By: Joshua Finley

Janice Robinson Burns is on a mission to help companies harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and continuous learning. From New York Schools to Fortune 500 companies such as Mastercard, her diverse background in education, human capital strategies, and corporate leadership has uniquely equipped her to tackle the challenges businesses face in an AI-driven world. Today, Janice focuses on helping organizations thrive by creating sustainable futures for their workforce through innovative and impactful human capital strategies.

From Teaching to Corporate Leadership

Starting her career in the New York public school system, Janice quickly recognized the profound impact of education played in a person’s future. According to Reading Partners, “students who are not reading at their grade level by the end of third grade are 63 times more likely to be incarcerated than college graduates.” Janice reflects, “This connection demonstrates the importance of establishing a strong foundation during the early years of education.” This realization fueled her passion for learning and its potential to transform lives.

After her time in education, Janice transitioned to the corporate world, starting in banking before joining Mastercard. At Mastercard, she moved from product management to HR, driven by a desire to leave a lasting legacy. “Although Mastercard had a good culture when I joined, I had a vision for how truly great the culture could become!” she shares. As Mastercard’s first Chief Diversity Officer, Janice launched the company’s inaugural diversity effort, emphasizing how diversity and inclusion could drive business impact and accountability while increasing a sense of purpose and connectivity for employees.

Her tenure at Mastercard culminated in her role as Chief Learning Officer, where she reimagined learning to drive business results, encouraged innovation, and helped employees understand the critical importance of continuous skill-building for career and life success.

Leading A Shift In HR

Following her time at Mastercard, Janice joined Degreed, a company dedicated to creating a skills-first future by helping organizations transform from job-based to skill-based work. As Chief People Officer and Chief Transformation Officer, she helped clients embrace this shifting paradigm and the new social contract brought about by the evolving world of work. Drawing from her extensive personal and professional experiences, Janice began writing a book in January, entitled “Learning to Survive in an AI-Driven World.” 

Janice emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and strategic human capital practices, especially as technologies continue to evolve. “With AI and other technologies becoming integral to our lives, we can’t stay stuck in our old ways,” she shares. “We have to make adjustments and learn new skills for individuals and organizations to survive.” Her focus on creating environments that encourage continuous learning and skill development is critical in her goal of building sustainable futures for all.

Common Barriers To Continuous Upskilling

Despite the clear benefits, many people struggle with continuous learning and AI integration. Janice identifies three major obstacles many employees and executives face:

Fear:

Many fear that AI will overtake their lives, eliminate their jobs, and render them incapable of learning the new technology. “The first part of how I help is getting people and executives past the fear,” Janice explains. Overcoming this fear is essential to embracing AI’s potential benefits instead of creating barriers to its adoption.

Time:

Learning requires time, and many people struggle to find it amidst their busy schedules. Companies also face challenges in incorporating adequate learning time into employee schedules. Janice advocates integrating learning into daily routines. “Learning takes time, and many people don’t understand how to schedule time to learn. They think about learning in huge chunks, but it’s much easier to find 10 or 15 minutes a day to learn something new,” she advises. By embedding learning into the natural flow of work through projects and assignments, learning becomes part of the way people work rather than a separate activity.

Identity: 

Learning something new can challenge one’s identity, especially when it requires acknowledging a knowledge gap. “Many people in the workplace base their identities on their work, title, and expertise. When learning something new challenges one’s identity, it becomes very difficult to do,” Janice says. She is inspired by Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, who is credited with helping the company shift from a “know-it-all” to a “learn-it-all” culture by guiding a growth mindset. In “Learn-It-All Leaders,” Learnit CEO Damon Lembi discusses the power of learning: “Essentially, learn-it-all leaders recognize the limitless journey of learning, while know-it-alls believe they’ve already peaked, overlooking an expansive landscape of unexplored knowledge.”

Looking To The Future

Janice Burns continues to guide companies as they face the challenges of AI and learning, helping them build resilient and innovative cultures. Her work is a testament to the transformative power of education and the importance of adapting to ever-changing technology.

“Learning and acquiring new skills not only impact your career durability but also strongly affect your personal health,” she explains. Continuous learning can delay the onset of conditions like Alzheimer’s by keeping the brain sharp, and individuals with autism perform better in education-rich environments.

Learn more about Janice Burns and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Published by: Nelly Chavez