In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Shanda Mihali, Chief Human Resources Officer at Axiom Healthcare Services, a long-term health and assisted living organization serving communities across the U.S. Shanda brings a frontline perspective to HR transformation in one of the most compliance-driven industries, where the pressure to adopt AI collides with limited budgets, lean teams, and rising expectations.

Shanda shares how she navigates the tension between AI’s promise and the realities of HR leadership: from vendor overload and compliance guardrails to the ever-expanding definition of HR’s role in employee well-being, retention, and culture. Her story highlights both the risks of rushing adoption and the opportunities to reshape HR when technology handles the transactional, freeing people to focus on strategy and connection.

Topics Discussed:

• Why AI in HR feels like both the “wild west” and a lifeline for overloaded teams.
• The reality of “more with less”: shrinking budgets, lean staffing, and rising expectations.
• The pitfalls of vendor fatigue and the hard questions every CHRO should ask before buying.
• Balancing compliance, trust, and innovation in healthcare HR.
• How to leverage peer networks and roundtables to evaluate tools more effectively.
• Why adaptability, creativity, and willingness to explore matter more than perfect expertise.
• A vision of HR’s future: AI handling policies, handbooks, and routine Q&A while humans focus on well-being, retention, and creative strategy.
• Practical advice for early-career HR professionals looking to make the biggest impact on frontline staff.

If you’ve ever felt the weight of doing more with less while being pushed to innovate, this candid conversation with Shanda Mihaly is both validating and inspiring.

Additional Resources:

• Cleary’s AI-powered HR Chatbot
• Future Proof HR Community
• Connect with Shanda Mihali on LinkedIn

In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Stephanie Leal, Director of HR Learning and Development at Mission North. Stephanie is leading a company-wide initiative to build AI fluency, not just within HR but across client-facing teams serving some of the most innovative tech brands. What began with a simple usage survey has evolved into a structured learning program—Navigating AI—that combines show-and-tell sessions, AI principles embedded into onboarding, and ongoing cross-functional training.Stephanie shares how she shifted from AI skeptic to champion, helping Mission North employees transform curiosity into practical skills while balancing excitement with caution around data privacy and security. Her story offers a model for how HR and L&D leaders can drive adoption without mandates, creating a culture of experimentation and trust.Topics Discussed:

• How a baseline AI survey revealed 73% of employees were already “explorers.”
• Why mandates spread fear while experimentation spreads innovation.
• Building Navigating AI, a cross-company learning journey with measurable outcomes.
• Embedding AI principles into onboarding and company culture.
• Using show-and-tell sessions and super users to drive grassroots adoption.
• Balancing security, transparency, and responsible AI use.
• How L&D can leverage AI to create more personalized and scalable learning experiences.
• Why curiosity and continuous learning matter more than prior AI skills in hiring.
• The future of L&D: moving from manual training tasks to AI-powered content creation and strategy.

If you’re looking for a practical guide to building AI fluency across your organization while keeping HR at the center of trust, learning, and culture, this conversation with Stephanie Leal is packed with insights you can use today.Additional Resources:

• Cleary’s AI-powered HR Chatbot
• Future Proof HR Community
• Connect with Stephanie Leal on LinkedIn
• AI Creates Major Knowledge Gap

Episode Summary:

In this episode, Thomas Kunjappu breaks down the largest study ever conducted on ChatGPT usage — covering over 1.5 million messages from 130,000 users. What does this mean for HR leaders? From demographics to global adoption, from workplace use cases to compliance and upskilling, Thomas shares seven actionable takeaways that every HR leader needs to know to stay ahead in the AI-powered workplace.

Whether you’re navigating AI adoption in your organization, shaping compliance policies, or rethinking employee training, this episode will give you the clarity and insights to lead with confidence.

1. Demographics Are Shifting – Gender parity has already arrived, with women slightly outpacing men in ChatGPT adoption.
2. AI Is Going Global – Adoption is spreading quickly, even in middle- and lower-income countries.
3. Work vs. Personal Use – Consumers are using ChatGPT at work primarily for tasks rather than just questions.
4. Workplace Writing Dominates – Emails, job descriptions, resumes, and presentations are among the most common work-related tasks.
5. Employees Want AI to Do the “Sucky Work” – Repetitive tasks are being offloaded to AI, freeing up time for higher-value work.
6. Compliance Is Critical – HR must implement clear AI usage policies to avoid data leaks and compliance risks.
7. Upskilling Is Urgent – AI-related competencies will redefine roles; HR leaders must reskill teams to stay competitive.

• How ChatGPT usage has exploded globally since 2022
• Why AI adoption is faster than the rollout of smartphones or broadband
• The difference between personal and workplace AI use cases
• The industries most affected by AI adoption right now
• What HR leaders can do to future-proof their organizations

• [OpenAI Study Reference] (insert link Thomas mentioned)
• Learn more about Cleary and how we help organizations adopt AI responsibly: gocleary.com

In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Diana Valler, Chief Human Resource Officer at TravelBrands. Diana’s journey is a masterclass in crisis leadership; she joined the company post-acquisition and mid-pandemic, tasked with building an entire HR function from scratch in the hard-hit travel industry. With no systems in place, she faced the ultimate "trial by fire" and emerged with a playbook for building a resilient, people-first organization.

Diana shares the powerful story of how she transformed a fragmented organization into an award-winning "Great Place to Work" by leading with love, empathy, and radical transparency. From conducting one-on-ones with every single employee to maintaining communication with a laid-off workforce, Diana proves that a deep focus on the human experience is the ultimate strategy for navigating disruption—whether it’s a pandemic or the rise of AI.

Topics Discussed:

• Unifying culture and building trust after a chaotic post-merger period.
• Key lessons from navigating the pandemic in the hard-hit travel industry.
• Building a complete HR function from a single sick day policy to full trust.
• The strategic impact of conducting one-on-one meetings with every employee.
• How navigating extreme challenges can forge an adaptable, AI-ready culture.
• Fostering a mindset of co-creation by treating HR as an "innovation lab."
• A framework for communicating layoffs and organizational change with humanity.
• How to enforce HR policy while still leading with empathy.
• Turning a people-first strategy into a tangible asset like a "Great Place to Work" certification.

If you’re looking for a story of true resilience and a practical guide to putting your people at the center of your strategy, this conversation with Diana Valler offers a powerful and inspiring vision for what HR can achieve.

Additional Resources:

• Cleary’s AI-powered HR Chatbot
• Future Proof HR Community
• Diana Valler on LinkedIn

In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Bernard Coleman III, SVP of People at Swing Education, whose career spans presidential campaigns, DEI leadership, and people operations in high-growth tech. Bernard brings a pragmatic and systems-oriented perspective on how HR can lead the charge in building AI fluency across organizations without panic, chaos, or gimmicks.

From getting introduced to AI by his seventh-grade daughter to implementing department-level AI adoption strategies, Bernard shares how HR can play a central role in change management, tool selection, onboarding, and workforce empowerment. He makes the case that adaptive intelligence—not just artificial intelligence—is the true currency for future-ready teams.

Topics Discussed:

• Why HR—not IT—should own the AI strategy playbook
• “Adaptive intelligence”: the other AI skill HR must build
• How HR can go from AI fear to AI fluency through hands-on adoption
• The power of onboarding to jumpstart company-wide AI literacy
• How to build department-level structure without killing creativity
• Measuring AI program impact: sentiment, adoption, and real output
• Why L&D teams must be AI-literate to design the future of work
• The role of incentives and gamification in upskilling programs
• How to get exec buy-in when budgets are tight but urgency is high
• Bernard’s practical roadmap for building AI-ready HR teams

If you’re leading HR in 2025 and wondering how to equip your team—and the rest of your company—for an AI-driven future without losing the plot, this conversation with Bernard offers the clarity, strategy, and humanity you’ve been looking for.

Additional Resources:

• Cleary’s AI-powered HR Chatbot
• Future Proof HR Community
• Bernard Coleman III on LinkedIn
• Bernard Coleman III Website

In this episode of the Future Proof HR Podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Anne Bosse, HR Director at Einstein Moving Company, who runs the people function as a team of one supporting over 300 employees. Anne shares candid insights on the unseen burdens HR carries, the balancing act between compliance and culture, and how she’s navigating the promises and pitfalls of AI without losing the human touch.

Drawing from her unique path across industries — from data analysis to recruiting to leading HR solo — Anne reflects on why HR is often undervalued, how to demonstrate its hidden value to leadership, and the realities of doing more with less in a changing world.

Topics Discussed

• Why HR is often the first to face cuts — and the long-term consequences
• The paradox of HR’s invisible value: you only notice it when it’s gone
• Balancing compliance, culture, and employee experience as a team of one
• The hidden costs of solo HR leadership and signals it’s time to expand
• Lessons learned from building HR expertise across industries and roles
• AI’s double-edged impact on HR: efficiency vs. risk and human judgment
• “AI-assisted, human-informed” — Anne’s guiding principle for the future of HR
• The role of community and peer networks when you don’t have an internal team

If you’ve ever wondered what it really takes to carry HR at scale with limited resources, or how to balance the hype and hazards of AI while keeping people at the center, this episode delivers both practical strategies and thought-provoking perspective.

Additional Resources

• Cleary’s AI-powered HR Chatbot
• Future Proof HR Community
• Anne Bosse on LinkedIn

Article references: 

• https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/07/unitedhealth-class-action-lawsuit-ai-care-denials-nears-key-decision/
• https://www.reuters.com/article/world/insight-amazon-scraps-secret-ai-recruiting-tool-that-showed-bias-against-women-idUSKCN1MK0AG/
• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/30/disabled-amazon-workers-discrimination
• https://www.workcompcentral.com/news/article/id/57ec4d067dd278523a8cb1978adb7458c4d41f5c
• https://www.lawandtheworkplace.com/2025/06/ai-bias-lawsuit-against-workday-reaches-next-stage-as-court-grants-conditional-certification-of-adea-claim/

In this episode of Future Proof HR Podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Preston Lewis, SVP, Communications and Consultant at Segal Benz, to explore the widening gap in how HR teams approach AI adoption. Some are leaning in with strategy, structure, and reskilling. Others are holding back, risking inefficiency, wasted resources, and talent loss.

With over 25 years advising some of the world’s most recognized brands, Preston shares why communications leaders are often asked to lead AI change, the mindset shifts that separate innovators from laggards, and how to prepare HR and comms teams for rapid transformation without losing the human connection.

Topics Discussed

• Why some HR teams embrace AI while others stall
• The role of communication leaders in driving AI transformation
• Navigating shadow AI and employee use of unsanctioned tools
• Building trust, feedback loops, and psychological safety for change
• New roles emerging in HR and comms for the AI era
• A four-lens framework: Strategy & planning, systems & process, skills & capabilities, platforms & technology
• Balancing in-house skill-building with outside expertise
• Preparing for faster rates of change and evolving roles

If your HR or comms team is struggling to bridge the AI adoption gap, this episode offers a roadmap for closing it — while keeping people, trust, and strategy at the center. 

Additional Resources:

Cleary’s AI-powered HR Chatbot

Future Proof HR Community

Preston Lewis on LinkedIn

In this episode, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Marni Helfand, General Counsel and Chief Human Resources Officer at The Planet Group, to unpack what happens when legal risk, recruiting automation, and executive fear collide.

From her rare position at the intersection of HR and employment law, Marni explains why the biggest risk isn’t using AI—it’s not using it. She walks through her team’s real-world experiments with AI recruiting tools, how they discovered hidden weaknesses in job descriptions, and why even “safe” automation can backfire without human judgment in the loop.

This conversation goes beyond compliance. It’s about helping HR evolve from paralyzed to proactive—by starting small, learning fast, and staying human.

Topics Discussed:

• How an AI recruiting tool rejected 100 candidates in 25 minutes—without human review
• Why HR’s real risk isn’t legal exposure—it’s fear and inertia
• A simple prompt that unlocks small wins: “Wouldn’t it be great if…”
• What Marni learned from running an AI recruiting pilot at a staffing firm
• Why most job descriptions are sabotaging your AI efforts
• A compliance-first approach to choosing the right AI vendors
• The HR cat-and-mouse game: AI-savvy candidates vs. AI screeners
• Why employee relations won’t disappear—but how AI can improve its output
• A call for mid-career HR pros to make the business case, not just wait for permission

 If you're an HR leader wrestling with legal risk, executive hesitation, or your own uncertainty around AI, this episode offers a practical lens for moving forward—without losing the human core of your work. 

In this episode, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Christopher Courneen, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at MSI, to explore how HR leaders can turn job elimination into career acceleration by embracing AI, upskilling, and redefining the role of HR.

Chris shares how MSI eliminated layers of work without laying off employees. Transforming recruiter roles, redesigning onboarding, and creating a culture of adaptability at every level. His approach to HR as a profit center, not a cost center, challenges the entire function to think more like business operators than administrators.

Topics Discussed:

• The “job elimination paradox”: How automation wiped out a role and opened the door to growth
• Real-world playbook: Upskilling recruiters into higher-value work without fear-based messaging
• Why HR needs to stop hiding behind “magic black box” thinking and understand how LLMs actually work
• What happened when an intern’s AI research changed everything
• Why adaptability—not experience—is the new hiring filter
• A call for HR to lead AI transformation, not wait for permission
• Rethinking HR as a profit center: Translating people work into business impact
• Why continuous learning is now non-negotiable for every knowledge worker

If you're in HR and wondering how to lead through disruption instead of reacting to it, this episode offers a refreshingly honest look at what future-proofing really takes. 

In this episode, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Sue Newman, Senior Director of HR at ATW, to explore how HR leaders can transform AI anxiety into an organizational opportunity while supporting a multigenerational workforce through technological change. 

With over 20 years of HR experience spanning engineering organizations, public sector, and corporate transformations, Sue oversees both HR technology and learning & development for over 3,000 employees. 

When Sue's employees started expressing concerns about AI potentially taking their jobs, she didn't just address their fears; she turned it into a catalyst for practical AI adoption. 

Topics Discussed:

• Moving beyond "clickbait" AI layoff headlines toward practical understanding and action
• Real-world case study: Using AI to help a late adopter retain employment while closing skill gaps
• The "candles to electricity" analogy: Why AI adoption is inevitable and how to embrace it
• Scaling learning & development as a "team of one" using AI for custom content creation
• Why HR professionals need their own AI point of view before engaging with vendors
• The future of HR: Moving from administrative burden back to relationship-building
• How to safely introduce AI across different generations and comfort levels
• Essential advice for new HR professionals: Understand your organization's core business first

If you're an HR leader wondering how to address AI anxiety in your organization while leveraging technology to enhance rather than replace human capabilities, this episode provides both empathy and practical strategies for transformation

Additional resources:

Cleary’s AI-powered HR Chatbot

Future Proof HR Community

Sue Newman on LinkedIn