What LinkedIn executives are claiming
Open to Work: How to Get Ahead in the Age of AI, published by HarperCollins, is written by Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn, and Raman, the platform’s chief economic opportunity officer. We leverage LinkedIn’s global labor market data and case studies from early adopters of AI to make a case that is both optimistic and urgent.
The most confronting discussion for HR leaders in this book is about structure, not technology. “Organizational charts were constructed in the industrial era to bring order, predictability, and stability to rapidly growing organizations,” says Raman. “Companies need to let go of that because it stifles innovation.”
That framework will resonate with special force in Canada. The country, whose largest employers include highly regulated financial institutions, health systems, energy companies, government agencies, and professional services firms, all characterized by deep hierarchies and clearly defined reporting lines, faces unique structural challenges. An organizational chart is more than just a diagram in a Canadian company. It is a compliance and accountability framework. Letting go, or loosening its grip, requires a different kind of organizational courage than a Silicon Valley startup.
Still, the argument for doing so is persuasive. “Where we’re going to see the real benefits of AI is not just new workflows that are centered around AI, but new workflows that are centered around human capabilities,” Raman says.
Canada’s data problem: hiring without reward
93% of Canadian business leaders told KPMG they are using or piloting AI technology, compared to 2% who are seeing measurable benefits, one of the most striking numbers in a recent Canadian business survey. This is a portrait of a country that has invested heavily in AI experiments but has yet to turn those experiments into value.
