Everyone's talking about what AI does to the work. This episode is about what it does to people.

For generations, the way you got good at a job was by doing the small, unglamorous work first. That entry-level grind was the training ground where judgment and expertise got built. AI is very good at that grind, which raises a harder question than "is AI good or bad for us": if the rungs people used to climb are quietly disappearing, what grows the next generation?

This week, Emily Shelton and co-host Katie Dunn, in her first time in the chair, sit down with business anthropologist and author Meghan French Dunbar to get into it. The conversation moves from the disappearing entry-level rung to what genuinely can't be automated, why care is a trainable leadership skill rather than a personality trait, and how leaders can hold the real benefits of AI and its real costs at the same time.

In this episode we cover:

• Why entry-level work has always been the training ground, and what happens when AI absorbs it
• AI as a thinking partner rather than a labour replacement, including Meghan's honest take on sycophancy and how she retrained hers to push back
• What to do with the time AI frees up, and why the instinct to cram it with more work misses the point
• Care as a leadership skill rather than a personality trait, and why it can be trained
• One thing anyone can do tomorrow, whatever their level, to make their work a little more human

Referenced in this episode

• "Generative AI at Work" (Brynjolfsson, Li and Raymond, Stanford and MIT), the source for the 14% overall and 34% novice productivity findings: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/generative-ai-work
• "Mental Health at Work: Managers and Money" (UKG Workforce Institute), on managers affecting mental health as much as a spouse: https://www.ukg.com/company/newsroom/managers-impact-our-mental-health-more-doctors-therapists-and-same-spouses
• Torani's people-first opportunity model: https://www.inc.com/jennifer-conrad/toranis-growth-strategy-no-layoffs-local-jobs-shared-ownership/91284581
• Erin Wade's colour-code system at Homeroom: her EEOC testimony at https://www.eeoc.gov/testimony-erin-wade-founder-and-ceo-homeroom, and her 2018 Washington Post op-ed

We've had two conversations about AI on this podcast: whether it could write your values, and whether it could write your strategy. This one is more personal than that.

In this episode, Emily, Laurie, and Bev Attfield (joining the AI conversation for the first time) explore a question that's become impossible to avoid: what does the arrival of AI actually mean for the way we work, and for a company like Within?

The conversation centres on Within's evolving belief that the evolution of work is superhuman. That AI, used well, might finally liberate us from doing robotic work so we can focus on the things that are irreducibly human. Empathy. Relationships. Creativity. The discomfort of making something that actually matters.

It wouldn't be an honest conversation without the hard parts too. What does it mean for the people inside organizations who aren't ready? What do we lose when we make creativity too frictionless? These are questions we're genuinely sitting with, not ones we've figured out. If you're a leader navigating this right now, we think you'll find yourself in this conversation.

Highlights

1. Why Within sees AI as an existential question, and an exciting one
2. What machines can't do: love, dream, discern, and hold accountability
3. Why the journey to an outcome still matters more than the output itself
4. What's coming next: Within is writing an AI manifesto, and you're invited along

In this episode, Within People Partner Bev Attfield sits down with Kate Bravery, Senior Partner and Global Leader of Talent Advisory at Mercer, for a grounded conversation about what leaders are really navigating right now as work continues to evolve.

Drawing on insights from Mercer’s 2026 Global Talent Trends Report, Bev and Kate explore the emotional realities shaping organizations today — from AI anxiety and rapid technological change to shifting expectations around leadership, culture, and human connection at work.

Together, they unpack what’s underneath many of today’s workplace challenges, why leaders need to pay attention to how change feels — not just how it functions — and how organizations can move forward with intention, curiosity, and care.

This conversation is for leaders who are asking:

1. How do we support people through uncertainty and change?
2. What does meaningful leadership look like in an AI-influenced world?
3. And how do we stay human while work continues to evolve?

If this episode resonates with what you’re seeing inside your organization, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to continue the conversation — we’re always curious about what leaders are navigating right now.