Ruth Hickin is Vice President of Workforce Innovation at Salesforce. In this episode, Ruth unpacks her team's efforts around digital labor, and shares how her team is preparing Salesforce’s workforce for the age of AI by investing in internal talent through skilling, career mobility, and human-centered design. During our conversation, Ruth unpacks the philosophy behind Career Connect, an AI-powered internal talent marketplace, and how it’s enabling employees to explore personalized career paths, skill development, and internal opportunities.

Finally, Ruth also shares Salesforce’s approach to job redesign, skill-based management, and the rise of agent collaboration in day-to-day roles.

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-hickin/
• Article: https://www.hr-brew.com/stories/2025/03/28/hr-leaders-prioritize-l-and-d
• Article: https://www.hr-brew.com/stories/2024/09/04/salesforce-ai-internal-talent-platform

In this episode, The Edge of Work Podcast host Al Dea provides an informal recap of his time at ATD ICE ‘25 in Washington D.C. During this episode, Al covers the basics of ATD ICE, some of the programming and content themes, highlights from the expo floor and vendors, and some of his reflections from the conversations he had with talent and learning leaders.

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/
• Website: https://www.al-dea.com/
• Career Experimentation: https://alsnewsletter.substack.com/p/how-to-help-your-employees-experiment
• Developing Talent: https://theedgeofwork.com/how-to-turn-leaders-into-developers-of-talent/
• ATD ICE: https://atdconference.td.org/
• Uplimit: https://uplimit.com/
• Tenor: https://tenorhq.com/

Kweilin Ellingrud is a Director of the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) and leads Diversity and Inclusion for McKinsey globally. She is also a senior partner at McKinsey and co-author of The Broken Rung: When the Career Ladder Breaks for Women--and How They Can Succeed in Spite of It, a book on the challenges women face in career advancement.

In this episode, Kweilin joins the podcast to discuss the concept of the "broken rung" or the first step up to manager that many women are disproportionately denied, and how this early gap significantly impacts long-term career progression. Together, they explore the importance of experience capital, the impact of bold career decisions, and the role of leaders and HR in fostering equitable growth.

Kweilin also shares practical insights on strategic networking and recognizing workplace biases, offering listeners tangible strategies to support and advance women in the workplace.

Links

• LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kweilinmellingrud/
• Book: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-on-books/the-broken-rung