Jose Cong
Chief People Officer
Humane
Episode 385
HR's Evolution: Beyond Service to Strategic Impact with Augmented Intelligence
Current chapter: Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees in 2024
Built By PeopleNovember 14, 2024 · 17:32
Thesis
“HR's role must fundamentally shift from a reactive service function to a proactive, strategic business partner, leveraging data and augmented intelligence to optimize talent decisions, forecast workforce needs, and drive significant organizational impact.”
Show notes
Jose Cong was one of the earliest employees assigned to the Apple project that became the iPhone. His takeaway from that experience wasn't about the product—it was about what strategic HR can do to a roadmap when it's treated as a strategic function rather than an administrative one. That realization has shaped his 25-year career trajectory through NVIDIA, Nest Labs, and now Humane.
His thesis is direct: HR leaders need to stop thinking of themselves as service providers and start thinking as strategic members of the business organization. That means proactive talent planning (assessing skill gaps months in advance rather than panic-hiring when a need appears), data-fluent decision-making, and the willingness to actually leverage technology to automate what doesn't need a human. At Humane, that looks like MetaView for real-time interview transcription (a tool he defends against liability concerns: "At least I have the ability to discover issues and get ahead of them"), custom GPT tools that compressed job description creation from weeks to hours, and an analytical approach to understanding individual employee "arcs"—where they are in their trajectory and what development they need to maximize their contribution.
His frame for AI is precise: not artificial intelligence, but augmented intelligence. AI won't take HR jobs. People who know how to optimize their outputs through AI will take HR jobs from those who don't. His parting message to HR leaders sits at the intersection of urgency and optimism: embrace this, because the opportunity to supercharge your impact has never been greater.
- HR as strategic business partner: what it actually means to have a seat at the main table vs. the HR table
- Proactive talent planning: assessing skill gaps months ahead rather than reacting to immediate needs
- MetaView and interview transcription: how real-time interview data improves candidate experience, reduces bias, and enables accountability
- Custom GPTs in HR workflows: collapsing job description creation and intake meetings from weeks to hours
- Augmented intelligence, not replacement: the distinction that matters for HR professionals navigating AI adoption
- Data as the career skill Jose wishes he'd prioritized earlier—and why it's the most consequential lever in modern HR
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What you'll take away
- 1HR leaders must transition from a reactive service mindset to becoming strategic business partners, proactively assessing skill gaps and planning talent acquisition several months in advance to avoid panic hires.
- 2Utilize HR technology (e.g., MetaView for interview transcription, custom GPTs) to automate repetitive administrative tasks, significantly shortening processes like job description creation and approval from weeks to hours.
- 3Embrace 'augmented intelligence' – not AI replacement – to leverage data for confident decision-making, understanding employee performance arcs, and structuring personalized development and growth plans.
- 4The future of HR roles will not be lost to AI but to individuals who master optimizing their outputs through AI, freeing up HR professionals for more human, strategic, and impactful interactions.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Jose pushes back on the fear of liability associated with recording interview sessions (e.g., using MetaView), arguing that the technology actually provides the ability to discover and address issues proactively, improving transparency and fairness.
In Jose's words
“Probably the most pivotal experience of my career was when I was hired into Apple to help to create the special project group, the one that was responsible for the iPod, a bunch of accessories, but ultimately the iPhone, where I was one of the earliest employees assigned to it. The reasons why I say that that was a pivotal point in my career was the fact that it was the exposure in terms of the ability to create impact. I had access to top executives, had the ability to earn a seat at the table and had a chance to prove that being strategic from a talent perspective, from a people perspective, can really, you know, supercharge a roadmap.”
Highlights the guest's early realization of HR's strategic value and the importance of a 'seat at the table' in driving business outcomes.
“I think today in heading into the future, I think that we have to look at ourselves, right, in HR leadership as strategic members of the business organization. Our impact is not necessarily limited to hiring and, you know, onboarding and keeping, you know, people happy. I think it goes beyond that. I think there is a— there has been a tremendous shift where we have the ability now to have a seat at the main table, right? And to help out with strategic decisions.”
This quote defines the guest's core philosophy for modern HR, emphasizing a proactive and strategic role beyond traditional administrative functions.
“I'm not talking about AI taking over. I'm not talking about AI making decisions for us. I'm talking about not artificial intelligence, but augmented intelligence of our people in HR.”
Clarifies the guest's optimistic and empowering vision for AI in HR as a tool to enhance human capabilities, not replace them.
“With this type of technology [MetaView], at least I have the ability to be able to discover that and get ahead of it. And if I put that fear behind, right, because of that benefit, and then I know that I can not only help, you know, individuals be able to be present during that candidate experience by making sure that they don't have to take notes, right, on everything, but that I can actually go back and look at the exact transcript of that conversation.”
Counters the common apprehension about recording interviews, highlighting the benefits of transparency, data, and improved candidate experience.
“We're not going to lose our jobs through AI. We're going to lose jobs to people who know how to optimize their outputs through AI.”
A concise and impactful statement that reframes the conversation around AI's impact on employment, emphasizing adaptation and skill development.
The problems this episode addresses
- •**Reactive Hiring & Talent Gaps**: Organizations often resort to panic hiring due to immediate needs, which can lead to suboptimal candidate selection and a diluted talent pool, rather than strategic, forward-looking workforce planning.
- •**Inefficient HR Administrative Processes**: Mundane, repetitive tasks consume significant HR time (e.g., job description creation taking weeks), preventing HR professionals from engaging in higher-value strategic and human-centric activities.
- •**Biased & Inconsistent Interviewing**: Interview processes are prone to recency bias and lack of consistent data capture, making objective candidate assessment and recall of specific feedback challenging.
- •**Lack of Data-Driven Decision Making**: HR decisions are frequently based on subjective 'feelings' or 'thoughts' rather than concrete data, resulting in assumptions rather than confident, impactful strategic calls.
- •**Suboptimal Employee Development & Onboarding**: A disconnect between hiring insights and post-hire development means opportunities are missed to structure effective onboarding, personalized growth plans, and proactive retention strategies.
In this episode
Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees in 2024
Built by People
José Koch is the chief people officer at Humane Software
Built By People: José Koch
Curious to get your perspective on what the responsibilities are of HR today
WSJDLive: The HR Function in the Future
Humane uses technology to transcribe interviews to help with onboarding
HR Technology Use Cases
Jose: Had I been more appreciative of data early in my career
What's Been a Key Learning in Your Career? Data
Any parting advice that you'd like to share with the HR community about embracing AI
How to Build a Human Machine with AI
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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