Future Of Work Podcast

In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, host Daniel Lamadrid speaks with Melissa Doman, MA, an organizational psychologist, former mental health therapist, author, and founder of The Workplace Mental Health Method™. Melissa brings deep expertise from her work with global companies including Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, Siemens, Dow Jones, Estée Lauder, and more. 

The conversation explores why leaders are often expected to support everyone else’s mental health while their own emotional toll goes unaddressed. Melissa explains how workplace mental health conversations can become more effective, appropriate, and practical, especially as organizations navigate remote work, loneliness, flexibility, communication challenges, and rising pressure on leaders. For listeners, this episode offers a grounded look at how companies can support human functioning, healthier leadership, and stronger workplace cultures in the future of work.

About This Episode 
This episode of The Future of Work® Podcast brings together three leading voices shaping distributed work and global workforce strategy. Nadia Vatalidis, Head of People at Doist, shares how organizations can scale remote-first teams across dozens of countries while maintaining strong culture and operational efficiency. Tony Jamous, founder of Oyster, expands the conversation to the global economy, explaining how distributed hiring can unlock talent at scale and increase economic opportunity worldwide. Sophie Wade, workforce innovator and founder of Flexcel Network, grounds the discussion in the practical reality of work design, emphasizing the need to rethink workflows to effectively integrate AI. 

Together, their insights provide a forward-looking perspective on how organizations can compete globally, design better systems of work, and connect talent, technology, and opportunity across borders.

About This Episode 
In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, Frank Cottle speaks with Bob Cicero, who leads Future Proofed Workplace for Real Estate at Cisco, about how AI is transforming the physical workplace. The conversation explores the rise of agentic AI, the growing role of digital workers, the move toward collaborative “we space,” and why companies must now “earn the commute” by making the office more valuable, frictionless, and human-centered. Bob brings a technology and real estate perspective to one of the biggest questions facing organizations today: how should workplaces evolve when humans, AI agents, physical space, and virtual collaboration all become part of the same operating system?

About this episode 
In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, Daniel Lamadrid speaks with Jen Fisher, a globally recognized workplace wellbeing expert, author of Hope Is The Strategy, founder and CEO of The Wellbeing Team, and Deloitte US’s first Chief Wellbeing Officer. Together, they explore why burnout is often a symptom of something deeper: hopelessness in the workplace. Jen shares why hope is not a vague emotion but a measurable, actionable strategy that helps people move through uncertainty, build momentum, and reconnect to meaningful work. 

The conversation covers what leaders still get wrong about wellbeing, why perks alone cannot solve burnout, how boundaries actually improve performance, and why vulnerability at work needs to be redefined. From leadership communication and trust to AI anxiety and the expectations of younger generations, this episode offers practical insight into how organizations can build cultures where people feel seen, supported, and able to thrive. It is a timely conversation about leadership, wellbeing, and what the future of work must become if it is going to sustain people rather than drain them.

In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, Frank Cottle speaks with Lara Vandenberg, Founder and CEO of Assemble, about the structural changes redefining how modern teams are built. Drawing from her work with chief marketing officers and enterprise leaders, Lara explains why traditional headcount models are breaking down and why companies are moving toward capability-based ecosystems that combine full-time employees, freelance specialists, AI, and operational strategy. 

The conversation explores the future of work through one of its most urgent questions: how should companies design teams when speed, uncertainty, and technology are changing faster than org charts can keep up? Together, Frank and Lara unpack the rise of fractional talent, the growing importance of internal culture, the role of AI in reducing but not eliminating jobs, and why businesses must rethink talent systems from the customer backward. For leaders navigating workforce design, marketing operations, and long-term organizational resilience, this episode offers a sharp and practical look at where work is heading next.