AI's talent implications. What Is Our AI Readiness? People vary widely on how they perceive AI's impact on their career prospects. In turn, this may affect employees' motivation to gain AI proficiency. For example, only 36% of women (versus 45% of men) believe that AI can help their careers. Viewing AI as an obstacle, rather than an avenue, for job security and career advancement could foster resistance to developing technical literacy. Ambiguity around the rules for using AI and perceptions of AI's trustworthiness can also undermine adoption as well. People who are more likely to follow rules may hesitate to use AI absent clear guidance for when and where its use is allowed. Hesitation may also be tied to doubts about AI's capabilities—to make unbiased recommendations and assessments, for example. Understanding who sees AI as a career asset—and who doesn't—may be a good starting place to determine a talent pool's AI readiness. Assessing the clarity of AI usage rules and trust issues is another way to gain insight into employees' readiness to adopt AI. How Will Non-AI Skills Needs Change? Adopting AI tools to replace some skills may increase the demand for other, more human skills. For example, 65% of workers would prefer AI to track their performance and 55% would welcome AI's help to manage deadlines. But over 85% say they much prefer that a human manager motivates, recognizes, empathizes and validates them, according to a survey of 512 employees, conducted by Better Up Labs and Stanford's Social Media Lab. Ethics and creativity are other skills that are likely to emerge as increasingly critical, according to research from MIT, which analyzed the removal, continuation, or addition of job tasks in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' database of occupations between 2016 and 2024. Most employers expect to transform their workforce to better work alongside AI: 77% are planning to reskill or upskill their existing workforce, while 62% anticipate hiring new people for this, according to the WEF's Future of Jobs Report. How Will AI Impact Succession Planning? To be able to effectively understand, anticipate and manage AI risks, leadership teams need the appropriate talent. Over half (54%) of CEOs view AI and related technologies as threats to their business, according to a Russell Reynolds report. The risk is especially high around cybersecurity. AI's growing role in strategic planning makes it imperative to revisit leadership talent needs, identification and development. The more AI becomes central to strategic decision making, the more important it is for leadership pipelines and succession planning to reflect this shift. Your AI leadership and talent pipeline should reflect AI's centrality to your business strategy—fundamentally changing your products and services, versus supporting your operations. In this evolving environment, there is no set formula or defined role. Some firms will have chief AI officers. But other AI roles abound. They may include AI transformation leader, for enterprise-wide transformation, AI product leader, to push a specific AI offering; or AI innovation leader, to understand and develop AI possibilities across the business, according to Russell Reynolds. What Are Liabilities From AI Job Displacements? Because of disparities in gender and racial or ethnic representation across a wide range of occupations, replacing people with AI could disproportionally affect protected classes of employees in some jobs. For example, because AI is increasingly used to automate customer service jobs, retail roles, and warehouse jobs, Black and Latino workers, who tend to be overrepresented in those jobs, may be especially likely to be let go. A similar effect is expected in some of the jobs where women tend to be clustered, like cashiers, secretaries and bookkeeping clerks, which AI is poised to more readily replace. Disparate impact—when a seemingly neutral employment decision negatively affects people in a protected class category like gender, race, age, national origin—that results from AI-based employment decisions can become a liability. To minimize exposure, firms may want to ensure that introducing AI to replace employees in specific roles is a business necessity. They may also want to explore less discriminatory alternatives. How AI might affect strategy is a topic of discussion in many boardrooms. Most firms anticipate they will need AI skills to address the disruptions and opportunities it brings. But AI is likely to have broader consequences for the firm's entire talent pool, forcing hard questions about who gets reskilled, hired, or fired. Companies that ask—and effectively answer these questions—are likely to navigate these disruptions more smoothly and be best prepared for the future.


Forbes
16-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Will 45% Of Work At Moderna Be Completed By AI By 2030? Yes
The rapid automation of high-level cognitive work is underreported and will dramatically transform talent management. Within two years, 95% of all cognitive tasks performed by humans will be better executed by AI. This prediction, shared by AI experts from DeepMind, Meta and MIT at the MIT AI Day at Davos in January, is stunning, and we are only beginning to realize its profound implications to talent management. Gen AI now automates high-level cognitive work such as software development (through code-editing tools) and research (via deep research tools) in ways unimaginable just 24 months ago. Early adopters of gen AI are showing us the new definition of talent management as they reimagine and restructure their entire operations around fewer people and more AI technology to drive higher productivity. Moderna and One Digital: Case Studies in AI Co-workers Consider Moderna, a highly sophisticated life sciences company, many of whom perform extremely advanced cognitive work. These employees conduct high-value cognitive tasks across many departments: Moderna is a major user of OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise across its 5,000-person workforce and already operates 3,000 GPTs or simple AI agents, according to the Wall Street Journal. To better manage this change, it notably combined its HR and AI efforts into a new role, chief people and digital technology officer, led by Tracey Franklin. Companies like OneDigital are going as far as naming its software AI co-workers, providing them with job descriptions and training periods, and allowing them to be "fired" if they underperform (as my colleague, John Sviokla, explained in Forbes here).Based on rapid AI improvement trends, strong Moderna leadership and competitive industry pressure, the following cognitive work scenario is possible. The rapid adoption of gen AI increases the ratio of AI software robots to human workers Percent of Cognitive Work Done by AI at Moderna Seem crazy? I don't think so. Just think about how much the frontier of possibility has changed in the last two years, since OpenAI introduced ChatGPT. These trends represent a fundamental and historic shift in how executives think about workforce composition. "Talent" for high-value cognitive tasks is no longer exclusively human. AI-progressive companies will grow mixed AI-human teams, similar to how modern military operations fully integrate AI with human with all gen AI applications, recognize that AI is probabilistic-based software, and errors or "hallucinations" can occur. Eliminating the associated business risks often involves having a 'human the loop'. The transformation is already underway. AI progressive firms will be a mix of humans and thousands of AI agents. Leaders are starting on this journey today.


Zawya
13-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
ArabyAds Talent introduces the next evolution of celebrity management and representation for MENA's public figures
Dubai, UAE — ArabyAds, the leading global AdTech company founded in the MENA region, today announces the launch of ArabyAds Talent, a strategic talent management solution designed to serve the region's most influential public figures shaping culture, commerce, and discourse. Built to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving media and business landscape, ArabyAds Talent offers an integrated infrastructure that supports sustainable growth, safeguards reputational equity, and unlocks long-term value through strategic representation. This launch represents a pivotal shift in how talent is managed across the region, moving away from traditional representation models and toward a structured, insight-driven framework that aligns influence with business strategy, legal protection, and market relevance. ArabyAds Talent is built for individuals whose presence in the public sphere is not only valuable but also highly visible and increasingly complex, including top-tier entertainers, elite athletes, prominent creators, thought leaders, and public figures. The solution provides institutional-grade support across strategy, legal, communications, and partnerships, anchored in regional insight and global execution standards. 'Representation today requires more than negotiations and visibility,' said Shady Essam, CEO of ArabyAds Talent. 'It requires a long-term strategy, legal protection, narrative discipline, and the infrastructure to grow public capital in a market where relevance can shift overnight. ArabyAds Talent is built to meet that need. With active operations in over 15 markets across MENA, ArabyAds Talent gives talent access to a unified network that integrates commercial opportunities, brand partnerships, public positioning, and media support under one umbrella. Individuals represented by the division benefit from consistent narrative control, deal security, and curated exposure that aligns with their long-term positioning, not short-term visibility. For brands, ArabyAds Talent offers a solution to a growing challenge: finding the right public figures who aligns with a brand's values as well as possess the credibility and cultural currency to drive meaningful engagement. Rather than focusing on superficial metrics, this solution prioritizes strategic fit, clarity in execution, and measurable relevance, connecting brands with individuals who influence not only reach, but perception and market behavior. ArabyAds Talent strengthens the company's mission to offer comprehensive solutions that support the full spectrum of brand growth in MENA, covering advertising and technology and the strategic management of influence itself. About ArabyAds ArabyAds is a leading global advertising technology company born in the MENA region. It empowers brands to drive sustainable growth through a unified portfolio of solutions spanning media, data, creative, retail media, and influencer marketing. ArabyAds was named Marketing Platform of the Year by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) MENA for three consecutive years. These honors reflect its continued commitment to building solutions that reshape how brands connect with consumers in a fragmented digital landscape.


Forbes
08-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
From Commitment To Action: Delta Air Lines' Skills-Based Transformation
Thanks to their robust approach to change management, Delta Air Lines has effectively translated their skills-first commitment to action across the large company. Hear from Ebony Thomas of Grads of Life and Brian Wright of Delta about what has gone into their impressive transformation. Getty As a growing number of companies embrace skills-based hiring and talent management, the model is both making headlines and attracting newfound scrutiny. As with many new ideas, the shift to skills-based is easier to describe than to implement. Many employers' enthusiasm about the idea outpaces the speed with which they can change their often-entrenched talent practices. That's what makes effective change management strategies such an important part of employers' skills-first transformation. And any talent leader interested in learning what good change management looks like should look at the work of Delta Air Lines. Delta depends on an intentional and thoughtful approach to ensure they have the very best employees to help connect and serve their more than 200 million customers each year. What sets Delta's strategy apart is their commitment to change management, which enabled them to translate their vision into concrete action — and results. Why Delta Was Ready for Skills-Based Transformation 'At Delta, growing our people has always been a top priority,' says Brian Wright, Director of Global Leadership, Learning & Development. 'Our skills-based approach is really about helping our people grow what they need and want to grow in their careers, move across the company, and perform at a high level. It's not just good for them, it's how we improve the customer experience, run a more efficient operation, and live up to our brand promises every day.' Three years ago, Delta expanded its talent development work by transitioning hiring and development practices to become skills-based. According to the initiative's mission, the goal was to shift 'to what you know from where you learned it,' building on Delta's existing commitment to create new approaches to developing and retaining talent. 'This was a natural transition for us, because we run the ultimate team sport. Delta people learn from Delta people every day, so this transition helped us break out of old assumptions about our peoples' experience and what they can do,' Wright explains. 'It opened the door to valuing real, demonstrated capabilities, whether that comes from a classroom, hands-on experience or somewhere in between.' What enabled Delta to make this transition so effectively was that the company already had some of the key building blocks in place to manage such a significant practice change: From Commitment to Action After its decision to transition to a skills-based organization, Delta made several big changes to put that vision into practice. The company removed degree requirements for over 90% of jobs, opening new career pathways for a broader range of candidates. The company also launched the Delta Analytics Academy, a partnership with Georgia State University, to train frontline employees in advanced analytics skills like data visualization, using platforms such as Python, SQL, and Tableau. This program not only equips participants with skills for more advanced roles but also provides a clear pathway for upward mobility within the company. Some of Delta's existing programs, including its Propel program for aspiring pilots and its apprenticeship program, complemented this work by providing other pathways for employees to gain skills to grow their careers. While great, these programs only served a small few of their over 100,000 employee population. In parallel, Delta introduced the Talent Hub – an internal platform that helps employees strengthen the skills that matter most in their current roles, explore skills they're curious about, and prepare for future opportunities. Whether improving customer communication or learning new leadership skills, employees are empowered to grow where they are and how they choose. Talent Hub is being designed to improve performance, elevate the employee experience, and support a stronger, more agile workforce across Delta. In tandem with launching Talent Hub, Delta is investing in AI-powered tools and platforms to personalize development and drive performance at scale. Delta is also currently enhancing Talent Hub with AI to recommend learning, skill growth areas, and internal opportunities tailored to each employee's role, goals, and skills and proficiency levels, creating a more intuitive, skills-connected experience across the enterprise. 'We're designing for performance and personalization at scale,' says Stephanie Asbury, Chief Talent Officer. 'That means giving every employee, whether you're on the ramp or work in revenue management, the tools to see where they are, grow where they want, and impact what matters.' Delta is also scaling coaching skills to its leaders, through 'Nadia,' an AI coaching platform enabled to help more effectively coach their teams, while modeling Delta's values. 'Nadia puts coaching in the hands of every leader in our business, even if they're 10 gates away from their desks,' says Asbury. 'It reflects how we want to lead – rooted in our values, digitally enabled, performance focused, and grounded in how our operation actually runs.' Beyond tools, Delta is building critical workforce skills to accelerate digital transformation and enhance the customer experience. These efforts focus on upskilling in areas key to designing and improving the products and services that matter most to customers. 'Delta's frontline employees have a wealth of experience serving our customers and understanding their needs,' said Allison Ausband, Chief People Officer. 'That depth of experience combined with modern technical skills allows our decision making at every level of the company to take meaningful action in response to what we hear from our people and our customers. That powers better results for our business so that we can continue to invest in our people.' Along the way, the team at Grads of Life was grateful for the chance to both learn from and support Delta's skills-based journey. It was a pleasure to leverage our tools and expertise to contribute to their impactful efforts. Leaning into the company's commitment to effective change management, our work focused on helping them implement their comprehensive talent transformation in the 'Delta way:' involving a broad range of stakeholders, working collaboratively, iterating constantly with deliverables, and developing tailored messaging for different levels of the organization to help them tell their story as effectively as possible. Of course, as successful as Delta's approach has been, the shift wasn't without its challenges. Some employees initially worried that focusing on skills might undervalue the degrees they had worked hard to earn, a common change management challenge among skills-first employers. By emphasizing that skills complement traditional credentials in decision making, rather than replace them, Delta was able to address concerns directly, maintain employee trust, and reinforce the importance of hiring merit-based, top talent to continue best serving the airline's global customers, communities and each other. 'Our slogan is 'Keep Climbing,' so our people know that success doesn't stop when you reach the destination – it's just the beginning. Traditional credentials show us the path you've taken and your commitment. Successfully demonstrating the skills you've learned – regardless of where you learned it – shows us you can perform, and performance is what drives our business,' said Wright. Delta's adoption of skills-based principles demonstrates how even large global companies, with a strong foundation and a thoughtful change management plan, can transform how they develop and recognize talent. 'This is how we create value: Investing in our people allows them to give the very best to our customers and drive business success,' adds Ausband. 'Our skills-based journey is about career mobility, yes - but it's also about building confidence, clarity and high performance in every role.' By drawing on the support of its leadership and a commitment to collaboration across teams, Delta is showing how large organizations can lead the way in building a more skills-driven, performance focused culture - where people grow, customers benefit, and the business thrives.