How AI Adoption Sets Your Business Apart in 2026 | David Blake

AI is developing faster than humans can adapt to it, which creates a unique opportunity: the people who integrate AI into their businesses, workflows, and daily lives the fastest become the most valuable. In this episode, Founder and CEO of Degreed David Blake breaks down how AI is widening the skills gap. He and Joshua discuss how to leverage this skills gap to upskill your employees by effectively integrating AI into their workflows. He also reveals his advice to those worried about job displacement in the age of AI. In this episode, Joshua and David discuss: (00:00) Introduction (01:25) Why Traditional Degrees Are Losing Relevance (03:45) Is AI Making the Global Skills Gap Worse? (08:15) Will AI Replace Jobs or Create Opportunities? (12:15) How Workers Can Survive AI Job Displacement (19:30) The 4 Levels of AI Adoption in Business (24:30) How AI Is Changing Employee Training (28:00) The Secret to Getting Teams to Embrace AI (32:00) Using AI Beyond Work and Productivity (37:30) The Most Valuable Skill in the AI Era (42:20) Will AI Make Human Expertise Obsolete? (46:30) Should You Go Broad or Deep With AI? David Blake is the Founder & CEO of Degreed, an AI-native learning platform that helps enterprise organizations continuously transform their workforce by helping them understand where change breaks down, develop the capabilities needed to move forward, and keep people aligned as priorities evolve. He has spent his professional career innovating in formal education and lifelong learning. He is also the co-author of the book The Expertise Economy: How the smartest companies use learning to engage, compete, and succeed and the co-creator of the Skills Quotient. He is a sought-after expert on the topic of the future of work and learning, speaking at companies such as Google, Deloitte, and Salesforce and at conferences globally. Work With Mindstone: Learn how Mindstone can help you leverage AI to grow your business at http://mindstone.com. Resources Mentioned: Degreed: https://degreed.com/experience/ Tech-Moms: https://www.tech-moms.org/ Replit: https://replit.com/ ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/ Claude Code: https://claude.com/ Connect with David: Website: https://www.davidblake.com/degreed LinkedIn:   / davidblake   X: https://x.com/davidblake Connect with Joshua: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuawohle... LinkedIn: mmhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuawoh... Website: https://mindstone.com/company/about X: https://x.com/JoshuaWohle — Mindstone runs free AI meetups in 30+ cities, where practitioners share what's working with AI. Join a meetup near you: https://community.mindstone.com/events Try Mindstone Rebel, our AI workspace for agentic work: https://rebel.mindstone.com