AI in HR Podcast. Episode 027. Guest: Matt Burns.

Speaker A: Hey everyone, it's Matt here for another episode of the AI in HR podcast, a show that explores the intersection of artificial intelligence and human resources and the broader ways AI is reshaping business, leadership and society. If you're enjoying the conversations we're having here, make sure to subscribe, rate the

Speaker B: show and leave a review.

Speaker A: It helps us grow the conversation and reach more leaders like you. In today's episode, we're diving into a major shift in transforming organizations worldwide.

Speaker B: Global mobility.

Speaker A: But not the kind tied to visas

Speaker B: and corporate expat packages.

Speaker A: I'm talking about something much bigger. In a world defined by skills based work, distributed teams and AI powered orchestration, mobility is evolving from a policy into a strategic philosophy. In today's episode, we explore how mobility means deploying the right skills at the right time, regardless of geography, and why HR leaders must move from compliance managers to systems architects, from generative AI and internal talent marketplaces to global pay, equity and regulatory risks. We cover the tools and mindsets needed to thrive in a borderless world. It's a bold reframe of what it means to lead in the flow of work. So let's dig into what it takes to build intelligent, fluid and future ready organizations. This week's episode is on the future of, uh, mobility.

Speaker B: The future of mobility is fluid. In an era shaped by boundaryless work, geopolitical instability and AI driven acceleration, global mobility is undergoing a profound reinvention. The traditional expat assignment, expensive, rigid and designed for a world of fixed roles, of long term predictability, is giving way to something far more dynamic. Because the future of mobility is in fact fluid. The shift is not just a reaction to cost or complexity. It's a strategic rethinking of how organizations deploy their talent, develop capabilities and differentiate themselves in a rapidly changing global marketplace. And as I recently discussed with Michael Piker, Shiseido's VP of Global Total Rewards, at a recent Hacking HR summit, mobility is no longer a perk or a policy. According to Michael, it's a core lever of business agility and leadership development. I frankly couldn't agree more. So let's unpack what's changing and what business leaders must do next. From Relocation to reallocation the COVID 19 pandemic was a, uh, once in a generation disruption to the workplace. In a matter of weeks, global organizations that had spent decades tethering talent to offices were forced to experiment with remote and distributed work. The results were unexpected and in many cases remarkably effective. Yet many companies have since returned to hybrid or even fully on site working models. But while doing so, the psychological shift remains. We now know that remote work is possible, productive, and in some cases, a strategic advantage. It opens the door to new global labor pools, supports greater inclusion, and allows companies to compete for talent untethered by their physical location. And in today's landscape, one where McKinsey reports that 87% of global organizations face or expect to face critical talent shortages within three years, mobility is not just about moving people. It's about moving skills, ideas and impact. The Skills Based Shift One of the most transformative trends reshaping mobility is the move from job based to skills based workforce design. Deloitte's 2023 global human capital Trends report captures it succinctly. The end of jobs is here.

Speaker A: Instead, skills, regardless of where they reside,

Speaker B: are becoming the currency of workforce strategy. Now, that might sound hyperbolic, but it's actually just a reflection of a deeper structural shift. For decades, organizations have used jobs as their fundamental unit of workforce planning. Job titles, job levels, job locations determined. Everything from your compensation to career pathing to who got tapped for specific global assignments. Today, that model is breaking down under the wave disruption. The work itself has become too fluid, too fast and too fragmented to fit neatly into static boxes on an org chart. Teams spin up and dissolve within a matter of weeks. Projects cut across functions and time zones and critical skills expire in less than three years. And in the AI era, many tasks once central to full time roles can now be automated, offloaded or reassigned. So in response, leading organizations are pivoting to a skills first operating model. Skills, not jobs, are becoming the new unit of value. The question is no longer who has this title in the office, but where in the organization or even more broadly, where in the world do the skills live that solve this problem right now? And this shift has profound implications for global mobility. It means talent can be deployed on demand across projects, regions and platforms without the bureaucracy of relocation. It creates pathways for internal gig work, cross border collaboration and borderless career development, and expands access to opportunity for people who may have never had the opportunity to step inside headquarters, but uh, have the capabilities to drive impact. In this model, jobs don't disappear. They evolve into fluid configurations of skills, experiences and outcomes unbound by geography and reconfigurable in real time. It's a significant paradigm shift and it's what makes fluidity and mobility not only possible, but inevitable. In this new model, global mobility becomes less about former international postings and more about fluid access to capabilities across borders. So whether it's a six week virtual assignment a cross border project team or a big based engagement via an external marketplace. The modalities are changing fast. AI makes it Work the rise of generative AI and its rapid integration into workforce systems has been critical as an enabler of this shift. As Microsoft's 2025 Work Trend Index outlines, we're entering the age of the frontier firm organizations powered by intelligence on tap, where human agent teams execute core business functions symbiotically. And in these companies, mobility becomes less about visa logistics and more about orchestrating who and what is best equipped to deliver. AI tools are now helping HR teams simulate pay, equity and rewards fairness in globally distributed teams and personalizing benefits based on the employee's location, life stage and contribution, and helping them match internal talent to projects in real time using skills, inference engines and as BCG's AI at Work 2025 study shows, companies redesigning workflows with AI, not just layering it on top, but they're seeing the ones who are having the biggest jumps in productivity, satisfaction and innovation by deeply integrating it within their practices. Rewards must follow. Of course, mobility without a corresponding evolution in total rewards creates its own risk. Distributed workforces challenge legacy compensation models built on static job levels and headquarters based equity plans. And we're seeing new models emerge now from geo neutral pay for remote first roles, flexible equity structures that vest across borders. And purpose aligned perks tied to ESG goals and wellness access. As organizations embrace skills based deployment, reward strategies must follow suit, aligning uh pay and perks not just to place but to value the complicating variables risk, regulation and reality. Yet the path to fluid mobility is not without friction. Global payroll compliance, tax obligations and benefits eligibility create thorny issues when workers cross borders without actually relocating. And in a world where mobility is increasingly digital, where work travels faster than people, these issues multiply. Consider this an employee working remotely from Portugal on a U.S. payroll may trigger tax liabilities, Social Security complications, or even permanent establishment risk without ever stepping into a traditional expat role. Multiply that by dozens of jurisdictions, divergent labor laws and rapidly shifting regulatory regimes, and it's easy to see how mobility, if not managed, intentionally becomes a minefield. But the risks don't stop at taxation and benefits. Add in rising geopolitical instability from regional conflict to trade scenarios, layer on climate related migration pressures, disrupting talent hubs and forcing the rapid redeployment of human capital. Factor in the specter of shadow mobility, untracked unofficial global movement, and now you're managing not just workforce agility but enterprise risk exposure as More AI tools enter the HR stack. From skills inference engines to generative compensation modeling, data privacy, algorithmic bias and explainability become core compliance issues. Without guardrails, even well meaning use cases can veer into legally or ethically murky territory. A recent Gartner report issued a clear warning. Growing gaps in AI and workforce governance are putting organizations at risk. In too many companies, hr, legal and IT are still operating in silos. Each building systems, policies and processes without a, uh, unified architecture. The result? Fragmented oversight, policy blind spots and a growing mismatch between the speed of innovation and the strength of institutional control. What's needed now more than agile tools is robust cross functional governance. That means shared accountability across hr, legal and compliance, along with tech integrated frameworks that align mobility, rewards and AI use policies and real time visibility into where the work is happening, how it's being done and who's being held accountable. In a fluid world, governance doesn't mean slowing down, it means consciously scaling. Because the goal isn't just to move fast, it's to move intentionally. And in the age of AI powered mobility, that requires more than just policy. It requires thoughtful design. What HR leaders must build now to lead in this new era, HR leaders must stop thinking like policy administrators and start thinking like systems architects. This isn't just a mindset shift, it's a structural one. Uh, traditional HR was built to scale predictably. But in the new world of work demands, adaptability is the key differentiator. And that means reimagining how talent flows, how decisions are made and how value is created across an increasingly distributed AI enhanced enterprise. In my own journey from HR executive to consultant to tech founder, I've seen firsthand how siloed systems, misaligned incentives and outdated architectures constrain even the most well intentioned strategies. What we need now isn't more compliance checklists. We need organizational operating models built for fluidity, equity and intelligence. And that starts with five strategic shifts. 1. Establishing integrated work architectures based on skills, not roles. The foundation of any fluid talent system is a skills taxonomy, a shared language that defines, assesses, uh, and activates capabilities across uh, functions and geographies. But it can't stop there. Organizations must redesign their workflows, team structures and mobility.

Speaker C: Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm.

Speaker D: Thank you for tuning in to the AI in HR podcast where we explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and and human resources. And if you're as passionate about shaping the future of work as we are, please reach out. We'd love to partner with you. Sponsoring the AI and HR Podcast is a unique opportunity to collect with a global audience of over 1 million forward thinking leaders, technologists and decision makers. Let's collaborate and highlight your brand to drive meaningful conversations about the space of HR and AI. For sponsorship opportunities, reach out to LoriackingHRIO and we can't wait to showcase your story on the AI and HR Podcast.