In this episode of Future Proof HR, Jim Kanichirayil sits down with Brita Ohlin, Chief People Officer at Consafe Logistics Group, to talk about what a practical AI rollout looks like inside a people-centric company. Brita shares how AI first gained traction through customer demand on the product side, then gradually became part of the company’s internal workflows as teams started using tools like ChatGPT in their day-to-day work.

The conversation focuses on how to balance AI progress with the need for trust, accuracy, and stability. Brita explains how Consafe Logistics built a structure around AI use by setting policies, standardizing licenses, and creating central oversight while still encouraging curiosity across the business. She also reflects on how culture shaped adoption and why clear guidance from leaders matters when experimentation starts spreading quickly.

This episode is a grounded look at AI adoption for HR leaders who feel pressure to act but want to move with intention. Brita’s perspective offers a helpful reminder that the goal is not to automate everything. It is to solve the right problems, reduce AI stress, and keep people, culture, and practical value at the center of the work.

Topics Discussed:

• Balancing AI innovation with product stability in logistics
• How customer demand shaped early AI adoption
• Why AI often enters the organization before governance catches up
• Building practical AI guardrails without shutting down curiosity
• How company culture influences AI adoption behavior
• Reducing fear by framing AI as a tool for higher-value work
• Common internal use cases across marketing, sales, and product teams
• Why HR is piloting a people agent for simple employee questions
• How to protect data accuracy and preserve trust during rollout
• What success and failure should look like in an HR AI initiative

If you are an HR leader trying to move from AI anxiety to a more deliberate plan, this conversation offers a practical framework for deciding where AI can help, where human connection still matters most, and how to introduce new tools without losing the culture you are trying to protect.

Additional Resources:

• Cleary's AI-powered HR Chatbot
• Future Proof HR Community
• Connect with Brita Ohlin on LinkedIn

AI will not take your jobs

2

but those who

3

can use AI will So we have decided

to do a pilot on a people agent.

4

having an agent responding to more

simple day-to-day HR questions

5

that we tend to get soaked in

6

Jim Kanichirayil: can you share with

us a little bit more about how you

7

married the need for stability as well

as innovation and advancement in AI in

8

a space that doesn't really have a lot

of fault tolerance if stuff breaks.

9

Is it possible for you to implement AI,

introduce automation and self-service

10

into an organization, and still

maintain the people-centric culture

11

that you've built over the years?

12

That's an important question that

many organizations are grappling with.

13

Today's story involves a logistics

organization that has a priority

14

on making sure that their

external platform is stable.

15

On the internal side, when they're looking

at adopting AI into the organization,

16

they wanna make sure that they're securing

the culture of the organization first.

17

They are a people-centric company, and

they've decided to take a people-centric

18

approach into their AI implementation.

19

We're gonna be joined by Brita Ohlin,

who is an experienced HR leader

20

focused on creating workplaces where

people and businesses can develop

21

in a sustainable and practical way.

22

She's a chief people officer at

Consafe Logistics Group, and she

23

leads the people and culture function

and supports the company's strategy,

24

culture, and organizational development.

25

Prior to this, she held senior HR roles

at Ericsson, and she worked closely with

26

global R&D teams in managing several

major change and integration efforts.

27

She believes strongly that culture is a

genuine competitive advantage and aims to

28

make workplaces both effective and human.

29

Brita, welcome to the show.

30

Brita Ohlin: Thank you.

31

Thanks for having me.

32

Jim Kanichirayil: So I'm really looking

forward to this conversation because

33

we are catching you at a great time.

34

You're in the middle of your AI journey.

35

you've done the foundational

work and now you've launched it.

36

So having a conversation about how that

rollout and how the planning went, is

37

gonna be a pretty, interesting one.

38

But before we get into that.

39

I think one of the things, that's gonna be

helpful for our listeners and viewers is

40

for you to share a little bit more detail

in terms of the organizational landscape.

41

So tell us a little bit more

about the company that you work

42

for and some of the things that

are driving this AI initiative.

43

Brita Ohlin: Yeah.

44

I work at Consafe Logistics, which

is a software product company.

45

So what we do is we develop and deliver

a solution in, the supply chain suite.

46

And being in a software company, I

think AI technology, digitalization,

47

it's something that we live with

quite naturally on a day-to-day basis.

48

and I think AI started to come in quite

early in our organization, but that was

49

mainly driven from the product side.

50

So customers asking us what, how

can ai, be integrated into your

51

product and how can that help us?

52

So I think our AI journey

started from the product side.

53

and we started, I think in 2022 something

to really, work with functionality

54

driven by AI to help our customers.

55

And then I think from an

organizational point of view.

56

AI kind of sneaked up, up upon us

and then suddenly it was, a few years

57

back when ChatGPT kind of exploded.

58

It also came into the

internal organization.

59

And I think being a tech company,

software company, is, we just need

60

to have it in our lives, right?

61

And we need to work with

it and play around with it.

62

it's assumed from employees but also

customers and leaders in the organization.

63

Jim Kanichirayil: I find interesting

about your answer is the space that

64

you operate in, which is logistics.

65

And when I think about logistics, I think

about hey, we need an environment that's

66

pretty stable from a tech perspective

and we can't have any surprises

67

because things can get screwed up.

68

And you just described a scenario

where it seems like the organization

69

was pretty aggressive in its AI

posture and it was driven by the

70

product side of the organization.

71

Can you share with us a little bit

more about how you married the need

72

for stability as well as innovation and

advancement in AI in a space that doesn't

73

really have a lot of fault tolerance?

74

If stuff breaks.

75

Brita Ohlin: No, of course.

76

our customers, the system is often in

the heart of their operations, right?

77

So if our system goes down.

78

they lose a lot of money

each second, right?

79

of course, important, have stability.

80

they also, expected us to

bring AI into, into the product

81

and into their operations.

82

logistics is also very much

about optimization, efficiency.

83

and that's where AI, of course,

can be a very good help.

84

So I think, having the

stable product, of course.

85

that, but at the same time, needed to

start to look into how AI could enable

86

us to develop the product even more So I

think, it was a balance between keeping

87

the stability and, but also encouraging

the curiosity around AI and see how

88

we could get that into the product.

89

Jim Kanichirayil: Staying, staying on

that thread for a little bit longer,

90

you said that it was a customer base

that was actually driving the need for

91

innovation and the implementation of AI

in the product side of the organization.

92

What were the types of things

that customers were asking for

93

and how did that shape the.

94

Product roadmap for the organization.

95

Brita Ohlin: Logistics is

about efficiency, speed, and

96

it's predictability, right?

97

So how can we enable our

customers to be predictable?

98

When it comes to deliveries, How

much their products, the turnover

99

in the warehouse and so on.

100

So the predictability, I would say is

one thing, but also the pressure on,

101

sustainability and CO2 emissions, right?

102

So you drive the trucks in the

warehouse, how do we make that

103

in the most efficient way?

104

So there were different angles on

what the customers wanted to address

105

with AI and what we saw that we could

actually help them with, in that sense.

106

Jim Kanichirayil: Got it.

107

You already have momentum on the

product side of the organization

108

in getting AI into the product.

109

It might end up being a different

story internal to the organization.

110

What was the organizational cultural

landscape and how did that adapt to, AI

111

becoming more and more of a priority?

112

Brita Ohlin: I think as I said before, AI

just sneaked in and suddenly it was there.

113

I think it, it was when the ChatGPT

kind of became big, that's when

114

everyone started to work with it.

115

I think though the culture is.

116

We tried to encourage a

growth mindset, right?

117

Trying out new things.

118

so I think our organization was very

tolerant and open to trying AI out and

119

I think there was a lot of different

initiatives that kind of popped out

120

and suddenly everyone was all the

departments were using it in some way.

121

But I also think it's really important

that you have a culture where you

122

set a clear guidance on what are the

behaviors we want to see, and be very

123

on that and set expectations on that.

124

so I also think we try to promote

and push, try it out, not just

125

leaving it up to the individual,

but also pushing it a little bit.

126

Jim Kanichirayil: So what you're

describing is interesting because

127

it, it sounds like, when I hear you

say, AI snuck up on us as a, as an

128

organization, that's something that I

expect to say when it's a bottom up.

129

adoption of a product or service

or technology or whatever.

130

So it seems like you had a lot of

adoption at the frontline, and it worked

131

its way up through the organization.

132

Now, if that's true, how did you go

through the process of establishing

133

guardrails and governance on usage before

you started rolling out your initiatives?

134

Brita Ohlin: So I think what we did

was to, when we realized that there

135

was a lot of of AI going on, we did try

to set some kind of structure around.

136

AI usage, setting the policies

in place, getting the right

137

licenses for everyone to use.

138

So we made sure that data was not put,

all over the place and then having a

139

more of a central function and making

sure that the initiatives that we drive.

140

should benefit the organization.

141

So we have actually a central team kind

of safeguarding that initiatives that

142

we have in the organization internally.

143

Makes sense, adds value.

144

Then of course, at the same time, we wanna

encourage curiosity and, letting people

145

have it as a day-to-day assistant as well.

146

But we really have a framework in

place for guiding when you wanna

147

do initiatives in the organization.

148

Jim Kanichirayil: Got it.

149

So one of the interesting things

as I have these conversations with

150

other HR leaders like you is that, I

came out of the IT recruiting world.

151

I did that for quite a while, and one

of the frustrations that IT leaders

152

and HR leaders would talk about

would be the problem with shadow it.

153

You have your standardized tech stack

within an organization and then you

154

have IT managers and divisions building

their own tech stacks within the

155

enterprise for things that they need,

bypassing normal, procurement or, or

156

budget processes to get those in-house.

157

When I think about that scenario

and apply it to what a lot of

158

organizations are going through.

159

From an ai, implementation perspective,

and you're in a position where you're

160

just building the governance as you

go, what observations did you find

161

or make regarding shadow AI projects

or initiatives that were going on

162

within the organization that was

outside the scope of what typical

163

governance models were established?

164

Brita Ohlin: We haven't really encountered

that as a big problem, to be honest.

165

I think more it's.

166

people are quite respectful, towards

AI and understanding that we need to be

167

careful with the data we put in out in ai.

168

So I wouldn't say that we encounter a lot

of problems, people driving their own.

169

their own sort of, initiatives.

170

I think we have a very respectful

organization where people

171

want to anchor, is this okay?

172

We take help from each other.

173

so that has not been an

issue for us, I would say.

174

we're 500 people, so it's not that

we're, thousands of people and you

175

are, you wouldn't get away with

all of those parallel projects,

176

Jim Kanichirayil: Yeah.

177

And now that you mention it,

I have to think about the

178

cultural component as well.

179

what I described is you, I think somewhat

unique to the American, ecosystem

180

where we have a tendency to go rogue.

181

And that might be less of an

issue, in a European context.

182

if, if you were to advise, other HR

leaders in the US on how to build a

183

fairly tight governance model so you don't

have shadow, AI projects going on, what

184

are some key principles that you think

are worth, mentioning or implementing,

185

and embedding into an organization

so people aren't running rogue?

186

Brita Ohlin: I think for one it's,

some kind of framework and you need

187

to have the managers, the leaders,

to comply and commit to that.

188

But I also think it's important as an

organization that you give the opportunity

189

and the tools for people to work with ai.

190

you, you cannot say, you cannot, work

with AI because people will go to

191

ChatGPT, but providing them with a

Copilot license for the whole company.

192

once you set the structure and the

guideline that make sure leaders are

193

committed to that, then set, prerequisites

for people to be able to work with AI

194

in a controlled manner, I think that

is what we have done and that has

195

turned to be quite successful think.

196

Jim Kanichirayil: One of the

other things that I'm curious

197

about, you're a tech company.

198

I would imagine that out of a 500

person company, you have a significant

199

population of engineers, developers,

qa, everybody in the IT team.

200

And when you think about, implementing

AI across a technology company.

201

There's gotta be a level of fear at

the developer level, at the QA level,

202

maybe all through the technical,

employee landscape that, oh, I'm gonna

203

be out of a job as this gets more and

more, embedded into our organization.

204

Did you encounter that and what was

your process for reframing, that

205

fear into something that was more

productive and applying a growth

206

mindset mentality, to the organization?

207

Brita Ohlin: I haven't heard a

lot about, our developers being,

208

I haven't heard comments like,

oh shit, AI will take our jobs.

209

and I like this statement saying,

AI will not take your jobs,

210

but those who can use AI will.

211

I think it's more important that

you, encourage to embrace ai.

212

make people understand that you can

use it to become more efficient, use

213

your time, on more valuable things.

214

but it's not been a discussion topic.

215

I hear it much more in my HR

network, oh, how will, How will HR

216

come out, in the, this AI world?

217

so I think more encourage

developers to embrace ai.

218

How can they make their life

more fun and and time efficient?

219

rather than, I will lose my job.

220

Jim Kanichirayil: Interesting.

221

I find it, it, it's interesting that

you describe that The reaction tends

222

to be more fear-based out of the

non-technical cohorts in your, in your

223

network than the technical cohorts.

224

I think, at least from a US perspective,

we're starting to see that in terms of

225

the job market, where we're seeing a

lot of white collar traditionally quote

226

unquote safe roles, becoming eliminated.

227

So I'll be curious to

see how that shakes out.

228

I wanna go back to one of the other things

that you described, which was you had

229

people and groups within the organization

that were already using ai, as.

230

ChatGPT became more and more

prevalent, in, in, in the conversation.

231

What were some of the interesting

use cases that people were

232

utilizing AI for within the

organization across various groups?

233

Brita Ohlin: I think most of the functions

use it and then we see good, use cases.

234

I think marketing was one organization

that used it a lot for content creation.

235

we.

236

Instead of hiring someone to do, to write,

we, we hired ChatGPT for that, right?

237

but also in our sales community,

we do a lot of RFQs, RFPs.

238

How could we make that process more

efficient and not do it all over again?

239

I think also to have, kind of scanning

the market competitor analysis.

240

were also some good use on that.

241

And then, of course we launched

a generative AI assistant towards

242

our customers to help them work

with a product that we deliver.

243

so we, we launched an agent for them, and

that was a very successful, interesting,

244

thing that we, we managed to actually

also give true value to the customer.

245

Jim Kanichirayil: So tell us a little,

tell me a little bit more about

246

the, the customer support agent.

247

That sounds pretty interesting.

248

What created the need to build

that and, what's been the impact?

249

Brita Ohlin: wasn't a customer

support, it was more on the customer

250

Jim Kanichirayil: I.

251

Brita Ohlin: RFQs.

252

So whenever we get a question

from potential customers.

253

Hey, we have 300 questions we would

like you to answer and we tended

254

to do that all over, starting all

over again from the beginning.

255

and then we said, I haven't looked into

specifically how that looks, but then.

256

AI could help us with pre-populating

a lot of the questions when we got

257

the RFQs, then we could really spend

time on maybe more specific questions

258

related to that specific RFQ.

259

So a lot of the base work we could

get help from with ai, so that was

260

a good example I think, of how to

make spend time in the best way.

261

Thomas Kunjappu: This has been

a fantastic conversation so far.

262

If you haven't already done so,

make sure to join our community.

263

We are building a network of the

most forward-thinking, HR and

264

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who are defining the future.

265

I will personally be sharing

news and ideas around how we

266

can all thrive in the age of AI.

267

You can find it at go cleary.com/cleary

268

community.

269

Now back to the show.

270

Jim Kanichirayil: So switching

gears into, the HR function.

271

So you've described an environment

where multiple functional groups within

272

the organization are experimenting

and utilizing AI in a number of

273

different ways, to what sounds like

a fairly high degree of success.

274

What were some of the use cases

within hr experimenting with ai.

275

Brita Ohlin: I think my function has been

very much experimenting, I would say.

276

So using AI more as a

day-to-day assistant.

277

and I think that's where

it should start, right?

278

How do you get to know, how do

you prompt and all those things.

279

But now, we decided, I think you

need to also, at one point in time.

280

Decide on a strategy, where do we

want, where do we think AI can actually

281

help us move forward as a function?

282

So we have decided to, do it

a pilot on a people agent.

283

So having an agent responding to more

simple day-to-day HR questions that we

284

tend to get soaked in from our employees.

285

so that is a very concrete initiative

that we have now started to get in place.

286

Jim Kanichirayil: When you think back

to building and launching this people

287

agent, what were the friction points that

you were seeing within hr that justify

288

this being a high priority build for

your team and also for the organization.

289

Brita Ohlin: I think, as many, I

think HR functions gets they have

290

so many touchpoint interactions,

someone coming and asking a question,

291

someone coming, requiring something.

292

We felt that we, had a lot of, maybe

a bit too many touch points and were

293

a bit distracted from doing more

long term strategic value add things.

294

so I think we saw an opportunity to shift

our focus into doing more long term.

295

initiatives rather than

asking questions very ad hoc.

296

And also those questions, the

information is available on our internet.

297

I think maybe, it's how we structure it.

298

So I think the information is there.

299

I think we can make it available in a

much better way through a people agent.

300

so that is the friction

points that we had.

301

Jim Kanichirayil: So if I'm summarizing

what you're describing, we had a

302

lot of ad hoc questions coming in.

303

You noticed that your HR team was getting

bogged down in some, in more tactical

304

work than what you would've liked.

305

you wanted the focus to

be more on strategic work.

306

most of the information that the

questions were being driven from already

307

existed somewhere within the ecosystem,

and you felt Building this agent would

308

be a good way to triage some of those

things away from the HR team to have

309

them focus more on higher value work.

310

Am I capturing sort of the key things?

311

Okay.

312

So

313

Brita Ohlin: I think it

was more, operational.

314

And we wanna shift focus to

more tactical and strategic.

315

so I think it's

316

very much about, I wanna, so my vacation,

how many days of vacation do I have left?

317

I wanna get some glasses.

318

How do I do that?

319

And I wanna get a

320

Jim Kanichirayil: Yeah.

321

Brita Ohlin: How do I do that?

322

So more very

323

Jim Kanichirayil: Got it.

324

Brita Ohlin: questions.

325

Jim Kanichirayil: So now when you describe

that, I go back to something earlier that

326

you said, which is, I hear more fear from

my peers and people within my function

327

about my job being taken over by a I.

328

I would think of my, if I'm thinking

like a, an HR admin or an HR generalist

329

and you have, a list of things that

happens in a day that you need to

330

resolve, and all of that is now being

taken off my plate, I start immediately

331

thinking, what kind of work am I gonna

be doing if my task list is gone?

332

So did you experience that sort

of pushback, or at least question

333

coming from the team and how did you.

334

Reframe that conversation,

to point at some of the other

335

things that could be worked on.

336

Brita Ohlin: we're in the middle of it.

337

but I wouldn't say that was a

fear that came out rather oh,

338

yes, it would be a great relief

if we could get this people agent.

339

to doing all the hoc, more

repetitive basic things.

340

and I don't know if it's a difference

between the US and Europe with

341

this fear of losing your job.

342

I think we see more, it more as an

opportunity to Level up and really work

343

with more long-term initiatives that

tend to be pushed further all the time

344

because we don't have the time for it.

345

So I have not experienced that fear.

346

Jim Kanichirayil: it's a, it's interesting

that you describe that and I'm, I don't

347

think we'll have an answer for it,

but I'm curious from an organizational

348

culture perspective, is your organization

generally wired to long-term, longer

349

term thinking by default in the C-Suite?

350

And the reason why I ask that is

that in the US a lot of companies

351

are focused on quarter by quarter.

352

So that difference in mindset might have

something to do with, how people react to

353

different initiatives being rolled out.

354

I don't think we're gonna, so we're

gonna answer that question, but

355

I'll be curious to get your thoughts

on what is the de organizational

356

default in terms of worldview and

thinking view, and how does that show

357

up in the, in, in the day to day?

358

Brita Ohlin: It's an interesting question.

359

going back to our owners,

360

So very long-term owners.

361

We're not driven by quarters.

362

we are quite a long-term, organization and

we do try to have, the five year horizon.

363

so I think it's very much related

to what kind of owners you have.

364

what are the things pushed

for in the organization?

365

If it is this quarterly, optimized short

term, then probably you would have a

366

different behavior in the organization.

367

From a management team point

of view, we tend to look

368

long-term investments take time.

369

to get an ROI on, we give room for that.

370

But still, of course we need to be

profitable and grow as we are expected.

371

But, I think you have a

point there, absolutely.

372

with what kind of culture

you have in organization.

373

Jim Kanichirayil: This would make a

great topic for a panel discussion

374

where we have multiple geogra,

geographies represented as panelists,

375

and we talk through AI implementation

and strategy and approaches.

376

That would be a pretty interesting

conversation to, to get into.

377

Brita Ohlin: I, just say something?

378

I think also this stress with ai, I think

a lot of companies are extremely stressed.

379

We need to do something.

380

We need to do something.

381

We, they get so caught up by the stress

that we only think about AI and forget

382

about, okay, where will AI not help us

and how can we strengthen those parts?

383

I think a lot of companies

are Lost in the AI stress.

384

and I think it's important to

take that stress level down.

385

Jim Kanichirayil: Yeah, it's, it's

interesting that you make that

386

observation because one of the things

that I am, I'm always wondering

387

about is the messaging around AI is

that it's gonna solve all sorts of

388

problems and all sorts of use cases.

389

And if you don't do anything or if

you don't do something now you're

390

gonna be, you're gonna be falling way

behind and what's interesting is that

391

urgency to adopt, I often wonder how

much of that urgency to adopt something

392

within an organization is just the

AI hype machine driven by the AI

393

companies trying to get market share

so that they can drive more funding.

394

But that's a, that's

395

Brita Ohlin: a

396

Jim Kanichirayil: a

different conversation,

397

Brita Ohlin: And I think that one

is very interesting, from a cultural

398

Jim Kanichirayil: but.

399

Brita Ohlin: as well.

400

What you,

401

Jim Kanichirayil: Yeah.

402

and I've had conversations

about the circular investments

403

within the big AI companies.

404

So it supports my already

skeptical view of the urgency

405

that seems to be manufactured.

406

But I wanna, I want to bring this

back to your own rollout within hr.

407

So you've built this people agent.

408

and you saw some things within

the environment that could be

409

immediately impacted by having

something like this in place.

410

When you were in the process of building

and rolling this out, what were the major

411

considerations that you baked into that

build out and rollout that were designed

412

to preserve the cultural footprint

of the organization and the team?

413

Brita Ohlin: as said before,

we're in the middle of it, so

414

we're in the phase of creation.

415

but I think of course, data accuracy,

data protection, was one of the key

416

things that we brought with us in this.

417

so how do we make sure that we, we

give the right kind of information

418

to the right stakeholder?

419

we have operations in many

different countries in Europe.

420

so really making sure the data

accuracy, giving the right.

421

Answers.

422

So prompting the agent to make sure

that we, if this question comes,

423

then this is the what we want.

424

and so I think that has

been one of the key things.

425

And there we worked a lot with,

it and the business application

426

team to help us with that.

427

And I think it's a great also

opportunity for, to have different

428

functions working together and help

each other out in that journey.

429

Jim Kanichirayil: Say, tell us a

little bit more about how your group,

430

Collaborated tightly with the IT

organization in designing the proper,

431

in, in, in building the agent the proper

way with accuracy and data protection,

432

front of mind as the build was going.

433

What did that process look like?

434

Brita Ohlin: I think I said

also we're in the process.

435

I'm sure we haven't covered

it all yet, but one challenge

436

is that the data we collect.

437

where we collect the data from

comes from different systems.

438

but we, I think it was a very iterative

process of making sure that, that we also

439

did a lot of trials, making sure that.

440

no information, personal data came out.

441

so I think it's an iterative process where

we together our expertise together and

442

try to, make the best solution possible.

443

so we haven't seen the results of it yet.

444

I just want to be clear with that.

445

Jim Kanichirayil: Yeah, no, that's,

the, that's, a little bit more in

446

one particular area, and when you're

thinking about building anything new,

447

and potentially rolling it out, you,

you often go through a discussion

448

about, Hey, these are the things

that we absolutely have to have and

449

these are absolute non-negotiables.

450

and I think given the

stage of where you are.

451

It might be interesting for you to talk

through some of those non-negotiable

452

things that were considered as you are

building the product or building, the

453

agent and thinking about rolling that out.

454

What were some of those things

that were absolute red lines that

455

you would not cross, when you're

thinking about building this?

456

Brita Ohlin: giving the

wrong information, right?

457

Having employees kinda sitting

with the wrong instructions.

458

That is of course one, but also

one other thing that we discussed,

459

and that was early on, is where

do we draw the line between.

460

having AI support, but the, and then the

human support because we don't want AI to

461

take we still wanna be an accessible unit.

462

should feel that they can come talk to

us when they have issues, questions.

463

So it was also very important not to

give an a feeling to the organization

464

that we were shutting them out and now

we don't wanna talk to you anymore.

465

still wanna have this very open.

466

You can come talk to us whenever you want.

467

we are available.

468

But still maybe with

other kinds of questions.

469

so that's also, one of the

things that we consider.

470

So where do we draw the line?

471

what kind of questions

should you be able to ask?

472

and what advice should we give?

473

So that is something we

bring with us this work.

474

Jim Kanichirayil: Got it.

475

it's interesting that you talk

about the approachability.

476

you don't want to close down the doors

in the process of rolling this out.

477

What did your communication plan

look like when you're trying

478

to get that message across?

479

Because if I'm a line level employee

and I'm seeing a rollout of an agent

480

where I can ask questions, I might

immediately think, this must mean

481

that HR is no longer approachable and

only approachable for certain things.

482

So how did you marry, those perceptions?

483

and still maintain that habit or still

maintain that culture of being people

484

oriented versus, an organization that's

just trying to automate everything

485

and have people out of the loop.

486

Brita Ohlin: time will tell, I think.

487

but I also encouraged

my team to continue to.

488

connect with the people, right?

489

So maybe we need to be more out there, but

then maybe talking about different things.

490

So maybe not talk about, how do

you order glasses, but really

491

connect with the developers.

492

Hey, how are you doing?

493

And so that we can take a more proactive

approach towards the organization.

494

and then of course when we communicate

always with some kind of, smile

495

and, In the messages and in the

answers that the agent will give.

496

we're always here.

497

You are more than welcome

to come talk to us.

498

We hope that this answer will

give you what you want for now.

499

If not, so it's also about what,

how you prompt the agent to respond,

500

also maybe then that we need to

go talk to the organization in a

501

more proactive way than before.

502

Jim Kanichirayil: It's interesting

that you some of the opportunities

503

that might present themselves as this

gets rolled out, because one of the

504

things that you mentioned earlier was

that, A goal for you is to be much

505

more strategic as a team, and be more

tactical as a team and less operational.

506

So if you're offloading some of those

early or easy requests, that allows,

507

the team to be more present and

visible across the organization in

508

any number of ways because you're not.

509

Stuck behind a task wheel of

constant inbound questions that

510

you have to triage and track down.

511

So what you mentioned actually, has

me thinking about, looking ahead.

512

You're early in the process.

513

you're starting the process

of rolling this out.

514

There's a lot of things that you're

gonna learn, as you go, but when you

515

think about what success looks like.

516

12 months from now and you're

evaluating this initiative, what

517

would be a highly successful outcome

of this initiative being rolled out?

518

What would that look

like in the organization?

519

Brita Ohlin: I think internally

for the people and culture

520

team, I would start there.

521

A higher level maybe of engagement and

motivation also that they feel that they

522

have learned something along the way.

523

and also triggering them and us

to, okay, what are the next step?

524

Where could we elevate AI even more?

525

So that is one thing.

526

so more on the people and culture

team, but then of course also

527

that the organization can have.

528

The people agent as a go-to

for more simple questions.

529

And then, that's quite the

obvious, obvious kind of success

530

factor for us, that we have time

for tactical, strategic things.

531

We do get less of those questions, but I'm

also open for, reevaluating and saying,

532

Hey, maybe this wasn't a good idea.

533

Maybe this didn't add what we wanted

and I think you need to be humble in

534

that way and say, okay, this was not

as good as we thought it would be.

535

We learned something.

536

look into some other initiative

that could give even more value.

537

So I think you also

need to be open to that.

538

Jim Kanichirayil: it's interesting

that you're, you're describing the

539

potential failure of this rollout.

540

when you think about doing something

like this and evaluating against,

541

how the organization runs, if this

were not to be successful, what

542

do you think would be the biggest

factor for why it wasn't successful?

543

Brita Ohlin: That the answers given

still not respond to their questions.

544

but also this view of us getting distanced

from the organization and seeing that

545

we lack the connection or the connection

will less with the organization.

546

I think it's so important that we have.

547

many touch points with the organization.

548

So that would be the

two things I would say.

549

Jim Kanichirayil: Yeah, I particularly

like your, I think both of those

550

are really strong observations.

551

I like the, defining failure

as losing touch with the

552

culture of the organization.

553

I think that's a, that's an

important consideration that often

554

gets overlooked because it's not as

quantifiable as some of the other

555

things that might be factored in.

556

So I appreciate you sharing that.

557

So when you think back to this experience,

and you think about where you are right

558

now, and you think about, rolling this

out, collaborating with various teams,

559

what were the big lessons that you

learned in the process of building this

560

initiative and getting to the point

of rolling this out, what were the

561

key lessons that you learned in that

process that you feel is important for

562

other HR leaders to have on their radar?

563

Brita Ohlin: I think this would.

564

Really looking into the value.

565

what is it we actually want to achieve

and what do we not want to happen?

566

I think tho that's really important

to, to have that discussion early on.

567

I think also going back to the

organization and understanding, So I

568

think often some organizations tend

to create things and yeah, I think HR

569

is quite good sometimes at creating

processes and structures that may

570

be not needed in the organization.

571

So making sure that you anchor it and

see that you can add value to the rest

572

of the organization, not just something

that you feel is nice to have at hr.

573

so I think really trying to understand

what you want to achieve, but also

574

making sure it really adds value.

575

Jim Kanichirayil: Got it.

576

If, uh, people want to continue the

conversation with you, what's the best

577

way for them to get in touch with you?

578

Brita Ohlin: LinkedIn, I think.

579

Jim Kanichirayil: I appreciate

you hanging out with us, Brita.

580

It was a really good conversation and

I'll be curious to see how this shakes

581

out a year from now and see where

you are from a progress perspective.

582

I think one of the things that's

important for everybody to pay attention

583

to is that when you're rolling out

any sort of initiative, but an AI

584

initiative, in particular, you need

to be centered on people first.

585

And from an HR perspective.

586

One of the major goals that you had

was to make sure that the repetitive

587

tasks were offloaded from the team so

that they're doing higher value work.

588

So when communicating this sort of

change, going into an organization,

589

targeting those things that are

repetitive and low value is an

590

important consideration when you're

looking at automating anything with ai.

591

But there's another part of the

process that I liked, and you

592

mentioned it at the end, is that.

593

The quote unquote, victory isn't worth

it if it means that our culture is

594

damaged through the process and the

culture can be damaged through either

595

disconnection between HR and the people,

or it could be damaged because people

596

are getting the wrong information and

that's causing downstream impacts in

597

terms of how people are interacting

with HR and interacting with each other.

598

Having an idea of what failure looks like

and defining what failure looks like is

599

important as well, because there's gonna

be some changes that you need to make.

600

To iterate through the process and

have it be more successful while

601

still maintaining your culture.

602

So I think those two things are what

stood out to me in this conversation.

603

So I appreciate you sharing

your entire story with us.

604

But those two things I thought

were particularly important.

605

For those of you who've been

listening to this conversation,

606

we're glad that you're hanging out.

607

If you like the discussion, make sure

you subscribe and follow the show, as

608

well as leave us a five star review and

then tune in next time where we'll have

609

another leader hanging out with us and

sharing with us and implementing AI in

610

their organization to future proof hr