TOP TALENT PIONEER: THIS Is the Most Important Skill of the Future

by | Jul 30, 2025 | Podcast | 0 comments

Steve Cadigan
Steve Cadigan

Steve Cadigan is a Talent Advisor at Cadigan Talent Ventures, which helps top organizations and leaders build compelling talent solutions for the digital era. As a keynote speaker on the future of work, he has been at the forefront of global talent strategy and company culture for the past 30 years. Steve was LinkedIn’s first Chief HR Officer, having scaled the company’s talent from 400 to 4,000 in 3.5 years. 
He is the author of Workquake and has been recognized as an exceptional world-class performer in culture by The Wall Street Journal, Fortune magazine, and other publications. In 2021, Steve was recognized as being among the top 200 Global Thought Leaders in the world of people and talent.

 

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Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

  • [0:00] Steve Cadigan returns to talk about AI in the workforce
  • [4:28] Is college still worth the high cost in the US?
  • [12:29] Why AI’s creators are concerned about the technology’s power and influence
  • [16:04] How to guide others in implementing AI
  • [21:02] The ethical concerns of AI exposing personal hiring data
  • [24:00] Steve responds to Scott Galloway’s prediction about economic growth in super cities
  • [32:09] How China’s rapid growth in AI innovation and education threatens the US
  • [41:36] AI’s impact on the future of work
  • [44:27] Steve urges professionals to become a student of AI
  • [52:34] Insights from Steve’s upcoming book on hiring for potential rather than experience

In this episode…

As artificial intelligence takes over the workplace, many professionals and students are questioning the value of traditional education and wondering how to prepare for a future that seems increasingly unpredictable. With AI disrupting both blue- and white-collar jobs, and universities lagging behind in adapting to the digital age, how can individuals stay relevant?

Former HR executive Steve Cadigan urges professionals to become students of AI, develop uniquely human skills like empathy and communication, and prioritize adaptability over pursuing specific career paths. While AI is currently being used to cut jobs and costs, the real opportunity lies in creating new value and guiding others through the transition. Additionally, countries like China are accelerating AI-backed development through state-backed efforts and massive educational investments, graduating more AI-trained professionals than any other nation. This should prompt professionals in the US to accelerate innovation.

In the latest episode of What The Teck?, Rolando Rosas welcomes Steve Cadigan, Talent Advisor at Cadigan Talent Ventures, back to discuss the impact of AI on education, work, and society. Steve talks about economic growth in super cities, concerns surrounding AI’s power and influence, and the ethical concerns of AI exposing personal data during the hiring process.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

  • “We all have to become stewards of this AI evolution revolution in our domain.”
  • “The most important skill of the future is your ability to learn something new quickly.”
  • “The consumer, this potential student and the parents… are asking this more actively than universities are.”
  • “AI is not software. This is like electricity. It’s like shining a light on things.”
  • “The narrative historically in China is not great for innovation.”

Action Steps:

  1. Become a student of AI: Gaining foundational knowledge in artificial intelligence equips you to adapt and innovate effectively. As AI continues to reshape industries, understanding its capabilities becomes essential for long-term relevance.
  2. Develop core human skills: Prioritize communication, empathy, and conflict resolution to remain indispensable in an increasingly automated world. These skills cannot be easily replicated by machines and are key to leadership and collaboration.
  3. Embrace lifelong learning over static career paths: The ability to learn quickly and pivot is more valuable than mastering a single profession. Future jobs will evolve rapidly, and adaptability ensures you stay competitive.
  4. Guide your organization in AI adoption: Be the “hardware store” that helps others apply AI strategically instead of fearing its disruption. Positioning yourself as a facilitator adds lasting value to your role or business.
  5. Question outdated education models: Challenge whether traditional schooling aligns with the demands of today’s digital economy and global workforce. This reflection can lead to smarter choices for both individuals and institutions.

Sponsor for this episode…

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Episode Transcript:

Steve Cadigan 0:00

We are at war. We are at war, cyber war with China and Russia. Right now, the narrative historically in China is not great for innovation, really good at iteration. So take something, make it better, faster, cheaper, right? Deep

Rolando Rosas 0:13

seek the Chinese app. Surprise everybody. We got something comparable to open AI.

Steve Cadigan 0:19

China is graduating so many more people with AI experience than any other country in the world right now, we should be nervous about AI, because the creators are telling us. Steve

Intro 0:29

Cadigan is the work quake, author and future of work pioneer who helps leaders crack the code for recruiting top talent in a rapidly changing world. Is

Rolando Rosas 0:37

college worth the expense today? One

Steve Cadigan 0:39

of the statistics that I find really, really interesting is the fact that more students are changing majors in the universities today than in any time in history. Confusion is growing around, how should we optimize at the university level? And I’m seeing some schools adjust. But

Rolando Rosas 0:56

a lot of people are probably saying, What the hell is going on, what are employers telling you they need?

Steve Cadigan 1:03

So I got you because I think about this question every day in this world of work. Number one, you have a responsibility to become a student of AI right now. Point number two, build your human skills. Point number three, do not the most important skill of the future is Hey,

Rolando Rosas 1:23

welcome to What The Teck? your gateway to business strategies and tech secrets shaping today’s workplace. You know, business and AI are moving faster than any other sector, and anytime I hear news on LinkedIn or anywhere, for that matter, that has to do with AI, there’s one person that I really want to talk to, and we’ve got that person on today. He is a former linked eight HR exec who knows exactly what’s going on and breaks down what we need to be paying attention to so that we know what’s going to happen. He’s got a good crystal ball, so I want to ask him. But before we get to Steve, you know, I want to thank you for joining me today, especially those that have supported us through the last year. You’ve helped us become a success with this podcast. And if you don’t or have not supported us, go ahead and check out those links in the description where you can get business services that are designed for those complex needs that we’re going to tackle today, especially in the IT sector. So if you’re looking for a partner that delivers complex IT solutions that’s been around for 20 years, check out those links in description, and you’ll see those services right there. All right, let’s welcome to the podcast, Steve Cadigan.

Steve Cadigan 2:47

Great intro, man, good to see you.

Rolando Rosas 2:48

Good to see you again. You know Steve, you I think you are the reigning champion of the podcast. We like having you on, and our audience loves having you back. So welcome back to the podcast. Well,

Steve Cadigan 3:02

thanks for having me. Rolando, yeah, it’s great to be back

Rolando Rosas 3:05

for those folks that have no clue who you are, which I find that hard to believe, but they’re folks that probably have not heard you or have read your book. How can you summarize what you’re passionate about and what you’re doing? I guess I

Steve Cadigan 3:21

would put it in this way, that I spend most of my time trying to help leaders think about the future work and try to navigate creative solutions in what feels like an impossible frontier right now where there’s so many things happening, so many things changing, and none of the models of work that we’ve been taught traditionally really feel satisfying when we’ve got so many things changing all at once. So that’s how I’d probably categorize it.

Rolando Rosas 3:49

You know, Steve, the world today is not what it was when you and I went to college and getting ready for talking to you, I was thinking about college served a purpose. It helped me. I enjoyed my time spent in college, but I’m hearing more than more people say maybe it’s not what it’s all cracked up to be. We don’t really need that anymore. It may not be as viable as it used to. The whole learning process isn’t what it was during the Industrial Age. What do you say to those nervous parents that could be listening to this podcast about Is college worth the expense today? Well,

Steve Cadigan 4:28

if we’re speaking to an audience of Americans, I think you first have to address the fact that the cost of education at the university level is higher in the United States than anywhere in the world, one of the few countries that doesn’t underwrite it. I do a lot of work, as you know, in Portugal, and the annual tuition there for most schools is about $1,000 and here we’re talking upwards of 4050, 6070, in some cases, $100,000 a year. For the university experience. So what that does when you have a high price point is make people look and say, am I getting the value of what I’m paying? And that’s a big number to stare down. You know, if you’re paying somewhere between 204 $100,000 over four years, when are you going to get the return? So I have three boys, one’s in college, and two who are seniors in high school. Do I want my kids to experience that? Do I think it’s worth the time and effort, and 100% my answer is yes, not necessarily just for purely academic reasons, that dealing with things like having a difficult roommate, having a teacher who’s reading philosophy you don’t agree with having to be on teams, having to face multiple deadlines, having to dive into subjects that are not in your wheelhouse, is so healthy for a frontier of work that’s filled with lots of new challenges. And we’re going to dive into this in a few minutes, but I think this, the advent of AI, is really forcing a great conversation, which is, what should we learn? You know, what is AI going to cover for us that we might have needed to learn in school before, and what makes us uniquely human, and what’s going to give us the most value in the future of work through an education experience, right? And I think what’s happening with the education and again, this is not my area of expertise, but I think about it a lot as a parent, especially, I think what’s happening is the consumer, this potential student, and the parents who are going to pay for this are asking this more actively than universities are around how we should reshape our curriculum and reshape our experience for future work. So I think they’re out of kilter a little bit, and I’m seeing some schools adjust, but I feel like schools are lagging where they could be leading right now. And I’m not blaming schools, but how they’ve been built and how they were built around tenure for professors like you’re here forever. If you do really good work, not necessarily you’re here because you’re delivering new value every year. There’s some old archetypes of how the model works, yeah, so it’s a really interesting question, right? And like many frontiers of work, this is a place that’s feeling the reverberations of all the changes. Well,

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