Leading Through Uncertainty: AvidXchange’s CPO on Visible Leadership, AI as Input, and the Power of Human Connection

When uncertainty lingers, decision-making slows and performance suffers.
Todd Cunningham, Chief People Officer at AvidXchange, brings 38 years of HR leadership across Fortune 50 enterprises, mid-sized organizations, and high-growth startups.

Having sat “in every seat” of the HR function, he’s spent the last 11 years helping AvidXchange (a 26-year-old fintech with ~$500M in revenue) deepen its culture and elevate performance.

From Charlotte HQ, where employees intentionally create “collisions” Tue–Thu, Todd explains why leading through ambiguity is a must-have skill and how to be the lighthouse: manage your own mindset, be visible and vulnerable, and re-anchor teams on clear priorities.

He argues that AI isn’t replacing human connection it’s amplifying the need for it. With 2x the volume of AI-generated job applications, AvidXchange is doubling down on human sourcing and referrals, while using AI as an input (not an output) in HR: benefits Q&A, targeted engagement follow-ups, and manager coaching avoiding “cognitive laziness” and hallucinations.

Todd closes with a reminder that deep, trusting relationships are the ultimate performance advantage—and now is the moment to turn uncertainty into competitive distance.

Timestamps

[00:45] – Company and role: AvidXchange’s growth, Charlotte HQ, hybrid rhythm, and “collisions”

[02:30] – The performance cost of prolonged uncertainty: caution, risk-taking, and decision speed

[05:26] – Leading through ambiguity: be the lighthouse; watch the stories you tell yourself

[07:55] – Visible and vulnerable leadership: engage openly, clarify priorities, create advantage

[10:24] – AI at AvidXchange: embrace curiosity; why tech is reinforcing human connection

[11:40] – Recruiting in the AI era: resume deluge, back to human prospecting, input vs. output

[15:15] – HR’s seat at the AI table: guardrails, training, and practical use cases in HR

[17:50] – Reducing recency bias and scaling fairness with AI—plus the human check on hallucinations

[20:06] – Final lens: performance is built on deep, trusting relationships

Takeaways

• Lead through ambiguity be the calm, visible “lighthouse” your team needs.
• Challenge the stories you tell yourself; model vulnerability to invite real dialogue.
• Re-anchor teams on a short list of priorities and why they matter to sustain performance.
• Treat AI as an input, not an output avoid cognitive laziness and add human judgment.
• Put HR at the AI strategy table; set ethics, train the org, and enable practical adoption.
• Rediscover the human edge: source through referral

Sponsor

AllVoices brings all your employee relations work together in one place. No more jumping between spreadsheets, emails, and legacy systems just one place to document and manage reports, cases, investigations, and performance conversations.

It helps you run a more consistent process, takes busywork off your plate with AI, and makes it easier to spot trends early, so you can work proactively, not just put out fires.

See a demo at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.allvoices.co/