In this episode of the Business Schooled podcast, Gina Jeneroux, former Chief Learning Officer at BMO and now a future of work strategist, shares powerful insights on how businesses and individuals can thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Gina began her career as a Saturday teller and worked her way through banking, learning, and leadership roles before venturing out on her own to consult and teach. Her approach to the future of work is shaped by this journey and a key mindset: treat your career like a portfolio. Choose projects that stretch you, spark your curiosity, and create impact.
One of the central themes of the conversation is the shift from jobs to skills. Rather than matching people to job titles, organizations should match skills to work. This creates more agile, inclusive workplaces where people can grow based on capabilities, not just credentials. Skills, Gina says, are the “connective tissue” linking talent to strategy.
She also emphasizes the need for businesses to invest in ongoing upskilling, reskilling, and what she calls “pre-skilling” for future roles that haven’t yet emerged. It’s not just about keeping up with AI and emerging technologies; it’s about strengthening uniquely human skills—empathy, storytelling, critical thinking—that machines can’t replicate. As she puts it, “AI won’t replace humans, but humans with AI will replace humans without AI.”
On the individual side, Gina advises people to spend 70-80% of their learning on the skills they need today and 20-30% on what’s next. Follow your curiosity. Push beyond your comfort zone. Listen to a new podcast, explore a different discipline, and learn something unrelated to your day job—because often, that’s where the most surprising breakthroughs come from.
Ultimately, her message is clear: Learning is not a cost center. It’s a business driver. And whether you’re a leader or a learner, the future belongs to those who treat skills like strategy.