Hey there,
AI is reshaping HR, govcon leaders are tightening around data, and fintechs are cutting thousands of roles—operations sits in the middle. This edition turns those shifts into a Job‑Hugging Reality Check and a quick AI‑HR, GovCon, and workforce risk radar you can run daily.
Use it to keep risk visible before it turns into churn or missed numbers.
In this issue:
Playbook of the Day
‘Job-Hugging’ Reality Check For COOs
Goal: Turn job‑hugging into a 10‑minute daily stand‑up where COOs track workforce risk, retention, and AI‑driven anxiety to prevent hidden turnover when confidence returns.
Who: COO/Head of Operations, leads for HR/talent, people analytics, and risk/compliance; same time daily.
Before the debrief (3 mins):
Each lead adds 2–3 bullets on recent stay rates, AI‑anxiety signals, and any internal “last‑in, first‑out” fears; flag roles or teams that feel most at risk.
The host scouts and sections units where both low engagement and high job‑security anxiety are majorly present and misread as loyalty or stability.
During the 10 minutes:
Today in 5 Minutes: Each lead proposes one move to rebuild trust, one action to reduce burnout or AI‑fear, and one metric to track.
Risks in 3 Minutes: Each lead flags one team where job hugging masks disengagement or quiet attrition and names one owner.
Tomorrow in 2 Minutes: The host locks one list of actions for tomorrow on recognition, career‑path clarity, and AI‑role clarity.
Rules: Don’t launch big programs. Focus on today’s signals, clear owners, and small steps to turn job‑hugging anxiety into a retention based on trust.
Latest News
🚀Rakesh Kumar: AI-HR Ops Breakthrough
Published: 02/26/2026
EXL VP Rakesh Kumar honored with 2026 Global Recognition Award for AI integration in enterprise HR: workflow redesign, Oracle HCM rollout, Microsoft Copilot deployments, personalized comms, achieving 40% efficiency gains and 600+ employee support expansion without added headcount.
Upside: COOs are leveraging Kumar's model to embed AI in HR shared services for proactive ops, cut reactive friction via automation/standardization, scale support at lower marginal costs, and drive evidence-based decisions—positioning HR as strategic intelligence hubs amid 43% industry AI adoption surge.
Impact: Elevates transactional HR to intelligent engines, delivers measurable scalability/replicability, disrupts paradigms with world-class novelty/adoption scores, and sets benchmarks for COO-led AI transformations in workforce management, accelerating enterprise ROI in agentic HR ops.
🏛️ GovExec: Leadership Reset for GovCon
Published: 02/25/26
GovExec renews its top team to be more strict on its government‑contracting intelligence: Jennifer Pearce promoted to COO, Frank Konkel to EIC / EVP Strategy, and Joe Carden joins as SVP of Membership Growth and Strategy, boosting product, events, research, and membership for market moves.
Upside: COOs gain a clear model to align operations with intelligence using a large public‑sector database (3.3M+ influencers), revenue‑driven membership and events, and product‑aligned journalism—guided by Pearce’s data‑driven media, Konkel’s government‑tech‑policy focus and growth experience.
Impact: Transforms generic govcon coverage into an operational intelligence engine, hardens client pipelines through structured membership and research, and raises the bar for COO‑grade intelligence platforms that blend depth, accuracy, and commercial velocity across federal contracting in 2026.
🚨 Dorsey’s AI‑Driven Job Cuts Set Precedent
Published: 02/28/2026
Jack Dorsey’s Block is cutting over 4,000 jobs, nearly half its workforce, to embed AI across operations, saying smaller teams with intelligence tools can do more and do it better. Dorsey warns most companies behind on AI will face similar cuts in a year, as Reuters counts more than 61,000 AI‑linked job losses globally.
Upside: COOs are gaining a direct case study in how AI‑driven efficiency can force early, large‑scale workforce restructuring, rather than gradual cuts, while still delivering higher productivity, rising share prices, and clearer margin potential if AI is treated as a core operating lever rather than a side project.
Impact: Setting a benchmark for a COO dominated AI sectors where software, logistics, and delivery roles are first to get deployed, forces the companies to decide whether AI boosts productivity or cuts headcount, and pushes COOs to design and transition plans that balance speed, cost, and workforce risk.
Prompt of the Day
AI-HR, GovCon, and Workforce Risk Radar
Trigger Event | Action | Use Case Example |
|---|---|---|
Start of the day | Scan AI-HR, govcon, and AI-layoff signals | Reset priorities using Kumar, GovExec, and Block/Dorsey updates |
Before leadership meetings | Add 2–3 bullets per lead | Note HR AI gains, govcon shifts, and AI workforce risks |
When new “urgent” work hits | Brief impact note + link to source | Decide if issue is HR AI ops, govcon intel, or AI jobs shock |
Midday reset | List what changed vs. morning plan | Trim must-dos based on latest AI, HR, or govcon developments |
Midday risks check | Capture wins, misses, and surprises | Log how AI, leadership moves, and workforce cuts hit operations |
Prompt
“Act as my AI-HR, GovCon, and Workforce Risk Radar. Based on this snapshot of AI‑HR advances, govcon leadership moves, and AI‑driven job cuts, (1) flag the top 3 operational or execution risks for the next 30 days, (2) show me early warning signals to watch this week across HR efficiency, govcon pipeline, and workforce stability, and (3) suggest 2–3 concrete mitigation steps I can assign today for each area.”
An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.
One last Thing
HR tech upgrades, GovCon leadership moves, and AI‑driven layoffs doens’t have to become a surprise or rushed restructures.
These prompts turn signals into clear strats, metrics, and ready actions for a steadier operating rhythm.
Make this cadence your baseline so shocks are foreseen, and leveraged.
Until next edition,
Chloe Rivers
Editor-in-Chief
COO Intelligence
P.S. Interested in sponsoring a future issue? Just reply to this email and I’ll send packages!