339: AI Anxiety and Burnout: Brian Elliott, Work Forward CEO, on Building Trust in the Workplace

Brian Elliott is one of the most recognized future of work thought leaders and the CEO of Work Forward, where he advises senior leaders on how to build better organizations. A former senior executive at Slack, Brian is also the bestselling author of How the Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to Do the Best Work of Their Lives. His insights have been published in Harvard Business Review and Fortune, and cited in Time, Bloomberg, CNBC, The Economist, and Forbes. He holds a BA in Math and Economics from Northwestern and an MBA from Harvard.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Brian Elliott’s leadership journey from Google and Slack to founding Work Forward and advising companies on building healthier workplace cultures.
• Why alignment, accountability, and shared purpose matter more than hustle culture in scaling organizations effectively.
• The hidden risks of AI at work, including why employees often use it in secret out of fear of punishment or judgment.
• The growing tension between executives and employees in an era of midnight layoffs, return-to-office mandates, and AI-induced anxiety.
• How progressive leaders can create space for experimentation with AI and lead with fallibility instead of fear.
• Why the future of work depends on creating space for learning, building trust, and valuing human craftsmanship in an AI-powered world.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work Newsletter: https://aiandwork.beehiiv.com/subscribe
• Connect with Brian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/belliott/
• AI fun fact article: https://ashugarg.substack.com/p/nvidias-ai-factory-bet
• On How To Deliver IT Service To The Legal Industry: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jim-mckenna-serial-cio-and-legaltech-expert-discusses/id1476885647?i=1000624398232