The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Nir Leibovich, Product Executive at QuickBooks Workforce, joined us on The Modern People Leader to discuss why HR and finance teams struggle when data lives in silos and how unified systems create better business decisions. 
Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode306
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🔗 Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks Workforce at QuickBooks.com/workforce
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(06:34) Nir’s Entrepreneurial Journey: Builder Mindset and Solving Problems
(15:12) HR’s Admin Burden and Why the Function Still Feels Broken
(17:23) Why HR and Business Teams Operate in Silos
(20:08) Why HR Teams Must Understand the Business to Support People Better
(21:17) Why Finance and HR Alignment Matters More Than Ever
(22:29) The Problem with Separate Systems and Separate Data Sources
(23:18) Construction Industry Example: Real-Time Workforce Data in Action
(26:11) Why Unified Systems Create Better Business Decisions
(26:34) The Spreadsheet Problem: Finance vs HR Source of Truth
(28:22) Moving Beyond Parallel Processes and Building Shared Metrics
(34:00) AI, Unified Data & Better Business Recommendations
(35:02) AI Use Cases and Why Unified Workforce Data Changes Everything
(36:18) Employee Trust, Sensitive Data & Responsible AI Adoption
(38:16) The Two Biggest Barriers to AI Adoption: Value and Trust
(40:00) Using AI to Become Better Managers and People Leaders
(42:25) How Close Are We to the Future of AI-Powered Workforce Decisions?
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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.

Amy Schwartz, Chief People Officer at Wiz, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 
We talked about why HR alone can't create a high-performance culture, why relationships and influence matter more than HR systems, and why "picking up the trash" - a leadership philosophy she picked up working in casinos - has stuck with her ever since.
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Sponsor Links:
🔗 Learn more about Cloverleaf at cloverleaf.me/mpl
🔗 Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks Payroll at QuickBooks.com/workforce
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MPL Links:
🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.
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(07:02) Amy’s Career Story: From Casinos to Chief People Officer
(10:01) Life in Vegas and Leadership Lessons Outside the Strip
(11:40) What Wiz Does and Joining a Hypergrowth Company
(12:33) Google Acquisition and Joining the Google Cloud Family
(13:42) Why HR Alone Cannot Create High Performance
(16:11) HR Systems Aren’t the Work, Influence Is
(18:01) High Performance Obsession and Getting the Fundamentals Right
(19:53) Why Leadership Shapes Culture More Than HR Programs
(21:00) The Limits of HR Ownership and Building Executive Influence
(22:25) Breaking Out of Traditional HR Thinking
(24:10) The MVP Mindset and Reallocating Time to What Matters
(25:15) Introducing “Pick Up the Trash” Leadership Philosophy
(29:33) What Picking Up the Trash Looks Like at Wiz
(31:45) HRBP Expectations and Operating Principles for Teams
(34:25) Future-Proofing HR: MVP Thinking and Operational Excellence
(37:08) Burnout, Humanity, and Why EQ Still Matters
(41:08) People Ops as Product and Design Thinking for HR Teams
(45:08) Avoiding Rip-and-Replace Change Management
(47:10) Starting Small: Bringing Product Thinking into HR Teams
(49:17) Rapid Fire Questions Begin
(50:05) Career Advice: Pick Up the Trash
(51:30) Team Superpower: The Beacon
(52:42) Performance Questions Every Leader Should Ask
(53:36) Dream Guests, Molly Graham, and Operator Mindsets 
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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.

Laura Tomaino, Chief People Officer at Glooko, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why “People-First” leadership feels harder in 2026 and what it actually looks like to live up to that today.
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Sponsor Links:
🔗 Learn more about Cloverleaf at cloverleaf.me/mpl
🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl
MPL Links:
🔗Go sign up for MPL Build.
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(08:51) Building HR from Scratch at HealthEdge & Scaling Through Growth
(11:12) Joining Glooko & Leading People Across Seven Countries
(13:03) What Glooko Does & Supporting Diabetes Care Globally
(13:39) Joining Before a $100M Series F & Building a New Leadership Team
(15:15) Why “People-First” Leadership Feels Harder in Today’s World
(16:56) The Real Meaning of Being People-First in HR
(19:22) Why HR Leadership Can Feel Lonely & the Need for Real Conversations
(21:20) The Four Drivers of Employee Experience: Connection, Growth, Recognition & Alignment
(25:54) Why Mission Alignment & Business Transparency Matter
(28:08) Bringing Remote Teams Together Through Global Company Events
(29:09) How to Stay People-First Even on a Tight Budget
(32:02) Tough Leadership Decisions, Benefits Changes & Listening to Employees
(36:06) AI Anxiety, Flattening Organizations & the Future of Work
(38:24) Why Laura Is Optimistic About AI & Workforce Change
(42:40) How Employees at Glooko Feel About AI Adoption
(46:36) Curiosity Over Fear: What Makes Teams Thrive During Change
(48:15) Why Curious People Beat “Brilliant Jerks” Every Time
(51:28) Hiring for Curiosity, Passion & Human-Centered Thinking
(55:20) AI’s Future in Healthcare & Managing Massive Health Data Responsibly 
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💡 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.

Jevan Lenox, Chief People Officer at Writer, joined us on The Modern People Leader. 
We talked about why AI adoption alone is not enough, how companies can use “directed innovation” to drive real business outcomes with AI, and what high performance looks like in the AI era.
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Sponsor Links:
🔗 Learn more about Cloverleaf at cloverleaf.me/mpl
🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report
🔗 Book a conversation with Compete at compete.com/mpl
MPL Links:
🔗Go sign up for MPL Build.
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(06:23) Reinventing McKinsey’s Hiring Process Across North America
(07:21) Moving to Asia-Pacific & Falling in Love with the People Path
(08:22) Leaving Consulting for High-Growth Companies
(09:03) Lessons From Square, Blue Bottle Coffee & Founder-Led Companies
(10:08) Why Blue Bottle Coffee Changed Jevan’s Perspective on Leadership
(12:55) What Writer Actually Does Explained in Plain Language
(14:40) The Disconnect Between AI Adoption & Real Business Outcomes
(16:10) Why AI Fluency Alone Does Not Create Business Value
(17:34) Why the Best AI Strategies Combine Bottom-Up & Top-Down Leadership
(20:06) AI’s Next Phase: Growth, Scale & Expanding the Business
(21:40) Marketing Personalization, AI Agents & Customer Experience at Scale
(23:35) Stephen’s CTO Experiments & Building AI Systems for MPL
(27:10) Directed Innovation vs “Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom”
(29:30) From AI Adoption Metrics to Real Organizational Outcomes
(31:05) Why AI Leaderboards Can Create the Wrong Behaviors
(32:22) Understanding AI Workflows, Iteration & Knowledge Sharing
(33:28) Positive Deviance & Finding High-Impact AI Use Cases
(36:10) AI Virality, Peer Learning & Spreading Better Workflows
(38:12) What High Performance Looks Like in the AI Era
(39:45) Why “AI-Pilled” Employees Become Force Multipliers
(41:18) System Thinking, Career Growth & Reinventing Performance
(42:05) Daniel’s AI Sales Bot & Reinventing Enterprise Sales Workflows
(43:18) Why Traditional Change Management No Longer Works
(44:15) “There Is No Final Answer in HR Anymore”
(45:20) AI as a Creative Thought Partner & Expanding Imagination
(46:08) AI, Productivity & Unlocking Strategic Thinking Time
(47:20) The “Maslow’s Hierarchy” of AI Value Creation
(48:10) The Rise of AI Managers & Automated Leadership Structures
(50:32) AI’s Impact on Early Career Talent & New Grads
(52:02) Why Adaptability Will Matter More Than Specialization
(53:32) Why Talent Acquisition & Recruiting May Be Fundamentally Reinvented 
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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.

Kirsten Moorefield, Chief Strategy Officer & Co-Founder at Cloverleaf, Sarika Lamont, CPO at Vidyard, and Sarah Royer, Sr. Manager of People Ops at Nirvana Insurance, joined us on The Modern People Leader for a live discussion on AI coaching. 
We talked about what AI coaching actually means today, building these tools in-house versus buying, and why career growth will never be a perfect checklist.
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Sponsor Links:
🔗 Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks Payroll at QuickBooks.com/workforce
MPL Links:
🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.
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(08:53) What AI Coaching Actually Means Today
(10:47) The AI Coaching Definition Problem & Human Coach Misconceptions
(12:01) Why AI Cannot Replace Human Relationships at Work
(13:54) AI as an Enabler for Better Manager Conversations
(15:05) Teaching Employees to Own Their Career Growth
(16:18) Building AI Tools for Managers, Coaching & Performance Conversations
(18:08) Connecting HR Systems, Context & Employee Data Together
(20:02) Sarah’s Approach to Building AI Coaching Skills in Claude
(22:01) Buying vs. Building AI Coaching Tools Internally
(24:05) Kinfolk, AI Employees & Workflow Automation at Vidyard
(27:00) Claude Skills, AI Coaching Gems & Legal Guardrails
(29:47) Why HR Teams Should Start Small & Experiment Fast
(31:00) What Makes an AI Coaching Tool Actually Valuable
(32:14) Why Daily Coaching & Relationship Context Matter Most
(34:11) The Importance of Personalized Coaching in the Flow of Work
(36:01) Cloverleaf’s MCP Approach & Integrating Behavioral Data
(37:12) Why Managers Struggle With Coaching Conversations
(38:04) HR’s AI Adoption Problem & Fear of Falling Behind
(40:07) Sarika’s Approach to AI Change Management at Vidyard
(42:02) Making AI Adoption Fun, Human & Transparent
(44:04) Focus Fridai, AI Enablement & Experimentation Culture
(45:12) Why AI Skills Are Becoming Mandatory for Employees
(46:09) Sarah on Creating Space for HR Teams to Build With AI
(47:53) HR Professionals as Builders & Full-Stack Problem Solvers
(48:49) AI Ethics, Compliance Risks & Responsible AI Coaching
(50:28) Balancing AI Pressure From CEOs While Protecting Employees
(51:15) Q&A: How Employees Are Actually Using AI Coaches
(52:43) Career Growth, Self-Ownership & the Limits of AI Guidance
(55:09) Why Career Growth Will Never Be a Checklist
---- 
📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps
💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn
😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn
---- 
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.