Unlocked Professional: AI and Future of Work

Jeff Midland | AI & Future of Work Enthusiast
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Most companies are stuck in "experimentation theater". Buying AI tools that go nowhere while their teams are exhausted by the hype. Welcome to The Unlocked Professional, where we stop playing with AI and start running it like a business operation. Hosted by Jeff Midland, we interview the visionaries from Chief AI Officers to Workforce Futurists. We give you the "Cheat Code" for staying relevant. Learn to move from being just a worker to an Architect of the future. We dive deep into Human-Centric AI, Agentic workflows, and the ADOPT method to ensure you remain irreplaceable. Stop the social grinding and start building a real strategy that works with AI, not against it.

  1. 23h ago

    Banana Bread Recipes, AI, and the Future of Hiring Talent | Brady Green

    Struggling with slow startup hiring, unrealistic candidate profiles, and low offer acceptance rates? Brady Green, Co-founder of Voyager Talent Solutions and former recruiting leader at Amazon, Twitter, and Square, joins Jeff to break down why most early-stage searches fail long before the first resume is submitted. In this episode, he explains how to calibrate founder expectations, why outbound sourcing habits from agency recruiting create corporate edges, and why AI can handle sourcing volume but human trust is required to close top candidates. Key Topics Why startup recruiting searches fail due to poor calibration rather than candidate scarcity Brady's transition from agency recruiting at Aerotek to scaling teams at Amazon, Twitter, and Square The pivotal moment at Amazon that forced a transition to data-driven, input-focused recruiting Contrasting enterprise talent systems with rapid, scrappy startup growth environments The Voyager model: calibrating expectations, hiring founding engineers, and building internal talent capability Overcoming the "purple squirrel" problem and helping founders define realistic hiring requirements Why technical talent uses filters to block automated AI outreach and how to stand out Balancing automation efficiency with human closing, relationship building, and candidate advocacy Episode Timestamps 0:00 Why startup searches fail before resumes ever arrive 0:24 Brady Green's recruiting leadership background at Amazon, Twitter, and Square 9:37 The Amazon data meeting that transformed Brady's approach to talent analytics 11:23 Building outbound sourcing capabilities inside enterprise recruiting teams 17:31 Key differences in recruiting culture when moving from Amazon to Twitter 19:23 Launching Voyager Talent Solutions to support seed through Series D founders 28:21 The "purple squirrel" problem and calibrating founder expectations 36:48 AI sourcing tools, automated candidate outreach, and message fatigue 43:50 Why effective talent acquisition requires a balance of automation and human connection 54:02 Where to find Voyager Talent Solutions and connect with Brady Green Guest Links Website: https://voyagertalent.com/ LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/brady-green-2304b7b/ Keywords: Brady Green, Voyager Talent Solutions, startup recruiting, talent acquisition, recruiting strategy, outbound sourcing, technical recruiting, hiring calibration, Amazon recruiting, Twitter recruiting, candidate experience, AI sourcing, talent strategy

  2. Sep 16

    She Built AI Automations for Army HR — 1.4 Million People, Zero Jobs Lost | Kris Saling

    Struggling to navigate the complexities of enterprise AI adoption and workforce transformation? Kris Saling, Director of Workforce Transformation and former Chief Technology Advisor for the Assistant Secretary of the Army, joins Jeff to share how she approaches large-scale talent management. In this episode, she breaks down her "AI Driver's Ed" framework for executive leadership, why traditional resumes are breaking in an AI-heavy hiring environment, and how organizations can eliminate millions in operational overhead without removing human judgment. Key Topics Kris Saling’s 25-year U.S. Army career and transition into enterprise workforce transformation The "AI Driver's Ed" framework: guiding leaders to use AI safely, effectively, and responsibly Why resumes fail in modern talent acquisition and how performance-based assessments replace them Military-scale talent matching lessons: navigating data quality, job analysis, and change management The Durable Core, Middleware, and Disposable Edge mental model for skills and system architecture Eliminating transactional administrative friction to create space for high-impact strategic work Evaluating AI tools and candidates by focusing on the core decision rather than the technology Building custom internal agents for research, contract review, budgeting, and institutional memory Episode Timestamps 0:00 Kris Saling's tech background and talent management approaches 0:28 Why executive leadership requires AI "Driver's Ed" over basic adoption hype 4:33 How AI application volume is breaking traditional resume screening 6:00 Lessons from military record briefs and direct commissioning pipelines 13:32 Overcoming data quality and adoption hurdles in large-scale modernization 17:20 The Durable Core, Middleware, and Disposable Edge skills architecture 22:24 Identifying genuine AI capability versus polished buzzword fluency 25:42 Starting with human decisions to design effective AI workflows 28:22 Developing custom internal agents for research, contracts, and budgeting 33:29 Using AI calendar audits to reduce executive meeting overload 42:41 Where to follow Kris and track her workforce transformation work Guest Links Website: https://kristinsaling.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kris-saling Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kcsaling Keywords: Kris Saling, workforce transformation, AI in talent management, defense innovation, executive leadership, AI adoption, skills-based hiring, agentic workflows, change management, operational efficiency

  3. Sep 9

    AI Doesn't Just Screen Resumes. It Can Kill Your Useless Meetings Too | Chiara Barden

    Struggling to get your team to meaningfully adopt AI beyond basic prompt generation? Chiara Barden, Founder of Better by Design AI and former HR leader at Capital One, joins Jeff to share why AI adoption is fundamentally a people challenge rather than a tech issue. In this episode, she breaks down how to structure high-impact prompts, why treating AI as a coworker changes output quality, and how stacking specialized AI personas can turn non-technical professionals into builders. Key Topics Why successful AI adoption requires solving human behavior before software setup Moving past simple prompting to embrace iterative refinement and testing Treating AI tools as collaborative coworkers to produce higher-quality outputs Training executive recruiting teams to integrate custom AI agents into HR workflows Using stacked personas to simulate an entire software development team Building functional AI applications without a traditional engineering background Navigating personal and professional transitions by leveraging AI to save time Episode Timestamps 0:00 Why AI adoption is a people problem rather than a technology problem 0:29 Chiara’s background in HR, enterprise AI training, and knowledge management 0:52 Launching Better by Design AI and developing practical adoption frameworks 5:08 Why most users stop at initial prompting instead of iterating 8:56 The mental model of treating AI systems like a digital coworker 11:04 Building custom AI agents for specialized talent acquisition workflows 16:53 Transitioning from tactical HR tasks to strategic, AI-driven project management 25:03 How stacking AI personas creates multi-disciplinary team simulations 29:48 Developing the AI Treasure Hunter app without a software background 41:45 Understanding how your specific role creates value in an AI-driven economy 44:10 Where to connect with Chiara and join her Free Fridays sessions Guest Links Website: https://betterbydesignai.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiaralb Keywords: Chiara Barden, Better by Design AI, AI adoption, prompt engineering, HR technology, custom AI agents, stacked personas, talent acquisition, workplace productivity, future of work, AI training

  4. Sep 2

    The Career Lattice: How AI is Reshaping Talent Mobility | Carisue Bench

    Overwhelmed by how AI is disrupting traditional business models and team dynamics? Carisue Bench, Executive Coach and Workforce Strategy Advisor at NarrativeShift Coaching & Advisory, joins Jeff to challenge how leaders navigate the future of work. In this episode, she breaks down why AI adoption is fundamentally a business transformation issue rather than an IT rollout, how leaders can cultivate trust through organizational shifts, and why human capabilities like curiosity, communication, and adaptability matter more than ever. Key Topics Moving from high-volume recruiting into executive workforce strategy and consulting Viewing AI adoption as a systemic business transformation rather than a technical tool The essential role of human skills: curiosity, adaptability, and clear communication Guiding executive teams through organizational change while maintaining culture and trust Actionable career strategies for entry-level professionals entering corporate environments Why deep functional expertise and human judgment remain vital in automated workplaces Episode Timestamps 0:00 Carisue’s trajectory in enterprise workforce strategy and talent consulting 1:05 Why AI integration requires business model transformation over tech fixes 3:13 Growing up in Cupertino and transitioning from recruiting to regional executive roles 7:12 Moving into enterprise human capital advisory and executive coaching 12:02 Case study: Future-of-work shifts in financial services during pandemic disruptions 16:46 How an innovative HR leader automated her routine tasks using AI 19:37 Deploying AI to identify organizational patterns, refine strategy, and frame better questions 22:25 Aligning C-suite AI discussions with concrete, core business challenges 27:03 Why successful organizational change requires visible executive sponsorship 38:41 Overcoming corporate hesitation: How younger professionals can build confidence 43:43 Final advice on continuous learning and taking agency over your career path Guest Links Website: https://www.narrative-shift-coaching.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carisuebench/ Keywords: Carisue Bench, workforce strategy, AI transformation, future of work, executive coaching, talent advisory, organizational change, leadership development, human skills, change management, career growth

  5. Aug 26

    Artificial Intelligence In Recruiting: The Talent Engineering Playbook | Kyler Frisbee

    Struggling with high ATS noise, fraudulent applications, and generic sourcing tools? Kyler Frisbee, Founder of Optimal Tech Partners and Seedglass, joins Jeff Midland to share how he went from semi-pro snowboarder to tech recruiter at Google, Rivian, and Unity, and eventually to AI systems builder. In this episode, he breaks down why modern talent acquisition requires "talent engineering," how proprietary agentic sourcing surfaces hidden candidates from public signals, and why trust, closing, and candidate advocacy remain distinctly human. Key Topics Kyler's trajectory from semi-pro snowboarding to tech recruiting at Google, Rivian, and Unity Transitioning from traditional recruitment into talent engineering and vibe coding Building proprietary AI sourcing engines that search beyond standard resume databases Why building in public, GitHub activity, and published work are replacing static resumes Lessons from early 2014 IBM Watson recruiting experiments vs. modern context-aware AI Overcoming ATS noise, fake profiles, and application spam through multi-signal sourcing The human elements that cannot be automated: trust, negotiation, and candidate advocacy Hands-on AI building using tools like Claude Code, Replit, Lovable, and GitHub workflows Episode Timestamps 0:00 Kyler’s background and transition from action sports to tech recruiting 4:11 How proprietary sourcing engines find candidates standard platforms miss 5:36 Why building in public creates stronger signals than traditional resumes 6:58 What IBM Watson's early recruiting efforts got wrong in 2014 10:19 Head-to-head sourcing results on complex technical roles 12:14 The evolving role of resumes as validation rather than discovery 21:12 Why Kyler kept his sourcing engine proprietary instead of selling software 28:15 Balancing automated sourcing stacks with human-driven closing 31:28 How non-tech sourcing, like finding electricians via permits, works 33:48 Avoiding overengineered agent swarms to keep API costs down 40:38 How coding agents empower non-engineers to build functional tools 50:03 Where to follow Kyler and his Talent Engineer content Guest Links Website: https://optimal.tech/ and https://seedglass.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/techgentleman/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/techgentleman/ Keywords: Kyler Frisbee, Talent Engineer, AI sourcing, technical recruiting, candidate sourcing, building in public, Claude Code, Replit, Lovable, ATS noise, recruiting automation, talent acquisition, human-centered recruiting

  6. Aug 19

    How This Recruiter Became an Engineer Using Artificial Intelligence | Bryan Hong

    Navigating strict compliance while trying to modernize talent acquisition? Bryan Hong, Head of AI Services at Astranis, joins Jeff to share how he built multi-agent recruiting workflows inside one of the most regulated aerospace environments in tech. In this episode, he breaks down his leap from finance and agency recruiting into engineering, how his six-agent swarm compresses weeks of talent research into hours, and why AI fluency has become a non-negotiable skill for modern recruiters. Key Topics Bryan Hong’s transition from finance into agency recruiting, tech sourcing, and AI engineering Building compliance-ready AI workflows within regulated aerospace environments The architecture of a six-agent recruiting swarm (Sensei, Atlas, Hunter, Shakespeare, Oracle, QA) Reducing talent research and candidate prep time from weeks down to hours Agency grit versus in-house ownership and deep business context The five pillars of top recruiters: interpersonal skill, domain, data, influence, and AI fluency Using AI as an accelerator to build tools without needing a traditional coding background Navigating enterprise security, compliance, and moving prototypes to production Episode Timestamps 0:00 Building AI systems within regulated aerospace environments 1:26 Bryan’s background in finance, fintech, and falling into recruiting 6:03 Why regulated hiring at Astranis made recruitment automation critical 9:20 How a six-agent swarm cuts candidate research from weeks to hours 14:30 Using AI to build functional tools without becoming a full-time coder 19:13 The prompt engineering mindset required for iterative AI development 21:35 The key capabilities separating level one recruiters from level four domain owners 32:00 Getting AI tools past strict enterprise security and compliance protocols 43:17 How to evaluate true AI fluency and scientific prompt design in candidates 51:16 Why AI fluency is becoming a core job requirement rather than a bonus skill 56:23 Where to follow Bryan's work, prompts, and automation builds Guest Links Website: https://www.astranis.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanhong/ Keywords: Bryan Hong, AI in recruiting, recruiting automation, agentic workflows, multi-agent systems, enterprise AI, regulated aerospace, talent acquisition, recruiting strategy, AI fluency, prompt engineering, recruiter productivity, future of work

  7. Aug 5

    Why Most Leaders Are Playing Checkers With Artificial Intelligence | Kelly Monahan

    Struggling to balance aggressive AI implementation with employee burnout and organizational wellbeing? Dr. Kelly Monahan, Managing Director at the Upwork Research Institute and former Future of Work Lead at Meta, joins Jeff to challenge how business leaders approach workforce transformation. In this episode, she breaks down why short-term cost-cutting undermines long-term innovation, how skills-based workforce planning replaces rigid job descriptions, and why maintaining humanity is essential when AI rewrites the future of work. Key Topics Aligning organizational AI strategy with human-centered workforce goals Macroeconomic pressures driving AI adoption for cost-cutting versus long-term innovation Core future skills: resilience, systems thinking, AI fluency, and adaptability Shifting from rigid job descriptions to skills-based workforce planning The impact of AI on knowledge work and potential rebalancing toward physical skills How AI democratizes expertise and reshapes traditional positional authority The leadership framework of Drift, Delirium, and Dream for organizational transformation Cross-industry AI applications for operational flexibility and customer experience Episode Timestamps 0:00 Leaders prioritizing AI strategy over workforce wellbeing 0:30 Kelly's background from Kodak layoffs to human-centered AI research 2:47 Short-term cost-cutting versus long-term value creation 5:43 Identifying core business problems before deploying AI tools 6:11 Moving from rigid job titles to competency-based skill mapping 13:04 Labor market shifts, skill re-evaluation, and identity disruption 16:22 Top five skills for future employment in an AI-driven economy 26:41 Assessing organizational readiness, AI ROI, and strategy over hype 30:42 The Drift, Delirium, and Dream framework in leadership development 33:01 How AI democratizes expertise and diminishes formal corporate authority 42:51 Final advice on personal agency and continuous learning Guest Links Website: https://www.beyondthedesk.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-monahan-ph-d-18879413 Keywords: Kelly Monahan, human-centered AI, future of work, skills-based hiring, workforce planning, Upwork Research Institute, leadership development, AI strategy, organizational culture, upskilling

  8. Jul 29

    Skills-Based Hiring: How Vervoe's CEO Is Rebuilding the Interview | Omer Molad

    Sending out resumes only to meet dead ends and radio silence? Omer Molad, Co-founder and CEO of Vervoe, joins Jeff to challenge how companies evaluate human potential entirely. In this episode, he breaks down why traditional resumes fail to predict performance, how Vervoe's audition-style simulations replace outdated screening methods, and why the future of talent acquisition belongs to skills-based hiring rather than pedigree. Key Topics The measurement problem in modern hiring Why resumes are misleading marketing documents Audition-based hiring and real-world task simulations AI-powered assessments for candidate evaluation Balancing AI proficiency with fraud detection Remote-first work culture and distributed teams Voluntary obsolescence and continuous self-reinvention Episode Timestamps 0:00 Why hiring is a measurement issue, not a talent shortage 0:29 Omer's journey from candidate to founder 1:57 Why traditional resumes fail to identify actual capability 2:56 The inspiration behind Vervoe's real-job scenario assessments 6:17 Remote work culture and living the Australian countryside lifestyle 11:25 Moving past pedigree and replacing interview fatigue 14:43 How AI assesses current skills and future candidate potential 18:33 Detecting AI cheating and maintaining assessment integrity 25:42 Designing practical simulations that mimic on-the-job tasks 34:46 Why companies are abandoning traditional resume screening 48:15 Embracing continuous reinvention and voluntary obsolescence 50:11 Where to find Omer and follow his work Guest Links Website: https://vervoe.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omermolad/ Keywords: Omer Molad, Vervoe, skills-based hiring, AI assessments, recruitment technology, future of work, talent acquisition, skill validation, remote work, audition-based hiring

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Most companies are stuck in "experimentation theater". Buying AI tools that go nowhere while their teams are exhausted by the hype. Welcome to The Unlocked Professional, where we stop playing with AI and start running it like a business operation. Hosted by Jeff Midland, we interview the visionaries from Chief AI Officers to Workforce Futurists. We give you the "Cheat Code" for staying relevant. Learn to move from being just a worker to an Architect of the future. We dive deep into Human-Centric AI, Agentic workflows, and the ADOPT method to ensure you remain irreplaceable. Stop the social grinding and start building a real strategy that works with AI, not against it.

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