What if the biggest barrier to AI adoption isn't the technology itself, but our ability to learn, adapt, and reskill? That question sits at the heart of my conversation with Sagar Goel, Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group, who leads the firm's global work on digital workforce development and reskilling.
Speaking from Singapore, Sagar brings a rare combination of data, strategy, and humanity to the discussion on how AI is reshaping the global workforce—and why the frontline is struggling to keep up.
Drawing on BCG's latest "AI at Work" research, Sagar reveals a surprising trend: frontline AI usage has stalled at around 50 percent for the first time. He explains why many companies are still approaching AI as a tool rollout rather than a behavioral and cultural shift. According to him, employees often don't know where or how to use AI effectively, leadership support is lacking, and training programs are too shallow to spark genuine adoption. The result is a productivity paradox—AI potential without real impact.
Sagar also unpacks another counterintuitive finding: leaders are more worried than their teams about losing their jobs to automation. He attributes this to leaders' heightened awareness of structural disruption and their own vulnerability in adapting mid-career. Meanwhile, countries across the Global South are outpacing the US in AI adoption, driven by youthful populations, economic necessity, and a hunger for differentiation in tight job markets.
Throughout the discussion, Sagar draws a clear line between upskilling and reskilling—two terms often used interchangeably but representing distinct needs. Upskilling, he explains, should embed AI fluency into daily workflows from the CEO down, while reskilling must redeploy people into new, higher-value roles as automation accelerates. He cites IKEA's decision to retrain 8,000 call center staff into design consultants as a model example of turning disruption into opportunity.
We close with a candid reflection on leadership responsibility in the age of AI. For Sagar, the message is simple but profound: if skills don't show up on your balance sheet, they won't show up in your business performance. As the half-life of skills shrinks to five years, he urges CEOs to integrate workforce readiness directly into strategy, or risk being outpaced by those who do.
This episode is a grounded, data-driven look at what it truly takes to prepare people—not just machines—for an AI-driven world.