The Edge of Now

Jason Averbook
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Careers

The Edge of Now is a conversation about what AI means for people, work, leadership, and the organizations we’re part of. Hosted by Jason Averbook and Jess Von Bank, each episode starts with the signals shaping the week, then looks past the headlines to find the real story, the human question, and the choices ahead. Expect strong opinions, honest disagreement, and practical thinking about workforce orchestration, trust, productivity, education, the humanities, and the changing value of human capability. Created by Now to Next for people who want to do more than react to the future. They want to help shape it.

Episodes

  1. 4d ago ·  Video

    Episode 4: Your Organization Is Connected. But Has It Forgotten How to Connect?

    Send us Fan Mail Organizations have spent years connecting people through platforms, devices, chat, video, and increasingly intelligent systems. Yet being connected is not the same as building connection, and technology will not decide for us when people need presence, conversation, judgment, or trust. In Episode 4 of The Edge of Now, Jason Averbook and Jess Von Bank explore what it means to design humanity into technology-enabled work. Beginning with back-to-school phone policies and moving through AI workflows, remote work, meeting rituals, software design, social platforms, and AI companionship, they examine where human interaction is being weakened, where technology can strengthen it, and who is responsible for drawing the line. The conversation raises an urgent leadership question. As AI becomes more capable and platforms become more persuasive, will organizations intentionally design the moments when humans should engage with one another, or will connection remain an accidental byproduct of systems built for efficiency and attention? The opportunity is not to reject technology. It is to combine human and machine systems in ways that make work, learning, and life more capable, fulfilling, and human. Highlights Why being connected through technology is not the same as building human connectionWhat back-to-school device policies reveal about our struggle to combine attention and technological capabilityWhy banning tools outright can deny people capabilities they will need in the futureHow leaders can design specific moments for presence, judgment, conversation, and collaborationWhy platforms cannot be expected to protect every human interest when their commercial incentives point elsewhereWhat systems thinking and design thinking contribute to AI-enabled workWhy forward-deployed engineers need to understand human outcomes, not merely technical requirementsHow measures such as quality of hire can become meaningless when the business problem has movedWhy the next generation of system implementation must integrate human and machine systemsHow technology can become an excuse for behaviors people would not choose face to faceWhat meeting rituals, team scrums, and communication choices teach us about intentional connectionWhen bots should talk to bots and when humans must remain involvedWhy some members of Gen Z are turning to AI for emotional support and personal issuesWhat leaders, educators, parents, and platform users need to understand about persuasive design, privacy, and trustWhy humans remain responsible for designing technology that makes work and life more fulfillingStay Connected: Jason Averbook LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonaverbook/ X: https://x.com/jasonaverbook Substack: https://jasonaverbook.substack.com/ Jess Von Bank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessvonbank/ X: https://x.com/jessvonbank Substack: https://jessvonbank.substack.com/ Now to Next Website: https://nowtonext.ai LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/now-to-next-ai/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowtonext.ai/ Now to Next - The Feed: https://www.youtube.com/@nowtonextai Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: MDR2MFWYVNVIS7KB, PK2PQ2D65ENBEQDL

    Episode 4: Your Organization Is Connected. But Has It Forgotten How to Connect?

  2. Aug 14 ·  Video

    Episode 3: AI Can Find the Answer. Can Your Organization Still Think?

    Send us Fan Mail AI has made information easier to access and first drafts easier to produce, but abundant answers do not automatically create better thinkers. As schools, universities, and workplaces race to introduce AI, the more urgent question is what people should learn when the answer itself is no longer scarce. In Episode 3 of The Edge of Now, Jason Averbook and Jess Von Bank explore why everyone is going back to school, regardless of age or role. They examine the durable human capabilities that become more valuable as technology accelerates, including curiosity, judgment, adaptability, presence, expertise, and the ability to ask better questions. The conversation moves beyond prompt engineering and AI adoption to a more consequential challenge: how do we create experiences that strengthen thinking, preserve human agency, and help people practice their way into new capabilities? For leaders, educators, parents, and anyone trying to navigate this moment, the goal is not simply to know more. It is to become a better learner in a world that will not stop changing. Highlights: Why back-to-school season now applies to leaders, employees, parents, students, and educatorsWhy waiting for a dramatic AI threshold distracts us from changes already happening around usHow organizations can help change happen with people instead of merely to themWhy human value must be designed into the technological revolution from the beginningWhich durable capabilities become more valuable when information and basic production become abundantWhy expertise matters most when it is paired with curiosity, humility, adaptability, and contextual judgmentHow practice, feedback, reflection, and real work build capabilities that a conventional course cannotWhy the future of learning may be less about transferring knowledge and more about creating better thinkersHow AI detection tools and unclear rules can punish people for using the very tools they were told to adoptWhy prompt engineering should not become the center of organizational AI educationWhat organizations should measure instead of logins, usage, and superficial adoptionWhy leaders must define value and outcomes before prescribing toolsHow schools and workplaces can create the capacity, culture, and presence required for meaningful learningWhy knowing who you are may matter more than knowing exactly what you will doStay Connected: Jason Averbook LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonaverbook/ X: https://x.com/jasonaverbook Substack: https://jasonaverbook.substack.com/ Jess Von Bank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessvonbank/ X: https://x.com/jessvonbank Substack: https://jessvonbank.substack.com/ Now to Next Website: https://nowtonext.ai LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/now-to-next-ai/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowtonext.ai/ Now to Next - The Feed: https://www.youtube.com/@nowtonextai Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: MDR2MFWYVNVIS7KB, PK2PQ2D65ENBEQDL

    Episode 3: AI Can Find the Answer. Can Your Organization Still Think?

  3. Aug 7

    Episode 2: Your Smartwatch Might Be Recording This. Enterprise Governance, Employee Trust

    Send us Fan Mail AI can preserve organizational knowledge, expand human capability, and capture context that traditional systems routinely miss. It can also record, retain, and repurpose more of our work, behavior, and judgment than most people fully understand. In Episode 2 of The Edge of Now, Jason Averbook and Jess Von Bank examine the complicated relationship between AI, privacy, trust, and human value. They explore what happens when organizations encourage experimentation while limiting access, when useful technology begins to feel like surveillance, and when a person’s knowledge becomes training material for a system. The question is not whether organizations should use this technology or protect people from its risks. The real challenge is designing governance that allows responsible progress while ensuring that the people whose knowledge creates value are recognized, protected, and included in that value. Listen to the conversation and consider what a fair value exchange between people, organizations, and AI should look like. Highlights: Why encouraging AI experimentation while restricting tokens sends a contradictory messageHow organizations can support different levels of AI participation without rebuilding an outdated center-of-excellence modelWhy probabilistic technology requires new education and clearer expectationsWhen meeting recorders, wearables, and voice technology begin to feel like surveillanceWhat separates listening, recording, storing, and repurposing human informationWhy trust requires more than accepting a privacy policy or checking a consent boxHow AI could preserve tacit knowledge without treating employees as extractable training dataWhy effective governance should keep responsible experimentation movingHow voice can capture context that forms, fields, and surveys routinely missWhat organizations owe people when their experience and judgment help train intelligent systemsHow AI could make previously invisible human contribution easier to recognize and rewardWhy human agency must be designed into the value exchange from the beginningStay Connected: Jason Averbook LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonaverbook/ X: https://x.com/jasonaverbook Substack: https://jasonaverbook.substack.com/ Jess Von Bank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessvonbank/ X: https://x.com/jessvonbank Substack: https://jessvonbank.substack.com/ Now to Next Website: https://nowtonext.ai LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/now-to-next-ai/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowtonext.ai/ Now to Next - The Feed: https://www.youtube.com/@nowtonextai Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: MDR2MFWYVNVIS7KB, PK2PQ2D65ENBEQDL

    Episode 2: Your Smartwatch Might Be Recording This. Enterprise Governance, Employee Trust

  4. Jul 31

    Episode 1: When Work Outgrows the Organization

    Send us Fan Mail AI is changing what work is, but most organizations still rely on job descriptions, structures, and leadership practices built for a less fluid world. In the first episode of The Edge of Now, Jason Averbook and Jess Von Bank examine why people increasingly contribute across functions while organizations continue to keep them in boxes. They discuss the growing value of organizational context, the difference between routine and frontier problems, and what happens when companies invest in AI without redesigning the work around it. The capabilities already exist. The harder question is whether leaders are prepared to organize around outcomes, expand human potential, and build organizations that learn as quickly as work changes. Listen to the conversation and consider what your organization may already have outgrown. Highlights: Why “What do you want to do next?” may be more useful than asking what someone wants to beWhat cross-functional AI use reveals about the changing nature of workWhy broad learning may be becoming more valuable than narrow expertiseHow outdated job descriptions quietly constrain organizational valueWhy organizational context may matter more than model selectionWhat companies should document before introducing agentic workflowsThe difference between routine, complex, and frontier problemsWhy advanced AI should be reserved for questions requiring genuine discoveryWhat separates AI investment from meaningful work redesignWhy leadership may be the greatest barrier to becoming AI-nativeAbout the Hosts Jason Averbook Jason Averbook has spent more than 30 years shaping HR technology and workforce transformation. His career includes leadership roles at PeopleSoft and Ceridian, co-founding and leading Knowledge Infusion from 2005 to 2012, serving as CEO of The Marcus Buckingham Company, and co-founding and leading Leapgen from 2018 to 2023. After serving as Mercer’s Global HR Transformation Leader, he co-founded Now to Next to help leaders prepare people and organizations for an AI-shaped world Jess Von Bank Jess Von Bank brings more than 20 years of experience across recruiting, talent strategy, employer branding, HR technology, and workforce transformation. She began as a recruiting practitioner before moving into leadership roles focused on bringing workforce solutions to market, including global HR transformation and technology advisory work at Mercer. She is now co-founder of Now to Next, where she combines industry expertise, community building, storytelling, and a human-centered perspective on change. Stay Connected: Jason Averbook LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonaverbook/ X: https://x.com/jasonaverbook Substack: https://jasonaverbook.substack.com/ Jess Von Bank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessvonbank/ X: https://x.com/jessvonbank Substack: https://jessvonbank.substack.com/ Now to Next Website: https://nowtonext.ai LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/now-to-next-ai/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowtonext.ai/ Now to Next - The Feed: https://www.youtube.com/@nowtonextai Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: MDR2MFWYVNVIS7KB, PK2PQ2D65ENBEQDL

    Episode 1: When Work Outgrows the Organization

  5. Jul 30

    Intro Episode: Welcome to The Edge of Now

    Send us Fan Mail The world doesn't need another podcast. It needs a better conversation. Welcome to The Edge of Now, a weekly conversation with Jason Averbook and Jess Von Bank exploring the space where technology meets humanity and where the future of work is being shaped in real time. Each week, they'll unpack the biggest signals shaping our world by asking four questions: What happened? What's the story behind it? What's the human impact? And where is the edge? If you're looking for thoughtful conversations that move beyond the hype and help you navigate what's next, you're in the right place. New episodes release every Friday at 7:00 AM Central Time. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and we hope you'll tune in every Friday as we explore the ideas, questions, and possibilities waiting at the edge of now. Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: MDR2MFWYVNVIS7KB, PK2PQ2D65ENBEQDL About the Hosts Jason Averbook Jason Averbook has spent more than 30 years shaping HR technology and workforce transformation. His career includes leadership roles at PeopleSoft and Ceridian, co-founding and leading Knowledge Infusion from 2005 to 2012, serving as CEO of The Marcus Buckingham Company, and co-founding and leading Leapgen from 2018 to 2023. After serving as Mercer’s Global HR Transformation Leader, he co-founded Now to Next to help leaders prepare people and organizations for an AI-shaped world. Jess Von Bank Jess Von Bank brings more than 20 years of experience across recruiting, talent strategy, employer branding, HR technology, and workforce transformation. She began as a recruiting practitioner before moving into leadership roles focused on bringing workforce solutions to market, including global HR transformation and technology advisory work at Mercer. She is now co-founder of Now to Next, where she combines industry expertise, community building, storytelling, and a human-centered perspective on change. Stay Connected: Jason Averbook LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonaverbook/ X: https://x.com/jasonaverbook Substack: https://jasonaverbook.substack.com/ Jess Von Bank LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessvonbank/ X: https://x.com/jessvonbank Substack: https://jessvonbank.substack.com/ Now to Next Website: https://nowtonext.ai LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/now-to-next-ai/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowtonext.ai/ Now to Next - The Feed: https://www.youtube.com/@nowtonextai Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: MDR2MFWYVNVIS7KB, PK2PQ2D65ENBEQDL

    Intro Episode: Welcome to The Edge of Now

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

The Edge of Now is a conversation about what AI means for people, work, leadership, and the organizations we’re part of. Hosted by Jason Averbook and Jess Von Bank, each episode starts with the signals shaping the week, then looks past the headlines to find the real story, the human question, and the choices ahead. Expect strong opinions, honest disagreement, and practical thinking about workforce orchestration, trust, productivity, education, the humanities, and the changing value of human capability. Created by Now to Next for people who want to do more than react to the future. They want to help shape it.

Information

  • Creator
    Jason Averbook
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Edge of Now
  • Show Website
    The Edge of Now