Future of the Firm

We’re excited that O’Reilly Radar is partnering with Josh Bersin to cover topics like organizational learning, workforce expectations, adapting to digital transformation, and leveraging technology for human resources—all topics related to the future of the firm. Bersin has a long history of providing prescient advice on the human side of what organizations need to tackle the changing technological landscape they face. You may know him from the research reports he developed at Bersin by Deloitte.

The “future of the firm” is a big deal. As jobs become more automated, and people more often work in teams, with work increasingly done on a contingent and contract basis, you have to ask: “What does a firm really do?” Yes, successful businesses are increasingly digital and technologically astute. But how do they attract and manage people in a world where two billion people work part-time? How do they develop their workforce when automation is advancing at light speed? And how do they attract customers and full-time employees when competition is high and trust is at an all-time low?

When thinking about the big-picture items affecting the future of the firm, we identified several topics that we discuss in detail in this report:

Trust, responsibility, credibility, honesty, and transparency.

Customers and employees now look for, and hold accountable, firms whose values reflect their own personal beliefs. We’re also seeing a “trust shakeout,” where brands that were formerly ...