How Work Works

Kassy Taylor-Burch calls herself the "nepo baby of HR". She grew up with two parents in the profession, swore she would never follow them, then did exactly that. From local government to Chief People Officer at a food manufacturing business and now consulting with Zest, she has seen the same truth play out everywhere: people are people, and the businesses that thrive are the ones built on strong foundations.

In this episode, Kat and Kassy dig into the most overlooked of those foundations, job architecture. They strip the jargon back to what it really is, a simple, shared way of defining who does what, at what level, and with what authority, and challenge the idea that it has to be a 400-line document that lives on a shelf. Kassy makes the case that most organisations already have the pieces (delegation of authority, IT permissions, capability frameworks) and simply haven't knitted them together.

They also explore how good job architecture takes the pressure off executive decision-making, how it powers smarter workforce planning through simple growth triggers, and where it intersects with AI, including the idea of a "delegation of authority" for AI and keeping humans in the loop. Kassy shares how she used AI to build a job architecture from scratch, and makes a spirited case for why traditional job descriptions may not deserve a place in the next ten years.

If job architecture has ever felt too big, too boring, or too hard to start, this conversation will change your mind. Kassy's takeaway is refreshingly practical: build on what you already have.

Follow the Podcast:

Subscribe: 🔗 ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@zesthr⁠

Website: 🔗 ⁠https://zesthr.au/⁠

Timecodes:

0:00 Intro and welcome to How Work Works, meet Kassy Taylor-Burch

0:50 Kassy's path: local government, CPO, and now HR consultancy

3:20 What job architecture actually means, in plain terms

4:10 Why it doesn't need to be big, fancy or complex

5:25 How to get your executive team to care about it

6:40 What organisations without job architecture look like

8:45 Why most businesses already have it without realising

11:15 A simple, powerful example from a construction company

15:50 Using job architecture for smarter workforce planning

19:35 Where job architecture meets AI in the workplace

22:55 A delegation of authority for AI, and keeping humans in the loop

25:50 Protecting wellbeing when everyone works at a higher level

28:45 Using AI to build your job architecture

31:40 Do we still need traditional job descriptions?

40:25 The one thing to take away: build on what you already have

Follow Zest 🌐

Website 🔗 ⁠https://zesthr.au/⁠

Instagram 🔗 ⁠https://www.instagram.com/zest.hr/⁠

LinkedIn 🔗 ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/zesthr⁠

Produced by Podwave Studios: ⁠https://podwavestudios.au/⁠

🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe.

Disclaimer.

This podcast shares professional opinions and experiences related to the workplace and the use of AI. The views expressed are those of the individuals involved and are intended for general information and discussion purposes only. They do not constitute legal, HR or professional advice specific to your organisation.

#howworkworks #zesthr #podwavestudios #perth #podcast #futureofwork #hrleaders #aiatwork #agenticai #generativeai #aigovernance #shadowai #workforceplanning #hrtech #leadership #peopleandculture #aistrategy

Welcome to How Work Works Podcast with Kat Thompson - CEO & Co-Founder at Zest. How Work Works is a podcast that dives into the conversations shaping people, culture, leadership, and the future of work.

Follow the Podcast:

Subscribe: 🔗 ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@zesthr⁠

Website: 🔗 ⁠https://zesthr.au/⁠

Follow Zest 🌐

Website 🔗 ⁠https://zesthr.au/⁠

Instagram 🔗 ⁠https://www.instagram.com/zest.hr/⁠

LinkedIn 🔗 ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/zesthr⁠

Produced by Podwave Studios: ⁠https://podwavestudios.au/⁠

🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe.

Disclaimer.

This podcast shares professional opinions and experiences related to the workplace and the use of AI. The views expressed are those of the individuals involved and are intended for general information and discussion purposes only. They do not constitute legal, HR or professional advice specific to your organisation.

#howworkworks #zesthr #podwavestudios #perth #podcast #futureofwork #hrleaders #aiatwork #agenticai #generativeai #aigovernance #shadowai #workforceplanning #hrtech #leadership #peopleandculture #aistrategy

In this episode of How Work Works, Kat and Alex talk about what "AI ready work" actually means before you ever touch a tool: clean job architecture, tidy HR data, and clear governance. They unpack the difference between generative and agentic AI using a simple kitchen analogy, and dig into why shadow AI, unowned decisions, and mismatched organisational tone are quietly creating risk inside businesses right now.

They also cover the case for an AI governance council, the ongoing debate over who actually owns AI strategy, which roles are most likely to change in the next five years, and why Alex thinks the biggest surprise about AI won't be how much it changes work, but how much it doesn't.

If you're trying to figure out where AI actually fits in your organisation, and who should be making that call, this conversation is for you.

Follow the Podcast:

Subscribe: 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/@zesthr

Website: 🔗 https://zesthr.au/

Timecodes:

0:00 Intro and welcome to How Work Works, meet Alex Taylor

0:50 Alex's path: from wedding planning to falling in love with AI and data

3:55 Why the human impact of AI isn't getting enough airtime

6:25 What "AI ready work" actually means in practice

7:40 Unpacking the jargon: generative AI vs agentic AI

10:20 The biggest mistake: shadow AI and missing governance

12:00 Why AI needs the organisation's voice, not an individual's

14:10 Holding the tension between governance and innovation, and why leaders must own the trade offs

17:15 Learning from failed rollouts by mapping every process

20:15 What an AI governance council looks like in practice

23:40 Who should own AI strategy: HR, IT or everyone

26:00 An organisation getting this right

28:40 The roles most likely to change in the next five years

31:35 The entry level talent gap and a surprising prediction about AI

33:30 Rapid fire questions, and the one thing to take away: plan the change

Follow Zest 🌐

Website 🔗 https://zesthr.au/

Instagram 🔗 https://www.instagram.com/zest.hr/

LinkedIn 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/zesthr

Produced by Podwave Studios: https://podwavestudios.au/

🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe.

Disclaimer.

This podcast shares professional opinions and experiences related to the workplace and the use of AI. The views expressed are those of the individuals involved and are intended for general information and discussion purposes only. They do not constitute legal, HR or professional advice specific to your organisation.

#howworkworks #zesthr #podwavestudios #perth #podcast #futureofwork #hrleaders #aiatwork #agenticai #generativeai #aigovernance #shadowai #workforceplanning #hrtech #leadership #peopleandculture #aistrategy