Lars Schmidt's Recent LinkedIn Posts

I've been digging into Anthropic's new labor market data this week (you should too - link below). The findings are nuanced. Some roles are shrinking. Hiring patterns are shifting. The workforce our kids enter will look different from the one we built our careers in. But different isn't the same as worse. Here's what the data actually shows. AI is far from reaching its theoretical capability — actual coverage of job tasks remains a fraction of what's feasible, even in the most exposed occupations. The gap between what AI can do and what it's doing today is enormous. That gap is opportunity. It's the space where human judgment, creativity, and connection thrive. The jobs our kids will have probably don't have names yet. That was true for my generation (Gen X), too. We saw so many things come into existence. Cell phones. Home computers. Internet. WiFi. Now, generative and agentic AI. We had to be curious, learn, and adapt - just like our kids will. Every generation inherits a world mid-transformation. Every generation figures it out. What I want for my kids isn't a specific job title with demonstrable durability. It's curiosity. Adaptability. The confidence to learn fast and the wisdom to know what's worth learning. Curiosity and learning agility become even more critical in the AI age. Those things don't deprecate. Our feeds are flooded with hot takes on what the future holds, but the reality is that no one knows for certain. The thing I believe with reasonable confidence is this. If you want a resilient career in the age of AI, stay curious.

There's a secret weapon in recruiting, and it's something every single recruiter and hiring manager can implement today. Kindness. Every email, call, video chat, interview, and interaction is an opportunity to make an impression that will help or hurt your chances of closing a candidate. The bar is low. Too many recruiters treat candidates as commodities. The"black hole" stigma is there for a reason. It's why we've been talking about candidate experience for over a decade, but still struggle to put in the work to meaningfully move that needle. Most candidates aren't expecting a lot from us. That's why a process infused with kindness and intentionality stands out. Think about it. The average job posting receives over 100 applications to get to one hire. That means 99% of applicants will be rejected. Only a handful will get to the interview stage. What if those candidates had such a positive experience with your recruiting team that they proactively share that with their peers? What's the knock on impact to your employer brand and top-of-funnel quality? How does that positively impact your recruiting in the future? A little extra effort goes a long way. I'll hop off my soapbox now. Be kind out there, friends. ✌🏼

I'm thrilled to return to Vegas next month and join global leaders at Transform 2026. There will be plenty of smart conversations about how AI is shaping the world of work, among other pressing topics. I'll be hosting a main stage fireside chat with ServiceNow Chief People & AI Enablement Officer Jacqui Canney Tuesday. I'll also be joining my friends Maren Hogan and Chris Long for a "Work2030" session exploring what our future might look like in the coming years. Want to join us at Transform? I've got you. Save $200 with this link: https://lnkd.in/egHqvXzQ

Ethan Mollick described giving Claude an idea and getting back a launched business. No code written. First 20 copies sold out the same day. That’s not a chatbot. That’s an agent. His new framework (link in the comments) draws a sharp line between two eras of AI use. Chatbot era: you prompt, it responds. Agentic era: you describe an outcome, it executes. The same model — same intelligence — does dramatically different work depending on the harness around it. Learn more about models, apps, and harnesses in his newsletter below. 👇🏼 Also, if you're even remotely curious about AI (which you should be), Ethan Mollick is a must follow.

Big congrats to my pals Stacy Donovan Zapar and Mike Bailen on the relaunch of Tenfold as a candidate curation venture! We're recruiting in a different era these days, so this is a really smart play. 👇🏼

I'm really looking forward to this mainstage conversation with ServiceNow Chief People & AI Enablement Officer Jacqui Canney at Transform. Hope to see you there! ✌🏼

When you're a talent leader building a company in growth mode, your relationships with your executive team are the bedrock of your success (or failure when you underinvest in them). I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to work with innovative leaders like Jim Trahanas, who are leveraging AI and machine learning in groundbreaking ways to help Fruitist grow the best berries on the planet. You know the partnership is special when you share a pilot video for an eight-episode AI video series about a blueberry-loving Bigfoot and are met with an excited "ship it!" 👣 ✅

I'm sunsetting my Redefining Work Podcast website as I'm making space to explore other interests. I have so many great memories from that five-year run (some captured in the website screenshot below). I have nothing but gratitude as I look back on the doors this podcast opened for me. I learned so much from the 150+ guests who generously shared their time and wisdom with me and all of the listeners. If that included you, thanks for being a part of that journey. Onward! ✌🏼

There is no LinkedIn thought piece associated with this post. Just sharing a slice of (non-work) life. In December, I started taking guitar lessons. Today, I can play something that’s *kinda* recognizable.

I went down a rabbit hole. I was trying to figure out where AI automation with Claude Cowork makes sense in our TA operation — not theoretically, but tactically. Where does the leverage actually show up? That curiosity led me to ask questions that led me to build a rough MVP of a diagnostic tool to help me (and you) assess where our best automation bets are. It's rough. Definitely a prototype. But it works — and it'll give you a prioritized automation plan with actual prompts you can run in Claude Cowork this week. Seven workflows. Three scoring dimensions. Five minutes. Free on my website — no login or email required. Here's where you come in. I'd love for you to help me make this MVP more helpful to talent leaders. Take it for a spin. Run through all seven sections honestly. The sliders are only useful if you're real with them. Then — and this is the part I'm genuinely asking for — tell me what's wrong with it. What's missing? What felt off? What would make the output more useful for how your team actually operates? TIA! ✌🏼

I've been quietly building a clothing brand called Joy Syndicate for the past year. Minimal, sustainable, made-to-order. The site just got a refresh, and it finally feels like what I had in my head when I started. No hard sell. Just thought I'd share with people who might appreciate it. joy-syndicate.com 🖤 The current collection is from the first capsule drop that was released last year. I'm working on capsule two now and expect that to launch in April.

AI isn't just changing how content gets made. It's changing how candidates research companies. And that shift has serious implications for every talent team still treating employer brand like a quarterly deliverable. Here's what I mean. AI tools are becoming the front door to job search. Candidates prompt their way to an opinion about your company before they ever visit your careers page. If your brand narrative isn't distributed across credible, high-signal surfaces, the AI summary they get will be generic at best, inaccurate at worst. That's why "The Quest" matters beyond the novelty. The series — a (admittedly ridiculous) Bigfoot-led employer brand campaign built with AI video tools for $500 — wasn't a quirky experiment. It was a proof of concept for a new production model: modular, episodic, creator-minded, and fast. Five things it proved that I think every TA leader should sit with: 1️⃣ Employer branding is shifting from assets to IP. Candidates don't remember brochures. They remember stories. 2️⃣ Modular storytelling is the new production model. Build systems, not one-off videos. 3️⃣ AI collapsed the cost and complexity curve. High-output creative is no longer reserved for teams with big budgets. 4️⃣ Top-of-funnel is where the battle is won. Stop explaining roles the way we did five years ago. Start earning attention. 5️⃣ Creative courage goes up when the cost of experimentation goes down. Safe employer branding is invisible employer branding. I wrote the full breakdown — including a practical playbook — in this newsletter. I also (finally) edited the eight "The Quest" episodes into one video. You can check out the fill short film in the post below. 🍿

Gap's brand and marketing team is on fire. 🔥

Your job description is a lie. Not intentionally. But it's probably describing someone who left two years ago — not the person you actually need to hire today. Most JDs are historical artifacts dressed up as hiring tools. Someone leaves, you dust off their description, tweak a few bullets, and post. Here's the downstream damage: your sourcing targets the wrong profile. Your screening filters out the right candidates. Your interview questions assess for the past. And you wonder why the hire doesn't stick. Before you write your next JD, answer these three questions I present in the video below first. The description comes last. The thinking comes first.

This week, Anthropic released its AI Fluency Index. It's packed with interesting data and findings that are highly relevant to those of us in talent roles. You should read it (link below). I'm a nerd for design and brand, so I've been playing with some different generative AI tools to create visual summaries, overviews, and analysis of content. I used Gamma for the visuals below. 📍 https://lnkd.in/eMYEkzTF

Last year, I did something I had no business doing. I launched a minimalist fashion label, joy | syndicate. 🖤 This was a little passion project that I had been thinking about for years. The convergence of democratized design tools (Canva), AI support (Claude), and print-on-demand vendors (Printful) lowered the barriers enough for me to dive in and see what I could learn and create. My first capsule collection drop came together quickly. I'm being more intentional with the second collection, but it's coming. 🔜

Huge congrats to Steve M. and the entire Fruitist team for coming in at #6 on Fast Company's "Most Innovative Companies in Food for 2026" list! Well-deserved recognition for changing how the world thinks about snacking. 🫐 Congrats to all the winners. Check out the full list in the comments.

Don’t sleep on LinkedIn as a book referral engine. This one was suggested by a commenter on a recent post. Even Ziggy looks excited about it. 🐾 Hat tip to Marcus Druen for the share.

This is a sharp take on how AI is exposing commoditized work while opening doors for hyper-niche builders.

If you're a software developer interested in leveraging AI to create better employee experiences, I can't imagine a better leader to build with. Check out Mike Boufford's post below for more details. 👇🏼

Four million years of experience walked out of the federal government in 2025. That’s not a metaphor. Boston Globe analysis of OPM data shows that workers with 20–30 years of service left at a 17% higher rate than average. Those with 30+ years? Gone at a 33% higher rate. The people with the most institutional knowledge — the ones who deeply understood how programs worked, who had organizational context that doesn't show up in onboarding docs — left first or were pushed out first. Here’s what I think the broader lesson is for any organization or company that’s going through, gone through, or planning a significant workforce reduction — whether driven by AI efficiency or other financial factors: Institutional knowledge isn’t an asset that shows up on a balance sheet. You don’t realize its value until it’s gone.

This is gold from Katie Burke.

Excellence. Sportsmanship. Joy. These Winter Olympic Games have been pretty spectacular. [📸 credit: NBC Sports]

It’s been great to see the positive response and registrations from my newly open-sourced Mastering HR Leadership course. An old friend in the industry recently reached out and asked if there was a certificate of completion that could be added to LinkedIn profiles upon completion to demonstrate they’ve invested in the course. The course doesn’t currently have that, but I’d be happy to create and add that if it’s helpful. If you’re taking (or plan to take) the course, let me know in this poll. TIA! ✌🏼