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In this recent 30-minute C-Suite Perspectives podcast conversation, Steve Odland and Diana Scott unpack The Conference Board’s C-Suite Outlook for 2026 survey and its implications for human capital—labor markets, skills, AI and productivity, and organizational transformation. As I listened to the episode, two points laddered up to the theme of workforce planning. First, regional labor dynamics continue to be a critical planning variable: North America and Europe face aging populations and tighter immigration pipelines; parts of Asia-Pacific are seeing skills gaps as AI and digital adoption accelerates; and in Japan, 36% of CEOs cite the aging population as a major concern. That variation makes it even more critical that workforce plans include location-specific assumptions and scenarios. Second, AI complicates workforce planning because it reshapes workflows and coordination, not just skill requirements. Said differently: it changes who does what, when, and how work moves from one person (or system) to the next. For example, in a contact center, the “before” role is handling routine questions and basic triage; the “after” role shifts reps toward exceptions, de-escalation, and complex problem-solving as AI handles repeatable work. The implication: plans can’t only focus on headcount and broad skill categories; they must anticipate role, task, and handoff changes and the pace of redeployment/upskilling. To help think through aspects of scenario planning in the context of workforce planning, I am resharing my one-page cheat sheet on the topic.
