Seven of the ten largest companies on Earth from 25 years ago are gone. Vala Afshar, Chief Digital Evangelist at Salesforce, says silos killed them, and in the age of AI, silos will kill companies even faster.
Josh Matthews and Scott Stafford sit down with Vala for a masterclass on what "AI-ready" actually means. Salesforce went from zero AI agents to 300 digital workers in two years and redeployed 3,000 employees into new roles instead of cutting them. Vala breaks down exactly how, and what it means for every company from 30 people to 30,000.
In this episode:
The four stages of AI maturity — and why most companies are stuck at stage one
SUDA: the autonomous operating model behind Waymo, Amazon's million robots, and Salesforce's agent workforce
Why 2026 may flip us from "human-led, machine-assist" to "machine-led, human-assist"
How to inventory your own job: which work moves to agents, and which work makes you irreplaceable
Cooks vs. chefs: the first-principles mindset shift that separates AI users from AI builders
Vala's story — from refugee to engineer to patent-holding evangelist — and why sponsors beat mentors
Whether you're a solo consultant or leading an enterprise team, this is the playbook for staying on the right side of digital Darwinism.
Connect with Vala Afshar on LinkedIn and X (@ValaAfshar).
The Hiring Edge with Josh Matthews and Scott Stafford — helping leaders navigate the age of AI and build teams people never want to leave.
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