Donna Brown
Founder
Cultivation HR
Episode 42
Beyond Busywork: HR's AI Leap for Strategic Impact & Employee Experience
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleSeptember 26, 2025 · 17:58
Thesis
“HR must strategically adopt AI and flexible resourcing models to overcome operational burdens, drive business growth, and improve the employee experience, rather than merely reacting to everyday demands, especially in small to medium-sized organizations.”
Show notes
Summary
In this episode of the Built by People podcast, Dallin Demke interviews Donna Brown, founder of Cultivation HR, who shares her extensive experience in HR and technology leadership. The conversation delves into the challenges HR professionals face, particularly in embracing AI while maintaining fairness and compliance. Donna discusses the operational demands on HR teams, especially in smaller organizations, and the potential of AI to alleviate some of these burdens. The discussion also covers the evolution of performance reviews and the importance of continuous feedback in modern HR practices. Donna emphasizes the need for HR to think creatively about resource allocation and partnerships to enhance their capabilities.
Takeaways
- HR professionals are challenged by balancing innovation with governance.
- AI can create capacity for HR teams to focus on strategic initiatives.
- Year-end HR activities are particularly demanding for small teams.
- AI's promise in HR is significant, but implementation is complex.
- Continuous coaching is becoming a viable alternative to annual performance reviews.
- AI tools can enhance learning and operational efficiency in HR.
- HR should leverage external partnerships to extend capabilities.
- The future of HR involves thinking beyond traditional staffing models.
- AI can help automate routine tasks, freeing up time for strategic work.
- HR must ensure ethical considerations are integrated into AI usage.
What you'll take away
- 1Successfully adopting AI in HR requires a balance between innovation and robust governance to protect fairness, privacy, and compliance.
- 2HR teams, particularly in small to medium-sized companies, must actively combat operational 'noise' to create capacity for strategic initiatives.
- 3Moving beyond outdated annual performance reviews to continuous, coaching-focused performance management, often supported by AI tools, is crucial for effective employee development.
- 4When experimenting with AI tools, always disable the 'use this information to improve my learning' setting to protect sensitive data.
- 5Small to medium-sized HR departments should leverage diverse resourcing models (e.g., fractional HR, consultants) to expand capacity and bring specialized capabilities to their organizations.
What most organizations get wrong
- •HR must proactively 'step in' to operationalize AI within the workplace, as product and engineering teams often overlook ethics, bias, training, and job impact in their focus on product development.
- •Annual performance reviews are outdated and ineffective, and companies should move towards continuous, coaching-focused performance management systems.
In Donna's words
“Without a doubt, it's AI. You know, HR professionals are wrestling with how to embrace AI's efficiencies while protecting against risks.”
Highlights the central challenge and dual nature of AI adoption in human resources.
“Q4, um, you know, is definitely a hair on fire time for HR people.”
A vivid description of the intense pressure HR faces during the year-end and strategic planning period.
“I think performance reviews are the bane of everybody's existence.”
A strong, relatable statement on a common pain point within traditional HR processes.
“If you're gonna experiment with AI, um, in all of the tools in your settings, there is a little toggle that's gonna say, use this information to improve my learning. Turn that off.”
Provides a crucial, actionable security tip for HR professionals using AI tools.
“Don't settle for what your internal team can deliver because you're constrained by that capacity. Think broadly about who else can you bring in and who can you partner with to either extend that capacity or extend capability.”
Advocates for a flexible, modern approach to HR resourcing beyond traditional internal teams.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Organizations struggle with balancing AI innovation in HR with critical governance, privacy, and ethical compliance considerations.
- •Routine HR operational tasks (e.g., recruiting logistics, basic inquiries) often consume significant time, preventing HR teams from engaging in strategic initiatives.
- •Traditional annual performance review processes are often ineffective, leading to a lack of continuous feedback, unclear goals, and employee surprises.
- •Small to medium-sized HR teams face severe capacity constraints, limiting their ability to deliver comprehensive strategic HR services and support business growth.
- •AI-native companies may overlook crucial HR-related AI implications such as ethics, bias, training needs, and job impact, focusing primarily on product and engineering.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
You've been working in HR and technology leadership roles for over 20 years
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What are some HR tasks that AI could help with or aren't feeling strategic
The Strategic Goal of HR
Typically the fourth quarter for businesses and HR is a duality
What's HR's busy time in Q4?
HR can help companies make AI both ethical and practical in operations
What HR Needs to Know About AI
What other tools or partners are kind of most critical to you today
What other tools or processes are critical to your HR workflow?
Shana: HR departments are usually pretty small wherever you go
Built by People: The Future of HR
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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