The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

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(06:00) Building Internal AI Tools: From Non-Technical to Product Thinking

(09:00) The HR Paradox: More Strategic Power, More Emotional Pressure

(12:00) Why Most Employees Don’t Understand Company Strategy

(15:00) The Real Problem Isn’t AI — It’s Communication and Leadership

(19:00) How the CPO Role Changed After COVID and AI Acceleration

(22:00) Short-Term vs Medium-Term Thinking in High-Speed Organizations

(25:00) Trust, Transparency, and Decision-Making in Uncertain Environments

(27:00) Why Scaling HR Strategy Is Harder in Established Companies

(29:00) The Death of Traditional Career Paths and Org Hierarchies

(32:00) Why the CPO Role Is Still Misunderstood at the Executive Level

(34:00) Saying No: The Most Underrated Skill in HR Leadership

(36:00) HumanOps vs Strategic Work: Where HR Should Actually Focus

(38:00) Aligning AI Strategy with Business Outcomes (Not Just Tools)

(40:00) The “So What?” Framework for Driving Real Impact

(44:00) Why Most Companies Are Building the Wrong AI Stack

(45:00) AI as a Product Advantage: Driving Strategy Through Use Case

(46:00) When AI Adoption Becomes Non-Negotiable for Employees

(48:00) Why Long-Term Planning Is Dead (and What Replaces It)

(49:00) Rethinking Headcount: Hiring vs Rebuilding Roles with AI

(52:00) Where AI Will Actually Replace Work in HR

(54:00) Stop Thinking Roles — Start Thinking Workflows

(55:00) Rebuilding Teams for Human + AI Collaboration

(58:00) The End of the SaaS Hiring Playbook

(59:00) New Metric That Matters: Revenue per Employee

(01:01:00) The Risk of “AI Tech Debt” from Poor Implementation

(01:02:00) Why Every Company Will Face AI Pressure Soon

(01:03:00) HR as Crisis Management: The Reality of the Role

(01:05:00) If HR Isn’t in the Room Early, You’ve Already Lost Influence

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Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

298 - How to Stop Managing from Memory: Amin Palizban (Co-founder & CEO, Topicflow) Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

Amin Palizban, Co-Founder & CEO of TopicFlow, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why managers are at a breaking point, how AI is transforming performance management, and what it takes to build AI-native people products that actually support managers in real time.

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(03:33) Amin’s Career Journey: From Engineer to CEO of TopicFlow

(07:32) Early Exposure to Performance Management Tools and Market Gap

(10:05) AI’s Impact on Productivity and Internal Workflows (MPL 2.0)

(12:36) Why Managers Are Burnt Out and the “Code Red” Situation

(16:30) The Real Problem: Poor Manager Training and Promotion Practices

(21:34) Why Traditional L&D and HR Tools Are No Longer Effective

(24:21) What Real Manager Support Looks Like in the AI Era

(26:49) Coaching vs Performance Reviews: Why They Should Be Separate

(29:15) Why AI Coaching Can Be More Effective Than Human Coaching

(34:38) The Increasing Span of Control and Manager Workload Challenges

(36:02) Why Performance Reviews Are Still Not Data-Driven

(40:01) What Data Sources Actually Matter for Better Reviews

(46:15) Transcript Data as “Corporate Gold” and Cultural Shift Challenges

(52:05) From Asking AI to Ambient Intelligence and Proactive Coaching

(56:39) Personalized AI Coaching and the “Scale to One” Future

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The Emotional Load of Today’s CPO (MPL Live Toronto): CPOs of Mejuri, 1Password, & TouchBistro Apr 27, 2026

Show notes

In this live episode of The Modern People Leader recorded in Toronto, the crew reflects on the evolving role of HR leaders amid rising AI pressure, shifting expectations, and increasing emotional load. They unpack real-time challenges around strategy clarity, leadership trust, and how people teams must adapt to stay effective in a rapidly changing world.

Our guests for this episode:

- Kate Railton, Chief People Officer @ Mejuri

- Katya Laviolette, Chief People Officer @ 1Password

- Jenny Do Forno, Chief People Officer @ TouchBistro

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🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl

🔗 Explore the 2026 Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report

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(06:00) Building with AI: Creating Tools Without Engineering Background

(08:00) Internal Tools & Using AI to Solve Operational Problems

(10:00) Framing the Conversation: State of HR & Growing Expectations

(12:00) Poll Results Breakdown: Why HR Leaders Feel Split

(14:00) Strategy Misalignment: The Real Organizational Problem

(17:00) Communication Gaps & Repeating Strategy Effectively

(18:00) The Emotional Load on HR Leaders Today

(19:00) How the CPO Role Has Evolved Since COVID

(21:00) Speed of Change & Constant Decision-Making Pressure

(23:00) Balancing Short-Term vs Medium-Term Thinking in HR

(25:00) Transparency, Trust & Decision-Making in Organizations

(27:00) Managing Complexity in Large vs Growing Companies

(29:00) The Future of Career Paths & Organizational Design

(31:00) Challenges in Advising Employees on Career Growth

(32:00) Misunderstandings About the CPO Role

(34:00) Saying No & Avoiding the “Catch-All” HR Trap

(35:00) HR Is Not the Therapist: Redefining Responsibilities

(36:00) HumanOps vs PeopleOps: Where HR Should Focus

(38:00) Aligning AI Strategy with Business Strategy

(41:00) Practical Framework: Building Strategy with “So What?”

(44:00) AI as a Business Driver vs Just a Tool

(46:00) Enforcing AI Adoption & Organizational Expectations

(47:00) Iterating Strategy Across Different Employee Groups

(48:00) Q&A Begins: AI Replacing Roles & Team Structures

(50:00) Headcount Strategy & Reimagining Roles with AI

(52:00) Where AI Will Impact HR Most (TA, Learning, Compensation)

(54:00) Task-Based Thinking vs Role-Based Thinking

(55:00) Rebuilding Teams Around Work, Not Titles

(56:00) Resistance to Change & Leadership Challenges

(58:00) The End of Traditional Org Design Playbooks

(59:00) Revenue Per Employee & New Success Metrics

(01:01:00) Preparing for AI Mandates from Leadership

(01:02:00) Managing Crisis Culture in HR Roles

(01:04:00) Trust, Leadership, and Being Included Early

296 - Rethinking How we Pay People: James Seechurn (Author of 'What Pay Costs’ & ‘Nothing Left to Take Away’ Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

James Seechurn, Author of ‘What Pay Costs’ and ‘Nothing Left to Take Away’, joined us on The Modern People Leader.

We talked about why traditional “pay for performance” systems often fail—both because individual performance is hard to measure in knowledge work and because incentives don’t actually drive better outcomes. We also explored a new definition of performance centered on innovation, and how companies can unlock it by creating the conditions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness instead of relying on compensation levers.

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🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.
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295 - Workplace Dread, Gen Z, & Leaving Your "Heart Print": Claude Silver (Chief Heart Officer, VaynerX) Apr 14, 2026

Show notes

Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX, joined us on The Modern People Leader.

We talked about why workplace dread is increasing in today’s environment, what Claude has learned from Gen Z employees, and how leaders can leave their “heart print” on the people they work with.

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(04:24) Claude’s Career Story: From Athlete to Chief Heart Officer

(10:54) What VaynerX Does: Modern Marketing and Creative Ecosystem

(13:13) Building a Learning Culture and Developing People Internally

(15:51) Why Workplace Dread Is Increasing in Today’s Environment

(18:16) The Importance of Self-Awareness and Emotional Control

(20:30) Supporting Teams Without Having All the Answers as a Leader

(20:56) What Claude Has Learned from Gen Z Employees

(23:06) The Challenge of Patience and Career Growth Expectations

(24:42) Why Relationships Matter More Than Ever at Work

(26:51) The Impact of COVID and Isolation on Younger Generations

(29:23) Overcoming Workplace Dread Through Action and Learning

(31:51) Paying It Forward and Supporting Others in Their Growth

(33:38) What It Means to Leave a “Heartprint” at Work

(35:17) Emotional Optimism, Bravery, and Efficiency Explained

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294 - AI Is Turning HR into Builders: Zachary Parris (AI x Talent @ Google) Apr 10, 2026

Show notes

Zachary Parris, who’s re-imagining talent development for the AI era at Google, joined us on The Modern People Leader.

We talked about how AI is turning HR leaders into builders, why product thinking is replacing traditional HR programs, and how anyone can now create impactful tools without a technical background.

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(08:39) Zach’s Career Story

(13:56) The Shift into AI Product Building and Internal Tool Creation

(14:29) Zach’s New Role at Google and Product-Driven HR

(16:07) What People Get Wrong About Google Today

(18:26) How HR Used to Operate vs. How AI Is Changing Everything

(20:21) Early Skepticism Around Product-Led HR

(22:00) The Breakthrough Moment: Building an AI Agent in Days

(25:09) Shifting from Programs to Products in HR

(25:53) New Skills Required: Problem Statements and Deep Focus Work

(28:20) Example: Driving Product Adoption Through Onboarding Design

(30:39) How User Research Changes in a Product-Led HR Model

(32:30) Expanding Inputs: From Surveys to Real User Interaction and Feedback

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293 - How Sutter Health Reduced Attrition by 40% Across 60k Employees: Deborah Yount, CHRO at Sutter Health Apr 07, 2026

Show notes

Deborah Yount, CHRO at Sutter Health, joined us on The Modern People Leader to share her journey from finance to leading HR at one of the largest healthcare systems in the U.S. We discussed how Sutter reduced turnover by nearly 40%, built a culture of leadership accountability, and scaled employee experience and development across 60,000+ employees.

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(05:18) Deborah’s Career Journey: From Finance to CHRO

(08:15) Transition to Global Roles & Multinational Experience

(10:31) Why Healthcare: Mission-Driven Work & Impact on Lives

(11:21) Scale of Sutter Health: 60,000 Employees & Growing Network

(14:57) Mission, Patient Experience, and Workforce Impact

(16:22) Reducing Turnover from 18% to 9.8%: Key Results

(17:46) Where to Start: Leadership, Culture & Employee Listening

(19:06) Unique Challenges in Healthcare Workforce Experience

(20:55) Differences from Tech: Purpose-Driven Work in Healthcare

(22:00) “Power of One”: Bringing Thousands of Employees Together

(24:32) Biggest Levers Behind Turnover Reduction

(25:19) Fixing Early Attrition: Onboarding & Manager Enablement

(27:40) Creating Career Pathways & Employee Growth Opportunities

(28:00) Building a Development-for-All Strategy at Scale

(30:52) Embedding Career Conversations Across the Organization

(32:57) Leadership Modeling & Scaling Development Plans

(33:35) HR Tech Stack, AI Integration & Learning Platforms

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292 - Why the CIO-CPO Duo Is a Force Multiplier for Companies Apr 03, 2026

Show notes

Eva Majercsik (Chief People Officer) and Trevor Schulze (CIO) at Genesys joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how AI is reshaping how humans and machines work together, why CIO and CPO partnerships are more important than ever, and how to lead a human-centered AI transformation across the organization.

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(06:37) Shift from CFO Partnerships to CIO-CPO Collaboration

(08:23) Evolution of the CHRO Role & Seat at the Table

(12:26) The Changing Nature of Work & Culture Transformation

(14:42) Why Collapsing CIO + CPO Roles is the Wrong Take

(16:51) The Power of CIO-CPO Partnership as a Force Multiplier

(17:49) How Eva & Trevor Actually Work Together Day-to-Day

(21:34) Rethinking Org Design, Bots, and Workforce Structure

(22:49) Redefining Success: KPIs, Incentives & AI Impact

(25:26) Why AI Transformation is Not One-Size-Fits-All

(26:24) From Strategy to Execution: Driving Cultural Adoption

(27:07) “AI Unlocked” & Building AI Literacy Across the Company

(29:33) Why You Shouldn’t “Boil the Ocean” with AI

(31:48) AI Hype, FOMO & Leadership Pressure

(32:06) Creating Psychological Safety & Responsible AI Adoption

(35:33) What’s Actually Realistic in the Next 2 Years of AI

(36:43) Human-Centered AI & Employees Owning Their Role Evolution

(38:35) Will Everyone Become AI Power Users?

(40:23) The Viral “AI Doomsday” Narrative vs Reality

(42:46) The Massive Reskilling Challenge Ahead

(43:34) Job Destruction vs Job Evolution & Creation

(47:12) Why Curiosity & Growth Mindset Will Define Winners

(47:54) The Most Important Skills: Curiosity, Judgment, Empathy

(49:18) Abundance Mindset: AI Creates More Opportunity

(51:15) Managing Fear, Emotional Load & AI Anxiety

(52:58) Why Every CPO Needs a Strong CIO Partnership

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291 - HR Practitioner Turned Founder (On Thinking Like a CEO): Amit Rapaport (Co-Founder & CEO, Compete) Mar 31, 2026

Show notes

Amit Rapaport, Co-Founder & CEO of Compete, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why most HR metrics don’t matter to your CEO, how to think like a CEO when looking at workforce data, and more.

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Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/5-hr-rules

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(08:31) What Compete Does: AI Workforce Optimization Explained Simply

(11:17) Why Most HR Metrics Don’t Matter to CEOs

(14:47) Connecting Workforce Data to Business Outcomes and Revenue

(17:34) Hiring Inefficiencies and the Hidden Cost of Poor Talent Decisions

(18:03) Early Career Mistake: Reporting Data Without Strategic Context

(21:30) From Executor to Strategic Business Partner in HR

(22:33) Transitioning from HR Practitioner to Startup CEO

(24:59) The Reality of Entrepreneurship: Feedback, Pressure, and Growth

(27:14) Lessons from First-Time Founder Experiences and Challenges

(29:03) How HR Leaders Can Think Like Their CEO

(31:33) Aligning HR Metrics with Business Goals (Break-Even Example)

(35:29) Upskilling, AI, and Driving Business Impact Through HR

(37:24) Identifying High-Impact Employees and Productivity Signals

(39:51) How AI Transforms Workforce Analytics

(41:45) Human-in-the-Loop AI and Telling Better Data Stories

(45:02) Security, Privacy, and Handling Sensitive Workforce Data

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290 - Working for a Visionary Founder & The Great Talent Transfer: Beth Ley (Chief People Officer, Kendra Scott) Mar 27, 2026

Show notes

Beth Ley, Chief People Officer at Kendra Scott, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how to build the number one workplace for women, the “Great Talent Transfer” and Beth’s vision for internal talent mobility, and what it’s like to work with a visionary founder.

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