Summary

A new hire fills out their 90-day survey and says they're not getting meaningful time with their manager. Instead of filing it away for a quarterly review, Bradford Wilkins pulls the data—and within ten seconds, AI shows him that the manager is spending nearly 50% of their time on pre-sales activities that aren't even part of their job.

Within a week, the team is redesigning job responsibilities, reallocating time, and building a fix that will accelerate ramp for every future hire in that department. In this episode of The Human Element, host Barb Bidan sits down with Bradford Wilkins, VP of People and Organization at Cognite, an industrial AI company, for a fast-moving conversation about what happens when you stop looking at people data in silos and start connecting it the same way you'd connect sensors in an oil refinery. Bradford walks through how Cognite is building knowledge graphs that layer engagement data on top of performance data on top of Salesforce data to surface correlations no one was seeing before, why he says 50% of his job is already gone (and why that's exciting, not scary), and his "cheesecloth" framework for AI-first thinking: push everything through AI first, and whatever's left on the other side is the human work. He and Barb also get into why entry-level hires who grew up on AI may be more valuable right now than your mid-career employees, how org charts are starting to include agent boxes alongside human ones, and why the best time to start was twenty years ago—but the second best time is now.

Timestamps

• 00:39 How Cognite connects people data the same way it connects industrial sensors
• 04:30 The 90-day survey that triggered three fixes in a single week
• 09:54 Where the biggest HR automation opportunities are right now
• 12:59 "50% of my job is gone"—and why that's the exciting part
• 14:12 What still requires the human touch: team composition, empathy, judgment
• 19:42 Building trust by helping employees visualize where their jobs are headed
• 23:51 Managing agents as direct reports: the new org chart
• 26:35 Learning labs, AI champions, and building capability through show and tell

Takeaways

• Push every process through the "cheesecloth" of AI first—what's left on the other side is the genuinely human work
• Connect your people data across silos (engagement, performance, time tracking, CRM) instead of analyzing each in isolation
• Don't add AI on top of a bad process; you're just compounding the problem faster
• Build trust by helping employees visualize what their jobs will look like after AI, not just telling them not to worry
• Create learning labs and AI champion roles to drive adoption intentionally instead of hoping it happens organically
• Recognize that entry-level hires who grew up on AI may be your most valuable asset right now for accelerating adoption

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradfordwilkins/

Company website: https://www.cognite.com

Sponsor

Wisq introduces Harper, your AI-powered HR service bot designed to act like a virtual HR generalist for every employee. No more waiting on emails or digging through policies—Harper gives your team instant answers to HR questions, helps them navigate benefits and policies, and even routes more complex cases to the right person.

By handling the repetitive requests, Harper frees up your HR team to focus on strategy and people, while ensuring employees always feel supported. It’s a smarter, more consistent way to deliver HR services at scale.

See Harper in action at https://www.wisq.com/

• (00:39) - How Cognite connects people data the same way it connects industrial sensors
• (04:30) - The 90-day survey that triggered three fixes in a single week
• (09:54) - Where the biggest HR automation opportunities are right now
• (12:59) - "50% of my job is gone"—and why that's the exciting part
• (14:12) - What still requires the human touch: team composition, empathy, judgment
• (19:42) - Building trust by helping employees visualize where their jobs are headed
• (23:51) - Managing agents as direct reports: the new org chart
• (26:35) - Learning labs, AI champions, and building capability through show and tell

Summary

In a regulated, data-rich industry like insurance, speed isn't the goal—credibility is.

In this episode of The Human Element, host Barb Bidan sits down with Elizabeth McSaveny, Chief People Officer at Zurich Canada, for a grounded conversation about what it actually looks like to drive AI adoption at scale inside a global enterprise. Liz leads people strategy for a company that already runs on data across underwriting, claims, and risk, which gives her a unique vantage point on how HR should show up in the AI conversation: not as the owner of the technology, but as the orchestrator of trust, clarity, and responsible use.

She shares how Zurich built ZuriChat—a GPT-based tool with enterprise guardrails—rolled out mandatory Copilot training with annual recertification, and why the gap between access and adoption is almost always a leadership problem, not a technology problem.

Barb and Liz also get into the distinction between artificial intelligence and augmented intelligence, why 70% of AI transformations fail due to leadership rather than tech, and what Liz is looking for in a new L&D hire tasked with building AI capability across the organization. She closes with practical advice for every HR leader: get comfortable with the tools yourself first, because your team is watching whether you actually use what you're asking them to adopt. If you lead people in a regulated industry or are trying to build AI adoption that sticks, this conversation will ground your approach.

Timestamps

• 01:06 Liz's intro and what leading people strategy means at a global insurer
• 02:10 Why credibility matters more than speed in regulated environments
• 05:26 Advice for HR leaders stepping into global or regulated roles for the first time
• 07:39 How Zurich uses AI in underwriting, claims, and HR
• 10:57 Building ZuriChat with enterprise guardrails and mandatory recertification
• 16:57 Hiring an L&D leader focused on building AI capability
• 23:27 What HR leaders are getting wrong: focusing on the tool instead of the mindset
• 26:02 One action HR leaders can take this week

Takeaways

• Lead with clarity and trust, not speed—credibility is how you earn the right to move fast later
• Close the gap between AI access and adoption by investing in leadership capability, not more tools
• Require training and recertification for AI tools so employees understand both the power and the boundaries
• Sell AI internally as an enabler of your day to day, not a separate initiative layered on top of existing work
• Model AI use yourself before asking your team to adopt—they're watching whether you practice what you promote
• Define what good innovation looks like before telling your team to "be innovative"

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-McSavaney-chrl-bsc-371377/

Company website: https://www.zurichcanada.com/en-ca

Sponsor

Wisq introduces Harper, your AI-powered HR service bot designed to act like a virtual HR generalist for every employee. No more waiting on emails or digging through policies—Harper gives your team instant answers to HR questions, helps them navigate benefits and policies, and even routes more complex cases to the right person.

By handling the repetitive requests, Harper frees up your HR team to focus on strategy and people, while ensuring employees always feel supported. It’s a smarter, more consistent way to deliver HR services at scale.

See Harper in action at https://www.wisq.com/

• (01:06) - Liz's intro and what leading people strategy means at a global insurer
• (02:10) - Why credibility matters more than speed in regulated environments
• (05:26) - Advice for HR leaders stepping into global or regulated roles for the first time
• (07:39) - How Zurich uses AI in underwriting, claims, and HR
• (10:57) - Building ZuriChat with enterprise guardrails and mandatory recertification
• (16:57) - Hiring an L&D leader focused on building AI capability
• (23:27) - What HR leaders are getting wrong: focusing on the tool instead of the mindset
• (26:02) - One action HR leaders can take this week

Summary

AI is already inside 75% of companies—and 100% of people are using it—but only 10% actually know how. So what's really standing between organizations and meaningful AI transformation? According to Amanda Scott, it's not the technology. It's us. In this episode, Barb Bidan sits down with Amanda Scott, CEO of North America Talent Solutions at AON and a PhD candidate researching AI's impact on the workforce, for a deep, data-driven conversation on what's real versus hype in the AI era. Amanda leads a team of 500+ advisors across rewards, career, executive compensation, and assessment, giving her a rare dual lens: practical client work by day, academic research by night. Together, Barb and Amanda unpack AI sensitivity heat maps, the widening gender pay gap hiding inside AI adoption, why junior and senior roles are most exposed, and how the "middle" of the workforce may be the most important group to get right. If you lead people, design jobs, or set pay strategy, this one's essential listening.

Timestamps

• 00:54 Amanda's global background and why she's pursuing a PhD on AI
• 03:56 The biggest limiting factor in AI adoption (hint: it's humans)
• 06:41 Building AI heat maps and reshaping jobs around them
• 12:50 What CHROs and C-suite leaders need to do right now
• 15:38 Amanda's research: how AI is widening the gender pay gap
• 18:48 The future for early-career workers entering the workforce
• 22:17 Why the middle of the organization may matter most
• 26:50 Lightning round and final takeaways

Takeaways

• Map where AI will hit your workforce before deploying tools—start with a sensitivity heat map of roles and tasks
• Rethink compensation alongside job design, because evolving roles change pay structures
• Prioritize reskilling as an inclusion strategy, not just a retention one
• Break down silos between HR, technology, finance, and the board—this conversation requires all of them
• Redesign processes from scratch instead of just speeding up old ones with AI
• Lead with curiosity; it's the one skill that compounds through every wave of change

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandabscott/

Company website: https://www.AON.com

Sponsor

Wisq introduces Harper, your AI-powered HR service bot designed to act like a virtual HR generalist for every employee. No more waiting on emails or digging through policies—Harper gives your team instant answers to HR questions, helps them navigate benefits and policies, and even routes more complex cases to the right person.

By handling the repetitive requests, Harper frees up your HR team to focus on strategy and people, while ensuring employees always feel supported. It’s a smarter, more consistent way to deliver HR services at scale.

See Harper in action at https://www.wisq.com/

• (00:54) - Amanda's global background and why she's pursuing a PhD on AI
• (03:56) - The biggest limiting factor in AI adoption (hint: it's humans)
• (06:41) - Building AI heat maps and reshaping jobs around them
• (12:50) - What CHROs and C-suite leaders need to do right now
• (15:38) - Amanda's research: how AI is widening the gender pay gap
• (18:48) - The future for early-career workers entering the workforce
• (22:17) - Why the middle of the organization may matter most
• (26:50) - Lightning round and final takeaways