Bill Pelster, The Josh Bersin Company Co-founder, on AI’s Role in the Future of Work

Most companies diving into AI are focused on the basics: What tools should we buy? What jobs can we automate? But Bill Pelster (Co-founder, The Josh Bersin Company) and Siobhan Savage (CEO & Co-founder, Reejig) are asking something more important:

• What is the work actually made of?
• How do we unlock value without losing our people?
• And how do we move fast without breaking trust?

In a recent Reejig webinar, Bill and Siobhan shared how organizations can move from experimenting with AI to actually transforming how work gets done.

Here are the key takeaways.

Start by Looking at the Work, Not the Job Titles

The conversation kicked off with a sharp reframing from Bill:

"AI is not coming for your job, they're coming for activities and tasks." – Bill Pelster

This shift changes how we think about automation. AI doesn’t replace people. It replaces tasks. And sometimes just parts of tasks. To make good decisions, leaders need to understand work at a deeper level, what people are doing every day, how long it takes, and what could be done differently.

There Are Four Stages of AI Adoption. Most Teams Are Stuck at Two.

Bill explained a simple but powerful model:

• In stages 1 and 2, people use AI to speed up what they already do
• In stages 3 and 4, AI helps redesign how work happens in the first place

Right now, a lot of executives are thinking in stage 4. But their teams are still in stage 2, using AI to write emails a bit faster. That gap is slowing progress and creating frustration.

Old Job Architecture Doesn’t Cut It Anymore

Traditional job architecture was built for a different era. It’s great for pay bands and compliance. But it doesn’t tell you what people are actually doing, or how that’s changing.

"You cannot build this new world on a legacy system." – Siobhan Savage

Instead of starting with jobs, Bill and Siobhan recommend starting with the work. That means mapping out the tasks and subtasks inside every role. Once you know what the work looks like, you can figure out what to automate, what to redesign, and where to upskill.

Real-Time Work Intelligence Without the Consultants

In the past, this kind of work required big consulting projects. Think: months of workshops, spreadsheets, sticky notes. Now, it takes minutes.

Through their partnership, Reejig’s deep task data is now inside Galileo, the AI assistant from the Josh Bersin Company. Together, they give you:

• A live view of what work is happening across the org
• AI automation scores by task
• Suggested tech integrations from tools you already own
• ROI estimates and implementation plans

This is the kind of insight companies used to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for.

Don’t Buy More Tech. Use What You’ve Got.

"Stop spraying and praying AI just for, like, little use cases." – Siobhan Savage

Chances are, your company already has tools like Microsoft Copilot, ServiceNow, or Workday. The opportunity is figuring out how to use them better. Galileo and Reejig can show you where these tools fit, what they can automate, and how to activate them quickly.

Start Small. Learn Fast. Build Confidence.

Bill put it plainly:

"Even if it's something small... you learn a lot by experimenting."

Find a team that’s ready. Pick a task with high automation potential. Use the tech you already have. Then test, learn, and expand. One pilot becomes three, then 50. That’s how real 

This Is Ongoing Work, Not a One-Time Project

"You're going to be in transformation for the rest of your careers, because as Bill said, the AI is evolving so rapidly..." – Siobhan Savage

Once you automate one task, others follow. New tools bring new opportunities. And the job of leadership becomes helping people adapt, not just to new tech, but to a new way of working.

The best organizations are ready for this. Not because they’re tech experts. But because they’re good at change. They experiment, adapt, and move forward.

What It All Comes Down To

AI can be overwhelming. But the way forward is actually pretty clear.

To lead an AI-powered transformation, you need more than data. You need a clear, shared understanding of the work people do, where AI fits, and how to bring your teams with you.

That’s what Galileo and Reejig offer: insight, structure, and a place to start.

"This is one of the most important times that we all as leaders will have in our career." – Siobhan Savage