Understanding The Middle East: Business, Culture, and Leadership

The Josh Bersin Company

This week we finished a series of events in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai and met with more than 100 company HR leaders. In today’s podcast I discuss the business and HR issues these companies face and more significantly give perspectives on the management culture in these fast-growing companies.

We discuss AI transformation in detail and I also explain why the “mass layoffs” idea around AI is misleading and incorrect, and give you my perspective on why Human Intelligence is and will always be far more sophisticated and advanced than AI. This was a continuous point of discussion and you’ll hear my explanation.

I think it’s important to understand the richness and purposeful nature of business and economic growth in these countries, so listen this to get a perspective on the exciting positive things going on in the region.

Two important research studies to read: The Revolution in L&D, and our new Pacesetters in the AI Era: Secrets of Superworker Companies.

Note: the US attack on Iran actually took place just as I was flying home, so these perspectives focus on the peaceful economic activities of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, not the political issues between US, Israel, and Iran.

Chapters:

00:00 Exploring the Middle East’s Economic Growth 06:28 Cultural Insights and Relationship Dynamics 09:16 AI’s Role in Workforce Transformation 12:47 The Future of Learning and Development 15:40 AI’s Impact on HR and Organizational Structure 21:23 The Evolution of Technology in HR 22:44 The Resilience of the Human Spirit

Additional Resources

No, Entry Level Jobs Are Not Going Away.

Yes, HR Organizations Will (Partially) Be Replaced by AI, And That’s Good

Galileo Learn – A Revolutionary Approach To Corporate Learning

It’s Time for an L&D Revolution: The AI Era Arrives (Essential research)