Kenneth Ceaser
Chief People & Culture Officer and Chief of Staff
MADD
Episode 174
Transforming HR: How Business Acumen and AI Build Credible Workforces
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleMay 27, 2025 · 11:32
Thesis
“HR professionals must combine deep business understanding and effective communication with emerging technologies like AI and a strong commitment to mentorship to build credible, impactful, and future-ready workforces.”
Show notes
Kenneth Ceaser's Journey: From Military Service to HR Leadership
In this episode of the Built by People Podcast, the host welcomes Ken, the Chief People and Culture Officer at Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
Ken recounts his extensive 24-year career journey which began in the Air Force and transitioned through key roles at Flowserve, Boeing, AmerisourceBergen, and eventually to MADD. He shares valuable mentorship experiences and highlights how influential women leaders shaped his approach to becoming a true business partner.
Ken discusses his use of AI in HR for predictive analytics and turnover trends, underscores the importance of understanding business operations for effective HR, and elaborates on his passion for teaching and mentoring future HR professionals.
The episode concludes with Ken's advice on the integration of AI in HR, the importance of mentorship in the profession, and his excitement for the future of young HR talent.
00:00 Welcome and Introduction
00:54 Ken's Career Journey
02:40 Impactful Mentorship Stories
05:14 Applying AI in HR
06:59 Incognito HR Certification
09:18 Passion for Teaching and Mentoring
10:30 Parting Advice and Conclusion
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What you'll take away
- 1Credibility for HR professionals hinges on both the quality of information and its professional presentation to business partners.
- 2Effective HR business partnership requires a deep understanding of the business, including financial acumen and operations.
- 3Leveraging AI in HR demands that professionals first grasp the core functions of a program to formulate accurate and effective prompts.
- 4Accessible, practical certification and training are crucial for developing competent HR generalists, covering foundational knowledge often missed.
- 5Mentorship is vital for cultivating future HR leaders, focusing on work ethic and aspirations, and helping them navigate career growth.
What most organizations get wrong
In Kenneth's words
“It's not all about what you know, it's how you present it and yourself to your business leaders, because As an HR, it takes us a lot to build up credibility, and it only takes one bad, oh, you forgot to dot an I, to lose credibility on a presentation.”
This highlights the critical role of presentation and attention to detail in maintaining HR credibility with business leaders.
“To be effective, you have to understand the business, even from the business side, from financial acumen to operations. Because if you don't understand what the employee or the business leaders are doing, you can't be an effective business partner.”
This emphasizes the necessity for HR to deeply integrate with and comprehend business fundamentals to truly partner effectively.
“If you don't understand how something is supposed to be, you cannot truly provide prompts into AI to get the product that you need.”
This quote underscores that effective AI utilization by HR requires foundational knowledge of the underlying HR processes to craft precise prompts.
“AI is here and AI is here to stay. And I think that it will not replace jobs, but it will help augment jobs. And HR professionals, we need to help facilitate not only the technology itself, but teaching individuals how to integrate that technology and also upskilling individuals as well.”
This defines AI's role as an augmentative tool and positions HR as central to upskilling and integrating this technology into the workforce.
The problems this episode addresses
- •HR professionals often struggle to maintain credibility with business leaders due to poor presentation or lack of attention to detail in their deliverables.
- •Many HR professionals lack a deep understanding of core business functions, including financial acumen and operations, hindering their effectiveness as business partners.
- •Young HR professionals face high costs for traditional certifications (SHRM, HRCI), creating a barrier to entry for comprehensive generalist training.
- •HR generalists frequently have gaps in essential knowledge areas like workforce planning.
- •HR teams may struggle to effectively leverage AI for predictive analytics and turnover trend analysis without proper understanding of prompt engineering and data requirements.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Dan: Dave spent 24 years in the Air Force in HR
Dave Knows How to Get Out of Retirement
Ken says he had 4 phenomenal mentors who shaped his approach to mentoring others
MRK: The Mentors
Ken, can you describe a specific instance where you successfully applied AI prompts to HR
Microsoft's AI Prompts in HR
Ken: Dave, you developed a quasi-HR generalist certification course
Ken Moore on Leading an Incognito Certification Training
Ken believes mentorship is looking at a person's work ethic and aspirations
Ken Miller on MENTORSHIP
Ken: AI will not replace jobs, but it will help augment jobs
Ken Krupa on Built By People
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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