PRESENTED BY Draup

AI-Native Skills Architecture for the Enterprise

As organizations pivot toward skills-based strategies in workforce planning, hiring, and internal mobility, the missing link remains a scalable, intelligent skills architecture—one that goes beyond surface-level role definitions.

Draup’s AI-powered Skills Architecture addresses this need head-on. It breaks down roles into root skills, core competencies, and associated tech stacks.

Built on over 850 million job descriptions, 50k products in Tech Stack, and a taxonomy of 17,500+ curated skills, our model allows organizations to:

Surface hidden capability gaps across business units
Anticipate the next wave of skill evolution
Orchestrate targeted, skill-first talent interventions

If your organization is serious about embedding a skills-based approach at scale, download Draup’s Skills Architecture report to see what’s possible.

Issue 308 of Talent Edge Weekly

Here is an abridged version of issue 308—The Best of July 2025 of Talent Edge Weekly. The abridged version:

only includes links and brief descriptions of the 17 resources
does not include my in-depth review
does not include bonus resources
is for those who just want easy access to the 17 resources

You can access the full version of issue 308 HERE at any time!

Brian

I. Workforce Planning & Scenario Planning

Highlights how organizations can strengthen workforce planning by integrating scenario planning to anticipate and prepare for future talent needs.

Using Scenario Planning to Inform Workforce Planning | Brian Heger | My cheat sheet with questions to help HR and business leaders align workforce plans with potential business scenarios.
Scenario Planning Amid Radical Uncertainty | MIT Sloan Management Review | Offers guidance to conduct more effective scenario planning—a critical capability for both business and workforce planning.
Strategic Workforce Planning: Why It’s More Critical than Ever | McKinsey HR Monitor 2025 | A 34-page report with benchmarks across multiple areas of HR, including workforce planning.

II. Succession, Leadership, & Organizational Change

Features tools and research focused on succession planning, leadership behaviors, and managing the cumulative toll of organizational change.

CEO Succession: 10 Pitfalls Boards Must Avoid— and the CHRO Practices That Help | HR Policy Association and Center for Executive Succession | A 25-page report offering practical insights on how CHROs can play a pivotal role in helping boards overcome key challenges in CEO succession.
Succession Planning Cheat Sheet | Brian Heger | My one-page cheat sheet helps practitioners explore succession planning (SP) from four angles to support a more deliberate approach to SP.
The Total Cost of Difficult Leaders: Calculating the Hidden Expense of Toxic Management | Jonathan H. Westover | New research (not yet peer-reviewed) explores the hidden organizational costs of ineffective leadership—ranging from direct financial losses to cultural impacts.
Understanding the Cumulative Impact of Organizational Change | Brian Heger | My one-page template to help leaders assess current and proposed organizational changes to manage change fatigue better and ensure sustainable implementation.

III. Talent & Performance Enablement

Provides tools, frameworks, and practices to help organizations drive performance, retain key talent, enable skills-based talent practices, and rehire talented former employees.

Optimizing Resources—Financial and Talent—for the Second Half of the Year | Brian Heger | My template to help identify opportunities to redeploy resources—talent and financial— to high-priority areas.
9 Example Scenarios When Performance Traps Can Emerge and Actions to Take in Response | Brian Heger | My cheat sheet includes examples of workplace ‘blind spot’ scenarios and tactics to identify and mitigate them.
8 Questions to Help Managers and Their Direct Reports Elevate Their 1:1 Discussions | Brian Heger | My one-page cheat sheet to unlock opportunities for getting more value from 1:1 performance check-in discussions.
Reimagining Work: Building Skills-Powered Organizations for the Future | 2025 Wharton People Analytics Conference | A 35-minute presentation by Ravin Jesuthasan at the 2025 Wharton People Analytics Conference explores how organizations can adopt skills-based talent practices.
Employee Retention: Are You Proactively Identifying and Managing “Regrettable Losses?” | Brian Heger | My cheat sheet includes 10 examples of employee segments that may be considered regrettable losses—employees whose departure would negatively impact the organization.
Rehiring Former Employees as a Talent Strategy | Brian Heger | My cheat sheet for evaluating when rehiring a former employee might provide a talent advantage.

IV. AI in the Workplace

Covers how AI—particularly GenAI and AI agents—is reshaping workplace dynamics, from performance management and hiring to team collaboration and work design.

A Day in The Life of A Gen AI-Enabled Workforce | Deloitte Insights2Action | Explores how AI agents could shape the future of work through the illustrated experiences of three workforce personas.
How AI Assessment Tools Affect Job Candidates’ Behavior | Harvard Business Review | Shares results from a study on how AI-based hiring assessments can unintentionally influence candidate behavior.
How to Augment Employee Performance Management With GenAI | Gartner | Covers how AI might help organizations address common pain points associated with performance management.
AI Agents in the Workplace: A Curated Playlist of 5 Resources | Curated by Brian Heger | Recently published resources on AI agents in the workplace—beginning with broad trends and moving into practical applications, workforce implications, and scientific research.

For my full analysis, including several bonus resources, access the full version by clicking the button below.

Talent Edge Weekly is written by Brian Heger, a human resources practitioner. You can connect with Brian on Linkedin and brianheger.com