The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

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Nov 2026

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Listen to interviews with CHROs, Chief People Officers, and other work experts on how they're pioneering the way that we work. They share what's working, what's not, and how they've gotten to where they're at in their careers.

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November 11, 202654 min

345 - Thumbtack Redefined Leadership, Then Rewired the Company for AI (Robert Lopez, VP, Head of People, Thumbtack)

Robert Lopez, the VP, Head of People at Thumbtack, joined us on The Modern People Leader to share how Thumbtack is redefining leadership, building stronger teams, and transforming HR through AI. We talked about Thumbtack's four-part leadership framework, how the company embeds leadership expectations into hiring and promotion decisions, and why developing great managers is essential to business performance. Rob also shared how AI is helping leaders scale their impact, how Thumbtack is building connected AI tools and frictionless HR experiences, and the unexpected challenges that come with making employees more productive. ---- Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl 🔗 Request a demo of Shapes 🔗 Schedule a consultation with Manifest MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ---- (11:45) The Problem With Promoting Great Individual Contributors Into Management (12:50) Introducing Thumbtack's Four-Part Leadership Framework (14:15) Why All Four Leadership Principles Must Work Together (15:45) Learning From the Company's Highest-Performing Leaders (17:15) Using the Framework in Hiring and Candidate Interviews (17:45) Making Leadership Development Part of Promotion Criteria (18:10) Why Leadership Frameworks Need Real Consequences (20:00) How Thumbtack Measures Manager Effectiveness (21:40) Why Leaders Need to Practice Applying Standards to Real Situations (23:00) How AI Is Changing the Role of Leaders (24:40) Why Leadership May Become Even More Important in the AI Era (25:00) How Rob Uses AI to Manage a Larger Team (25:30) Using AI Agents to Connect Meeting Notes, Emails and Context (28:00) Why Thumbtack Is Building a Connected AI Context Layer (29:00) What AI-Enabled Onboarding Could Look Like for Recruiters (31:20) Designing an AI Experience That Works Like a Smartphone (32:30) Thumbtack's Vision for Making HR Transactions Invisible (33:30) Introducing the AI-Powered HR Front Door (35:40) Making HR Processes Frictionless Instead of Making HR Invisible (37:30) Setting Expectations Around AI Use and Human Judgment (38:20) The Unexpected Problem of AI-Generated Work Quality (40:00) Using AI to Improve the Quality of Performance Reviews (41:10) Introducing Thumbtack's People Labs Team (44:30) Creating the Future of Work Instead of Waiting for It (45:00) The Challenges of Maintaining Quality With AI-Generated Work (46:40) Why Traditional SOPs Are Becoming Harder to Maintain (47:45) Why AI Productivity Can Create More Work (48:10) When Employees Become Product Managers for Their Own AI Tools ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ---- Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

November 6, 20261 hr 5 min

344 - A CPO Succession Masterclass: Katya Laviolette (Former CPO) & Gabrielle Caron (New CPO) of 1Password

No one has ever volunteered to come on the show and talk about succession, because almost nobody does it well. Katya Laviolette and Gabrielle Caron from 1Password actually did. Katya spent the last four-plus years as 1Password’s Chief People Officer, and she’s now moving into a portfolio career. Gab joined her team from McKinsey, and she just stepped into the CPO seat. No executive search, no “ready now” box on a nine-box grid. It was a real handoff that they planned over more than a year. We got into the conversation that started it (“Have you thought about being a CPO?”), the 20-page plan they built with their CEO, why Katya rolled out the news in three waves so no one was surprised, and how she worked with a retirement coach to figure out what comes next. We also talked about the emotional side of letting go, why Katya says “I should not hire me,” and what Gab thinks incoming CPOs get wrong about the job right now. ---- Sponsor Links: 🔗 Explore the 2026 Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report 🔗 Schedule a consultation with Manifest 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ---- (10:00) Why Katya Saw Leadership Potential in Gabrielle (11:50) Why Feeling Seen and Supported Matters in Career Decisions (16:10) Why Traditional Succession Planning Often Stays on Paper (17:20) Turning a Succession Plan Into an Actual Leadership Transition (18:10) The Conversation That Started Gabrielle's Path Toward CPO (19:40) Learning to Let Go of the Operating Role (20:00) Why the Next CPO Should Not Be a Copy of the Previous One (21:00) Why Gabrielle Never Planned Her Career Around a Specific Title (22:00) Taking on New Challenges Instead of Collecting Responsibilities (24:00) The Emotional Side of Giving Up a 30-Year Career (25:30) Why Trust Is the Foundation of Successful Succession (27:30) Transferring Years of Institutional Knowledge (28:00) Moving From Directing to Advising (28:45) The Three Phases of Katya and Gabrielle's Relationship (31:30) Why a Successful Succession Needs a Long-Term Plan (32:00) Building a 12-Month Leadership Transition Timeline (32:40) Why Great Communication Means Nobody Is Surprised (33:20) A 20-Page Document With Detailed Quarterly Milestones (35:00) Why Outgoing Leaders Must Be Intentional With Their Language (38:15) Why Katya Hired a Retirement Coach (41:15) Assessing the Incoming Leader's Strengths and Development Areas (43:15) Creating Stability During a Leadership Transition (45:20) Why AI Transformation Influenced the Timing of the Transition (47:30) The Risk of Hiring a Successor Without Actually Stepping Aside (50:00) Katya's Advice: Plan Your Next Chapter Before You Need To (51:40) Why Knowing AI Is Not Enough to Become a Great CPO (52:45) Why Future CPOs Need Curiosity, Empathy and Strategic Vision (55:00) Why Great CHROs Need to Understand the Full HR Function (57:00) Why an Outgoing CPO Must Stop Operating and Start Advising (59:30) Reaching 98% AI Tool Adoption at 1Password (01:02:00) Planning Succession While Continuing Full-Time Responsibilities ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ---- Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

November 3, 202649 min

343 - This CHRO Dismantled Recruiting. Here’s Why: Megan Barbier (CHRO, Xactly)

Megan Barbier (CHRO, Xactly) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how Xactly is dismantling traditional HR structures, replacing talent acquisition with talent engagement, and rethinking how teams collaborate in an AI-driven workplace. Megan also shared why high-slope talent matters, how leaders can build a culture of continuous change, and why meaningful work and career growth are becoming more important than traditional job security. ---- Sponsor Links: 🔗 Request a demo of Shapes MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ---- (09:30) Why Dismantling Traditional HR Was Megan's Proudest Achievement (10:35) Throttling Hiring to Invest in Existing Employees (12:00) Eliminating the Traditional Talent Acquisition Function (12:25) Replacing Talent Acquisition With Talent Engagement (13:40) The Identity Crisis That Comes With HR Transformation (16:00) Collapsing the Distance Between Strategy and Execution (17:00) Breaking Down Silos and Removing the Walls Between Functions (18:00) Why Xactly Moved Enablement and Education Into Engineering (18:35) Combining Customer and Product Teams Under Innovation and Adoption (20:15) Maintaining Hiring Metrics During the Transformation (21:15) Shifting From Individual Ownership to Shared Human Experience (23:00) Why Human Connection Is Becoming More Valuable (27:40) Why HR as We Know It Is Going Away (28:35) Eliminating Unrewarding Administrative Work (29:20) Why Leaders Can No Longer Promise Stability (33:05) Balancing Trust, Urgency and the Need to Move Quickly (34:05) The Four-Letter Word Megan Doesn't Allow: WAIT (34:30) Giving Teams Permission to Fail Gloriously (35:40) Why Organizational Transformation Never Really Ends (37:00) Using Company Values as a Compass During Change (39:20) Introducing the Concept of High-Slope Talent (40:00) Why High-Slope Talent Is Growth Mindset on Steroids (41:00) Why Career Ladders Are Becoming Less Relevant (42:00) Why Xactly's AI-Forward Culture Attracts Talent (43:00) Employability as the New Job Security (43:45) How Megan Identifies High-Slope Talent (44:00) Why Brave and Curious People Stand Out (48:00) Three-Year Strategies and Three-Week to Three-Month Sprints (49:30) Megan's Final Message: Stop Waiting ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ---- Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

October 30, 202649 min

The AI Career Track Is Coming | Live from HR Tech, Pt. 2

Recorded live at HR Tech in Las Vegas from beqom's booth, Gianna Driver (Chief People Officer, One Workplace) and Emlyn De Leon (Workforce Transformation Leader, USAA) joined Daniel on The Modern People Leader for two conversations about the changing world of work. Gianna shared how leaders can navigate change fatigue, why managing AI agents could become a new career path with its own compensation structure, and why company culture remains a competitive advantage. Emlyn discussed how organizations can redesign tasks and skills around AI, measure the impact of technology on employee productivity, and prepare their workforce for continuous change without losing the human element. ---- Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ---- Gianna Driver (04:00) The Growing Problem of Change Fatigue (05:30) Explaining the Why Behind Organizational Change (06:00) Why Companies Need to Slow Down to Speed Up (08:00) Why Leaders Should Not Navigate Change Alone (10:20) Reframing Do More With Less Into Do More With the Same (11:00) Why Managing AI Agents Could Become a New Leadership Skill (12:20) Why Companies May Need a New AI Management Career Track (12:45) Why AI Fluency Could Command Higher Compensation (15:00) How Compensation for AI Agent Managers Might Evolve (17:10) Why Company Culture Still Matters in the AI Talent War (19:00) Why AI Cannot Replace the Fundamentals of Employee Engagement (20:00) Who Should Benefit From AI Transformation? (21:30) HR's Opportunity to Lead Innovation and Change (22:20) Reframing Change as an Opportunity Instead of a Threat Emlyn De Leon (29:25) Emlyn's Role in Task and Skills Redesign at USAA (30:00) How AI Changes Tasks and Employee Skill Requirements (31:00) Why Skills-Based Transformation Is an Evolution of Work (32:00) What Employees Should Do With the Time AI Saves (33:15) Evaluating Skills Gaps and Future Proficiency Requirements (34:00) The Difference Between AI Adoption and AI Transformation (35:00) Why Companies Struggle to Measure AI's Business Impact (35:30) Identifying the Business Problem AI Is Supposed to Solve (36:40) Creating Success Metrics for AI and Employees (37:00) Measuring Automated Tasks and Human Critical Thinking (40:20) Why Integration Matters More Than Adding More Tools (41:15) Evaluating Vendor Governance and Integration Capabilities (43:00) How AI Will Change Tasks Without Eliminating the Human Element (44:30) Why HR Remains Essential to the Future of Work (46:20) The Practical Reality of Continuous Workforce Transformation ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ---- Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

October 30, 202653 min

Don’t Automate a Bad Process, Obliterate It | Live from HR Tech, Pt. 1

Recorded live at HR Tech in Las Vegas from beqom's booth, Kiran Jalakam and Jacob Little joined Daniel on The Modern People Leader for two conversations about how AI is transforming HR. Kiran Jalakam, VP HR Technology, AI, & Innovation at SRS Distribution, shared why organizations need to redesign work instead of simply automating existing processes, how AI should support compensation and performance decisions without replacing human judgment, and why trust, governance, and AI fluency matter. Jacob Little, Director of People Operational Excellence & AI at Rivian, discussed implementing AI agents across a large organization, building AI skills through hands-on learning, and balancing productivity gains with employee privacy, ethical responsibility, and the long-term future of work. ---- Sponsor Links: 🔗 Schedule a consultation with Manifest MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ---- Kiran Jalakam (04:45) Why Frontline Workers Need More Than Annual Pay Conversations (06:10) Why AI Transformation Is About Work Redesign, Not Automation (06:40) Why Companies Should Stop Automating Broken Processes (07:05) Deterministic, Probabilistic and Consequential Decisions (10:40) Why Degrees and Job Titles May Matter Less in the Future (11:15) Rewarding Employees for Output Instead of Credentials (13:15) Why Human Judgment Still Matters When Using AI (14:45) Becoming a Trusted Technology Partner to the CHRO (17:20) Building AI Fluency Into Everyday Work (17:40) The Kill Company Concept (19:40) Why Trust Must Come Before AI Adoption (20:15) Building AI Governance Before Deploying Automation Jacob Little (27:00) How Rivian Is Introducing AI Agents Into HR (29:00) The Gap Between AI Innovation and Enterprise Adoption (30:25) Balancing Security, Privacy and Innovation (33:00) Why Vibe-Coded Tools Need Long-Term Governance (34:00) Introducing Rivian's AI Playground (36:45) Building a Technical Training Solution in Two Days (38:40) The Four Groups That Should Benefit From AI (40:15) Why HR Leaders Need to Be Honest About AI's Downsides (41:15) The Risks of Job Displacement and Inequality (42:15) The Employee Privacy Risks of AI-Powered Monitoring (44:00) Introducing Rivian's AI Ethos Sessions (44:35) The Question Every Company Should Ask Before Using AI (45:00) What Happens If Every Company Eliminates Entry-Level Jobs? (47:30) Why AI Productivity Can Increase Employee Workloads (47:50) The Gap Between Individual Productivity and Organizational ROI (50:30) Redesigning Hiring and Onboarding From the Ground Up (51:00) Why Companies Should Design Processes Before Choosing Technology ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ---- Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

October 27, 202657 min

341 - “80% of our Engineering Applicants Are Fake”: Inside the Candidate Fraud Crisis

Liz Bronson (Chief People Officer, Skimmer) and Sean Page (TA Manager, Propel) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about the rise of candidate fraud, why traditional hiring processes are becoming harder to trust, and how recruiters are rethinking sourcing, candidate verification, interview techniques, and technology to find real talent. ---- Sponsor Links: 🔗 Request a demo of Shapes 🔗 Explore the 2026 Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report 🔗 Learn more about SixFifty MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ---- (12:10) Candidates Using AI to Generate Interview Answers in Real Time (13:35) Skimmer's Fraud Screening Results: 67% of Applicants Flagged (14:10) When a Different Person Shows Up on the First Day (15:10) Why People Commit Hiring Fraud (17:10) Why Candidate Fraud Creates Serious Data Security Risks (18:40) Broken LinkedIn Links and Stolen Candidate Profiles (21:15) How Legitimate Candidates Can Stand Out (22:15) Why Referrals and Direct Sourcing Are Making a Comeback (23:30) Using Deeper Behavioral Interviews to Verify Experience (24:05) Sean on Why Personal Branding Matters More Than Ever (27:05) Why the Best Interviewers Ask Better Follow-Up Questions (28:20) Why Interviewer Bias Training Matters More Than Ever (30:35) Using Recorded Interviews to Review Suspicious Responses (33:35) Why AI Screening Can Favor AI-Generated Applications (34:30) Bringing Human Recruiters Back Earlier in the Hiring Process (35:05) Why Strong Sourcing Skills Are Becoming More Valuable (38:10) Recruiters Building Their Own Tools With Claude (43:35) When to Stop Accepting Applications and Focus on Targeted Sourcing (45:50) Sean's AI-Powered Market Mapping Tool (47:30) Why Recruiters Need to Think Like Detectives (48:10) Where Candidate Fraud Could Go Next (51:15) Sean's Biggest Concern: AI Deepfakes in Remote Hiring ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ---- Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

October 23, 202646 min

340 - How Citizens Helps Leaders Build IQ, EQ, TQ, and MQ: Susan LaMonica (CHRO, Citizens)

Susan LaMonica, the CHRO at Citizens, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how Citizens transformed its leadership and culture, why leadership is the most important lever for organizational success, and how its new leadership framework combines intelligence, technology, emotional intelligence, and meaning to develop adaptive leaders. ---- Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl 🔗 Explore the 2026 Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report 🔗 Schedule a consultation with Manifest MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ---- (08:20) Discovering Her Passion for Leadership Development (13:35) Why Trust Matters When Driving Change (22:40) Winning the Hearts and Minds of Employees (23:20) Why Leadership Became Citizens’ Top Priority (24:30) How Leaders Shape Organizational Culture (25:15) Preserving the Best Parts of Citizens’ Culture (26:40) Introducing the Organizational Health Survey (28:15) Moving From Third-Quartile to First-Quartile Organizational Health (29:30) Why Leadership Is the Uber Lever (30:05) Introducing Bold Leadership at Citizens (30:45) Why Leadership Is Not Just About Job Titles (32:50) Introducing Citizens’ Leadership Quotient Framework (33:15) IQ: Insight, Intelligence and Judgment (33:40) TQ: Technology Fluency and Digital Capability (34:00) EQ: Emotional Intelligence, Empathy and Self-Awareness (34:25) MQ: Meaning, Purpose and Alignment (34:50) Why Learning Agility Is a Competitive Advantage (35:15) What It Means to Be an Adaptive Leader (37:10) Intellectual Curiosity and a Test-and-Learn Mindset (38:10) Why Leaders Do Not Need to Have All the Answers (39:40) Using the Leadership Quotient in Talent Assessments (40:20) Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses Across Leadership Teams (41:00) Why Technology Quotient Is the Biggest Development Opportunity (43:00) Career Advice: Understand the Business First (44:35) The Practice Susan Would Steal: Microsoft’s Learn-It-All Culture ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ---- Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

October 19, 202658 min

339 - When People Grow, the Company Grows: Katarina Berg (Chief People Officer, On)

Katarina Berg, Chief People Officer at On, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her journey from Spotify to On, why performance growth is more powerful than performance management, and how people, leadership, curiosity, learning, and AI will shape the next era of work. ---- Sponsor Links: 🔗 Request a demo of Shapes 🔗 Learn more about SixFifty MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ---- (08:15) Succession Planning and Practicing What You Preach (10:15) Working With Daniel Ek and Stretching Her Thinking (11:00) Pressure Testing HR Truths at Spotify (11:45) When People Grow, the Company Grows (13:05) Finding a Culture You Can Feel When You Step In (13:35) On’s Entrepreneurial Spirit and Swiss Engineering Mindset (18:30) Performance Development Versus Performance Management (19:15) The Four Ps: People, Product, Planet and Profitability (20:45) How Performance Management Can Demotivate People (21:15) Autonomy, Competence, Purpose and Benevolence (22:10) Why Performance Growth Works Better Than Performance Management (23:00) Proud People Perform (23:40) Giving People a Clear North Star and a Mental Paddock (24:30) Why Growth Is a Business Strategy, Not an HR Program (25:10) Why Downsizing L&D Misses the Point (28:00) Upskilling, Cross-Skilling and Off-Skilling (29:15) Why Learning Is an Investment, Not a Cost (29:45) The Human Skills Technology Cannot Replace (32:20) The Importance of Leadership in a Paradigm Shift (34:00) Mercenaries, Missionaries and Why Both Systems Can Work (39:15) Why HR Needs Business Acumen, Not Just HR Acumen (41:15) The People Team Hackathon and Building Agents (43:10) Focusing on Learnings Instead of Blame (50:15) Applying New Technology to Old Ways of Working (51:15) Why AI Will Change Everything, But Not Overnight ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ---- Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

October 14, 202649 min

338 - How Edward Jones Builds Inclusion into Everyday Business Decisions

Vanessa Okwuraiwe, Head of Inclusion & Accessibility, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how inclusion work has moved deeper into the business, why purpose matters at Edward Jones, and how human judgment, client trust, accessibility, and AI are shaping the future of financial services. ---- Sponsor Links: 🔗 Schedule a consultation with Manifest 🔗 Request a demo of Shapes 🔗 Explore the 2026 Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ---- (14:15) Why Inclusion Is More Integrated Into the Business Now (15:10) Moving Inclusion From Standalone Programs Into Policy, Process and Systems (16:25) Building Inclusion Into Leadership Development and Behavior Models (17:35) Why Inclusion Should Never Be Fashionable (18:15) Business Resource Groups as Business Influencers (19:35) Vanessa’s Day-to-Day Work Across Advocacy, Cultural Acumen and AI (20:15) Building Human Judgment Into AI and Client Experiences (20:45) Looking at the Client Opportunity Across Generations (24:00) Why Younger Generations Expect More Inclusive Companies (26:35) Digital-First Expectations and the Future of Branch Experiences (29:30) Serving Five Generations of Clients (30:05) Why AI Makes Information a Commodity, But Trust Still Matters (33:15) Big P Purpose: Positive Impact With Clients, Colleagues and Communities (34:10) Little P Purpose: Everyday Ways People Activate Purpose (37:35) How Edward Jones Develops Leaders Around Respectful Debate and Inclusion (40:20) Vanessa’s Personal Purpose (41:35) Giving Feedback With Kindness and Dignity (43:30) Using AI for Efficiency While Preserving Human Judgment (44:20) Why Human Connection and Trust Still Matter Most ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ---- Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more

October 9, 202656 min

337 - Who benefits from AI gains? (Andy Doyle, Chief People & Agent Officer at Kantar)

Andy Doyle, Chief People & Agent Officer at Kantar, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about Kantar’s agentic HR transformation, why the future workforce will be a mix of humans and agents, and the four dimensions of AI we should be looking at when we think about who benefits from the AI gains. ---- Sponsor Links: 🔗 Explore the 2026 Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report 🔗 Schedule a consultation with Manifest 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ---- (09:25) Why There Has Never Been a Better Time to Work in HR (12:25) “What Would You Need to Believe to Take Another 50% Out?” (14:00) Four Big HR Operating Model Changes at Kantar (14:35) Moving From COEs to Business Capability Hubs (15:35) Cutting the Bonus Cycle From 12 Weeks to 8 Days (16:10) Why Kantar Took Business Partners Away From the Business (18:00) Taking Workday Access Away From Business Partners (20:40) Twelve Thousand People and Seventeen Thousand Agents (22:30) Why Technology Has Become Disposable (23:00) HR Building Agents Without the Technology Team (26:45) Why HR Needs Clean Data and Better Foundations (28:10) Rewriting 4,200 Policies for Agents to Read (33:05) Why Leaders Must Build and Role Model Agents (33:45) HR Analytics Agent That Reduced a Monthly Task From One Week to Ten Minutes (35:10) Why Kantar’s TA Team Is Smaller, More Productive and More Engaged (35:35) Sharing the AI Dividend Across Shareholders, Clients, Employees and Society (39:00) Why Kantar Wants 80% From Agents and 20% From Human Judgment (42:15) Why Everything Andy Knew About Change Has Gone Out the Window (47:25) Rethinking the Five-Day Workweek and Vacation Time (52:25) The Practice Andy Would Steal: Product Mindset in HR ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ---- Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.