Surveillance, Burnout, and Pickup Lines? The Realities of AI in the Workplace
We’ve reached the point where “AI in HR” isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a mandate. But with every vendor promising a smarter, faster, more predictive future, it’s getting harder to tell the difference between innovation and smoke and mirrors. In this episode, Alana Fallis and I go deep on how to navigate the noise: What should you actually invest in? How do you build real AI readiness, not just compliance theater? And how do you make sure your “data-driven” decisions don’t quietly erode employee trust?We also tackle the people-and-technology dilemmas that HR leaders are facing right now. From scaling culture without losing soul, to drawing red lines on surveillance and privacy, to the sheer absurdity of AI-generated workplace flirtation—we’re not short on material. These aren’t hypotheticals. They’re real, messy, and urgent. Let’s get into it.Related Links:Join the People Managing People community forumSubscribe to the newsletter to get our latest articles and podcastsConnect with Alana on LinkedInCheck out Quantum MetricTalk HR to MeSupport the show
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AI Readiness Starts with Documentation: Lessons from Remote Work
If you’re out there being told to slap AI tools onto everything and call it “digital transformation,” this episode is your reality check. I sat down with Darren Murph—yes, the remote‑work oracle behind GitLab’s all‑remote strategy—to pull back the curtain on what needs to exist before you ever type “chatbot” or “LLM integration” into your roadmap.We dug into why good documentation isn’t optional anymore, why remote‑work lessons are now directly relevant to AI adoption, and how companies who rushed ahead without building infrastructure are setting themselves up for a trust disaster. In short: if your data, your knowledge systems, your culture aren’t ready for AI, this technology is not your solution—it’s your liability.Related Links:Join the People Managing People community forumSubscribe to the newsletter to get our latest articles and podcastsConnect with Darren on LinkedInCheck out Darren’s websiteSupport the show
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How Agentic AI Is Changing Onboarding, Mentorship, and Retention
AI isn’t just generating insights anymore—it’s acting on them. In this episode, I talk with Francisco Marin, CEO of Cognitive Talent Solutions, and Dan George, the company’s Chief Experience Officer, about how agentic AI is changing the game for HR. These aren’t your standard dashboards—they’re autonomous systems that detect workforce patterns in real time and proactively intervene, from mentoring and onboarding to retention and burnout prevention.We get into what makes AI “agentic” in the first place, why consent and trust must sit at the core of any autonomous HR system, and how early pilots are already cutting onboarding time by 40%. If you’ve been wondering what comes after analytics and automation in HR—this is it.Related Links:Join the People Managing People community forumSubscribe to the newsletter to get our latest articles and podcastsConnect with Dan on LinkedInCheck out Cognitive Talent SolutionsNetwork-First ManifestoSupport the show
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The ROI of AI: How to Build an AI-Augmented Organization
We’re in an era where everyone’s talking about AI, but few are actually getting value from it. In this episode, futurist and author Ravin Jesuthasan joins host David Rice to unpack why the ROI of AI is still so elusive — and why most organizations are looking at it backwards.Ravin argues that the problem isn’t technological; it’s human. Companies are rushing to deploy tools before they rethink the work itself. He explains how leaders can shift from a tech-first to a work-first mindset, what it really means to be AI fluent, and why the job-based identity that defined the past 150 years of work is quietly crumbling.If you’re an HR leader, executive, or strategist trying to navigate AI adoption without losing the human center of work, this conversation will help you see what transformation actually looks like — and where to start.Related Links:Join the People Managing People community forumSubscribe to the newsletter to get our latest articles and podcastsConnect with Ravin on LinkedInCheck out Mercer and Ravin’s websiteSupport the show
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What AI Fluency Actually Looks Like—and How to Get There
Generative AI has crossed the threshold from novelty to necessity—but most organizations still haven’t caught up. In this episode, I talk with Kenneth Corrêa, global AI educator and author of Cognitive Organizations: Leveraging the Full Power of Generative AI and Intelligent Agents, about what it actually means to be AI fluent. Kenneth breaks down how leaders can move from scattered experimentation to systems-level adoption, why uploading your financials to a free chatbot isn’t “innovation,” and how education—not fear—is the key to responsible implementation.We unpack the shift from predictive to generative AI, the cultural lag that keeps leaders from seeing tangible ROI, and why the real competitive advantage comes from empowered humans—not replaced ones. For anyone trying to make AI a force multiplier rather than a security nightmare, this episode’s a roadmap.Related Links:Join the People Managing People community forumSubscribe to the newsletter to get our latest articles and podcastsConnect with Kenneth on LinkedInCheck out 80 20 MarketingKenneth’s book — Cognitive Organizations: Leveraging the Full Power of Generative AI and Intelligent AgentsSupport the show
The People Managing People podcast equips forward-thinking leaders to thrive in the AI era—reshaping teams, systems, and strategy without losing what makes work human. Hosted by David Rice, each episode brings real-world insights from innovators, executives, and people leaders on topics like AI in practice, people-first leadership, performance systems, and workplace culture.
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