Buckle up for a wild ride with Joel Cheesman and Emi Beredugo, where they sling HR hot takes with the finesse of a fast-food fry cook! This episode’s a rollercoaster of laughs and eye-rolls, diving into the AI-first workplace fiasco like it’s a soap opera. Klarna’s CEO got a reality check after ditching 700 customer service reps for AI, only to realize bots can’t sweet-talk angry customers. Now they’re on a hiring spree to bring back the human touch—oops!

Duolingo, meanwhile, thought AI could teach languages better than people, but TikTok’s Gen Z army clapped back, rage-quitting the app and calling it “disgusting.” Ouch, that’s gotta sting.Then there’s IBM’s bigwig, Arvind Krishna, tossing shade at HR by saying AI freed up cash for “essential” jobs like sales.

Emi’s not having it, firing back that HR’s the backbone of fairness and inclusion, not just fluffy admin work. She’s all about adapting to AI without yeeting humans into oblivion.

LinkedIn’s new AI job search gets a nod for letting you type “I wanna save the world in sweatpants” and matching you with dream gigs, aiming to hook passive job seekers while sparing recruiters from resume spam.

Wrapping up, they tackle the EU’s 2026 Pay Transparency Directive, a game-changer forcing companies to spill salary tea upfront to shrink gender pay gaps and stop wasting everyone’s time. But, plot twist: firms better get their org charts in order or face a discrimination lawsuit mess. And they serve it all with wit juicier and tastier than a McDonald’s chicken strip!

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction and Personal Updates

05:54 - Shout Outs and Industry News

10:02 - Layoffs and Job Market Challenges

19:01 - AI in the Workplace: Klarna and Duolingo

23:59 - The Human Element in Automation

26:56 - The Automation Dilemma

30:15 - The Role of HR in an Automated World

36:40 - Earnings Insights: Recruit Holdings vs. ZipRecruiter

40:22 - LinkedIn's AI Job Search Innovations

46:16 - EU Pay Transparency Directive: A Game Changer