Since launching Siemens USA’s Optimistic Outlook podcast five years ago at the height of the pandemic, Siemens USA CEO Barbara Humpton, who recently announced her retirement from Siemens USA, has brought listeners inspiring conversations about the people and ideas shaping a better future. In her final episode as host of the show, journalist and Widehall Founder & CEO Steve Clemons flips the script—interviewing Barbara about the podcasting journey, her tenure as CEO, and what gives her confidence in the future. True to form, Barbara closes this milestone moment by offering her own optimistic outlook.

Barbara explores how technology is reshaping industries and communities — starting with one of the world’s most pressing needs: housing. Mikael Hedberg, a shipbuilder’s son, is reimagining home construction as the founder and CEO of ADMARES with robotic precision and modular design, promising abundant, affordable homes built with dramatically less waste. Siemens’ Eryn Devola shows how digitalization and automation can turn factories into engines of sustainability, cutting emissions while boosting productivity and profitability. Together, they reveal how scaling today’s technologies faster can unlock a future where industry builds not just products, but resilience, opportunity, and a better quality of life.

Show notes

How do we prepare today’s workers for the jobs of the future and ensure no one is left behind? In this episode of Optimistic Outlook, Barbara Humpton sits down with Guild CEO Bijal Shah to explore how employers, educators, and governments can come together to unlock workforce potential. From frontline roles in healthcare and manufacturing to the emerging demands of AI and advanced technologies, they discuss what it takes to build resilient, future-ready talent pipelines.

Together, they dive into why reskilling and upskilling are now a business imperative, how employers can open doors through accessible, stackable learning pathways, the role of public–private partnerships in solving critical talent shortages and why continuous learning is the key to economic growth and opportunity.

This conversation is about more than education—it’s about creating inclusive pathways, breaking down barriers, and rethinking what it means to prepare workers for a rapidly changing world.

Show notes

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[New Research] Build vs Buy: Manufacturing Talent Strategy in the Age of Automation, AI, and, Reshoring: The manufacturers best positioned for the next decade are building talent from within. The numbers speak for themselves: employers could collectively save $2.8B by developing the top five roles in manufacturing internally rather than hiring externally. New research from Lightcast and Guild reveals how leading manufacturers are solving skills gaps, reducing time-to-fill, and cutting labor costs by developing their existing workforce.

[Webinar] Build vs Buy: Manufacturing Talent Strategy in the Age of Automation, AI, and Reshoring: Join leaders from Guild, Lightcast, and Siemens on September 30 as they discuss new research. Explore how to shift from relying only on hiring talent to building talent from within; make smarter Total Rewards and L&D investments based on real-time labor market signals; and mobilize internal pipelines that support business priorities like smart manufacturing, new product cycles, and supply chain agility.

Guild resource hub