Summary

AI is already inside 75% of companies—and 100% of people are using it—but only 10% actually know how. So what's really standing between organizations and meaningful AI transformation? According to Amanda Scott, it's not the technology. It's us. In this episode, Barb Bidan sits down with Amanda Scott, CEO of North America Talent Solutions at AON and a PhD candidate researching AI's impact on the workforce, for a deep, data-driven conversation on what's real versus hype in the AI era. Amanda leads a team of 500+ advisors across rewards, career, executive compensation, and assessment, giving her a rare dual lens: practical client work by day, academic research by night. Together, Barb and Amanda unpack AI sensitivity heat maps, the widening gender pay gap hiding inside AI adoption, why junior and senior roles are most exposed, and how the "middle" of the workforce may be the most important group to get right. If you lead people, design jobs, or set pay strategy, this one's essential listening.

Timestamps

• 00:54 Amanda's global background and why she's pursuing a PhD on AI
• 03:56 The biggest limiting factor in AI adoption (hint: it's humans)
• 06:41 Building AI heat maps and reshaping jobs around them
• 12:50 What CHROs and C-suite leaders need to do right now
• 15:38 Amanda's research: how AI is widening the gender pay gap
• 18:48 The future for early-career workers entering the workforce
• 22:17 Why the middle of the organization may matter most
• 26:50 Lightning round and final takeaways

Takeaways

• Map where AI will hit your workforce before deploying tools—start with a sensitivity heat map of roles and tasks
• Rethink compensation alongside job design, because evolving roles change pay structures
• Prioritize reskilling as an inclusion strategy, not just a retention one
• Break down silos between HR, technology, finance, and the board—this conversation requires all of them
• Redesign processes from scratch instead of just speeding up old ones with AI
• Lead with curiosity; it's the one skill that compounds through every wave of change

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandabscott/

Company website: https://www.AON.com

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• (00:54) - Amanda's global background and why she's pursuing a PhD on AI
• (03:56) - The biggest limiting factor in AI adoption (hint: it's humans)
• (06:41) - Building AI heat maps and reshaping jobs around them
• (12:50) - What CHROs and C-suite leaders need to do right now
• (15:38) - Amanda's research: how AI is widening the gender pay gap
• (18:48) - The future for early-career workers entering the workforce
• (22:17) - Why the middle of the organization may matter most
• (26:50) - Lightning round and final takeaways