The JUST Report: An Early Measure of JUST AI
Last week, we explored how internship programs can deliver real business value when done right. This week, I’m putting our money where our mouth is by sharing findings from one of our own summer intern projects: an analysis by Sofia Maria Giorgianni that reveals crucial insights about how America’s most just companies are approaching AI workforce development.
Sofia’s research couldn’t be more timely. Our polling shows that AI is a critical issue to the American public with 70% of respondents agreeing that CEOs have a key role to play in the ethical use of AI, and Americans consistently rank worker advancement and training as a top issue. As AI reshapes the private sector, a critical question emerges: How are companies investing in their workers to ensure they can thrive in an AI-powered future? The answer, according to our data, is encouraging.
Among the 2025 JUST 100, 84% of companies mention AI in their disclosures, yet only 20% specifically disclose AI talent development initiatives. This represents both a challenge and an opportunity. The companies leading the way – including Salesforce, Constellation Energy, Boston Scientific, Visa, and The Hershey Company – span 13 different industries, showing that AI readiness isn’t just a tech sector concern.
Interestingly, companies with AI training initiatives tend to rank higher overall in our Rankings of America’s Most JUST Companies while those without such programs skew toward the bottom. This suggests a link between future-readiness and just business behavior. Companies that invest in their workers’ AI capabilities are often the same ones excelling across other stakeholder dimensions.
Sofia’s work demonstrates how fresh perspectives can illuminate critical business challenges. Her proposed AI talent development metric will help us track – and encourage – this emerging dimension of corporate performance going forward.
Be well,
Martin
Applications Now Open for the Inaugural Workforce Well-Being and AI Fellowship!
Offered in partnership by JUST Capital and Charter, the Fellowship is an exclusive nine-month leadership program for senior executives committed to building better workplaces. The Fellowship equips leaders to invest in worker well-being and harness generative AI to improve job quality and drive long-term business results.
JUST AI
Fortune looks at how AI is already flattening organizational structures, removing managers and distance between staff and the C-suite.
The New York Times reveals 21 ways people are using AI to cut down their workloads.
AI startup Perplexity makes a $34.5 billion dollar bid for Google Chrome’s browser. Bloomberg has the story.
Must Reads
Pew Research Center finds Americans remain split on whether companies should issue public statements on political or social issues — roughly half view them as important, but opinions vary significantly by race and political affiliation.
The Wall Street Journal digs into the data that shows the era of big pay raises for low-wage workers is over.
The Washington Post reports that Nvidia and AMD have agreed to remit 15% of their revenue from AI chip sales in China to the U.S. government as part of an unusual arrangement tied to export licenses, sparking warnings about potential constitutional conflicts.
Axios outlines the mounting pressures on consulting firms as both AI efficiency gains and government contract cuts disrupt the traditional billable hours model.
Fortune reveals that despite CEOs across the country instituting RTO mandates, only 7% of them regularly appear in their own offices.
The New York Times explains that Big Tech’s net-zero proclamations are on shaky ground due to the massive spike in energy usage from their AI investments.
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Chart of the Week
Axios examines how companies have used economic downturns to replace workers with automation and how another recession would likely accelerate businesses replacing workers with AI.
