What is the future of human work, in the coming age of Artificial intelligence?

Over the past two years, we've spoken with innovators around the world whose work has impacted medicine, engineering, education, the law and more. In each case we've talked about the future of work in their particular profession, and asked: what's uniquely human, that AI will never replace?

In this special compilation episode you’ll hear extracts from these interviews, which describe the seismic change and disruption that is now upon us, and their vision for our future collaboration with machines.

This episode explores how AI is reshaping—not replacing—human work. It reframes the future of work as a shift from tasks to craft, from automation to augmentation. It emphasizes human strengths—contextual judgment, relational intelligence, neurodivergent insight—and highlights how AI amplifies rather than substitutes these capabilities.

Practical ideas like “task archaeology” and agile experimentation are offered for both individuals and organizations. Ultimately, it argues that empathy, not efficiency, is the most resilient human edge — and that co-evolution with AI depends on how we design, lead, and connect.

(00:00) Introduction

(01:15) PART 1: The Great Disruption

(06:14) PART 2: The Augmented Human

(08:33) PART 3: How to Redesign Work

(12:35) PART 4: The Human Edge

(19:09) Conclusion

You’re listening to an AI generated deep dive into The Innovator’s Journey podcast.

The two characters you’ll hear playing fast and loose with our podcast guests were generated by Google’s experimental research assistant called Notebook LM. See what you think.

If you’d like to hear to the real humans and the full stories, visit tijourney.com, or search for The Innovator’s Journey wherever you get your podcasts.

Featuring:

(00:23) Abiel Ma, Environmental entrepreneur

(01:49) Admir Masic, Materials scientist

(03:05) Anup Surendranath, Law professor

(04:44) Beth Rudden, Cognitive scientist

(06:14) Bill Drayton, Social entrepreneur

(07:08) John Ellis, Eye surgeon

(08:19) Koen Timmers, Education technologist

(09:50) Lyssa Adkins, Agility and leadership coach

(12:40) Maureen Dunne, Neurodiversity expert

(14:17) Ross Smith, Engineering manager

(15:43) Shaun Fitzgerald, Climate engineer

(17:31) Ted Zoli, Bridge designer

www.tijourney.com

Bill Drayton is one of the world's greatest innovators for the public good. His life has, directly or indirectly, touched millions of people around the world.

Drayton traces his values and motivation to his family's roots in the Puritans and Quakers of New England, the rebel confidence especially of women including his mother, and the influence of some of the C20th Century's most significant figures. These range from presidents and business leaders to civil rights pioneers and Gandhian philosophers.

This is his story, and an introduction to the ideas he and his colleagues at Ashoka - the organisation he founded in 1980 - have been building for many years. They are ideas for how to change the world for the better through social entrepreneurship, conscious empathy, and the ability for everyone to be a change-maker.

(00:00) Introduction - How to change the world

(03:20) THE PAST - My Life and Career Journey

(06:45) Elementary school or enterprise?

(08:19) Growing up in New York

(09:55) Travelling to India

(11:10) Gandhian philosophy and the civil rights movement

(13:29) Harvard, Oxford and Yale

(14:56) McKinsey and the importance of 'ethical fiber'

(16:41) Working at The White House and then Environmental Protection Agency

(18:12) Does brilliance come from talent or motivation?

(20:58) Creative artefact

(24:11) THE PRESENT - My Work and Innovation

(24:42) About Ashoka

(27:02) Entrepreneurial Jiu Jitsu

(29:38) Catch them early : young people as changemakers

(30:55) THE FUTURE - Future of Work

(32:20) Concluding advice

BILL DRAYTON is Founder and current CEO of Ashoka www.ashoka.org

PEOPLE MENTIONED in this episode include key figures in the Gandhian movement in India, and in the political and business world in the United States.

Vinoba Bhave (1895-1982), considered the spiritual heir of Mahatma Gandhi

Jaiprakash (JP) Narayan (1902-1979), Indian independence activist

Bayard Rustin (1912-1987), Civil rights activist

Marvin Bower (1903-2003), "father of modern management consulting" (led McKinsey 1950-1967)

Jimmy Carter, US president 1977-1981

Hillary Rodham Clinton, US Secretary of State 2009-2013 and former first lady

USEFUL LINKS:

Ashoka: www.ashoka.org/en-us/about-ashoka

Inside Philanthropy (recent written interview): https://www.ashoka.org/media/70222/download

The Jujitsu of 'Collaborative Entrepreneurship': www.changemakercommunities.org/thought-pieces-full/2019/1/14/growing-up-the-new-paradigm-amp-the-jujitsu-of-introducing-the-new-mindset

Young Changemakers in Brazil: https://www.ashoka.org/en-us/story/ashoka-welcomes-21-new-young-changemakers-brazil