Renee Kaspar
Chief Human Resources Officer
eXp Realty, LLC
Episode 293
Beyond AI: HR's 'Head & Heart' Approach for Future-Ready Talent
Current chapter: This podcast is sponsored by Previ. Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees
Built By PeopleFebruary 20, 2025 · 15:44
Thesis
“Successful HR leadership, particularly with the rise of AI, requires a balanced approach of data-driven insights and human-centricity to foster purpose-driven agile teams and develop a 'generalist of generalists' workforce through internal talent marketplaces.”
Show notes
Renee Kaspar started her career as a lawyer. She worked in sales. She ran HR at Pfizer, GE, Amazon, and eBay. That's not career wandering — it's a deliberate portfolio, and it's why her perspective on how AI will reshape the workforce is worth paying close attention to. She's seen enough industries transform from the inside to know what actually changes and what only appears to.
As CHRO at eXp Realty, Renee leads people strategy for one of the most distributed real estate organizations in the world. Her framework for HR leadership is a balance of two forces she calls "head" and "heart" — analytics to tell the story, human-centricity to decide what story is worth telling. "It's using the analytics to help really tell the story, to understand the movement I need to make with the people data," she says. The head without the heart produces cold decisions. The heart without the head produces well-intentioned ones that can't be defended in a board room.
Her most forward-looking concept is the internal talent marketplace — a structured mechanism for matching employees' existing skills to agile, cross-functional projects. In a world where external hiring is expensive and slow, and where AI is rapidly turning specialists into generalists, Renee argues that companies must get better at seeing the capability they already have. She also introduces the idea of an "Office of Purpose" — a deliberate organizational function dedicated to helping employees connect their daily work to something meaningful. Not as a wellness perk, but as a retention and performance strategy.
- The head and heart balance in HR — combining analytics with human-centricity to make decisions that are both smart and defensible
- Internal talent marketplaces — using existing employee skills for agile projects rather than defaulting to external hiring
- AI as a generalist accelerator — preparing the workforce to become "generalists of generalists" in an AI-augmented environment
- Purpose-driven culture at scale — why an "Office of Purpose" is a retention strategy, not a perks program
- Lessons from Fortune 500 and startup environments — what each teaches about scale, speed, and what actually matters
- Continuous learning as competitive infrastructure — why AI adoption demands a learning-first HR posture
Built by People is sponsored by Previ, the private pricing network that saves employees an average of $2,200/year on essentials like cell phone and auto insurance — free for companies to launch and maintain.
What you'll take away
- 1Balance 'head' (analytics) and 'heart' (human-centricity) in HR leadership to drive business growth and employee potential, using data to inform human-focused strategies.
- 2Cultivate a purpose-driven culture by helping employees connect with what is meaningful to them, creating an 'Office of Flow' where work aligns with individual purpose.
- 3Proactively integrate AI into HR practices, augmenting teams and preparing the workforce to become 'generalists of generalists' by developing broader skillsets.
- 4Implement internal 'talent marketplaces' to effectively utilize existing employee skills for agile projects, address labor shortages, and promote internal career development.
- 5Reimagine traditional compensation and reward systems to emphasize contribution and interaction with new tools rather than seniority in an AI-driven work environment.
What most organizations get wrong
- •A law degree, initially a perceived misstep, ultimately provided a foundational skill for HR by fostering proactive problem-solving rather than reactive litigation.
- •Challenges the traditional hierarchical career path, asserting that future career growth will be determined more by the ability to do the work and adapt to new tools (like AI) than by seniority.
- •Advocates for 'shopping in your own closet' by leveraging internal talent marketplaces as a primary strategy, shifting focus from constant external recruitment to internal development and redeployment of skills.
In Renee's words
“So for me, it's using the analytics to help really tell the story, to understand the movement I need to make with the people... And I, I came up with the expression for myself, head and heart as well.”
This quote encapsulates the guest's core philosophy of balancing data-driven decisions with empathy in HR leadership.
“My goal has been how do we help all of our employees at eXp feel that sense of purpose? What do we all do? How do we power people with what is meaningful to them?”
This highlights a proactive approach to employee engagement by focusing on individual purpose and connection to work.
“My CEO coined this term last week, was it becoming a generalist of generalists? How do we understand ops better? How do we understand marketing better? How do we understand all of these different functions so we become more of a utility player?”
This provides a forward-looking perspective on the evolving skill requirements for employees in an AI-augmented workplace.
“The best way to navigate that is to find the talent within your own company. It's kind of like going in your own closet, shopping for the clothes rather than going out to buy them.”
This offers a vivid metaphor for the talent marketplace concept, advocating for internal mobility over external hiring.
“I often tell those early professionals, like, 'cause I love doing that myself, like, you'll learn a lot, you'll grow a lot, you'll see the best in class, and how it's done. And then once you've kind of absorbed that and you understand it, you can bring it back out and help create it, build it, and design it outside of— in a smaller place.”
This offers valuable advice on career development, suggesting that experience in large companies can build foundational skills transferable to startups.
“I think the world in which we know will be totally different in the next 5 years. So I would say invest, understand, keep learning, keep pushing your skillset, and just stay curious.”
This is a direct and urgent call to action for HR professionals regarding the transformative impact of AI.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Organizations struggle to effectively balance data-driven decisions ('head') with human-centric approaches ('heart') in HR, impacting both business outcomes and employee well-being.
- •Maintaining and enhancing employee engagement is challenging when individuals feel disconnected from their purpose or the company's mission.
- •Traditional external recruitment strategies are becoming insufficient to address the looming global labor shortage and the need for specialized skills.
- •Outdated compensation and reward systems (e.g., merit increases, rack-and-stack) fail to motivate an AI-augmented workforce whose value is increasingly defined by contribution and skill breadth.
- •HR departments need to rapidly adapt to the integration of AI and new technologies, including developing frameworks for managing AI and upskilling employees for a 'generalist of generalists' future.
In this episode
This podcast is sponsored by Previ. Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees
Built by People
Dave Zirin shares a little bit about his career journey
The Journey of a CHRO
How do you strike the balance between head and heart in HR leadership
The Balance between Analytics and People-First HR
Renee says being powered with purpose influences culture and engagement
EXp's 'Power With Purpose'
How do you see the role of HR evolving with these emerging tools
The Role of HR in AI and the Future
How we reward people is gonna be incredibly important as we move into AI
How to Reward Your Team in the AI World
Thomson Reuters is building a talent marketplace to help build more agile teams
Have Companies Created a Talent Marketplace?
Renee has experience transitioning between large corporations and startups
Return to Small Businesses: Effective HR Leadership
Renee, what advice would you like to share with our audience
AI Expert Renee On The Future
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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