Start the conversations that lead to real change. Built from Challenge Factory’s latest edition of Workforce Architecture, these questions give leaders a foundation for strong action, innovation, and measurable results.

The wait is over! Workforce Architecture is back and better than ever.

The 2025 Annual Compendium: Accelerated Futures is our boldest edition yet, capturing the speed and scale of change reshaping the world of work—from AI’s disruptive rise to shifting global trade, from new talent models to fresh expectations of leadership.

The compendium is more than a collection of insights. It’s also a blueprint for action.

To help you turn ideas into impact, we’ve distilled six of the compendium’s most powerful themes into practical conversation starters. Use them to spark executive discussions, energize team meetings, or set the agenda for your next strategy session.

6 conversation starters at the centre of workforce transformation

#1 AI as a human amplifier

Trend: AI is being sold as the ultimate shortcut—faster, cheaper, easier.

Challenge Factory’s Take: That’s the wrong goal. AI’s real value isn’t in removing effort but in amplifying human ability, forcing us to think deeper, create bolder, and lead more strategically.

Conversation Starters:

• “Where have we been focusing on AI to make work easier, and what would change if we insisted on only using AI where it made work better (in our workplace or in the work itself)?
• What’s one “boring” area of our business where AI could raise the bar, helping us push strategy and innovation further than we thought possible?

#2 Older workers as AI champions

Trend: AI is branded as a young person’s game, reinforcing tired stereotypes that older workers lag behind or resist change.

Challenge Factory’s Take: AI is new to all of us. There’s no such thing as an “AI-native” generation, at least not yet. As we all transition, many older professionals become AI “power users” when given the opportunity. They’re often the missing link between technology’s potential and real business impact.

Conversation Starters:

• “What would change if our most experienced employees weren’t the last to be trained on AI, but the first?”
• “How can we support later-career professionals as AI mentors accelerating adoption across the organization?

#3 Two revolutions, predictable patterns

Trend: Today’s tech revolution is often framed as unprecedented, with rules broken, history discarded, and leaders left guessing.

Challenge Factory’s Take:

• History shows revolutions don’t unfold randomly. They follow recognizable patterns. What feels like chaos is often the early stage of a predictable cycle.
• We’re not facing one revolution, but two: technology reshaping how work is done, and talent reshaping who does it and why. Leaders who recognize both, and use frameworks like the 5 Drivers of Workforce Change, will anticipate rather than react.

Conversation Starters:

• “What’s one decision we’re delaying because we think the future is unknowable?”
• “How can we use the 5 Drivers to separate signal from noise and design our next move?”

#4 Reskilling for global shifts

Trend: Tariffs, trade reform, and industry disruption are increasing demand for reskilling. Yet most companies fall back on short-term fixes, waiting for markets to stabilize or cutting costs instead of building capacity.

Challenge Factory’s Take: Waiting is not a strategy. Reskilling must be proactive and continuous, not reactive. Companies that prepare now for the workforce they’ll need tomorrow rebound faster, stronger, and more sustainably.

Conversation Starters:

• “What investments in people today would allow us to emerge stronger from the next global shock?”
• “How can we build reskilling into our strategy so it’s a competitive advantage, not a scramble?”

#5 Adaptive leadership under pressure

Trend: As disruption and change accelerate, many leaders are stuck in crisis-era habits like overextension, short-term outlooks, and burnout.

Challenge Factory’s Take: Resilience at the top sets the tone for resilience across the workforce. Adaptive leadership means building capacity, not just reacting under pressure.

Conversation Starters:

• “What signs tell us we’re still leading at a crisis pace, and how do we reset before it burns us out?”
• “Where could slowing down actually accelerate our long-term results?”

#6 Unlocking Canada’s small business potential (For policymakers and small business changemakers)

Trend: Policy often focuses on cutting regulatory barriers, but ignores the human barriers that truly determine success, including skills gaps, lack of mentorship, and career development.

Challenge Factory’s Take: Red tape reform is necessary but insufficient. Canada’s growth engine won’t accelerate until we fuel the people powering it.

Conversation Starters:

• “If entrepreneurship drives job creation, why do we still see business ownership as an “alternative career” in Canada, and public sector or large enterprise employment as the norm?”
• “What support and career development would you recommend for a 25-year-old entrepreneur? Would that recommendation change for a 52-year-old or a 72-year-old? Why?”

Why it matters