Work Without Limits 2023

Earlier this week, Upwork hosted our annual #WorkWithoutLimits Executive Summit in beautiful Half Moon Bay, California. It was a privilege to welcome and spend time with inspirational thought leaders, clients and talent—true work and career innovators who are challenging the conventional, embracing the extraordinary, and shaping the new rules of work.?

While there was so much to take away, I saw five themes emerge from the keynotes, breakouts and networking conversations at the event:?

1. Embracing generative AI to “rewire the system” of work itself is an urgent opportunity for every business. We heard from Ajay Agrawal , Economics Professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and one of the foremost thinkers on the economics of AI, who illustrated the magnitude of the impact GenAI can have on entire systems as the “cost of prediction” goes down, and the unique rewards to incumbents with this technology revolution. I can’t wait to read more in his latest book, Power and Prediction.
2. Leaders must flex their storytelling muscles to motivate stakeholders to act - including to mobilize their teams to achieve their generative AI visions. We learned storytelling dos and don’ts from Matthew Luhn , an entertaining and extraordinary storyteller, and one of the writers behind Toy Story and many, many other Pixar gems that play on rerun in my house. We also heard from Kelly Monahan, Ph.D. , Managing Director of the Upwork Research Institute, who shared a sneak peek on our upcoming research release that unpacks the behaviors of successful, high-performing “Work Innovators”. Kelly’s research reveals a staggering 20-point gap between the C-suite and other leaders in their organizations in their view of the company’s progress in embracing gen AI - presenting an opportunity for every leader to examine the need to close the gap between their vision and execution reality.?
3. We heard first-hand insights on what it takes to foster “impact players” in our companies from Liz Wiseman , a researcher and bestselling author whose latest book Impact Players demystifies what the most influential players on our teams are doing differently, and how we can convert more of our team members into impact players with the right coaching.?
4. Upwork is being deployed by some of the world’s most iconic brands to tap into the talent and workforce flexibility strategies that are in demand today. One client told me “This event is my Superbowl!” - the energy and enthusiasm for the topics were contagious. We heard from experts like Brett Hughes of Duolingo , Timothy Chow of Indeed , and more on how they get a competitive edge by tapping Upwork Enterprise. We unpacked the multi-year partnership between digital marketing leader Brian Watson of Adobe and independent business consultant Seb Wichmann in Brisbane, Australia. Our Expert Vetted Talent panel featured several multimillion-dollar Upwork earners (including several who are now also clients!) and agency owners who have thrived by partnering with Upwork Enterprise customers. Samer Bazzi , Jaime Hollander , Alex Tuck and Seb Wichmann (x2!) — I jump at any chance to hear from you.
5. The Upwork roadmap is packed with high-impact investment areas, from HRIS and VMS integrations to enhanced solutions enterprises care about, from security to reporting to payroll, and more. Our new GM of Enterprise, Zo? Diamadi recapped some recent Enterprise Suite enhancements including integration with Workday and Coupa, and full-time hiring capabilities. She shared some sneak peeks at how we’re innovating our Enterprise Suite for this next generation of work, including GenAI-enhanced features and more ways for clients and talent to work together securely and efficiently.?

We are living through the Renaissance of work - a time when we get to #reinvent, #innovate and #create the next set of paradigms and foundations that will guide future generations of professionals. Our Summit amplified my own optimism about the opportunities we have as leaders to further unlock human potential through new ways of working, leveraging groundbreaking technologies like AI, put to work by Upwork and our customers.?

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to be there with us, and to the #Upwork team who made it all possible. Your presence and insights are what make this event truly special. Until next time!