Work/25: The Way Forward

Virtual summit
May 8, 2025
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Navigate a new world of work.

It’s a challenging new world. One that artificial intelligence constricts and expands. Where employers grapple with remote work, DEI initiatives, organized labor. And employees demand culture, coaching, and growth — but not without balance and flexibility.

Work/25 provides a way forward. Live virtual sessions. Experts in artificial intelligence, talent management, human resources, workplace culture, labor relations, and work design. Real, actionable strategies that you and your team can use to overcome today’s most pressing workplace challenges.

This event will include live translation and closed captioning.
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What You’ll Get

I got more out of this four-hour event than three days at a coaching conference.

2023 Summit Attendee

All the speakers were great. I took pages of notes and downloaded all the handouts.

2023 Summit Attendee

Amazing value! Very interesting presentations and useful insights.

2024 Summit Attendee

Speakers Will Include

A virtual summit covering the most pressing topics at work.
Artificial Intelligence Digital Transformation Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Skill Building Talent Management Transformative Leadership Work Design Workplace Culture
Sessions

Elizabeth Altman is an associate professor of management at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, research affiliate at MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy, and guest editor for the Future of the Workforce at MIT Sloan Management Review. She has been a visiting professor at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) and visiting scholar at Harvard Business School.

Altman’s research focuses on strategy, innovation, platforms, ecosystems, future of work, and workforce ecosystems. Her research has appeared in Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Academy of Management Annals, Journal of Management Studies, and other international journals. Prior to academia, Altman was a Motorola vice president.

Elizabeth J. Altman
Associate Professor of Management, Manning School of Business
UMass Lowell
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May 8, 2025
10:00 AM - 2:30 PM EDT

Navigate a new world of work.

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Live Event Date
May 8, 2025
10:00 AM - 2:30 PM EDT
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Welcome
Abbie Lundberg, Editor in Chief, MIT SMR
Elizabeth Heichler, Editorial Director, Magazine, MIT SMR
Redesign Work to Prevent Burnout
Sharon K. Parker, John Curtin Distinguished Professor, Curtin University, Australia

Burnout is running rampant. This hits organizations hard both in terms of lower productivity and higher talent churn. “Fix-the-worker” strategies do little to resolve stress caused by long hours and unreasonable workloads. Explore a new model for improving work design that can help you make real change.

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Why Building Mastery Is Critical to Talent Management
Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice, London Business School

Rapid changes in technology and business conditions will require many of us to reinvent ourselves over the course of our working lives. But as we pick up new skills and discard outdated ones, what valuable core competencies are we building over time? This session will explore the concept of mastery and how to better support it for your team.

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Presenting Sponsor: Leading the Skills-Powered Enterprise
Ravin Jesuthasan, Senior Partner & Global Leader for Work, Skills and Transformation Services, Mercer

By focusing on skills over jobs, leading companies are reinventing themselves to ensure a more agile, resilient, and flexible AI-ready future. In this session, Jesuthasan will share ideas from his recent book, The Skills-Powered Organization, including how to optimize human-machine teaming with work design, and how to get value from a skills-powered approach today.

Most Diversity Programs Don’t Work — Here’s What to Do Instead
Karen Brown, Author of The Leaders You Need: How to Create Diverse Leadership Teams for a More Dynamic, Resilient Future

Too many executives approach diversity, equity, and inclusion as a set of programs designed to target underrepresented populations rather than as a method for discovering and capitalizing on the talent they need to achieve business outcomes. This session will present a field-tested framework for unlocking leadership and management talent in your organization while achieving improved diversity outcomes.

Lessons From the Culture Champions
Donald Sull, Professor of the practice, MIT Sloan and Cofounder, CultureX
Marvin Boakye, Chief Human Resources Officer, Cummins Inc.

In research involving more than 1,000 large U.S. employers, Don Sull has identified the key ingredients that go into building a culture that produces both exceptional business results and a world-class employee experience. Companies that achieve such results are culture champions. In this session, Sull and Marvin Boakye, CHRO of culture champion Cummins, will share insights and actionable advice.

Bring Your Own AI: Harness Business Value
Nick van der Meulen, Research Scientist, MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research

Employees increasingly rely on Bring Your Own AI (BYOAI) to boost their individual productivity. But to get organizational value, leaders must transition from ad hoc GenAI tool usage and grassroots innovation to scalable GenAI solutions that address strategic objectives. Explore how to navigate the GenAI innovation process, development decisions, and vendor partnerships to realize business value.

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Effective Approaches to Managing Organized Labor
Thomas Kochan, George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management, Emeritus at MIT Sloan School of Management

Interest in unionization has surged among U.S. workers, and a growing number of strikes and strike threats have affected operations in several industries. Management has traditionally adopted an adversarial approach to organized labor, resulting in work disruptions and months-long standoffs that benefit no one. In this session, we’ll explore constructive approaches to managing organized labor that can yield better outcomes for all stakeholders.

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The Impact of AI on Work and the Economy
Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor, MIT, and 2024 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences

As companies wrestle with AI investment decisions and implementation strategies, understanding the technology’s true economic potential is crucial for effective planning. Drawing from his groundbreaking research, Professor Acemoglu will help separate AI hype from reality, offering practical insights on where the technology can deliver genuine value in their organizations. In this fireside chat, he’ll discuss why current AI applications may yield more modest returns than expected, how leaders can identify the most promising use cases for their workforce, and why focusing on reliable, task-specific AI tools for key professionals like technicians, health care workers, and customer service staff may be more valuable than pursuing broader AI initiatives. Leaders will learn how to avoid common pitfalls in deployment and identify the kinds of problems and contexts that are best suited to tackle with AI.

Closing Remarks
Abbie Lundberg, Editor in Chief, MIT SMR
Elizabeth Heichler, Editorial Director, Magazine, MIT SMR
Work/25: The Way Forward