This article is part of "Workforce Innovation," a series exploring the forces shaping enterprise transformation.

2024 was a year of major transformations in the workforce: the surge in AI adoption, shifts in the makeup of the C-suite, and new approaches to worker well-being and DEI initiatives.

For the final roundtable of Business Insider's Workforce Innovation series, Rebecca Knight, a contributing reporter for BI, asked board members to predict the most important changes for the workforce in 2025.

In their predictions, participants highlighted the advancement of AI agents and search results as well as the importance of learning opportunities to help employees keep up with new technology.

They also discussed the trend toward skills-focused hiring and talent management — but they also emphasized the challenges of executing it.

"I think there can be a difference between larger organizations that have been focused on this for a while versus midsize and smaller companies that perhaps are just starting that journey," said Purvi Tailor, the vice president of human resources at Ferring Pharmaceuticals USA.

Jack Azagury, the group chief executive for consulting at Accenture, shared his company's experience implementing skills-based HR during the pandemic, when it had to retrain more than 100,000 employees on cloud technology.

"We've been on the journey for about 10 years on skills-based HR," he said. "It took a while to get it right."

The roundtable participants were:

• Anant Adya, executive vice president, service offering head, and head of Americas delivery, Infosys
• Jack Azagury, group chief executive for consulting, Accenture
• Lucrecia Borgonovo, chief talent and organizational effectiveness officer, Mastercard
• Kenon Chen, executive vice president of strategy and growth, Clear Capital
• Maggie Hulce, chief revenue officer, Indeed
• Shane Koller, senior vice president and chief people officer, Ancestry
• Justina Nixon-Saintil, vice president and chief impact officer, IBM
• Marjorie Powell, chief HR officer and senior vice president, AARP
• Purvi Tailor, vice president of human resources, Ferring Pharmaceuticals USA
• Sharawn Tipton, chief people and culture officer, LiveRamp

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Rebecca Knight: What do you predict will be the single most important change in the workforce in 2025? And what advice do you have for business leaders to prepare themselves for that change?

AI search, workflows, and ethics

Kenon Chen: I've been thinking about this a lot, and I think it'll have a really large impact, which is the idea of an AI-first search. This is where the search funnel is providing direct answers as opposed to just a ranked set of results. I think of it as summary-before-source results.

There are a number of companies looking at adopting this technology in-house as a way of modernizing the knowledge base and providing employees with direct searchable information to do their jobs.

It really changes the historical barriers to accessing subject-matter expertise within a company. To access someone who used to be the owner of that data or the one who knew the most about that subject, you had to engage their time. In this new world, you can bypass all of that and get an answer. But it might not be the most accurate answer.

If it's leveraged well, I think companies can actually have a really strong competitive advantage, because making data more available to employees can help people have shared goals and derive their value from achieving that shared goal together as opposed to just managing data currency.

Justina Nixon-Saintil: There's been a lot of talk about AI agents. I think there are two areas that companies have to really focus on for 2025. One is how do you balance innovation versus executing some of these AI systems in the most responsible way? And I think both of them are tied to ethical AI and skills building. Focusing on upskilling your employees and making sure you have a skilled talent pipeline in AI will be critical for employers this year.

The second thing is the ethical responsibilities that companies have. When you're providing a prompt for a system to execute something, you really have to consider the implications of that. What are the types of guardrails that you have to put in place to be able to use AI agents effectively and also safeguard your company?

Maggie Hulce: There are incremental projects in particular functions that are using AI to make workflows better. Then there are the reimagination projects of how should this customer journey be radically different if AI can drive all of these steps? And it cuts across many people's ownership lines and teams.

Organizationally, how do you make sure there's a group of people set up and empowered to say, "I can think about problems that would shake up a lot of things with a clean sheet of paper"? I think if we leave it for each function to sort out when it's that loaded across functions, it's too challenging.

Culturally, how do we reward innovation and adaptability and let people embrace change? How do you reward and reinforce a culture that says: "You figured out how we could do this translation thing totally differently. Don't worry that we need to retrain the manual translation team; we will retrain them. Think about what can and should be changed with AI."

Lifelong learning and upskilling

Marjorie Powell: The workforce is continually being driven by the aging of the population and the growing prominence of older workers.

In 2024, you saw more people over 65 choosing to stay in the workforce than ever before, partly because of the rising cost of living and concerns about retirement security. So employers are going to have to adapt by creating age-inclusive workplaces. They're going to have to harness the experience and the skills of older workers.

This is also going to mean that we have to rethink traditional career trajectories and offer flexible work arrangements. We're going to have to invest in lifelong learning opportunities for older workers, keep them engaged, and keep them invested in the workplace.

Shane Koller: This is a key area where the HR function can and should influence companies going forward. What I see in the workforce, even with employees who are relatively tech-savvy, is that it feels like they're stuck right now on what next step they need to take to be along with the ride versus being left behind. This is where we as a function have to really get out of neutral and help the workforce understand what those next steps are.

Nixon-Saintil: Lifelong learning doesn't just end with AI. You have to consider the acceleration of technology. How do we make sure people understand that every new wave of technology will demand new skills and that lifelong learners will thrive? This has to be a complete mindset change for employees and employers from an investment perspective.

The other thing, just with my social-responsibility hat on, is how do we make sure we're investing in populations and providing them with access to free skilling, mentors, and real learning experiences so that they can be prepared? How do we build that talent pipeline?

That's something we are doing through programs like IBM SkillsBuild. But it's overall something that every company needs to consider — not just investing in your employees but looking at universities, K-12 systems, and partnerships with nonprofit organizations that focus on marginalized groups and provide free access to these new skills and technologies.

Skills-based talent management

Anant Adya: I'm a big believer that skills are more important than the four-year college degrees that everybody runs after. We recruit a lot from underrepresented communities and communities in general where we do not look for degrees.

In fact, we are going to announce some sort of target for ourselves where we say that X percentage of our population is going to come from skills and not from four-year degrees.

Sharawn Tipton: I also see skills-based talent management as one of the biggest trends for 2025. We talk a lot about experience and what people have in their tool kits, but it's really about skill and learning agility, because the technology is moving so quickly that you have to work in a different way.

Jack Azagury: Skills-based HR is a very complex area. The first pointer I'd give is to start in one place, not the entire enterprise, and pilot and get the algorithms. It took us years to get the right algorithm to determine what skills somebody had.

The second is to be very transparent about how you're measuring skills. For example, our algorithm says you need to have worked on this type of job for this amount of months, and that job cannot be more than six months old.

The third thing I would say is do not use skills-based HR for cost reduction.

The fourth is employees need to see how you're going to use skills-based HR — how you're going to give people new opportunities, training, and development. They need to see the positive coming out for their careers in your organization.

Lucrecia Borgonovo: The biggest change is definitely going to be around skills-powered organizations. We know that there's not necessarily a playbook and we have to cocreate this playbook together. I think this requires pretty significant change management in addition to tech enablement.

What we say to our leaders at Mastercard is to make sure that you're taking on a much more enterprise-wide versus siloed approach when you think about talent and skills.

From an employee standpoint, we were talking about learning agility as a huge currency. You want to have employees who are curious, open, and adaptable and who could be much more fundable in this incredibly changing workplace.

Chen: The best way to prepare for change and transformation is to ensure your fundamentals are in place. There's a reason sports teams, musicians, and other folks who are trying to master a new skill often go back to make sure their fundamentals are really solid so they have a foundation to build upon for something new.

I've been thinking about that a lot for AI and skills-based HR. If the basics — things like transparency, communication, shared mission, purpose, and culture — aren't in place, it's really difficult to engage in a radical transformation. The speed all this is moving at is so rapid that it's impossible to predict exactly how this might play out. But if the fundamentals are in place, you can weather those unknowns.

• Trump has raised millions from CEOs and businesses for his inauguration and presidential library.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook was the latest to contribute, Axios reported.
• The Times reported that Trump has raised over $200 million since winning a second term.

President-elect Donald Trump will take office in less than three weeks.

In the meantime, he continues to craft his policy agenda and make key appointments for his second administration.

He is also raking in substantial amounts of money.

From Meta and Coinbase to Ford and GM, businesses and CEOs are contributing large sums to Trump's inauguration and future presidential library as the president-elect prepares to enter the Oval Office for a second term.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is the latest to contribute $1 million of his own money to Trump's inaugural committee, according to Axios.

Trump has so far collected a total of at least $200 million, according to The New York Times, which spoke to sources involved in the fundraising. At least $150 million of that will go toward his inaugural, far more than the $107 million he raised for the event in 2017.

The super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. is also set to benefit from the cash infusion, giving Trump's allies a powerful vehicle to boost his conservative plans on everything from tax policy to the environment, as well as the GOP lawmakers who'll back his agenda.

David Tamasi, a Washington lobbyist, waved off the notion that donors were contributing to Trump to stay on his good side. However, he told the Times that some leaders may seek to build rapport after being detached from the president-elect's orbit.

"It is a time-honored DC tradition that corporations are enthusiastically embracing this cycle in all manners, largely because they were on the sidelines during previous Trump cycles," Tamasi said. "They no longer have to hedge their political bets."

There are virtually no limits to contributions for inaugural committees, and corporations have traditionally funded inaugurations regardless of the political party of the incoming commander in chief.

President Joe Biden's inaugural committee raised $63.8 million for his 2021 inauguration, according to FEC filings.

Trump's relationships with many top business leaders became rocky during his first term, namely in the aftermath of the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white nationalist groups sparked violent clashes. The January 6, 2021 attack at the US Capitol, days before Trump left office, led several companies to pause financial contributions to GOP politicians who had voted to overturn the 2020 presidential results.

Even during the 2024 presidential campaign, some business leaders stayed out of the political fray, while others, like LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings, supported Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.

• Perfumes were massively popular in 2024, especially those from prestige brands.
• Business Insider asked successful women across industries to name their favorite scents.
• Some like expensive, trendy options from Aesop, while others enjoy body sprays and classic perfumes.

The key to everyday luxury in 2024 was simple: spray some perfume.

The fine fragrance industry boomed throughout the year, with Women's Wear Daily reporting that prestige scents were the fastest and largest growing sector of the overall beauty industry.

Colognes were also extremely popular with men, and members of Gen Z became obsessed with smelling good.

So, Business Insider turned to successful women across industries to learn which perfumes they recently favored. Here are their picks.

The founder of a sustainable marketing agency loves unisex scents from Aesop.

Estella Struck founded Viviene New York, a marketing agency that promotes sustainable businesses. She's also a rising star of influencer management.

The 23-year-old told BI that she's "not a perfume maximalist" — but there are two scents she loves.

"I really like Aesop. I think they have an amazing line of fragrances, and they're unisex," she said.

She's purchased the Tacit scent for herself, which costs $160 or $220 depending on the bottle you buy, and the $200 Karst scent for her boyfriend.

"I'll use his Aesop scent depending on my mood," she added.

She also likes a clean version of a popular Gucci fragrance.

Struck told BI that she loves the scent of Gucci Bloom but doesn't find it to be the most sustainable and skin-friendly option on the market.

It's also priced pretty high, between $110 and $128 each for full-sized bottles.

So, the marketing professional turned to Dossier, a brand known for selling clean, inexpensive fragrances inspired by designer products.

Struck said the brand's Floral Honeysuckle perfume smells exactly like Gucci's, and the bottle costs $39.

One media strategist is loyal to a classic Victoria's Secret perfume.

Abby Carlos has spent the past two years working as a media strategist for Warner Bros. Discovery.

So far, she's worn the same perfume each day on the job: Victoria's Secret Bombshell.

She prefers the brand's original scent, which is sold as a body mist, lotion, and perfume (though the latter is sold out).

Other variations of the fragrance — including Bombshell Intense — are still available on the Victoria's Secret website for upward of $60.

For nights out, she turns to a designer brand.

Carlos told BI she likes to wear a limited-edition Carolina Herrera scent called Good Girl Fantastic Pink for nights out.

"It's packaged in a sparkly pink bottle, and I get so many compliments on that one," she said.

She also previously enjoyed the brand's Very Good Girl scent, packaged in a red, heel-shaped bottle. But over time, she thinks it's become a bit overrated.

"It felt like everyone started wearing it," she said of the perfume. "I was like, 'Oh my God. Now I've got to find a new scent.'"

Bottles of the latter fragrance — and others in Carolina Herrera's Good Girl line — range in price between $94 and $192 per bottle. The brand no longer sells the Fantastic Pink line, but it can be purchased on fragrance websites and Amazon.

One entrepreneur sprays an underrated Viktor and Rolf perfume as a mood booster.

Sabrina Guler, 31, is an author and entrepreneur who cofounded the real-estate investment company Techvestor, which landed her on BI's rising stars of real estate list.

"I love Viktor & Rolf's Tiger Lily," she said. "That's been my go-to, and I always get complimented on it."

She describes the scent as floral, feminine, and "very sexy."

"I'm someone who wears fragrance when I want to enhance my self-love," she said. "If I want to feel better about myself, if my mood is kind of off, or if I just want to feel more connected to me, I'll add a little bit of perfume."

An influencer talent agent layers multiple fragrances to create her signature "vanilla cupcake" scent.

Asia Gousse found herself on BI's list of rising stars in influencer talent management thanks to her work with Slash Management. She works with an all-female client roster that she discovered on TikTok.

Even when her job is busy, the 28-year-old makes time for a thorough fragrance routine.

Gousse always begins by applying unscented body oil to help her perfume last longer. She then uses the $14.99 Being Frenshe body spray in Cashmere Vanilla as a base layer for a rotating perfume.

Sometimes, she sprays Valentino's Born in Roma Intense, which costs between $110 and $140. On other days, she chooses Maison Margiela's Replica Afternoon Delight ($35 to $165) or Viktor & Rolf's Flower Bomb Ruby Orchid ($38 to $225).

Finally, she uses a niche fragrance from Idult Paris called Tiholta, which she says is the "truest vanilla" scent she can find. It costs 180 euros, or about $187.

"I want to always walk around smelling like a vanilla cupcake. It's my pride and joy," she said.

A fashion designer has found her signature scent in YSL's line.

Anna Molinari is a 26-year-old content creator and sustainable fashion designer. She's also a newly cemented fragrance fan.

"I never used to be a fragrance person, but now I've been learning about them as I receive them in PR packages," she told BI. "My favorite is the YSL Black Opium Over Red."

In addition to the YSL scent, which costs between $35 and $160 per bottle, Molinari enjoys the Mugler Alien scent, which retails for around $150 per bottle.

"My issue with perfumes is that, to me, they can smell like old ladies," she said. "So what I like about the YSL cherry scent specifically is that it does smell very fruity. Same thing with Mugler Alien. I can wear them every day."

• Michael Doolin has worked as a HR director for British Airways, PwC Ireland, and DHL.
• Doolin said managers often give subtle signs that they are considering employees for promotion.
• Being asked to represent the company, lead trainings or given new responsibilities are good signs.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Michael Doolin, CEO of Clover HR and former human resources director at PwC, British Airways, and DPD in Ireland. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

A promotion might mean a new job title or an increase in status, it could also represent a pay rise or bring an improvement in your benefits package. A promotion is a sign of progress, of improvement, and sometimes of vindication. It's recognition that hard work pays off.

People are promoted for different reasons. They might have achieved a new professional qualification, like, for those in accountancy, law or medicine. It could come because you've met milestones, brought in new customers, or received positive feedback from clients.

Either way, here are six signs that you might be heading toward a promotion at work.

Changes within your organization

Look out for shifts in your company. Is it expanding or restructuring, or is your boss being promoted? Changes in an organization throw up opportunities all the time, and you may be unexpectedly earmarked for a new role.

However, in some mature organizations, the chain of succession could be more concrete. My second job, for example, was at Ford Motor Company, which was a highly structured organization where your career was mapped out for the next five to 10 years.

This approach works in some companies, but it has a habit of coming asunder when life gets in the way. I think there's a balance to be struck between mapping everything out and being flexible.

However, for many companies workplace reorganization creates space for promotions.

Positive feedback

You should be having regular performance management discussions. If you're receiving positive feedback there, it will give you an indication of whether your employer is happy with your work. You might be asked about your career goals, too, which can be a promising sign.

Being asked to represent your company

Senior managers might encourage you to attend exhibitions or get involved in extra-curricular activities on behalf of the company. They might request that you act as an ambassador for the organization, or you might find yourself being asked to speak at events. While it's no guarantee of a promotion, it's further evidence that you're valued at work and may be considered for one when it comes.

Being introduced to new people

Being sought out to meet new people, whether that's invitations to meetings or introductions to customers, is another important indication that your opinions and contribution to the company are valued.

Being asked for your input

If your boss often asks for your opinion, it's a positive sign. It shows that they respect your judgment and appreciate your feedback. Use these as opportunities to take initiative and prove your worth to your manager. Do so in a subtle way: volunteering, writing proposals, or taking on additional responsibilities. Never forget that making your boss look good is a great way to set yourself apart.

Taking on extra responsibility

Being asked to take on extra responsibility is another signal that you're eligible for a promotion. Common examples of this are being asked to take on more work or new clients. Alternatively, you might be asked to mentor less experienced members of the team or lead training.

If you want a promotion, you should be looking to take on more responsibility all the time, as it shows a willingness to learn and add value. Being given a new responsibility is an opportunity for managers to assess your suitability for a new role. And for you, it's a chance to prove yourself.

Asking for a promotion

If you're unsure whether you're up for a promotion, ask your boss directly. Too often, employees assume their manager knows they want to be promoted. People who are consistently striving for promotions should have a clear conversation about promotions at least once a year.

My advice is to ask your boss, "Can we have a conversation about me and where I'm at?" This conversation might be during an appraisal discussion, it might come up in a car journey, or even subtly over coffee.

You can be direct: make it clear that you think you're ready for advancement and put a business case forward as to why you should be considered. After the discussion, get it documented in writing where you want to be and how quickly you want to get there.

Should you accept a promotion if it's offered?

Many times, we have a classic conundrum where someone is asked to do a different role overnight with little preparation. A promotion may not always be right for you, and you may not choose to accept one if it's offered.

Depending on the degree of ambition, I generally advise accepting the promotion and paddling very, very hard underwater while asking for training, support, and guidance to help you thrive in your new role.

• Some of Silicon Valley's biggest names are in their tech bro era.
• It wasn't always like this — many Big Tech CEOs have shed more nerdy personas from their startup days.
• Here's a look at tech's most influential executives then and now.

Mark Zuckerberg isn't the only tech CEO whose style evolved over the years.

Other Big Tech leaders have significantly changed up their looks since starting their companies; some are nearly unrecognizable (remember the Jeff-Bezos-is-jacked memes?)

Here's a look at the style transformations of some of tech's biggest names:

Jeff Bezos

Bezos founded Amazon from his garage in Bellevue, Washington, in 1994. Decades later, gone are the photoshoots where he's posing with a softcover while looking bookish.

Now, he's gained pounds of muscle and changed his clothing style. He attributes his new look partly to working out with a celebrity personal trainer and changing his diet.

Mark Zuckerberg

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook from his dorm room at Harvard in 2004.

Zuck, who famously wore the same thing every day to save brainpower for more important decisions, has said goodbye to that era. Instead, Zuck can now be seen sporting graphic tees and chain necklaces.

Like Bezos, he's also gotten more fit. Part of Zuckerberg's physical transformation stems from hobbies like Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA fighting.

Michael Dell

Dell is another member of the college dropouts-turned-tech founders club. He started his company while still enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin.

While you probably won't catch him rocking a t-shirt to a professional event, he's appeared to prefer to drop the glasses since then.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998. They met as students at Stanford and built Google from a garage they rented from the late Susan Wojcicki, who was later YouTube's CEO.

Elon Musk

The photo at left shows Musk in 1999, around the time the "PayPal mafia" was formed.

Musk has said he doesn't care for exercise and "almost never" works out, though he's credited fasting and the weight loss drug Wegovy with his appearance today.

Bill Gates

Gates and the late Paul Allen cofounded Microsoft from a garage in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1975.

Gates left Microsoft's board in 2020 and today spends more of his time focused on the philanthropic foundation he started with his now-ex-wife, Melinda French Gates.

Half a century later, he's still rocking glasses — with some different frames.

Jack Dorsey

Twitter was founded in 2006. Cofounder Jack Dorsey has been seen with a full beard pretty regularly since departing as CEO and focusing his efforts more on cryptocurrency at Block, formerly Square.

Richard Branson

Richard Branson started the Virgin brand in 1970 with a mail-order record business.

At 73 years old today, Branson's day-to-day life still features plenty of exercise, from tennis and cycling to kite-surfing. As such, he's usually sporting a tan.

Jack Ma

Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma disappeared from public view in 2020 after criticizing China's financial regulation system.

He resurfaced in Thailand in 2022 and has been teaching as a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo.

Anne Wojcicki

Anne Wojcicki cofounded genetic testing company 23andMe in 2006. She is the younger sister of late former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.

Whitney Wolfe Herd

Whitney Wolfe Herd co-founded Tinder before founding Bumble in 2014. She stepped down as CEO of the dating app last year.

Herd became the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world on the heels of Bumble's IPO.

The entrepreneur currently serves as executive chairman on Bumble's board of directors.

Evan Spiegel

Evan Spiegel co-founded Snap, which owns services like Snapchat, in 2011. The company's success made him the world's youngest billionaire in 2015, when he was 25.

While he'll often suit up or don a tux when attending a more formal event with his wife, Miranda Kerr, he's often seen in a white or black t-shirt and jeans.

Reed Hastings

Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph cofounded Netflix in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail service provider before it would become the streaming giant it is today. Hastings gave up the CEO title in January 2023, though he still serves as board chairman.

More recently, you can catch him in snowboarding attire after he bought a ski mountain in Utah.

Sam Altman

Altman is best known as the CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, but his first startup was Loopt, a mobile service that allowed for real-time location sharing with friends.

The picture at left shows him in those days, circa 2006. In 2008, he was sporting two polo shirts with a double-popped collar on stage at Apple's WWDC conference. 15 years later, however, he's worn a tuxedo to the White House while continuing to keep it casual during interviews with more casual looks too.