Work 2.0: The Podcast

Rachel Wells
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Work 2.0: The Podcast is your weekly briefing on careers, money, AI, and what’s next, hosted by Rachel Wells, LinkedIn Top Voice, award-winning entrepreneur, and Forbes contributor. Each week, Rachel breaks down the most important stories shaping the future of work, sharing her own insights alongside conversations with trailblazing experts, founders, and thought leaders. Whether you're building a career, a business, or a portfolio of income streams, this is your go-to show for staying relevant, profitable, and future-ready. therealrachelwells.substack.com

  1. 1d ago

    How Will AI Change the Legal Industry? | With Nicole Diaz (OpenAI), Ep. 48

    AI in legal work is moving from a conversational advisor to systems that can triage requests, apply policy context, and elevate the decisions that genuinely need human judgment. Senior Forbes contributor and Work 2.0 host Rachel Wells speaks with Nicole Diaz, Associate General Counsel at OpenAI, about how her ethics and compliance team is using AI for policy inquiries, conflict-of-interest guidance, and a developing compliance second brain. In this conversation, Rachel and Nicole discuss: * Agentic workflows * AI governance in high-risk decisions such as hiring * The changing economics of legal billing * And what the next generation of lawyers must learn right now Who should listen * In-house legal and compliance leaders building practical AI workflows. * Law firm partners * HR and business leaders introducing AI in higher-risk decisions, including hiring. * Early-career lawyers developing AI operations skills Read more on Forbes. Work 2.0: The Podcast examines AI, power, and the changing economics of work, bringing researchers, executives, and technology leaders together to discuss what technological change means for organizations and the people inside them. Follow the show for more conversations on artificial intelligence, agentic AI, the future of work, leadership, organizational transformation, and the changing relationship between humans and intelligent systems. Featured guest: Nicole Diaz, associate general counsel, OpenAI 🎧 Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts, and more. Don’t forget to rate, review, and share this episode with a co-worker or friend. Get full access to Work 2.0 at therealrachelwells.substack.com/subscribe

    How Will AI Change the Legal Industry? | With Nicole Diaz (OpenAI), Ep. 48

  2. Sep 24

    AI Slop On LinkedIn: How To Use AI Without Losing Your Voice | Katie Carroll (LinkedIn), Ep. #47

    AI slop is changing how professionals build trust, personal brands, and meaningful visibility on LinkedIn. Rachel Wells speaks with Katie Carroll, LinkedIn’s Director of Editorial and Product Strategy, about using AI to sharpen your ideas without losing your voice. On this episode, recorded live at LinkedIn’s exclusive Verified Vault event at the Royal Society of Arts in London, they discuss authentic professional content, human judgment, workplace AI slop, and why showing real experience can help people and organizations stand out. Who should listen * Professionals using AI to write LinkedIn posts while protecting their personal voice. * Founders, executives, and marketers building a credible online presence. * Content teams trying to use AI efficiently without producing generic, low-value output. * Job seekers and career changers who want their LinkedIn profile and ideas to inspire trust. Read more on Forbes. Work 2.0: The Podcast examines AI, power, and the changing economics of work, bringing researchers, executives, and technology leaders together to discuss what technological change means for organizations and the people inside them. Follow the show for more conversations on artificial intelligence, agentic AI, the future of work, leadership, organizational transformation, and the changing relationship between humans and intelligent systems. Featured guest: Katie Carroll, Director of Editorial and Product Strategy, LinkedIn 🎧 Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts, and more. Don’t forget to rate, review, and share this episode with a co-worker or friend. Get full access to Work 2.0 at therealrachelwells.substack.com/subscribe

    AI Slop On LinkedIn: How To Use AI Without Losing Your Voice | Katie Carroll (LinkedIn), Ep. #47

  3. Sep 14

    AI Can Write Your 30-60-90. Can You Defend It? | Megan Smith (SAP Americas), Ep. #46

    Your job candidate’s 30-60-90 plan may be excellent…it may also be AI. So what happens when their first project goes sideways, the stakeholders are disappointed, and there is no polished document to hide behind? Rachel Wells speaks with Megan Smith, Head of People and Culture at SAP Americas, about AI hiring, scenario-based interviews, performance management, and the early-career ladder that companies are dismantling. They unpack SAP’s approach to developing future leaders, why relationship-building may become a premium career skill, and the dangerous difference between impressive output and real capability. Who should listen * CHROs and people leaders redesigning hiring and performance systems around AI. * Talent acquisition teams dealing with AI-generated applications and interview credibility. * Early-career and learning leaders building stronger leadership pipelines. * Managers responsible for coaching, mentorship, and hybrid-team connection. * And yes, even job-seekers seeking to sharpen their edge Work 2.0: The Podcast examines AI, power, and the changing economics of work, bringing researchers, executives, and technology leaders together to discuss what technological change means for organizations and the people inside them. Follow the show for more conversations on artificial intelligence, agentic AI, the future of work, leadership, organizational transformation, and the changing relationship between humans and intelligent systems. Featured guest: Megan Smith, Head of People and Culure, SAP Americas 🎧 Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts, and more. Don’t forget to rate, review, and share this episode with a co-worker or friend. Get full access to Work 2.0 at therealrachelwells.substack.com/subscribe

    AI Can Write Your 30-60-90. Can You Defend It? | Megan Smith (SAP Americas), Ep. #46

  4. Sep 10

    Replit’s CEO Amjad Masad on AI Skills & The SaaS Reckoning | Ep. #45

    As AI makes software creation dramatically cheaper through vibe coding, what happens to the SaaS companies businesses have spent years paying for? Rachel Wells sat down with Replit co-founder and CEO Amjad Masad at the opening of the company’s new London headquarters for an exclusive interview about AI skills, workforce readiness, and the pressure on software companies to keep innovating. In this Work 2.0 conversation, Masad explains why ideas, judgment, and deep domain expertise may carry greater value as AI agents take on more execution work. They also discuss London’s AI talent, the future of coding, and what young people entering the workforce need to develop now. Read the Forbes write-up here. Work 2.0: The Podcast examines AI, power, and the changing economics of work, bringing researchers, executives, and technology leaders together to discuss what technological change means for organizations and the people inside them. Follow the show for more conversations on artificial intelligence, agentic AI, the future of work, leadership, organizational transformation, and the changing relationship between humans and intelligent systems. Featured guest: Amjad Masad, Replit CEO 🎧 Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts, and more. Don’t forget to rate, review, and share this episode with a co-worker or friend. Get full access to Work 2.0 at therealrachelwells.substack.com/subscribe

    Replit’s CEO Amjad Masad on AI Skills & The SaaS Reckoning | Ep. #45

  5. Sep 7

    LinkedIn: The AI Jobs Boom Has A Women Problem | Ep. #44

    AI jobs are growing rapidly, salaries are rising, and companies are racing to secure technical talent. But according to LinkedIn research, women accounted for only 26% of new AI hires in 2025 and hold just 13% of technical AI leadership roles. In this episode of Work 2.0, Rachel Wells speaks with Matthew Baird, economist at LinkedIn’s Economic Research Institute, and Sarah Steinberg, LinkedIn’s global public policy partnerships lead, about what is happening beneath the AI hiring boom. They unpack LinkedIn’s “AI triple penalty,” the shrinking share of women in some of the fastest-growing technical roles, the degree barrier inside AI hiring, and why the most gender-balanced AI role may also be one of the least secure. The conversation also examines skills-based hiring, sponsorship, STEM pipeline leakage, AI startup hiring, and why representation increasingly matters to business competitiveness, product development, trust, and economic growth. For professionals trying to understand where AI opportunity is actually flowing, this episode asks: who gets to participate in the AI economy, and who gets to lead it? Work 2.0: The Podcast examines AI, power, and the changing economics of work, bringing researchers, executives and technology leaders into conversations about what technological change actually means for organizations and the people inside them. Follow the show for more conversations on artificial intelligence, agentic AI, the future of work, leadership, organizational transformation and the changing relationship between humans and intelligent systems. Featured guests: Matthew Baird, Sarah Steinberg 🎧 Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts, and more. Don’t forget to rate, review, and share this episode with a co-worker or friend. Get full access to Work 2.0 at therealrachelwells.substack.com/subscribe

    LinkedIn: The AI Jobs Boom Has A Women Problem | Ep. #44

  6. Aug 31

    Medium’s CEO Talks AI Search, Human Curation, and the Future of Writing | Ep. #43

    AI search is reshaping where the best writing lives and who readers can trust. Rachel Wells speaks with Tony Stubblebine, CEO of Medium, about how private publishing communities are gaining ground, why AI detectors cannot settle authorship, and why human curation is becoming indispensable. In this episode, they examine AI-generated content, content quality, expert knowledge, provenance, and the rising value of lived experience as platforms decide what to surface. The conversation is a must-listen for hobbyist writers, journalists, authors—indeed, anyone who directly or indirectly makes a living through publishing content online. Work 2.0: The Podcast examines AI, power and the changing economics of work, bringing researchers, executives and technology leaders into conversations about what technological change actually means for organizations and the people inside them. Follow the show for more conversations on artificial intelligence, agentic AI, the future of work, leadership, organizational transformation and the changing relationship between humans and intelligent systems. Featured guest: Tony Stubblebine, CEO, Medium 🎧 Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts, and more. Don’t forget to rate, review, and share this episode with a co-worker or friend. Get full access to Work 2.0 at therealrachelwells.substack.com/subscribe

    Medium’s CEO Talks AI Search, Human Curation, and the Future of Writing | Ep. #43

  7. Aug 24

    98% Of Companies Have Had Rogue AI Agent Incidents. Here’s What Happens Next | Ep. #42

    About 98% of organizations surveyed experienced at least one AI agent-related incident that disrupted business or the organization. So what happens as companies hand AI agents more autonomy, access, and decision-making power? In this episode of Work 2.0: The Podcast, Rachel Wells sits down with Kavitha Mariappan, Chief Transformation Officer at Rubrik, and Vaibhav Sahgal of Economist Enterprise to examine new research into the risks emerging as agentic AI moves deeper into organizations. They unpack what an AI agent incident actually looks like, from unauthorized access and sensitive data exposure to corrupted business data, cascading agent-to-agent actions and threats that can spread at machine speed. The conversation goes deeper into a problem many organizations are only beginning to confront: What happens when an autonomous AI system has already acted before a human can intervene? Rachel, Kavitha, and Vaibhav explore: * Why 98% of surveyed organizations reported disruptive AI agent-related incidents * What happens when AI agents operate beyond their authorized permissions * Why traditional enterprise security controls may struggle with autonomous AI * Whether an AI “kill switch” can actually stop the damage * The difference between stopping an AI agent and reversing what it has already done * Why companies need visibility into every AI agent operating across the organization * How least-privilege access, data minimization, and anomaly detection can reduce the blast radius * Why third-party AI systems could become a major enterprise vulnerability * What “assume breach” means in an AI-powered organization * Whether companies could eventually be required to disclose major AI agent incidents to regulators, investors and customers We discuss how organizations can remain resilient when software can reason, act and interact with other systems at machine speed. Work 2.0: The Podcast examines AI, power and the changing economics of work, bringing researchers, executives and technology leaders into conversations about what technological change actually means for organizations and the people inside them. Follow the show for more conversations on artificial intelligence, agentic AI, the future of work, leadership, organizational transformation and the changing relationship between humans and intelligent systems. Featured guests: Kavitha Mariappan, Chief Transformation Officer, Rubrik; Vaibhav Sahgal, Economist Enterprise Economist Enterprise produced the research discussed in this episode in collaboration with Rubrik. 🎧 Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts, and more. Don’t forget to rate, review, and share this episode with a co-worker or friend. Get full access to Work 2.0 at therealrachelwells.substack.com/subscribe

    98% Of Companies Have Had Rogue AI Agent Incidents. Here’s What Happens Next | Ep. #42

  8. Aug 17

    Could Your First Remote Job Damage Your Career Growth? | Dr. Joshua Mask, Ep. #41

    Is remote work hurting Gen Z’s pay, professional development, and long-term career growth? In this episode of Work 2.0, Rachel Wells speaks with Temple University economist and former recruiter Joshua Mask about his new research separating the effects of remote work from generative AI on entry-level jobs and young workers. Mask’s research found that people entering remote-work-exposed occupations after 2020 earned about 1.8% less per hour and 2% less annually. On a $50,000 salary, that represents roughly $1,000 a year. But the explanation is more complicated than the headline. The difference could reflect the money workers save by avoiding a commute. It could reflect pandemic-era learning loss. It could also reveal a deeper early-career problem: remote workers may receive less training, feedback, professional socialization and access to the relationships that help people progress. Rachel and Joshua examine: • Whether remote work is affecting entry-level pay• Why the first few years of a career are economically significant• The relationship between remote work, AI and entry-level jobs• Why remote-capable jobs are often highly exposed to generative AI• What young professionals may miss when beginning their careers fully remotely• How proximity, feedback and informal learning influence career advancement• Why relationship-building could become more valuable as AI automates routine work• How employers can develop young talent in remote and hybrid workplaces• Why companies still need a strong talent pipeline in the AI era• What leaders risk when they treat AI as a replacement for workforce development This conversation moves beyond the familiar return-to-office argument. It examines how remote work is changing the way career capital, workplace relationships and professional credibility are built, particularly for graduates and early-career professionals. WHO SHOULD WATCH OR LISTEN? This episode is for: • Gen Z professionals, graduates and people beginning their first job• Employees considering fully remote or hybrid roles• Parents, educators and career advisers supporting young professionals• CEOs, HR leaders and talent acquisition teams• Managers responsible for remote onboarding, training and development• Employers building entry-level talent pipelines• Anyone concerned about AI, remote work and the future of entry-level careers Work 2.0 is the podcast about AI, power, and the future of work, hosted by Rachel Wells. 🎧 Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts, and more. Don’t forget to rate, review, and share this episode with a co-worker or friend. Get full access to Work 2.0 at therealrachelwells.substack.com/subscribe

    Could Your First Remote Job Damage Your Career Growth? | Dr. Joshua Mask, Ep. #41
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About

Work 2.0: The Podcast is your weekly briefing on careers, money, AI, and what’s next, hosted by Rachel Wells, LinkedIn Top Voice, award-winning entrepreneur, and Forbes contributor. Each week, Rachel breaks down the most important stories shaping the future of work, sharing her own insights alongside conversations with trailblazing experts, founders, and thought leaders. Whether you're building a career, a business, or a portfolio of income streams, this is your go-to show for staying relevant, profitable, and future-ready. therealrachelwells.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Rachel Wells
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    48
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Rachel Wells
  • Show Website
    Work 2.0: The Podcast