Panel Insights: Re-engineering Work with The Josh Bersin Company

At our recent Sydney and New York events with Josh Bersin, we gathered top HR and business leaders to tackle one of the most pressing workforce challenges today: Re-engineering Work in the AI Era.

The key message: There is an urgent need to rethink work — not just layer AI onto outdated job structures, but fundamentally redesign how work gets done.

This was the central theme of our discussions with Josh Bersin, Alec Bashinsky, Deb Yates, Reejig’s Siobhan Savage, and Jacinta Newman, as we explored what’s working, what’s not, and where organizations need to focus next.

Top 4 takeaways

1. “AI Doesn’t Automate Skills — It Automates Tasks” (Siobhan Savage, Reejig Founder & CEO)

The first step in AI transformation is understanding the work itself. Work is made up of tasks, not just roles, so AI adoption should start by mapping work at the task level, not just focusing on skills.

Organizations need a common language for work — a Work Ontology^TM that includes:

• A harmonized, AI-ready job architecture that integrates work data
• Task intelligence to inform AI adoption
• Skills data mapped to real work, not just job titles
  
  

2. Static Job Architectures Are Holding You Back

Most job architectures are outdated the moment they’re built — designed for old work structures that don’t reflect how work actually happens.

In an AI-driven world, static job architectures fail fast, leading to misaligned workforce planning, AI adoption stalling (because work isn’t structured for it), and outdated roles that don’t match reality.

What organizations need is a dynamic job architecture that continuously evolves, integrating tasks, skills, and work data.

3. Know Your AI Maturity Level Before You Start

Understanding where your organization stands today is critical — without that, you can’t effectively chart the path forward. Organizations must first assess whether they are in the assistance (efficiency), augmentation (productivity), or full reengineering phase before implementing AI. Using the Josh Bersin Evolving Job Redesign model, companies can determine their readiness and build a roadmap for AI adoption

4. Be Bold and Responsible

The companies leading in AI-driven transformation don’t just adopt technology — they boldly reimagine work while ensuring responsible implementation

• Bold – AI should be a catalyst for reinvention, not just optimization. The most successful organizations are redesigning work, unlocking human potential, and moving beyond outdated job structures to fully integrate AI as a strategic collaborator.
• Responsible – AI must be governed with transparency and ethics to ensure it benefits both businesses and their people. This means ensuring fairness, accountability, and workforce inclusion, so AI drives opportunity — not displacement.

What’s next

Companies that embrace AI-driven work design now will be the ones leading the next decade of workforce transformation. Want to dive deeper into these insights? Talk to one of our Work Strategists — they’d love to share real-world examples and explore how this applies to your workforce.

For more from the event, check out the Bold & Responsible Transformation Guide gifted to leaders at the event. This guide helps leaders understand where they sit in Josh Bersin’s AI Maturity Model and actionable steps to transform your workforce for the AI era using Reejig’s Work Ontology™. Plus, scan the QR code on the back to book time with a Work Strategist to take this data to a deeper level.