The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

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

Megan Barbier (CHRO, Xactly) joined us on The Modern People Leader.
We talked about how Xactly is dismantling traditional HR structures, replacing talent acquisition with talent engagement, and rethinking how teams collaborate in an AI-driven workplace.
Megan also shared why high-slope talent matters, how leaders can build a culture of continuous change, and why meaningful work and career growth are becoming more important than traditional job security.
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(09:30) Why Dismantling Traditional HR Was Megan's Proudest Achievement
(10:35) Throttling Hiring to Invest in Existing Employees
(12:00) Eliminating the Traditional Talent Acquisition Function
(12:25) Replacing Talent Acquisition With Talent Engagement
(13:40) The Identity Crisis That Comes With HR Transformation
(16:00) Collapsing the Distance Between Strategy and Execution
(17:00) Breaking Down Silos and Removing the Walls Between Functions
(18:00) Why Xactly Moved Enablement and Education Into Engineering
(18:35) Combining Customer and Product Teams Under Innovation and Adoption
(20:15) Maintaining Hiring Metrics During the Transformation
(21:15) Shifting From Individual Ownership to Shared Human Experience
(23:00) Why Human Connection Is Becoming More Valuable
(27:40) Why HR as We Know It Is Going Away
(28:35) Eliminating Unrewarding Administrative Work
(29:20) Why Leaders Can No Longer Promise Stability
(33:05) Balancing Trust, Urgency and the Need to Move Quickly
(34:05) The Four-Letter Word Megan Doesn't Allow: WAIT
(34:30) Giving Teams Permission to Fail Gloriously
(35:40) Why Organizational Transformation Never Really Ends
(37:00) Using Company Values as a Compass During Change
(39:20) Introducing the Concept of High-Slope Talent
(40:00) Why High-Slope Talent Is Growth Mindset on Steroids
(41:00) Why Career Ladders Are Becoming Less Relevant
(42:00) Why Xactly's AI-Forward Culture Attracts Talent
(43:00) Employability as the New Job Security
(43:45) How Megan Identifies High-Slope Talent
(44:00) Why Brave and Curious People Stand Out
(48:00) Three-Year Strategies and Three-Week to Three-Month Sprints
(49:30) Megan's Final Message: Stop Waiting
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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.

Recorded live at HR Tech in Las Vegas from beqom's booth, Gianna Driver (Chief People Officer, One Workplace) and Emlyn De Leon (Workforce Transformation Leader, USAA) joined Daniel on The Modern People Leader for two conversations about the changing world of work.
Gianna shared how leaders can navigate change fatigue, why managing AI agents could become a new career path with its own compensation structure, and why company culture remains a competitive advantage.
Emlyn discussed how organizations can redesign tasks and skills around AI, measure the impact of technology on employee productivity, and prepare their workforce for continuous change without losing the human element.
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Gianna Driver
(04:00) The Growing Problem of Change Fatigue
(05:30) Explaining the Why Behind Organizational Change
(06:00) Why Companies Need to Slow Down to Speed Up
(08:00) Why Leaders Should Not Navigate Change Alone
(10:20) Reframing Do More With Less Into Do More With the Same
(11:00) Why Managing AI Agents Could Become a New Leadership Skill
(12:20) Why Companies May Need a New AI Management Career Track
(12:45) Why AI Fluency Could Command Higher Compensation
(15:00) How Compensation for AI Agent Managers Might Evolve
(17:10) Why Company Culture Still Matters in the AI Talent War
(19:00) Why AI Cannot Replace the Fundamentals of Employee Engagement
(20:00) Who Should Benefit From AI Transformation?
(21:30) HR's Opportunity to Lead Innovation and Change
(22:20) Reframing Change as an Opportunity Instead of a Threat

Emlyn De Leon
(29:25) Emlyn's Role in Task and Skills Redesign at USAA
(30:00) How AI Changes Tasks and Employee Skill Requirements
(31:00) Why Skills-Based Transformation Is an Evolution of Work
(32:00) What Employees Should Do With the Time AI Saves
(33:15) Evaluating Skills Gaps and Future Proficiency Requirements
(34:00) The Difference Between AI Adoption and AI Transformation
(35:00) Why Companies Struggle to Measure AI's Business Impact
(35:30) Identifying the Business Problem AI Is Supposed to Solve
(36:40) Creating Success Metrics for AI and Employees
(37:00) Measuring Automated Tasks and Human Critical Thinking
(40:20) Why Integration Matters More Than Adding More Tools
(41:15) Evaluating Vendor Governance and Integration Capabilities
(43:00) How AI Will Change Tasks Without Eliminating the Human Element
(44:30) Why HR Remains Essential to the Future of Work
(46:20) The Practical Reality of Continuous Workforce Transformation
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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.

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

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