The Sustainability Story

Episode: Sajia Ferdous – Rewriting Work in the Age of Longevity and AI

Date: December 7, 2025
Host: Tiffany (CFA Institute)
Guest: Dr. Sajia Ferdous, Queen's Business School, Belfast

Overview

This episode explores how increasing human longevity and rapid advances in AI are transforming workplaces, particularly focusing on implications for human capital sustainability in the investment industry. Dr. Sajia Ferdous shares research and practical insights on the convergence of aging and digital transformation, offering actionable frameworks and challenging conventional narratives about older workers, technological adaptation, and the meaning of retirement.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dr. Ferdous’ Sustainability Story & Research Journey

• Personal & Academic Inspiration (01:12)
  • Interest began during PhD on how aging is experienced differently at work, influenced by gender, class, ethnicity, and migration.
  • Personal side: Watching parents age as immigrants highlighted the role of context.
• Divergent Work Aging:
  • "People don't all age at work the same way. These differences often come from structure and systems rather than individual choice." (02:00)
  • Her research focuses on:
    • How AI influences older people's work experiences ("algorithmic ageism").
    • Rethinking retirement in the context of longer, flexible working lives.
    • The philosophy of age and knowledge.
• Central Theme:
  • Sustainability of human capital requires designing economic, technological, and cultural systems that value and renew accumulated capability across longer lives (03:30).

2. From "Digital Precarity" to "Active Digital Aging"

• Digital Precarity Defined & Critiqued (04:44)
  • Previously focused on "digital precarity" – the vulnerability felt as technology outpaces learning.
• Shift to Active Digital Aging Framework:
  • Recognizes aging and technology increasingly interact and must be managed in tandem.
  • "Aging and technology are converging forces that will define how we live and work for decades to come." (05:10)
  • Cites data: By 2050, nearly 1 in 3 workers in advanced economies will be over 55.
• The Age-AI Paradox (06:35)
  • AI can extend working lives but can also inadvertently shorten careers by enshrining bias or undervaluing experience.
  • "The issue isn't capacity, it's conditions." (08:02)
• Framework Components (08:25)
  • Precursors: Individual digital exposure and life trajectories.
  • Moderators: Organizational and societal inclusion structures (culture, training, leadership).
  • Triggers: Technological disruptions (introduction of new tools/workflows).
• Core Message:
  • "It's about designing digital systems that people can age with and not out of." (09:05)

3. Leveraging Knowledge of Older Workers in AI-Driven Firms

• Demographic Shift (09:50)
  • Workforce is aging much faster than firms' strategies.
  • "It's whether firms can afford not to [value older workers]." (09:55)
• Economic Case for Longevity:
  • Longevity economy projected to reach $27 trillion by 2026.
• Older Workers as Chronological Capital:
  • Skills like contextual reasoning and institutional memory stabilize AI systems and support responsible automation.
• Practical Strategies (10:40)
  • Integrate seasoned professionals in AI audits and governance.
  • Treat longevity as part of capital performance—track re-entry rates, intergenerational knowledge transfer.
  • "Firms that understand this...won't see longevity as a cost, they'll see it as a multiplier." (13:40)

4. Balancing Learning Styles and Expectations

• Inclusive Learning Ecosystems (14:16)
  • Not separate programs but blended, context-relevant upskilling.
  • Psychological safety is key—enable all ages to admit gaps in knowledge.
• Technological Ethnography vs. Generational Divide (15:10)
  • "What we're observing in today's workplaces isn't generational tensions; it's technological ethnography—different groups forming distinct relationships with the same digital systems." (15:40)
  • Younger professionals see tech as ambient infrastructure; older as governance or authority.
  • Encourage organizations to "translate between digital cultures."
• AI Ethnography Mindset (16:00)
  • Attend to "how people make sense of algorithms, automation, and data flows in their everyday work."

5. The "Generational Divide" – Rethinking Stereotypes

• Critique of the Term (18:04)
  • "Generational divide has become a lazy metaphor...it explains very little but gets repeated because it feels intuitive."
• Intersectionality & Complexity:
  • Age is only one (fluid) identity; intersectional approaches yield richer understanding.
  • Emphasize how personal history, context, and other identities affect work experience.

6. Reimagining Retirement

• Retirement as an Outdated Institution (20:13)
  • Retirement age created in a different era—now anachronistic.
  • "We have an extra 15–20 years of potential productivity our institutions don't know how to account for." (21:15)
  • Lump of labor fallacy debunked; older employment raises youth employment and grows economies.
• Modernizing Workforce Architecture:
  • Shift from binary "working/not working" to flexible, multi-decade careers.
• Investment Implications:
  • Closing participation gap for 55+ could add trillions to GDP.
  • Labor market rigidity—not biological aging—limits productivity and economic growth.
  • "We treat experience as a depreciating asset instead of as compounding capital." (22:56)

7. Talking About Aging in Investment & Inclusive Language

• Normalizing Aging (24:38)
  • "First step is to bring aging into our conversation in age-neutral, social language—not as a welfare issue, but as part of how economies work."
  • Sector itself is aging; must adapt both analytically and culturally.
• Role Beyond Portfolio Design:
  • Support digital literacy and financial education for aging clients.
  • Avoid asymmetries of power brought by digital transformation.
• Age-Neutral Language in Practice (26:29)
  • Remove age proxies (like graduation years from CVs), avoid "old/young" terminology.
  • "Move away and modernize our language...people do not have static identities...focusing on chronological identity is not helpful." (28:00)

8. Key Takeaways for Investment Firms

• Embrace the Age-AI Paradox:
  "You're already living inside the age-AI paradox. Technology depends on experience, even as it risks displacing it." (29:24)
• Active Digital Aging Framework Needed:
  Not to have older workers "catch up," but to align digital transformation with longevity.
• Recognize Twin Demographics:
  Aging clients and aging workforce—must build systems supporting sustained contribution.
• Shift Vocabulary to Age Neutrality:
  "Drop the vocabulary of benevolence—age-friendly, age-inclusive, etc.—and move to age-neutral language because neutrality, not sympathy, is what produces fair value." (29:54)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Shifting the Narrative:

  "Human capital is aging faster than most firms' strategies for managing it."
  – Dr. Ferdous (10:18)

• On the Age-AI Paradox:

  "The same technologies that could extend the productive life of human capital can just as easily compress if design and governance fail to recognize experience as a new renewable asset."
  – Dr. Ferdous (08:17)

• On Organizational Adaptation:

  "Firms that understand this...won't actually see longevity as a cost, they'll see it as a multiplier, a source of adaptive intelligence that sustains competitive advantage."
  – Dr. Ferdous (13:56)

• On Age-Neutral Language:

  "Age identity has always been in flux...focusing on chronological identity, such as age, and thinking about biomarkers only...is not very helpful."
  – Dr. Ferdous (28:40)

• Top Takeaways for Firms:

  "Drop the vocabulary of benevolence...move to age-neutral language because neutrality, not sympathy, is what produces fair value."
  – Dr. Ferdous (29:54)

Key Timestamps

• 01:12: Dr. Ferdous introduces her research and personal connection to longevity and aging.
• 04:44: Introduction of active digital aging framework.
• 09:50: Demographics and the urgency of integrating older workers into digital strategies.
• 14:16: Discussion on inclusive learning ecosystems and managing digital cultures.
• 18:04: Critique of the "generational divide" and advocacy for intersectional approaches.
• 20:13: Reimagining retirement and its economic and policy implications.
• 24:38: How the investment industry should discuss and operationalize aging.
• 26:29: What age-neutral language looks like in practice.
• 29:24: Dr. Ferdous’ closing advice for investment firms.

Final Thoughts

Dr. Sajia Ferdous urges investment firms and leaders to move beyond simplistic age narratives—embracing active digital aging, leveraging the adaptive potential of an experienced workforce, modernizing institutional and policy approaches to retirement, and adopting age-neutral language for genuine long-term sustainability and value creation.