Christine Aldrich
Chief People Officer
Pindrop
Episode 121
Stop Deepfake Candidates: Empathy and AI Redefine People Operations.
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJuly 2, 2025 · 12:59
Thesis
“The modern HR function, rebranded as 'People Operations,' must strategically lead with empathy and execution excellence to drive business outcomes while proactively leveraging 'good AI' to combat emerging threats like deepfake candidates in the hiring process.”
Show notes
Leading with Empathy and Excellence: A Conversation with Christine on the Built by People PodcastIn this episode of the Built by People Podcast, host Dave welcomes Christine, an HR executive with over 25 years of experience. Christine shares her unique journey in HR, starting straight out of college and evolving through roles at major organizations like Ford Motor Company and Dunkin Brands. She discusses her current passion for startups and highlights the importance of execution excellence led by empathy. Christine offers insights into the challenges of modern HR, including the rise of deepfake candidates, and the use of advanced AI technology at her current organization, Pindrop, to combat fraudulent activities. She emphasizes the critical shift of HR from a foundational role to a strategic business partner, sharing a successful case study from her experience at Pra. The episode closes with Christine's advice on combining strong leadership with vulnerability and asking better questions to drive business success.00:00 Introduction to the Built by People Podcast00:14 Sponsor Message: Previ Network00:37 Guest Introduction: Christine's Career Journey02:11 Leadership Philosophy: Execution Excellence with Empathy04:48 Addressing Deep Fake Candidates in HR09:13 HR's Evolution to Strategic Business Partner12:09 Parting Advice and Conclusion
What you'll take away
- 1Leaders should integrate 'execution excellence led by empathy,' demonstrating vulnerability and appreciation to cultivate a secure and high-performing team environment.
- 2HR and recruiting professionals must maintain heightened vigilance against sophisticated fraudulent activities, such as deepfake candidates, by 'trusting but verifying' any anomalies during video interviews.
- 3The evolution from traditional HR to strategic 'People Operations' is crucial for becoming a true business partner who deeply understands and contributes to organizational success.
- 4Organizations are challenged to utilize 'good AI to combat bad AI' as a necessity for addressing novel threats, particularly in talent acquisition security.
- 5People operations leaders achieve maximum impact when they possess a profound understanding of the business, enabling them to ask incisive questions that holistically drive the organization forward.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Post-pandemic, a 'small headcount is the new CEO flex,' indicating a shift where organizations, especially startups, prioritize strategic, impactful hiring over sheer numbers.
- •The traditional assumption that the same individual progresses through all interview stages is no longer reliable due to AI-driven identity swaps, requiring new verification protocols.
In Christine's words
“You cannot go wrong when you lead with kindness.”
A concise articulation of her empathetic leadership philosophy.
“Coming out of post-pandemic, kind of a small headcount is the new CEO flex, and that organizations, in particular startups, are no longer Hiring just for the sake of hiring.”
Highlights a contemporary trend in organizational staffing that prioritizes efficiency and strategic hires.
“Our technology was able to identify that my recruiter that is conducting the interview is completely a true live person, and that the individual on the other end is utilizing AI face swap and voice change technology in order to become a totally different person.”
Provides a real-world, alarming example of deepfake candidates in the hiring process and the effectiveness of detection technology.
“We really need to be diligent about what we're seeing on the other end. If you're seeing that there's glitches, that the voice does not match up with the lips, like those are red flags.”
Offers practical, actionable advice for recruiters on identifying potential deepfakes without specialized technology.
“It's not just about HR or people operations having a seat at the table. It's what people operations brings to the table that is such a game changer.”
Emphasizes the strategic, value-adding role of modern HR beyond mere representation in leadership discussions.
“I think that it's strong to, to lead, but know that you don't have to have all the answers and ask really good questions.”
Offers valuable parting advice on leadership vulnerability and the critical importance of effective inquiry.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Recruiters face significant challenges in identifying sophisticated deepfake candidates during remote interviews, leading to inefficiencies and potential security vulnerabilities.
- •Organizations often view HR as a purely administrative function (payroll, onboarding), preventing it from contributing strategically to long-term business goals and workforce development.
- •The human eye's inability to reliably detect advanced deepfake technology creates a blind spot in hiring processes, increasing risk without technological aid.
- •Companies struggle with proactively forecasting and hiring for future skillsets (18+ months out), leading to potential talent gaps as they scale.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Your career in HR started off a little bit differently than the traditional path
Exploring Your Career Journey
Christine talks about execution excellence with empathy in an organization
Leadership Philosophy of Execution Excellence Led by Empathy
Pindrop is a fraud prevention organization that catches deepfake candidates
How To Catch and Avoid Deepfake Programs
HR evolved from being a foundational function to becoming more of a strategic business partner
As Companies grow, HR's role has evolved
Christine shares her advice on leading with execution excellence and empathy
A Few Words on Leading With Execution Excellence
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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