In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Spandana Suddapalli, Head of People at Vidmob, whose career bridges analytics, leadership, and culture building across global tech and high-growth startups. Known for her ability to combine human insight with data-driven decision-making, Spandana unpacks what it really takes to build an HR function that’s both strategic and emotionally intelligent in the age of AI.
From transforming recruiting guardrails to crafting practical AI policies, Spandana shares how her team at Vidmob is shaping the future of work one deliberate choice at a time. She talks about the tension between efficiency and empathy, the power of storytelling in data conversations, and why adaptability, not automation, is the ultimate leadership skill.
She also explains how HR leaders can use AI without losing their judgment, turn uncertainty into thoughtful experimentation, and bring a human voice into every decision that involves technology.
Topics Discussed:
If you’re reimagining how HR can move from reactive to strategic while staying deeply human, this episode offers a grounded look at what truly moves the function forward.
Additional Resources:
I think there's an opportunity here to say: "I'm gonna leverage AI to
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redefine the work that I do and still make
myself a valuable asset to this company
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and be very much part of the strategy."
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I think the takeaway is if you're
sticking to your job description, I
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think it's a lost cause on the AI race.
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Thomas Kunjappu: They keep
telling us that it's all over.
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For HR, the age of AI is upon
us, and that means HR should
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be prepared to be decimated.
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We reject that message.
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The future of HR won't be handed to us.
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Instead, it'll be defined by those
ready to experiment, adopt, and adapt.
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Future Proof HR invites these builders to
share what they're trying, how it's going,
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what they've learned, and what's next.
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We are committed to arming HR
with the AI insights to not
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just survive, but to thrive.
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Thomas: Hello and welcome to the Future
Proof HR Podcast, where we explore how
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forward-thinking HR leaders are preparing
for disruption and redefining what it
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means to lead people in a changing world.
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I'm your host, Thomas
Kanjappu, CEO of Cleary.
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Today's guest is Spandana
Suddapalli, Head Of People at Vidmob.
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A people leader whose HR experience
spans global tech, scaling startups
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and deep work with C-Suites on
organizational transformation.
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Now, Spandana believes the future of HR
lies in a redefined partnership between
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human insight and automated efficiency.
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That tension is something I'm
excited to explore together.
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As AI reshapes administrative
tasks and org structures alike,
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she sees a heightened need for
strategic business partnership.
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And a need to rethink performance
and building emotional fluency as a
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competitive edge for organizations.
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So a lot to talk about, Spandana.
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Welcome to the podcast.
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Thank you.
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Thanks for having me.
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I'm pretty excited to be here.
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Thank you for being here
and to your plans as well.
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So tell me about your personal journey
a little bit about how you kind of
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come into this function, the kinds of
experiences you've had and what kind of
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sparked your interest in HR to begin with.
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Spandanna: Boy.
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How much time do you have?
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I actually was a bio major, if you can't
tell by the plants, back in college.
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But I thought my journey
was going to be in academia.
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I wanted to become a professor
and that's the trajectory I
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was kind of going towards.
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But I had a little bit of a gap
where I needed a job before I
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could go back to grad school,
and that's how I found Priceline.
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And they really just wanted me to come
in and analyze their exit surveys.
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And I had a background in
statistics, so I thought, why not?
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I can just use my degree to use.
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And then I found the world
of corporate culture and I
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never knew anything about it.
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And it was really, really fascinating and
I think Priceline was a very interesting
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place to be at a very interesting time
because I felt like 2012- now I'm dating
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myself - was around when HR was also
going through a huge tech transformation.
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We were looking at a lot more
HR tech coming into play and the
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people there were really adept at
compliance and talking to people.
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However, it was not very
data-driven strategic function.
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And so my five and a half years there,
it was like fully transformed into
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a data-driven strategic function.
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And that really kind
of hit the bug for me.
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I was like, enough with the academia,
I love this corporate culture.
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I'm going to stay in technology.
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And one thing that I also got really
interested in is the fact that Priceline,
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which was owned by Booking Holdings, had
different tech companies that they owned.
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So I got to do different projects across
the board with Kayak and OpenTable
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and Booking and all of these really
cool companies who are doing their
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own HR, but in very different ways.
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And so it was like a crash
course into HR, essentially.
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Thomas: So that analytical mindset clearly
served you well as you got into the role.
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Sure.
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Now we're at the cusp of
this big transformation.
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Maybe back then it was about
SaaS and analytics, and now
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we're talking all things AI.
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So, it seems like a lot of HR
projects with AI, some people are
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talking about they're doomed to fail.
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Yeah.
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Why is that, or are they doomed to fail?
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Spandanna: Well, I think there's a
lot of noise around it as we do with
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any sort of new innovation, right?
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I feel like I read a quote the other day.
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It's like, AI may not be able to
take your job, but someone who
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knows how to use it definitely will.
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And I think, especially for
people functions, we do have
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to be a little careful with it.
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I know, you know, Meta recently
got in trouble for using
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AI for interview scans but
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I don't throw in the towel
and say it's doomed to fail.
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I think it's the way we use it
and use it powerfully enough
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to make it that much better.
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I don't fundamentally believe
that AI is going to fail us all.
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Thomas: So tell me about some of those
guardrails, frameworks, how to go
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about it successfully, what experiences
do you have and thoughts for others
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about doing it the right way, then?
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Spandanna: Yeah.
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One of the things I - and this might
be a very generic example - but you
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know, since COVID, we've gotten very
much used to sort of this virtual world.
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And so, when you interview people,
it's always over Zoom or Google Meets
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and people kind of got used to that.
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And so when we were doing interviews,
even though we have a hybrid
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culture, so we are expected to be
in the office three times a day.
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We kept doing our interviews virtually.
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And we kept going through the whole
full cycle recruiting process, and then
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we would make offers and then we would
bring people in and realize that this
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is not the person we wanted or they're
not performing well enough, et cetera.
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So, there needs to be a bit
of a mixture of human touch.
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With using technology, I think leveraging
this virtual world is really great, or
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even AI screens is really great, but
there needs to be some human intervention.
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So I purposefully reached out to all of
the leadership and said, from now on,
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we're not sending any offers out without
an in-person interview, and I'd rather
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spend the money in having people fly over
to the office - to New York - and meet
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with whoever it needs to be the hiring
manager or the CEO or the leadership.
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And then, only we'll make an offer.
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And that has quite honestly saved us a lot
of money because we weren't exiting people
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three months later or six months later.
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Thomas: Fascinating.
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I guess now we're not talking about
necessarily AI revolution but certainly
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the shortcuts that have come with the
virtual COVID era where everything's
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been shifted to remote and you've
got completely into efficiency mode.
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And so, you've gotten the funnel
all the way down to remote.
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Yeah.
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And actually were you guys fully
remote and then you kind of came back
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towards hybrid more recently, but kept
the interview process fully remote?
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Spandanna: Yeah, so that's the thing.
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It's like when you change processes - and
again, I fully admit that the pandemic
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was a confusing time for all of us.
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Like we were just figuring out
how to do so many things in a not
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- Some of us got, got a
lot of plants, right?
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Yeah.
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Yeah, exactly.
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It was a great time for plants.
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To be a plant parent, rather.
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But I think it does apply to the AI
screening as well, in sort of like a
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contrast to that, just to bring it home.
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Even when we use AI tools to screen
resumes and stuff, we do test
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it against several other things.
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Is it like selectively only giving
us DEI candidates, is it only
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giving us candidates who are a
certain age and over or under?
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So we do have those guardrails because
you know, AI is only as good as the
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amount of times you use it, right?
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You gotta keep feeding the prompts and so
it only gets better the more you use it.
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We are not at a stage where I
feel comfortable opening it up to
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having AI interview screen someone.
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I still take that very personally,
like I still need it to be some
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recruiter or hiring manager
initially talking to the person.
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But we do use it for resume screenings and
stuff, but I do check those guardrails.
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Is it doing what it's
supposed to be doing?
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Thomas: So thank you for taking
that metaphor from the COVID
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era and digital to the AI world.
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So, in the previous example
about interview process, you
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felt like you went too far with
remote too deep into the process.
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Yeah.
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And I imagine the idea that got you to
change that back and approach leadership
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to change the interview process was
because of results of hiring and three or
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six month retention and manager feedback.
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So you kind of, unfortunately,
felt some pain that got you
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kind of reversing course.
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Yeah.
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In the world of AI, if I take the
equivalent of that, it would be, we got
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sued by someone who was a candidate.
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And so now we've realized
we need to come back.
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So you can't quite have that, right?
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You wanna be a little bit cautious.
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So you have a great example about a
guardrail, around effectively in decision
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making and in interview screening
and any kind of human interaction.
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Your ethos sticks is to make
sure everything is human-driven.
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Spandanna: 100%.
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And I think we do get a lot of feedback,
especially given the market where it is.
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It's very hard to find a job now.
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And I hear that with
every candidate I talk to.
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So, the human element of this
couldn't be more powerful right now.
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I've had candidates where I'm just
happy to be talking to someone.
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I don't even care that I get this job.
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Not that they don't care, but it's
like I'm happy that there is a human
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on the other side and they care about
what I'm saying and want to listen to
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my experience or my career journey.
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AI stuff is a lot of the things
that I use it daily is on around
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policy announcements, right?
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I write something, but then I'm
like: "This is sounding too legalese.
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Can I just like kind of, you
know, judge it up a little bit
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and make people excited about it?"
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So that's what I use it for.
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And similarly for resumes,
it's great for screening.
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So things like, I need someone
in New York and the resume
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clearly says LA, California.
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The person could be great
but I cannot hire them.
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And those screenings are really
helpful but the other humanistic
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aspects, you do have to be very careful
and I fundamentally believe that.
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Thomas: So, let me just stick
on this topic one more, just to
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push you a little bit further.
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Yeah.
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Because you're right in a weak labor
market and one that is inundated,
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especially in the recruiting funnel
with just hurdles of robots coming in
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your way, that's the average experience.
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Yeah, with the idea of efficiency for
the employer, and given that there's
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a lot of power for employers and a
push from a lot of CFOs and leadership
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to just focus on efficiency, cut down
on cost efficiency for everything,
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especially back office, including HR.
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Yeah.
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It's a recipe for much more of that.
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You are specifically, and as with
your leadership team, have resisted
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that and saying no, there's some
lines that we wanna draw with
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our recruiting process anyway.
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Yeah.
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Right where we want to spend, I mean,
think of it spending more money, right?
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By being thoughtful and spending
more time with human experiences.
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Yeah.
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How does that happen, right?
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Like what is the case that you can
make to a, I don't know, a naive CFO
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that says what everyone else is doing.
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"Let's cut costs."
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"Why are we doing all this?"
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Spandanna: Yeah.
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Well, that tension is always there.
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I think if you as the head of people,
don't experience tension with your
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head of finance, then one of you
is not doing the job right, right?.
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Like it's always- don't get me wrong,
I really like our CFO and we do have
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healthy debates around what makes sense.
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What I do appreciate though, is
it's really important to do your own
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research ahead of time whenever you're
trying to make a point or trying to
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get approval on something, right?
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I look at recruitment costs
and a lot of the time we rarely
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outsource our recruiting.
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We are doing it in-house.
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and I try to calculate the amount of time
and money we would've spent in recruiting
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00:13:38,295 --> 00:13:44,905
someone and how much that would cost, and
are we willing to do that three months
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in a time where we now have to exit them,
potentially have to give them severance
227
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because the job market is bad and you
feel bad for doing this and whatever.
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I've had an instance where someone
signed their offer letter, showed up
229
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to a work event before their start date
just so they can like, you know, meet
230
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people, et cetera and I got feedback
from literally everybody on the team
231
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just calling, including people who ended
up interviewing them, saying: "This
232
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person was just not right at the event.
233
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I feel very uncomfortable about them
coming in and starting to work",
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et cetera, and that was like, this
person already signed the offer.
235
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And that's a very hard conversation to
have because they've already put in their
236
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resignation, they're about to come in
and they're trying to start this new job.
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Very excited about it.
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And now I have to make that call saying:
"Sorry, I think we're going to rescind
239
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the offer because they were concerning
pieces of feedback on your behavior."
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We probably spent, I don't know, x
amount of thousands of dollars in
241
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interviewing this person that I could
have spent in flying someone over to
242
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meet us in person and make that decision.
243
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So the simplest answer to that
is, the way I handle our CEOs is
244
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to show up with a spreadsheet.
245
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I always have a spreadsheet.
246
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Like it doesn't even matter if it's
a conceptual conversation, like
247
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it's just good for the business.
248
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I always put numbers to it.
249
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And it may not always tell a good
story, but I think that's the
250
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language they really understand.
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Thomas: Interesting.
252
00:15:36,425 --> 00:15:37,715
So I had two takeaways from that.
253
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Yes, the data, but also you did
tell a story here, which is putting
254
00:15:42,645 --> 00:15:46,575
a real emphasis on what happened
with a very specific instance.
255
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Yeah.
256
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But you're really making a broader case,
but which really just gets in the minds of
257
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the team that you're looking to convince.
258
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So I think that is clearly a part of
the arsenal here to make the case.
259
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But the other thing that sticks out to me
is just how thankless the HR job can be.
260
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That is a tough conversation to have.
261
00:16:03,330 --> 00:16:05,720
And people aren't saying: "Great.
262
00:16:05,820 --> 00:16:06,900
Here's an award for doing that."
263
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No.
264
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And yet, that's the kind of tough
stuff that needs to happen behind
265
00:16:10,750 --> 00:16:12,760
the scenes to enable the workforce.
266
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,540
So, let's switch gears a little
bit and talk about the workplace
267
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more broadly 'cause HR has its
place within this transformation
268
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:22,060
that is happening across the board.
269
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So let's talk about performance, maybe.
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So how should we rethink
performance from all aspects
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within an AI integrated workplace?
272
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Spandanna: Oh boy.
273
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There's so many avenues we
can go with performance.
274
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I don't even know which one to touch.
275
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There's this idea of: "Is
AI gonna take over my job?"
276
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to "How am I going to be
evaluated against bots and agents
277
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versus human intervention?"
278
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So, I think more broadly,
279
00:16:55,675 --> 00:17:00,985
I do hear this narrative of the landscape
itself changing in the workforce.
280
00:17:01,045 --> 00:17:05,935
And again, performance is such
a huge component of what we
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do because it hits culture, it
hits aptitude, it hits skillset.
282
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So it's just like, how do we
assess this and how do we make
283
00:17:16,964 --> 00:17:19,244
sure the right people are staying?
284
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And also, the new question you have to
answer is: "Do I need a full headcount
285
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for this thing that needs to get done?"
286
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And that is like a very massive
conversation a lot of heads of
287
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HR are talking about right now.
288
00:17:35,355 --> 00:17:39,915
And headcount planning has
never been the same after that.
289
00:17:40,725 --> 00:17:43,655
I do it every year where
we're reevaluating.
290
00:17:43,685 --> 00:17:46,265
"Okay, there's a business strategy change.
291
00:17:46,325 --> 00:17:50,705
Do we need X number of people doing
this thing that we are no longer going
292
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to be provisioning for our clients?"
293
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And I think that's both an
innovation-wise, really exciting.
294
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But from a people perspective, it
almost feels diabolical, right?
295
00:18:05,525 --> 00:18:07,990
You never want to tell someone: "Hey.
296
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We realized that this job doesn't need
a full-time person to be doing this."
297
00:18:14,945 --> 00:18:18,275
And that's a tough conversation to have
because people are then going to be like,
298
00:18:18,755 --> 00:18:23,045
what do you mean you hired seven people
to do this job and now you're telling all
299
00:18:23,045 --> 00:18:25,415
of them that you don't need them anymore?
300
00:18:25,505 --> 00:18:32,495
And that has implications to culture
and it has implications to how people
301
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perform because they all of a sudden
everybody's on edge about their own jobs.
302
00:18:40,275 --> 00:18:44,395
Contrary to, I'm a big believer
in AI and I think it's going
303
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to transform the way we work.
304
00:18:47,545 --> 00:18:49,255
That's not everybody's belief.
305
00:18:50,185 --> 00:18:55,605
And we recently did a pulse survey and
we did ask people, because AI adoption
306
00:18:55,605 --> 00:18:59,745
is part of our strategy and I do want
people to start using it a bit more.
307
00:19:00,195 --> 00:19:04,515
And our question was: "How
likely are you to adopt to AI
308
00:19:04,515 --> 00:19:07,095
tools in your day-to-day job?"
309
00:19:07,095 --> 00:19:11,485
And how that's going to change your
role being more effective, et cetera.
310
00:19:12,445 --> 00:19:18,145
Only 70% said yes, that they
are very actively using AI tools
311
00:19:18,145 --> 00:19:19,795
or would like to use AI tools.
312
00:19:20,215 --> 00:19:25,465
So there's still like 30%, which
isn't a small number, who are
313
00:19:25,465 --> 00:19:28,535
like very much AI-resistant.
314
00:19:29,725 --> 00:19:31,465
Thomas: And there's an
industry context here, right?
315
00:19:31,470 --> 00:19:34,835
Because depending on the industry
that you're in, It should be, I
316
00:19:34,835 --> 00:19:37,955
would imagine a lot lower than
that in many other industries.
317
00:19:38,045 --> 00:19:39,245
Spandanna: 100%.
318
00:19:39,245 --> 00:19:43,265
And I'm in a tech industry and
like, I'm not having any different
319
00:19:43,265 --> 00:19:47,455
conversations than many other heads
of HR are having in their role.
320
00:19:47,905 --> 00:19:53,825
But as gen AI became more mainstream,
we actively added it to our own
321
00:19:53,825 --> 00:19:58,505
strategy a couple years ago, just around
the same time most companies were.
322
00:19:59,555 --> 00:20:03,035
I cannot tell you how many exit
interviews I've had where people
323
00:20:03,035 --> 00:20:04,925
were like, I just don't like AI.
324
00:20:05,135 --> 00:20:06,335
I gotta get out of here.
325
00:20:06,395 --> 00:20:09,035
Like that was sort of
like the theme of it.
326
00:20:11,390 --> 00:20:14,450
Those are like kind of
going back to performance.
327
00:20:16,820 --> 00:20:21,590
Assessing performance has never
been more challenging than now
328
00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:29,180
because the role itself, the job
itself is changing constantly.
329
00:20:29,180 --> 00:20:31,760
My job changes constantly.
330
00:20:31,820 --> 00:20:33,530
My team's job changes constantly.
331
00:20:33,530 --> 00:20:34,545
It's like everywhere.
332
00:20:35,300 --> 00:20:38,270
Before it was pretty straightforward
because you hand someone a
333
00:20:38,270 --> 00:20:41,420
job description, you say, here
are your responsibilities.
334
00:20:41,810 --> 00:20:47,980
This is what we're measuring you against,
and you get a score based off of that.
335
00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:52,170
Maybe you do upward reviews,
downward reviews, 360, whatever.
336
00:20:53,190 --> 00:20:58,300
Now, the constant struggle I get is like:
"My job wasn't the same three months ago,
337
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so what are you actually assessing me on?"
338
00:21:02,567 --> 00:21:04,697
This has been a fantastic
conversation so far.
339
00:21:04,937 --> 00:21:07,727
If you haven't already done so,
make sure to join our community.
340
00:21:07,967 --> 00:21:10,637
We are building a network of the
most forward-thinking, HR and
341
00:21:10,637 --> 00:21:13,817
people, operational professionals
who are defining the future.
342
00:21:14,297 --> 00:21:16,907
I will personally be sharing
news and ideas around how we
343
00:21:16,907 --> 00:21:18,917
can all thrive in the age of ai.
344
00:21:19,277 --> 00:21:22,262
You can find it at go cleary.com/cleary
345
00:21:22,692 --> 00:21:23,302
community.
346
00:21:23,927 --> 00:21:24,767
Now back to the show.
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Thomas: Ah, so you talk about both
the performance review right there,
348
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but earlier you're also talking
about just headcount planning.
349
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Yeah.
350
00:21:33,616 --> 00:21:37,946
It almost feels like anything that
has a halflife where you're trying to
351
00:21:38,006 --> 00:21:41,816
look more than a few weeks out, a few
months out, a couple quarters out.
352
00:21:41,996 --> 00:21:42,056
Yeah.
353
00:21:42,086 --> 00:21:45,586
Any process that is in that kind
of cyclical level, it needs to be
354
00:21:45,586 --> 00:21:47,326
rethought or it's riskier, right?
355
00:21:47,356 --> 00:21:47,446
Yeah.
356
00:21:47,456 --> 00:21:49,496
Companies used to have
five-year strategic plans.
357
00:21:49,496 --> 00:21:52,436
I feel like that's a little less
in vogue for most industries.
358
00:21:52,466 --> 00:21:52,556
Yeah.
359
00:21:52,616 --> 00:21:55,056
But that was a standard, at
least a couple of decades ago.
360
00:21:55,096 --> 00:21:59,046
And in some ways, right, quarterly
KPIs or OKRs have kind of replaced
361
00:21:59,046 --> 00:22:00,666
the five-year strategic plans.
362
00:22:00,936 --> 00:22:00,996
Yeah.
363
00:22:01,046 --> 00:22:01,361
But then,
364
00:22:04,111 --> 00:22:07,891
there's that dynamic nature,
and you're also hitting on the
365
00:22:07,991 --> 00:22:09,821
psychological impact here, right?
366
00:22:09,821 --> 00:22:15,211
So, I think I always hear about agility
and ability to learn or adaptability.
367
00:22:15,581 --> 00:22:20,136
Those are just things that are
gonna be more valued but based on
368
00:22:20,136 --> 00:22:23,136
what you're saying, maybe, things
are accelerating too fast, right?
369
00:22:23,136 --> 00:22:27,211
And for a big part of the working
population, it's just too much.
370
00:22:27,211 --> 00:22:29,491
And of course, in an exit
interview, that's the one place
371
00:22:29,491 --> 00:22:32,971
where you can be pretty, nakedly
open with your thinking, right?
372
00:22:33,001 --> 00:22:34,951
As close to it as you kind of
see in the corporate world.
373
00:22:35,381 --> 00:22:37,726
What does that mean for workplaces, then?
374
00:22:37,726 --> 00:22:41,986
Is it that there's a static percent
of the population that is not gonna
375
00:22:41,986 --> 00:22:46,786
be fit for or gonna be interested
in the kinds of jobs of the future?
376
00:22:46,786 --> 00:22:48,906
The ones where the people
using AI are gonna replace the
377
00:22:48,906 --> 00:22:51,116
people who are doing it before?
378
00:22:51,166 --> 00:22:55,506
Spandanna: I can only speak from a people
perspective because we are in the people
379
00:22:55,506 --> 00:22:59,346
business and that's how I view things.
380
00:22:59,346 --> 00:23:01,946
Like is customer success gonna go away?
381
00:23:02,006 --> 00:23:03,236
Maybe, right?
382
00:23:03,296 --> 00:23:09,036
Like, if it's just a means of prompt
that we need to give people and you
383
00:23:09,036 --> 00:23:11,526
just have bots doing it, perhaps.
384
00:23:14,016 --> 00:23:15,366
Maybe I'll tell a story.
385
00:23:15,396 --> 00:23:20,681
Very, very, very early on in my career, I
had a boss who's still a mentor of mine,
386
00:23:21,731 --> 00:23:26,171
and my go-to was always spreadsheets
and I was like, I'm going to do
387
00:23:26,171 --> 00:23:30,761
compensation, I'm gonna do operations,
and this is really comfortable, whatever.
388
00:23:31,361 --> 00:23:35,381
But his thinking was, well, if you're
going to be head of HR one day, you
389
00:23:35,381 --> 00:23:37,481
are gonna have tough conversations.
390
00:23:37,691 --> 00:23:40,556
And that was not my forte.
391
00:23:40,646 --> 00:23:42,416
It's not my comfortable space.
392
00:23:43,286 --> 00:23:52,286
And this guy had a talent for
firing people and they would send-
393
00:23:52,286 --> 00:23:53,606
Never quite described that way.
394
00:23:53,611 --> 00:23:53,731
No.
395
00:23:53,801 --> 00:23:54,291
Tell me more.
396
00:23:54,391 --> 00:23:59,926
No, but he had people send him
fruit baskets after he fired them.
397
00:24:00,691 --> 00:24:04,441
Because they were like, wow, this is
the best thing that's happened to me.
398
00:24:04,711 --> 00:24:08,561
Now I can go retire or I can
work on this hobby that I've
399
00:24:08,861 --> 00:24:10,391
put off, or whatever it was.
400
00:24:10,811 --> 00:24:14,381
So, he was really good at it and
he was like, you have to do this.
401
00:24:14,381 --> 00:24:18,311
So, he kind of gave me
pointers on how to do it.
402
00:24:18,311 --> 00:24:20,141
And there was one thing that I took away.
403
00:24:20,141 --> 00:24:23,901
It was like, yes, you're
delivering really tough news.
404
00:24:25,431 --> 00:24:30,326
But that's that much more important
to remember how you're delivering it.
405
00:24:30,926 --> 00:24:36,986
And so, I take that in
stride in everything I do.
406
00:24:37,196 --> 00:24:40,376
I'm not always delivering good news.
407
00:24:40,466 --> 00:24:42,176
Actually, most of the time I'm not.
408
00:24:42,491 --> 00:24:47,226
But there's a way to deliver
that in a way people don't feel
409
00:24:48,591 --> 00:24:51,651
just completely led down by it.
410
00:24:51,831 --> 00:24:52,251
Right?
411
00:24:52,311 --> 00:24:57,321
And that is the difference,
I think, the people in people
412
00:24:57,321 --> 00:25:01,071
space need to really focus on.
413
00:25:01,551 --> 00:25:06,921
This is not going to be, at least for a
long time, I don't think is going to be
414
00:25:06,921 --> 00:25:12,726
replaced by AI, which is why I think when
we first met, I told that story of I was
415
00:25:12,786 --> 00:25:17,436
in a board meeting and one of the board
members said: "Spandana is the only one
416
00:25:17,436 --> 00:25:19,416
who's going to have a job in the future."
417
00:25:19,956 --> 00:25:24,286
Because it has to deal with
managing both bots and people.
418
00:25:24,286 --> 00:25:26,586
And that's the reality of the world.
419
00:25:27,036 --> 00:25:31,496
And so again, I think, which is why
I'm very thoughtful, going back to the
420
00:25:31,496 --> 00:25:36,866
recruiting question, is like I take
every interview that I do very seriously.
421
00:25:36,866 --> 00:25:42,426
And my team also make sure that
we respond to every application.
422
00:25:42,426 --> 00:25:46,746
We make sure that we are letting them
know where they are in the process and
423
00:25:46,746 --> 00:25:48,756
try to be as transparent as possible.
424
00:25:49,996 --> 00:25:52,336
So the human element of it is, I think,
425
00:25:54,586 --> 00:25:58,526
the biggest thing we have to
leverage, as people in the people
426
00:25:58,526 --> 00:26:04,316
space and not be spooked by what's
coming down the pike with AI.
427
00:26:06,251 --> 00:26:09,371
Thomas: So how do you enable that in
the organization to not be spooked, to
428
00:26:09,371 --> 00:26:14,391
know that change is coming, it's ever
increasing, roles are gonna change.
429
00:26:14,421 --> 00:26:19,591
Yes, it's gonna be hard for
you or us or anyone to look
430
00:26:19,591 --> 00:26:20,881
at performance the same way.
431
00:26:21,421 --> 00:26:25,891
How can you coach that or
enable in an organization.
432
00:26:25,921 --> 00:26:27,871
Spandanna: I don't think
it's a new formula.
433
00:26:27,871 --> 00:26:32,301
It's a formula that's been used
and driven and proven with.
434
00:26:32,301 --> 00:26:34,521
I come from a startup culture.
435
00:26:34,611 --> 00:26:41,121
Some days, you are watching sunrises from
your desk because that's just the reality
436
00:26:41,121 --> 00:26:43,441
of being in a fast-paced environment.
437
00:26:44,581 --> 00:26:49,621
The people I find who are very, very
successful in those environments
438
00:26:49,621 --> 00:26:54,361
are people who are redefining their
work and redefining their roles.
439
00:26:54,991 --> 00:27:04,371
And I encourage, I push myself definitely
to be adaptable and try to come up
440
00:27:04,371 --> 00:27:06,651
with ways where we can be adaptable.
441
00:27:06,741 --> 00:27:09,111
And I encourage my team to do that, too.
442
00:27:09,651 --> 00:27:14,551
A lot of the times the question is:
"Hey, I used to do this and I feel
443
00:27:14,551 --> 00:27:17,191
like AI is going to take over my job."
444
00:27:18,361 --> 00:27:19,441
Thomas: We've all heard that before.
445
00:27:19,501 --> 00:27:19,861
Yeah.
446
00:27:21,001 --> 00:27:22,801
Spandanna: I dunno if I agree with that.
447
00:27:23,041 --> 00:27:28,171
I think there's an opportunity here to
say: "I'm gonna leverage AI to redefine
448
00:27:28,171 --> 00:27:35,881
the work that I do and still make myself
a valuable asset to this company and
449
00:27:35,881 --> 00:27:39,221
be very much part of the strategy."
450
00:27:39,321 --> 00:27:42,771
I think the takeaway is if you're
sticking to your job description, I
451
00:27:42,771 --> 00:27:45,621
think it's a lost cause on the AI race.
452
00:27:47,106 --> 00:27:48,856
Thomas: And also it's on you, right?
453
00:27:48,856 --> 00:27:48,916
Yeah.
454
00:27:48,916 --> 00:27:53,826
It's not on leadership,
your management, HR.
455
00:27:53,886 --> 00:27:55,956
I mean, to some degree, they need
to be thinking about this at the
456
00:27:55,956 --> 00:27:59,646
organization level, but it's on
you specifically to understand and
457
00:27:59,646 --> 00:28:03,966
redefine well what is higher value
for you to be working on, right?
458
00:28:03,966 --> 00:28:04,196
Yeah.
459
00:28:04,756 --> 00:28:06,286
Spandanna: And that's no way for others.
460
00:28:06,286 --> 00:28:07,126
Exactly.
461
00:28:07,176 --> 00:28:11,766
The leadership does a lot where it's
like, you know, as things are moving-
462
00:28:11,866 --> 00:28:18,616
at least we do- where we try to give
people tools around AI and we try to
463
00:28:19,356 --> 00:28:24,276
encourage them to use them, put in
policies for adoption and also kind of
464
00:28:24,276 --> 00:28:26,286
warn them around guardrails and stuff.
465
00:28:26,286 --> 00:28:27,756
So around compliance and things.
466
00:28:28,386 --> 00:28:29,856
So that already exists.
467
00:28:29,856 --> 00:28:34,296
I don't know if you've ever seen this
very famous President Obama clip where he
468
00:28:34,296 --> 00:28:39,066
was like: "Oh, you go into these like big
places and you're sitting with like hedge
469
00:28:39,066 --> 00:28:41,676
funders and Harvard grads and whatever.
470
00:28:42,291 --> 00:28:45,081
And once you're there, you're
like, oh, they're not all that.
471
00:28:46,881 --> 00:28:48,411
You're actually not that smart."
472
00:28:48,411 --> 00:28:52,641
So I think people need to be
a little bit more pragmatic.
473
00:28:52,641 --> 00:28:56,511
I think waiting for leadership
to do something is not actually
474
00:28:56,511 --> 00:28:57,831
gonna help your career.
475
00:28:57,921 --> 00:29:03,351
My advice to you would be to think of
something maybe even leadership hasn't
476
00:29:03,351 --> 00:29:08,121
thought about and you, you present it to
them and they're all already like, whoa,
477
00:29:08,271 --> 00:29:10,411
this person is so impressive, you know?
478
00:29:12,771 --> 00:29:16,971
Thomas: So let's talk about
that with the HR function a
479
00:29:16,971 --> 00:29:18,311
little bit more deeply, right?
480
00:29:18,311 --> 00:29:21,151
That concept of that: "Hey,
all roles are changing.
481
00:29:21,151 --> 00:29:22,471
There's gonna be a shift in that."
482
00:29:22,591 --> 00:29:27,781
Let's talk about like how HR roles
may shift and how would you go about
483
00:29:27,781 --> 00:29:30,391
redefining and pick your role, right?
484
00:29:30,731 --> 00:29:35,131
So how do you think about the
various sub-functions or the
485
00:29:35,131 --> 00:29:38,021
leadership roles within HR evolving.
486
00:29:38,081 --> 00:29:43,151
And do you have any ideas or examples
about how we might put that nugget into
487
00:29:43,151 --> 00:29:48,721
practice, which is how can you yourself
think about: "Okay, ways to evolve my
488
00:29:48,721 --> 00:29:51,261
own role based on new possibilities?"
489
00:29:51,561 --> 00:29:56,021
Spandanna: Yeah, super futuristic, I think
we will end up in a world where we are
490
00:29:56,021 --> 00:30:00,941
also managing bots as we are with humans.
491
00:30:00,941 --> 00:30:04,751
So that is what is coming.
492
00:30:04,751 --> 00:30:06,491
I know that that's sitting there.
493
00:30:06,831 --> 00:30:13,551
But right now, a few things that I do is,
you mentioned that we're going so fast.
494
00:30:13,551 --> 00:30:15,231
We're moving too fast, right?
495
00:30:15,321 --> 00:30:21,366
And in that world, it's really important
to have right policies in place.
496
00:30:21,366 --> 00:30:24,576
So that is a big thing that
I do, where it's like you
497
00:30:24,576 --> 00:30:27,336
can't just run with using AI.
498
00:30:27,336 --> 00:30:31,116
You have to have certain guardrails,
you have to have checks and balances.
499
00:30:31,116 --> 00:30:33,636
So I definitely do that.
500
00:30:35,166 --> 00:30:40,806
We have to monitor or be cognizant of
the type of AI tools people are using.
501
00:30:40,896 --> 00:30:45,741
So it's like, is it open
AI versus Claude AI?
502
00:30:45,741 --> 00:30:48,861
And there's like, you know, there
are different iterations of it.
503
00:30:49,281 --> 00:30:55,731
There's that - to be very, very tactical-
there's also privacy issues, right?
504
00:30:55,821 --> 00:30:58,661
Like, are we divulging company secrets?
505
00:30:58,661 --> 00:31:00,401
We have to be very careful about that.
506
00:31:00,791 --> 00:31:07,991
So those are the aspects of it that
I definitely get into in terms of
507
00:31:07,991 --> 00:31:09,911
the current working environment.
508
00:31:10,481 --> 00:31:16,031
The other thing I have heavily encouraged
though, within the people team is to
509
00:31:17,051 --> 00:31:22,361
carve out time to see what developments
are happening on the HR space.
510
00:31:22,871 --> 00:31:29,481
Just so we are ahead of how other
companies are using AI and potentially
511
00:31:29,481 --> 00:31:30,861
being able to leverage that.
512
00:31:32,976 --> 00:31:34,896
Thomas: Carve out time to learn yourself.
513
00:31:35,036 --> 00:31:40,316
Yeah, those are some very practical
things that I guess as an HR leader.
514
00:31:40,646 --> 00:31:47,181
Yeah, you need to have the skillset
going forward to create and help craft a
515
00:31:47,181 --> 00:31:50,191
company-wide AI policy around governance.
516
00:31:50,191 --> 00:31:52,171
Maybe a training and onboarding, probably.
517
00:31:52,321 --> 00:31:55,591
For most companies is
valid, at this stage.
518
00:31:55,691 --> 00:32:00,751
And that includes the policies
around knowing about data privacy,
519
00:32:00,751 --> 00:32:03,571
which is always was a thing, but
it's just even more, I guess,
520
00:32:03,571 --> 00:32:05,401
arguably top of mind with AI tools.
521
00:32:05,401 --> 00:32:08,881
But as long as we have so many tools
that we can log into that still holds
522
00:32:09,431 --> 00:32:11,261
but it just seems to escape faster.
523
00:32:11,426 --> 00:32:15,701
Spandanna: Well there's also like
the fondest example I've heard is,
524
00:32:15,751 --> 00:32:18,601
I think this woman from the UK.
525
00:32:18,631 --> 00:32:19,681
It was a small company.
526
00:32:19,681 --> 00:32:21,901
It was like, you know,
60 people or something.
527
00:32:21,991 --> 00:32:28,396
She had everybody write a paragraph
of what their day to day looks like,
528
00:32:28,396 --> 00:32:30,046
a day in the life of looks like.
529
00:32:30,256 --> 00:32:31,186
And they all did.
530
00:32:31,216 --> 00:32:34,996
And they sent it to her and
she put it in a AI tool.
531
00:32:35,386 --> 00:32:40,246
And then she asked it to build
an employee life cycle for each
532
00:32:40,246 --> 00:32:41,446
of the roles that they had.
533
00:32:41,746 --> 00:32:42,586
And it did.
534
00:32:42,646 --> 00:32:46,606
And she like sent it over and she was
like, here are the five things you can
535
00:32:46,606 --> 00:32:49,876
do to improve your career or do whatever.
536
00:32:50,236 --> 00:32:54,886
So it's just like, there are a
lot of fun things happening in
537
00:32:54,886 --> 00:32:58,756
this space, and I do think we're
only just scratching the surface.
538
00:33:00,556 --> 00:33:01,986
Thomas: That's really interesting.
539
00:33:01,986 --> 00:33:02,196
Yeah.
540
00:33:02,196 --> 00:33:05,006
So think about how you can
crowdsource different things.
541
00:33:05,086 --> 00:33:06,646
I mean, everyone has their survey data.
542
00:33:06,646 --> 00:33:09,586
There's probably ways to slice
that stuff into creating outputs
543
00:33:09,586 --> 00:33:14,431
that you, otherwise, maybe wouldn't
imagine using that as an input for.
544
00:33:14,431 --> 00:33:17,551
So you can play with inputs and
outputs as kind of a takeaway there.
545
00:33:17,551 --> 00:33:18,331
That's pretty interesting.
546
00:33:18,901 --> 00:33:21,211
Let me ask you about the futuristic
thing that you mentioned.
547
00:33:21,211 --> 00:33:23,421
So, yeah, so what does that mean?
548
00:33:23,421 --> 00:33:28,631
So, what does that mean as bots, an
agentic AI becomes part of, I dunno, does
549
00:33:28,631 --> 00:33:29,831
it become part of headcount planning?
550
00:33:29,881 --> 00:33:32,551
These tools are increasingly just
part of the, you know, they're
551
00:33:32,551 --> 00:33:33,871
teammates in some ways, right?
552
00:33:33,871 --> 00:33:37,351
But yeah, arguably it's just what
software has always been, which is,
553
00:33:37,651 --> 00:33:39,601
here's a function in the B2B space, right?
554
00:33:39,751 --> 00:33:40,591
Here's a function.
555
00:33:41,101 --> 00:33:43,831
Here are people are working on
certain outcomes and here's some
556
00:33:43,831 --> 00:33:45,601
software to get them there faster.
557
00:33:45,931 --> 00:33:48,841
And now this is like just, maybe
there's a greater percentage
558
00:33:48,841 --> 00:33:50,251
software, fewer people, I don't know.
559
00:33:50,251 --> 00:33:55,211
But, how does that changed, especially
if anything, the HR lens, right?
560
00:33:55,211 --> 00:33:59,431
As you go towards headcount planning
or enabling various functions.
561
00:34:01,951 --> 00:34:05,226
Spandanna: That's a tough question
to answer because I don't think
562
00:34:05,226 --> 00:34:09,036
we're there yet, but I know we're
getting there very, very quickly.
563
00:34:09,246 --> 00:34:14,136
it's hard to imagine that it wouldn't have
an effect on literally everything, right?
564
00:34:14,166 --> 00:34:17,196
Like how we do performance.
565
00:34:17,196 --> 00:34:20,826
How do we think about headcount planning?
566
00:34:20,976 --> 00:34:29,315
My thinking is in an agentic
world, the role of HR is going
567
00:34:29,315 --> 00:34:32,166
to be a lot more technical.
568
00:34:32,406 --> 00:34:36,516
Like if you do not have any
technical chops, I highly
569
00:34:36,516 --> 00:34:38,315
recommend that you do it now.
570
00:34:38,786 --> 00:34:44,666
Just to kind of be able to explain why
things are going well or not going well.
571
00:34:44,755 --> 00:34:46,766
and I think that's really important.
572
00:34:47,456 --> 00:34:54,926
And then the second piece of it is there's
always going to be that tension of,
573
00:34:56,156 --> 00:34:58,856
you know, AI is able to do this today.
574
00:34:59,006 --> 00:35:01,076
Is AI able to do something else?
575
00:35:01,076 --> 00:35:08,096
To the extent where there are no people
working and is it just agents, right?
576
00:35:08,426 --> 00:35:11,301
Hopefully it doesn't happen
in my lifetime, but if it
577
00:35:11,301 --> 00:35:14,751
does, then there's so many
578
00:35:17,731 --> 00:35:23,796
iterations of working that we haven't
even scratched the surface on.
579
00:35:23,796 --> 00:35:28,296
Like when I was in grad school, we talked
about- are you familiar with DAOs, the
580
00:35:28,296 --> 00:35:31,256
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations?
581
00:35:32,876 --> 00:35:36,951
Thomas: I remember that's kind of
gone up and down along with the rest
582
00:35:36,951 --> 00:35:38,561
of the crypto world in a few years.
583
00:35:38,561 --> 00:35:38,771
Yeah.
584
00:35:38,776 --> 00:35:39,046
Spandanna: Yeah.
585
00:35:39,191 --> 00:35:43,871
But it was like only two years ago
that I had a professor who like firmly
586
00:35:43,871 --> 00:35:47,981
believed in DAOs, and that's what she
thought we were all heading towards.
587
00:35:47,981 --> 00:35:51,891
Like, there's not gonna be
no more corporate entities.
588
00:35:51,891 --> 00:35:55,811
No more like Delaware
Incorporated or whatever it is.
589
00:35:55,811 --> 00:35:58,931
We're all just going to be
communities coming together.
590
00:35:59,441 --> 00:36:03,941
I can see a world where it's all
agentic and people are just kind of like
591
00:36:04,121 --> 00:36:07,001
contributing to projects, et cetera.
592
00:36:08,141 --> 00:36:08,291
But I
593
00:36:10,446 --> 00:36:10,751
don't know.
594
00:36:10,751 --> 00:36:16,101
It's a very hard question to answer
now with like how the agentic and
595
00:36:16,241 --> 00:36:22,171
human mixture is going to affect
our workforce and the way we work.
596
00:36:24,751 --> 00:36:28,201
Thomas: When you bring up DAOs, for
me, it almost made me realize maybe
597
00:36:28,471 --> 00:36:35,021
we are currently in the peak cycle
of that hype cycle with AI, just
598
00:36:35,021 --> 00:36:38,501
like you were when you were taking
that course with where DAOs were.
599
00:36:38,921 --> 00:36:44,281
And it's just actually this future
with like AGI and organizations that
600
00:36:44,281 --> 00:36:48,001
are self, not just organizing, but
just like working with agents is just
601
00:36:48,271 --> 00:36:51,111
asymptotically 5 to 10 years away.
602
00:36:51,111 --> 00:36:55,101
And there's like so much more that we to
build towards actually get that right.
603
00:36:55,101 --> 00:36:58,821
But there's that, in fact, there are many
other problems to solve in the near term
604
00:36:58,821 --> 00:37:00,831
or even in the near term generations.
605
00:37:00,891 --> 00:37:01,041
Yeah.
606
00:37:01,101 --> 00:37:01,641
But who knows?
607
00:37:02,161 --> 00:37:05,091
But it's always interesting to
think about how that could turn out.
608
00:37:05,431 --> 00:37:09,541
So let me ask you then,
just as we close out here.
609
00:37:09,571 --> 00:37:09,661
Yeah.
610
00:37:10,061 --> 00:37:13,081
Just around building
an AI strategy, right?
611
00:37:13,081 --> 00:37:14,731
As like advice for peers.
612
00:37:15,181 --> 00:37:18,751
I think you were telling me, you went
to like a bootcamp and you learned a
613
00:37:18,751 --> 00:37:22,081
bunch of stuff and then you launched
an AI policy within a week, right?.
614
00:37:22,081 --> 00:37:24,541
And that's something you mentioned
as like a tactical thing that
615
00:37:24,541 --> 00:37:25,651
people should be able to do.
616
00:37:25,651 --> 00:37:32,721
So, if I'm an uninitiated CHRO or people
ops person or HRBP, whatever the case
617
00:37:32,721 --> 00:37:34,491
may be, and I want to like do that.
618
00:37:34,491 --> 00:37:35,061
What did you do?
619
00:37:35,061 --> 00:37:38,031
How did that go from like soup to
nuts to launch something like that?
620
00:37:38,091 --> 00:37:38,301
Spandanna: Yeah.
621
00:37:38,621 --> 00:37:46,316
Well, the truth of the matter is whether
you have a fully functioning AI policy
622
00:37:46,316 --> 00:37:48,686
or not, your people are using AI.
623
00:37:48,856 --> 00:37:52,101
And so, where I started was
with our head of compliance
624
00:37:52,428 --> 00:37:58,008
and security to see which AI tools were
the most famous amongst our people.
625
00:37:58,848 --> 00:38:03,088
And then, we also got to see,
because we use Google Suite,
626
00:38:03,198 --> 00:38:05,298
we do use Gemini quite a lot.
627
00:38:05,368 --> 00:38:10,078
And so, we also got to see what sort of
things that they're really using it for.
628
00:38:10,488 --> 00:38:15,708
And then my second stop was with legal to
talk through some of the risks and what
629
00:38:15,708 --> 00:38:23,503
are the guardrails and the things that
you can do or cannot do within the policy.
630
00:38:23,503 --> 00:38:24,433
So we did that.
631
00:38:24,903 --> 00:38:27,903
And then we also encouraged AI adoption.
632
00:38:27,903 --> 00:38:33,243
So we've had Gemini come in and do
demos on how to use them, particularly
633
00:38:33,243 --> 00:38:35,103
for our customer success people.
634
00:38:35,583 --> 00:38:41,313
And it really took off like everybody,
and again, we're a hundred people
635
00:38:41,313 --> 00:38:47,093
company so it's not massive, but
people took off and came up with very
636
00:38:47,093 --> 00:38:50,093
creative ways of servicing our clients.
637
00:38:50,093 --> 00:38:51,823
And none of them were the same.
638
00:38:51,873 --> 00:38:56,283
I can use AI for this and I can
use AI for that, but it was very
639
00:38:56,283 --> 00:38:57,963
much, they all have the same job.
640
00:38:58,003 --> 00:38:59,563
That was very exciting to see.
641
00:38:59,568 --> 00:39:05,473
But it was all within, if you do
have a policy in place, then it makes
642
00:39:05,473 --> 00:39:09,013
things that much easier because you've
already communicated those guardrails
643
00:39:09,013 --> 00:39:11,473
and you've mentioned lawsuits earlier.
644
00:39:11,473 --> 00:39:12,823
It also avoids those.
645
00:39:14,843 --> 00:39:17,063
Thomas: So thank you
for a bit of a roadmap.
646
00:39:17,063 --> 00:39:19,023
And It's not a multi-year
project either, right?
647
00:39:19,023 --> 00:39:22,603
You can get it up and off the ground
and making an impact and getting
648
00:39:22,603 --> 00:39:26,243
some alignment, reducing the risk
exposure and getting some alignment
649
00:39:26,243 --> 00:39:29,933
across compliance, legal, the
employee base, functional leaders and
650
00:39:29,933 --> 00:39:31,823
even just tooling standardization.
651
00:39:31,823 --> 00:39:31,973
Yeah.
652
00:39:32,033 --> 00:39:33,928
Could be a part of the wins.
653
00:39:33,978 --> 00:39:35,508
One last question.
654
00:39:35,748 --> 00:39:39,138
If I could just ask if you're
talking to your peers because
655
00:39:39,138 --> 00:39:40,518
you're moving at a pace.
656
00:39:40,518 --> 00:39:43,388
I can feel that In terms of AI
adoption, both at your function as
657
00:39:43,388 --> 00:39:44,858
well as the organization, overall.
658
00:39:44,918 --> 00:39:45,068
Yeah.
659
00:39:45,238 --> 00:39:51,008
And what would you say to your
peers and HR leaders who feel a
660
00:39:51,008 --> 00:39:56,688
bit paralyzed by the pace of change
that's happening around them in other
661
00:39:56,688 --> 00:39:58,938
functions or in other companies?
662
00:39:58,938 --> 00:40:03,528
Like they're not sure exactly how to
start, where to go, what to do, like
663
00:40:03,528 --> 00:40:04,698
what would be your message to them?
664
00:40:04,998 --> 00:40:05,418
Spandanna: Yeah.
665
00:40:05,418 --> 00:40:09,078
I would say, look, I fully get that.
666
00:40:09,078 --> 00:40:11,928
It could be dizzying seeing all of this.
667
00:40:11,928 --> 00:40:17,328
And particularly if you're in a head
of HR role, you're talking payroll,
668
00:40:17,328 --> 00:40:21,038
to the future of HR on any given day.
669
00:40:21,398 --> 00:40:23,968
And so you're constantly
context switching.
670
00:40:24,358 --> 00:40:29,938
My recommendation would be to not try
to solve for all of it at the same time.
671
00:40:29,998 --> 00:40:36,088
And the good thing about HR - and we
talked about this before - HR tech is
672
00:40:36,088 --> 00:40:38,608
like the last to innovate on anything.
673
00:40:40,138 --> 00:40:44,128
And so, the good news is even
if it feels like we're in a rat
674
00:40:44,128 --> 00:40:49,378
race, chances are this particular
function isn't going to innovate as
675
00:40:49,378 --> 00:40:51,118
fast as you think it's going to..
676
00:40:51,568 --> 00:40:55,048
So I would say take a couple of items.
677
00:40:55,048 --> 00:40:58,768
It could be learning and development,
or it could be performance management.
678
00:40:58,798 --> 00:41:01,168
It could be engagement.
679
00:41:02,053 --> 00:41:06,523
Take one of those and see how
- actually, one of the easiest things
680
00:41:06,523 --> 00:41:08,113
people can do is compensation.
681
00:41:08,893 --> 00:41:11,083
AI has changed the game.
682
00:41:11,143 --> 00:41:17,473
Like before, I used to run 128
column spreadsheets of like
683
00:41:17,833 --> 00:41:20,473
comp, merit cycles, et cetera.
684
00:41:20,533 --> 00:41:23,863
Now, I think I forgot a lot
of Excel formulas now because
685
00:41:23,863 --> 00:41:26,713
I don't use them fast enough.
686
00:41:26,713 --> 00:41:32,393
So definitely look at what the low
hanging fruit are, where you can
687
00:41:32,393 --> 00:41:37,853
incorporate it slowly, and definitely
don't try to do all of it at once.
688
00:41:39,738 --> 00:41:42,618
Thomas: Thank you for sharing that and
for the broader conversations [inaudible].
689
00:41:42,618 --> 00:41:46,863
There's so much we talked about specific
use cases that you're doing within
690
00:41:46,863 --> 00:41:51,023
your function as well as a lot of
the change management and development
691
00:41:51,023 --> 00:41:54,923
opportunities and challenges that
you've faced as an HR leader that many
692
00:41:54,923 --> 00:41:56,883
of us out there are going through.
693
00:41:56,883 --> 00:41:59,528
So I think there's some insight
and some experiences that
694
00:41:59,528 --> 00:42:00,818
we can now all learn from.
695
00:42:01,208 --> 00:42:05,818
And I also appreciate the future,
you're looking at all the shifts that
696
00:42:05,818 --> 00:42:10,488
can happen but also appreciating the
guardrails that you wanna put in place so
697
00:42:10,488 --> 00:42:14,898
that you know you're actually mindfully
moving fast and slow at the same time.
698
00:42:14,898 --> 00:42:16,908
From what I can tell, like
that's maybe one way to put it.
699
00:42:16,908 --> 00:42:18,648
And that you have guardrails in place.
700
00:42:18,648 --> 00:42:21,108
You're thinking about which
areas to drop it into.
701
00:42:21,378 --> 00:42:21,438
Yeah.
702
00:42:21,438 --> 00:42:27,483
But also explicitly human and non-AI
in certain types of engagements, right?
703
00:42:27,483 --> 00:42:30,273
Or certain types of moments in
the employee journey on purpose.
704
00:42:30,333 --> 00:42:30,393
Yeah.
705
00:42:30,733 --> 00:42:35,923
So I think that's really thoughtful
and a good place for many people to go.
706
00:42:36,283 --> 00:42:40,493
So with all that said, thank you
once again, for the conversation.
707
00:42:40,763 --> 00:42:44,643
For everyone out there listening,
thank you for your attention and
708
00:42:44,643 --> 00:42:46,113
hope you found some value in this.
709
00:42:46,513 --> 00:42:50,863
About how you might be able to
future proof your organization and
710
00:42:50,923 --> 00:42:55,513
your HR function so that we can
all thrive within the age of AI.
711
00:42:56,023 --> 00:42:58,933
So with that said, we'll
see you all on the next one.
712
00:42:59,023 --> 00:42:59,383
Thank you.
713
00:42:59,653 --> 00:43:00,523
Thank you.
714
00:43:02,333 --> 00:43:05,393
Thanks for joining us on this
episode of Future Proof HR.
715
00:43:05,633 --> 00:43:08,243
If you like the discussion, make
sure you leave us a five star
716
00:43:08,243 --> 00:43:11,123
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717
00:43:11,543 --> 00:43:14,483
Or share this with a friend or colleague
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718
00:43:14,783 --> 00:43:19,733
See you next time as we keep our pulse on
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