A new era of work

“The talent function may be sitting on the most important opportunity it’s had in decades.”
– Jonathan Hodge, AI Experimentation to Enterprise Advantage,
a BTS + Advantage Performance Group presentation

The history of work is marked by a handful of inflection points. We’re living through one right now.

The Industrial Revolution reshaped labor. The computer reshaped productivity. The internet reshaped connection. AI is reshaping all three.

Jonathan Hodge, President & CEO of Advantage Performance Group, and Jessica Skon, President & CEO of our global sister company BTS, see artificial intelligence as the next such moment—not because it introduces another tool, but because it is fundamentally changing how organizations learn, innovate, and create value.

One of the most intriguing ideas to emerge from BTS’s own AI journey is a framework called Flywheels and Diamonds. Flywheels create the conditions for teams closest to the work to experiment, learn, and discover new possibilities. Diamonds emerge when those discoveries create breakthrough value and become the new standard way of working.

That’s exciting—but it’s also disruptive. When a Diamond emerges, work changes. Roles change. Skills change. Expectations change. Organizations must decide what to stop doing, not just what to start doing. Empowered teams at BTS have already uncovered a few Diamonds that have dramatically increased productivity by replacing outdated workflows with faster, more effective ways of working.

That’s why this isn’t just a technology conversation. It’s a leadership and talent conversation.

What’s emerging looks different from the digital transformation many of us have spent our careers supporting. Traditional transformation emphasized planning, standardization, and control. AI rewards experimentation, discovery, and learning velocity.

For all the attention AI is receiving, we’re still in the earliest chapters of this story. Jessica notes that most organizations remain focused on individual productivity—using AI to work faster or more efficiently. Far fewer have created Flywheels that systematically encourage workflow experimentation across teams, and fewer still have discovered the Diamonds that reinvent how work gets done.

This is why the moment feels so significant.

AI is not simply changing work. It’s changing where innovation comes from. And that places Talent leaders at the center of one of the most important opportunities in decades—to help organizations build the adaptability, self-reliance, and learning muscle required for what comes next.

At Advantage, we’re excited to be witnessing the opening chapters of a new era of work and partnering with BTS, other thought leaders, and our clients to create the conditions where experimentation becomes innovation, innovation becomes capability, and capability becomes lasting competitive advantage.

We’ll be exploring Flywheels and Diamonds in future emails, events, field guides, and client conversations. As organizations wrestle with what may be one of the most significant shifts in the history of work, we look forward to learning alongside you and sharing what we’re discovering together.

The question is no longer whether AI will change work. It’s whether your organization can adapt fast enough to shape that change intentionally.

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One great thing for 06.02.26 – Technology Convergence Report 2026 (World Economic Forum) – This report examines how AI and other emerging technologies are converging to reshape industries, business models, and the future of work. It offers a useful perspective for Talent leaders seeking to understand the forces behind today’s unprecedented pace of change.