Episode
Building a Skills-Based Organization with Koreen Pagano
- Published
- Dec 3, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 3412
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Summary
On the latest episode of Workplace Stories, we sit down with Koreen Pagano, author of "Building a Skills-Based Organization," to talk about one of the hottest and most complex topics in the world of work: how organizations can become truly skills-based, and what that really means in today’s rapidly changing, AI-driven landscape. The conversation was loaded with practical insights, candid stories, and wisdom from the front lines of workforce transformation. Koreen shares her journey from ed-tech and product leadership to guiding hundreds of organizations through the maze of skills transformation. We discuss the crucial front-of-house and back-of-house elements, from clear communication and partnership models to building the right data and technology infrastructure. You’ll hear fresh perspectives on using skills data as an early signal for retention, the shifting role of tasks versus skills, and what it means to future-proof your workforce for ongoing change. You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in... [05:17] Skills vs job architecture approaches. [10:04] Navigating skills-based organizations. [14:33] Workforce data challenges with AI. [23:04] Skills over jobs for strategy. [27:04] Building resilient data systems. [34:33] Building trust in skill data. [39:32] Predicting employee retention through data. [45:59] Helping organizations align AI transformation with business goals. Why Skills Still Matter in a “Task-Talk” World There’s a persistent misconception that the age of “skills” has passed and that “tasks” offer a more practical lens, especially with AI in play. Koreen shares how, at a recent industry event, she heard professionals say, “We don’t need to worry about skills, we have to focus on tasks.” But she thinks that it’s misguided to abandon sk…