The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Kahina Ouerdane, Chief People Officer at Workleap, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her journey from international human rights law to tech, how software is the new workplace, why AI is forcing a rethinking of learning and org design, and more. ----  Sponsor Links: 🔗 Request a demo of Workleap [https://workleap.com/?utm_source=mpl&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=summer-release]. 🔗 Get your free 30-day Synthesia account [https://www.synthesia.io/podcast/modernleader?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=modernleader]. MPL Links: 🔗 Buy your ticket for MPL Live New York [https://lu.ma/mpl-live-nyc]. 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build [https://mplbuild.com]. ----  (05:43) Kahina’s Origin Story: From Human Rights Lawyer to People Leader (07:56) Discovering Her “Why” and the Power of Collective Harmony (11:11) Intro to Workleap: Origins of Gsoft (12:34) Workleap's Growth and Mission to Make Work Simpler (14:54) Overview of the Workleap Product Suite (16:21) Officevibe, Pingboard, Barley, and the Future of the Platform (18:34) The “Foggy Road” of AI (19:22) AI is a New Language: Learning Amidst Uncertainty (21:38) Why IT Now Reports to HR at Workleap (24:34) IT and Onboarding: Lessons from M&A and Employee Experience (26:46) Why HR May Be Better Suited Than IT to Lead Change (28:33) How IT and HR Are Co-Learning AI Together (29:52) Rethinking What Learning Means in an AI-Powered World (31:32) The “Third-Life Crisis” of the Knowledge Worker (34:02) Why Nobody’s Talking Enough About Re-skilling (36:17) Vibe Coding and L&D Reimagined with AI (37:26) The Accidental On-Ramp to Using Workleap AI (39:22) Weekly Rituals and Cross-Functional Learning Moments (41:40) The Limits of Our Imagination in Predicting the Future of Work (43:13) How Workleap Dogfoods Its Own AI Tools (44:50) Data as the Engine: The Power of Connected People Analytics (47:25) Future Vision: Org Charts with Real-Time Engagement & Performance Insights (48:48) Innovation From the Ground Up: HR Leading a Company-Wide Sprint (51:35) Why Canada Might Be Leading the Way in Future of Work Innovation ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps [https://insights.modernpeopleleader.com/newsletter] 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader/] 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-huerta-mpl/] 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhuerta/]

Alex Buder Shapiro, Chief People Officer at Jasper, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how AI is reshaping organizational design, the shift from early-career jobs to early-career talent, and how HR teams can lead through experimentation and workflow innovation. ----  Sponsor Links: 🔗 Get in contact with the Career Sandwich team [https://www.careersandwich.com/mpl]. 🔗 Request a demo of ChartHop [https://www.charthop.com/request-a-demo?utm_source=Modern+People+Leader&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_campaign=Demo]. MPL Links: 🔗 Buy your ticket for MPL Live New York [https://lu.ma/mpl-live-nyc]. 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build [https://mplbuild.com]. ----  (11:11) First AI Workflow: School Calendar Automation (12:53) What Jasper Does & Their AI-First Approach (16:44) AI Adoption vs Transformation Across the Org (18:29) Provocation: HR Isn’t Leading—It’s Catching Up (21:25) The Lightbulb Moment: AI's Workflow Implications (23:21) Induced Demand & Why Work Will Expand, Not Shrink (26:33) Efficiency Creates Possibility: Redefining Roles (28:31) Reskilling at Scale & Changing Comfort Processes (31:09) Why Top-Down Reskilling Won’t Be Fast Enough (33:34) Real-Time Learning Through LLMs (34:45) Platform Gaps in Vibe Coding & Training (35:49) Experimentation Culture at Jasper (37:22) Prototyping in EPD vs People Teams (38:40) Early Prototypes in L&D: Podcasts, LM Tools, Interactive Sites (40:40) How Jasper Unblocked HR to Prototype with AI (43:45) Entry-Level Work Is Changing, Not Disappearing (45:17) Learning, Not Losing: The Early-Career Advantage (47:36) Literacy, Writing & Resistance to New Tech: Historical Parallels (49:22) Soccer Formations & Reimagining Org Design (50:45) Beyond the Pyramid: Nimble, Equally Leveled Teams(51:32) Rapid Fire Questions ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps [https://insights.modernpeopleleader.com/newsletter] 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader/] 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-huerta-mpl/] 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhuerta/]

Eliza Jackson, Chief People and Administrative Officer at ButcherBox, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about how operational excellence can protect and scale company culture, how her team built a "work in service of" mindset, and how ButcherBox is using AI agents to unlock capacity—not replace people. ----  Sponsor Links: 🔗 Request a demo of Workleap [https://workleap.com/?utm_source=mpl&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=summer-release]. 🔗 Get in contact with the Career Sandwich team [https://www.careersandwich.com/mpl]. MPL Links: 🔗 Buy your ticket for MPL Live New York [https://lu.ma/mpl-live-nyc]. 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build [https://mplbuild.com]. ----  (05:59) Eliza’s Career Journey: From Finance to Education to ButcherBox (08:04) What ButcherBox Does & Its B Corp Mission (09:23) Why Ops Isn’t Just for Efficiency—It’s for Culture (11:44) How Eliza Assessed ButcherBox’s Ops When She Joined (13:52) Creating the Business Operations Team & Their Embedded Model (16:30) Eliza’s Nerdy Toolkit: Time & Task Management (17:58) People Ops & Biz Ops Tech Stack at ButcherBox (21:09) Managing Hybrid Work: Boston-Based Flexibility (23:47) Protecting Company DNA & Building Connection in a Hybrid World (26:48) Evolving ButcherBox’s Return-to-Office Strategy (29:35) Culture is the Differentiator in a Post-COVID Workplace (33:31) What Great Leadership Looks Like in a Talent Factory (35:46) The Shift in Leadership Mindsets Since COVID (38:04) Belonging, AI, and the Performance Push: Can They Coexist? (39:28) ButcherBox’s AI Task Force: Building Capacity with Agents (41:50) Example: AI Copy & Design Agents That Talk to Each Other (44:39) Why an AI Coach Can Sometimes Be Better Than a Manager (45:57) AI Adoption at ButcherBox: What’s Sticking & What’s Scaling (47:29) The CPO of the Future: People + Digital, Inspired by Moderna (50:41) Why HR Should Lead AI Transformation, Not Just IT (52:01) Rapid Fire: Advice, Superpowers & What to Steal from Slalom (55:27) BetterUp & the Human Condition at Work (55:40) One-Word Close: Inflection Point, Moderna, Baby ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps [https://insights.modernpeopleleader.com/newsletter] 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader/] 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-huerta-mpl/] 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhuerta/]

Jessica Zwaan and Joris Luijke joined us to break down the what, why, and how to create an employee journey map. We talked about why People teams should be designing for moments and not just processes, why journey mapping should start small, and why 80% of employee moments fall flat. ----  Sponsor Links: 🔗 Get in contact with the Career Sandwich team [https://www.careersandwich.com/mpl]. MPL Links: 🔗 Buy your ticket for MPL Live New York [https://lu.ma/mpl-live-nyc]. 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build [https://mplbuild.com]. ----  (06:01) What is an employee journey map vs. employee lifecycle? (06:36) Predictable moments and the restaurant crayon analogy (08:36) Why moments that matter are different from lifecycle stages (09:09) Jessica’s view: Employee experience as a whole journey (10:13) Journey mapping as a software-supported process (11:11) Common challenges when building journey maps (12:02) Why sticky notes and whiteboards fall short (14:07) The trap of thinking only in terms of HR processes (15:33) Should you list every moment or start small? (16:45) Prioritize a few moments and go deep first (17:47) Having a facilitator with journey mapping experience (19:46) Other considerations: group size, cross-functionality (22:02) Be creative—draw from delightful personal experiences (23:48) Structuring maps based on emotional headspace (24:07) The HR leader’s role in setting ideation tone (25:28) When and how to prioritize improvements (26:17) Journey coverage: 80% of moments aren’t managed well (29:42) Using journey maps to measure real-time HR progress (30:26) Mapping sad, neutral, and happy experiences (32:17) How to keep journey maps alive over time (33:32) Journey mapping needs continuous updates (34:02) Pulling employees right after moments that matter (36:06) Reviewing the map regularly without creating admin fatigue (37:08) Journey maps = ideation tools, not just documentation (39:12) Journey activation: what companies are doing well (41:08) Examples: Similow, MongoDB, Shopify using automation (43:04) Daniel’s Humu onboarding experience (44:51) How Jessica’s team uses Snappy for new hires (49:49) Final thoughts: journey maps as foundational HR strategy ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps [https://insights.modernpeopleleader.com/newsletter] 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader/] 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-huerta-mpl/] 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhuerta/]

Thomas Forstner, VP of People and Talent at Juro, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about building an AI-native company, why HR should own workflows not just the workforce, and how people teams must evolve from playbook followers to visionary architects of the modern org. ----  Sponsor Links: 🔗 Request a demo of ChartHop [https://www.charthop.com/request-a-demo?utm_source=Modern+People+Leader&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_campaign=Demo]. 🔗 Get in contact with the Career Sandwich team [https://www.careersandwich.com/mpl]. 🔗 Get your free 30-day Synthesia account [https://www.synthesia.io/podcast/modernleader?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=modernleader]. MPL Links: 🔗 Buy your ticket for MPL Live New York [https://lu.ma/mpl-live-nyc]. 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build [https://mplbuild.com]. ----  (06:32) Thomas’ origin story: from psychology to global work experiences (09:52) How he ended up at Juro and grew with the company (11:03) What Juro does and how it’s changing legal and HR workflows (13:05) The state of HR today and the growing gap in AI adoption (14:33) Why giving ChatGPT access will soon be like giving email (16:22) The emerging core AI tech stack every team needs (18:27) How Juro is enabling AI experimentation across teams (20:33) Their “how to AI” rituals, lab reports, and internal AI philosophy (23:40) Why making their AI principles public is a competitive advantage (25:15) Why IT now reports to People at Juro: owning the workflows (26:57) What “WorkTech” means and the rise of the Chief Work Officer (29:12) How AI tools reshaped Stephen’s view on HR and product (32:18) HR as the company OS: When it’s good, everything flows (34:23) Parallel thinking: Sales teams, onboarding, and internal design (37:02) Should you rebuild your HR tech stack? Custom vs. off-the-shelf (39:47) The power of documentation and training AI agents (41:13) Building internal tools with low/no-code: Just try things (43:30) Automating personalized rejection emails with custom GPTs (44:47) Is PeopleOps as a Product evolving into something new? (47:48) People leaders as shape shifters, AI engineers, and CSMs (50:09) Stop chasing playbooks—start building your own operating model (51:17) Setting a clear vision: Juro’s “Company OS” and annual rewrites (54:41) Rapid fire questions: advice, favorite resources, and dream strategies (58:42) What Thomas would steal from Dropbox ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps [https://insights.modernpeopleleader.com/newsletter] 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader/] 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-huerta-mpl/] 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhuerta/]