Lisa Stevens
Chief Administrative Officer
Aon PLC
Episode 73
AI & HR: How data-driven well-being creates certainty in a changing world
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleAugust 21, 2025 · 17:48
Thesis
“Lisa Stevens' core belief is that 'everything in life is about people,' and HR's role, particularly in leveraging data and AI, is to proactively foster well-being and efficiency, thereby creating certainty and helping individuals and organizations thrive amidst constant change.”
Show notes
Aon manages benefits strategy for some of the world's largest organizations — and also has 60,000 employees of its own. That dual position, as both a client-serving firm and a large employer, gives Lisa Stevens an unusually clear view of the gap between what organizations say about employee well-being and what their data actually shows. The organizations winning right now, she'll tell you, are the ones treating their internal HR function as an innovation incubator — testing workforce solutions on themselves before rolling them out to clients.
Lisa came to Aon from banking, not HR, which gives her a distinctly analytical lens. When GLP-1 medications started driving up benefits costs, she didn't treat it as a budget problem — she treated it as a data problem. The question wasn't whether to cover them, but how to use analytics to understand the long-term health and financial outcomes across the workforce, and make a defensible decision that serves employees and the organization simultaneously. That approach — data first, reaction second — is how she thinks about everything from AI adoption to mental health programming.
On AI, she's genuinely optimistic in a way that feels earned rather than performed. Her argument: the biggest opportunity isn't efficiency gains, it's the ability to "bend toward wellness" — using AI to move organizational health programs from reactive to proactive, catching problems before they become crises. For people leaders navigating AI's role in their function, this is one of the more concrete and credible perspectives available.
- Aon as an HR innovation lab — how testing workforce solutions internally first creates better outcomes for both employees and clients
- GLP-1 medications and benefits analytics — using data to make evidence-based coverage decisions on high-cost, high-stakes interventions
- AI bending toward wellness — the case for proactive health management and why reactive programs leave too much on the table
- Addressing AI fear with access and fluency — the training approach that moves employees from anxiety to adoption
- Leading with curiosity and humanity at scale — how Lisa maintains authentic engagement across a 60,000-person global workforce
Previ is an employer network that provides private pricing for employees — saving the average employee $2,200/year on essentials like cell phone service and insurance, at no cost to the company.
What you'll take away
- 1Organizations must address employee fear and lack of motivation regarding AI adoption by making it accessible and demonstrating its benefits for efficiency and effectiveness.
- 2AI and data analytics can proactively bend the cost curve on health benefits (e.g., GLP-1s) by revealing long-term positive health and financial outcomes, shifting from reactive 'ill-being' to proactive 'well-being'.
- 3HR leaders have a unique opportunity to act as incubators for innovation, implementing best practices internally (like Aon's ChatGPT and smart working strategies) before advising clients.
- 4Prioritizing 'humanity' in leadership and fostering emotional connection among colleagues is crucial, especially in a world demanding constant change and agility.
- 5Continuous pulsing of colleagues and data-driven insights are essential for agile HR organizations to adapt initiatives and ensure employee voice is heard.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Instead of just sending people to training for AI, integrate learning 'in the flow of work' to overcome fear and lack of motivation.
- •Proactively investing in well-being programs (like Thrive) can actually reduce the need for reactive employee assistance programs (EAPs).
- •Don't just look at immediate costs for benefits (like GLP-1s); data shows long-term cost curves bend and health outcomes improve, justifying initial investment.
In Lisa's words
“everything in life is about people.”
This is Lisa's foundational belief, framing her entire approach to HR.
“And I would go so far as to say there's a massive opportunity with AI for us to bend towards wellness.”
This highlights a unique, positive framing of AI's potential beyond efficiency, focusing on employee well-being.
“you actually have to look at the long term of what you're doing.”
This emphasizes a strategic, data-driven approach to benefits decisions, moving beyond short-term costs.
“We spend so much time reactively thinking about ill-being... The thing about programs like Thrive... it's proactive. It's not reactive.”
This succinctly captures the shift from reactive to proactive wellness strategies in HR.
“Our humanity has to come out. It has to come out in everything that we do.”
This is her core parting advice, emphasizing empathy and connection in leadership.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Employee resistance to AI adoption: Employees often feel unmotivated or fearful about developing new AI skills (only 1/3 feel motivated), leading to slow adoption and missed efficiency gains.
- •Burnout and lack of well-being: Mobile devices and constant connectivity contribute to employee burnout, requiring HR to find ways to increase efficiency and promote true 'off-time'.
- •Rising healthcare costs (e.g., GLP-1s): Companies struggle with the increasing expense of chronic condition treatments like GLP-1s, often leading to decisions to cut programs without understanding long-term benefits.
- •Reactive HR strategies for ill-being: Many HR organizations primarily focus on reactive measures for employee crisis or illness (EAPs), missing opportunities for proactive wellness.
- •Difficulty in measuring benefits ROI: HR leaders struggle to quantify the long-term impact and ROI of human capital investments and wellness programs without robust data and analytics.
- •Siloed HR functions: Organizations with siloed HR, talent, and benefits teams struggle to provide holistic, tailored solutions to their colleagues and clients.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Dave Miller is the chief people officer for Aon
Aon's Chief People Officer
Aon is working to create a workforce that is excited about artificial intelligence
Aon's AI Adopation
Aon uses AI to help organizations make smart decisions about healthcare costs
Aon's Workforce Resiliency
Aon advises clients on human capital issues while implementing best practices internally
Aon's Human Capital Practice
What workplace wellness initiatives have shown most significant impact on employee wellbeing and productivity
What workplace health and wellness initiatives have shown the most significant impact?
Lisa, what parting advice would you like to share with our community
Lisa On The Built by People Podcast
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Organizations and entities mentioned
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