**The big picture:** A new report from Vertage highlights a significant "readiness gap" in the outcomes economy, where 74% of leaders define work by results but fewer than one in five are equipped to deliver. **Why it matters:** This shift demands new workforce strategies, integrating AI and human talent to achieve defined outcomes, impacting how companies structure and manage their labor. **Between the lines:** - 74% of enterprise leaders define significant work by outcomes, but only 22% use outcome-based delivery partners. - "Outcome Ready" firms integrate AI and human talent into a single, adaptable workforce ecosystem. - Governance is crucial, with 42% of leaders citing regulatory/compliance risk as a top obstacle. **Staffing & HR impact:** Staffing firms must adapt to outcome-based models, integrating AI and contingent workers seamlessly, while HR leaders need to prioritize governance to mitigate compliance risks in AI adoption. **The bottom line:** AI is making human skills like adaptability and critical thinking more, not less, important in the evolving outcomes economy.