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Welcome to this new issue of Talent Edge Weekly!

First, a shout-out to Christine Johnson, Director of Organizational Capability & Talent COE at Acumatica, for referring new subscribers to Talent Edge Weekly. Thank you, Christine, for your support of this newsletter!

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PRESENTED BY Draup

Build, Buy, Borrow, or Bot? Rethinking Enterprise Sourcing for the AI Economy

As enterprises accelerate AI adoption, one question keeps coming up: does Build–Buy–Borrow still work as a sourcing framework?

Our latest working paper argues it does not and proposes a practical alternative.

Draup's Build–Buy–Borrow–Bots framework introduces a seven-layer sourcing model that gives each component of an AI-era capability its own logic, ownership, and governance. Built on Draup's enterprise capability research, the model helps sourcing and transformation leaders:

• Identify where most AI sourcing strategies are breaking down

• Understand why agents matter more than bots and what to do about it

• Apply a consistent sourcing structure across any enterprise function

• Govern the stack without optimizing each layer in isolation

If your organization is making AI capability decisions this year, this report gives you the framework to make them well.

THIS WEEK'S CONTENT

Below are links and descriptions of the topics covered in this issue. If you're interested in my deep dive, you can read the full newsletter.

• The Costly Cycles That Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) Gaps Create | Brian Heger | I share how SWP gaps show up in two costly ways: overhiring and premature AI-driven layoffs. I reshare an HBS tool to help assess how vulnerable specific jobs are to AI replacement versus augmentation.

• Chief People Officers’ Outlook Insight Report | World Economic Forum Centre for the New Economy and Society | A new 19-page report tracks Chief People Officer sentiment on global labor market conditions across three areas.

• The Perils of Using AI to Replace Entry-Level Jobs | The American Association for Physician Leadership | Amy C. Edmondson and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic share four tactics for redesigning entry-level jobs rather than eliminating them.

• 9 Scenarios When Performance Traps Can Emerge Along With Sample Actions to Address | Brian Heger | My cheat sheet with 9 scenarios that can undermine performance, along with tactics to identify and address each.

• 2026 Work Trend Index Annual Report: Agents, Human Agency, and The Opportunity for Every Organization | Microsoft | A new 29-page report with insights on the factors that disproportionately unlock AI's value.

Also, check out my job cuts tracker & Chief HR Officer move of the week, which is an excerpt from my CHROs on the Go platform.

TALENT EDGE CIRCLE - my private community

👉️ If you’re an internal HR practitioner who wants to go deeper with me and other internal HR practitioners on talent topics tied to your most critical priorities, learn about my private community, Talent Edge Circle.

THIS WEEK'S EDGE 

WORKFORCE PLANNING

The Costly Cycles That Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) Gaps Create | Brian Heger

I share how SWP gaps show up in two costly ways: overhiring and premature AI-driven layoffs. I reshare an HBS tool to help assess how vulnerable specific jobs are to AI replacement versus augmentation.

Strategic workforce planning (SWP) is consistently rated a top HR priority among HR practitioners. Yet it also carries one of the largest gaps between importance and capability. I recently shared BCG's and WFPMA analysis of 28 workforce practices, which found SWP ranked fourth in terms of that gap, meaning organizations know it matters but have not built the muscle to do it well. That gap shows up in predictable ways. One of the most common is overhiring, in which organizations miscalculate how many people they need, and when workforce supply outpaces demand, resort to layoffs only to begin rehiring when demand returns. I recently addressed this cycle with my post and cheat sheet featuring eight questions to evaluate whether a vacant role needs to be backfilled. Another symptom is premature AI-driven layoffs, where roles are eliminated to fund AI investments before organizations fully understand how work is changing, what can be automated versus augmented, or which human capabilities will still be needed. Without that clarity, workforce decisions risk being undone at significant cost. Gartner predicts that by 2027, half of companies that cut staff due to AI will rehire for similar functions, often under different job titles. To help bring more clarity to these decisions, I am resharing an interactive HBS Working Knowledge tool that lets you gauge how vulnerable a job is to AI replacement versus augmentation. Use the dropdown filters by job category or keyword to see where occupations land on the spectrum, a useful starting point for more informed workforce planning.

Read on brianheger.com

CHIEF HR OFFICER OUTLOOK

Chief People Officers’ Outlook Insight Report | World Economic Forum Centre for the New Economy and Society

A new 19-page report tracks Chief People Officer sentiment on global labor market conditions across three areas.

This past week, the World Economic Forum released its updated Chief People Officers' (CPO) Outlook, a report that tracks shifts in sentiment on global labor market conditions by regularly surveying short-term expectations around talent availability and job creation among CPOs. The May 2026 edition (based on a survey of more than 140 global CPOs between January and March 2026) covers three areas: 1) an appraisal of global and regional labor market sentiment, 2) current workforce strategy trends with a particular focus on AI deployment, and 3) the workforce impact of increased geopolitical and geoeconomic fragmentation. One finding is that while half of the surveyed CPOs expect talent availability in their industry to improve over the next 12 months, there is significant variation across geographic regions, with stronger talent availability expectations in East Asia, China, and Europe, and more cautious outlooks in Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Latin America. When CPOs were asked which workforce and talent planning actions they will prioritize in the next 6–12 months in response to geoeconomic disruption, strengthening local talent pools through internal mobility and rapid redeployment capabilities ranked first, cited by 50% of respondents; this is one signal that organizations are increasingly looking at ways to redeploy internal talent more effectively rather than depending on an uncertain and uneven external labor market. With this in mind, I am resharing three of my cheat sheets designed to strengthen internal mobility. You can get all three of them in the Best of April 2026 issue of Talent Edge Weekly. See resource 9.

Access report

ENTRY-LEVEL JOBS AND AI

The Perils of Using AI to Replace Entry-Level Jobs | The American Association for Physician Leadership

Amy C. Edmondson and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic share four tactics for redesigning entry-level jobs rather than eliminating them.

A few weeks ago, I shared the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI’s 2026 AI Index Report, one of the most comprehensive annual reports on the state of AI. While there was much to unpack in the 400+ page report, one finding I highlighted was that early-career workers in AI-exposed roles, such as software development and customer support, have experienced meaningful employment declines, while mid-career and senior workers in those same roles have held steady or grown. This matters because entry-level roles help people build the tacit knowledge, judgment, and leadership capabilities that senior roles eventually require. Organizations that automate away entry-level positions without rethinking early-career talent strategies may find their leadership pipelines weakening in the years ahead. In a new article, Amy C. Edmondson and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic argue that the smarter path is to redesign entry-level jobs rather than eliminate them. They offer four tactics, including building critical thinking alongside AI use. One example they cite is banking, where junior analysts participate in “red teaming” exercises that require them to challenge AI outputs for incorrect assumptions, missing data, and logical flaws, and then defend their critique to senior colleagues. Amy and Tomas also cite research in Science showing that novices who accept AI outputs uncritically can perform worse than those who reason through problems themselves, reinforcing why building the capability to question AI outputs early matters. Do you have a strategy for redesigning your organization’s entry-level roles before the pipeline gap shows up in your leadership bench?

Read article

PERFORMANCE AND DEVELOPMENT

9 Scenarios When Performance Traps Can Emerge Along With Sample Actions to Address | Brian Heger

My cheat sheet with 9 scenarios that can undermine performance, along with tactics to identify and address each.

Recently, while backing my car out of a narrow parking space in a shopping center, I checked my mirrors and thought I had a clear view. But just as I began to move, someone walked behind my car. Fortunately, my vehicle's safety system alerted me in time. It was a reminder of how easily we can overlook something nearby, simply because we’re unaware it’s there, even when we think we’re paying attention. The same thing happens in organizations. We can miss critical issues or behaviors that are right in front of us simply because they fall outside our awareness. In the workplace, blind spots can undermine performance, relationships, and career growth if not recognized and addressed early. These scenarios can vary by context, such as being a first-time manager, being a new hire in an organization, shifting from an operational to a strategic role, or returning to a role after a career break. To help, here's my one-page cheat sheet with nine example scenarios where blind spots often emerge, early warning signs they may be present, and a sample tactic to address each. As you review it, consider asking a colleague, boss, or direct report: What's one thing you think I'm unaware of in how I work or lead that, if improved, could significantly and positively impact my own performance and that of my team? The answer may uncover a hidden opportunity to accelerate your growth, fuel team performance, and create stakeholder value.

Access cheat sheet

AI IN THE WORKPLACE

2026 Work Trend Index Annual Report: Agents, Human Agency, and The Opportunity
for Every Organization | Microsoft

A new 29-page report with insights on the factors that disproportionately unlock AI's value.

Most would agree that unlocking AI's potential to deliver organizational value requires more than deploying tools and training individuals on them. It requires building the organizational conditions that disproportionately drive AI's impact. With this as the backdrop, Microsoft's new 2026 Work Trend Index Annual Report, drawing on a survey of 20,000 AI users across 10 countries, shares several insights worth examining. To identify which factors drive AI impact, the report first defined what AI impact means: employees reporting that AI helps them be more creative, do new kinds of work, produce higher-quality output, collaborate more effectively, and improve career opportunities. It then tested 29 factors across three categories: 1) organizational environment (culture, manager support, talent practices, governance, etc.), 2) individual mindset and behavior (AI mindset, usage sophistication, etc.), and 3) demographics, using multiple analytical models that produced consistent results across factors such as job level, industry, and market. One finding: organizational factors account for more than twice the impact of individual factors (67% vs. 32%), with organizational AI culture, manager support, and talent practices emerging as the top three. The report provides tactics across each of these areas to help guide investments toward those most likely to unlock AI's value faster. Since this reflects only one angle of the full 29-page report, I encourage you to read it in its entirety for additional context.

Access report

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

SUCCESSION PLANNING

Role-Based vs. Pool-Based Succession Planning: A Few Ideas for Determining the Right Approach | Brian Heger

My cheat sheet that helps HR practitioners evaluate whether to use role-based succession, pool-based succession, or a combination of both based on their organization's context.

Access cheat sheet

JOB CUTS AND LAYOFF TRACKER

Check out my tracker of announcements from a segment of organizations that have conducted job cuts and layoffs since the start of 2023.

A few job cuts announced this past week:

• Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN). The cryptocurrency exchange is cutting approximately 700 employees, or 14% of its global workforce, citing a combination of crypto market volatility and an acceleration of AI-driven operations. The company plans to flatten its organizational structure, eliminate pure management roles, and complete the majority of the reductions in Q2 2026, with estimated severance costs of $50–$60 million.

• Freshworks (NASDAQ: FRSH). The customer service and IT support software company is laying off approximately 500 employees, or roughly 11% of its global workforce, citing the rapid adoption of AI in engineering and product development. CEO Dennis Woodside told Reuters that more than half of the company's code is now written by AI, and said savings from reducing management layers and consolidating sales teams will be redirected toward its Employee Experience business.

• PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL). The online payments company plans to cut approximately 20% of its global workforce — more than 4,500 positions — over the next two to three years as part of a broad restructuring under new CEO Enrique Lores. The plan targets at least $1.5 billion in savings and is focused on removing organizational layers and reinvesting in core technology infrastructure.

Click here to access my tracker, which includes all announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER MOVE OF THE WEEK

This past week, 12 new CHRO announcements were posted on CHROs on the Go, my digital platform tracking movement in and out of the CHRO role. 

This week’s highlight is:

• GSK (LONDON) [NYSE: GSK / LSE: GSK] — a global biopharma company — appointed Roanne Parry as Chief People Officer, succeeding Diana Conrad, who retired after seven years in the role. Parry joins from CSL, where she served as Chief Human Resources Officer since January 2024. Prior to CSL, she spent more than two decades at GSK, holding multiple senior leadership roles including SVP HR – R&D, SVP HR – Global Pharma Commercial, and VP HR – Emerging Markets. As CPO, she also joins GSK's Executive Committee. 

 🔑 To access all detailed CHRO announcements from this past week and over 4,500 archived announcements, join CHROs on the Go. It’s the easiest way to stay informed about movement in and out of the Chief HR role.

If you are already a subscriber to CHROs on the Go, log in here.

My Private Community

Talent Edge Circle

If you’re an internal HR practitioner who wants to go deeper with me and other internal HR practitioners on talent topics tied to your most critical priorities, learn about my private community, Talent Edge Circle.  

🗓️ June 17, Adam Gibson, Practice Lead for EY’s Org & Workforce Transformation Organization and author of Agile Workforce Planning, will join Talent Edge Circle for a discussion on strategic workforce planning.

🗓️ July 22, Dave Ulrich, professor at the Ross School of Business (University of Michigan) and co-founder of The RBL Group, will join Talent Edge Circle for a discussion on creating stakeholder value through HR.

FROM ME ON LINKEDIN

THE BEST OF APRIL 2026

Did you miss the “Best of April ” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #345, which includes the most popular resources from the month.

Special thanks to 365Talents for sponsoring the Best of April issue. Download 365Talents The Strategic Buyer Guide to Skills Intelligence.

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