Human Skills for the AI Age: What it Takes to Lead Inclusively

Well, welcome all of you. Really appreciate you all taking time out of your day, uh, to serve our community, share your perspectives and your experiences on this topic and more. So I'm really excited to learn with all of you in the community and in the chat here, can we show some love to our panelists for joining us? Uh, we're gonna jump right into it. We only have, you know, 50 minutes left here at this point. I would love if, uh, the three of you, you know, started off by one, maybe sharing a little bit about who you are, your role, some of the work you're doing, but I would love to just jump right into the discussion. So, Heather, if you don't mind kicking us off, can you share a little bit context of who you are in Practice Labs, and then, you know, as we think about this topic, human skills for the AI age, like what starts to come to mind for you? It's so great to be here and to be joined by Stacy Anderson. Tell, I'm so excited for the conversation today, but I'm Heather pronouns are she her. I'm one of the co-founders of Praxis Labs and I lead product development here. And at the highest level, we are an immersive learning and development platform that's focused on building more inclusive and effective leaders. We do that by leveraging conversational AI and immersive learning in these five to seven minute simulations of crucial conversations. And I really think of AI as a tool and opportunity to help connect and elevate humanists in the workplace, but only when it's applied really intentionally. So I'm excited to dive into what that all means in this conversation today. That's great. I love that first like tagline, like, how can AI elevate the human experience and be a tool for that? And that's something that takes away. So yeah, let's, we're gonna discuss that, like how do we make sure it elevates, uh, Stacy, can you jump in here next and then, yeah, what are some of your immediate thoughts when we start thinking about this theme of human skills for the A IH? Yeah, Zach, thank you. I, I have to call out, you know, that it was interesting looking at the three of our bios because as, as you said, Zach, sometimes this can be very intimidating conversation. Um, and so if you notice on all three of these ladies, um, including myself, we have stem, um, in our background. So, um, I have a degree in chemistry and pharmacokinetics that I actually don't put out there very frequently, but I think it does create, um, more excitement for me than fear around the possibilities here and what we can do with technology. So in my organization, we're a mental health organization, um, that treats opioid and substance use disorder in 16 states, over 80 locations. So our big question is constantly, how can we leverage technology to elevate the human experience for the people inside of our organization as well as our patients and the communities we serve. And then my podcast, the HX podcast is really focused as well in that same intersection. One thing I talk about all the time is what does it mean to have an elevated human experience in an AI and technology world? And so that's something we're gonna be launching a series soon called HX in an AI world. Um, really focused on that because I think it's an important conversation, um, to humanize, uh, this conversation around technology. So something I'm passionate about and we're bringing forward in our organization, um, to, to leverage our strengths there. Sure. You also calling out the, the STEM elements here. And I would also encourage people, those that are listening, right? And you're thinking about your own context or background and experience in this space as well as your people. Is there a STEM component there or is that maybe an education piece that we need to be aware of as we try to grow a comfort level? So we'll talk a little bit about that. All right. Chantel, welcome in. You being here with us as well. Uh, yeah, what, especially from your lens and your role at Glassdoor, what are some of the thoughts going through your head as we kick off this discussion? Yeah, thanks so much sec and, and so excited to be here. I am Chantal Salazar, uh, senior Director of Diversity, equity and Inclusion at Glassdoor. I think a lot of folks know, uh, Glassdoor sort of a jobs and review site, but we're also interested in sort of expanding and building community focused around workplace conversations. So that's what what we do here at Glassdoor. Um, you know, I've had sort of a varied career spanning, uh, a few different industries and, and even disciplines. But for the past eight years I've been very focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Um, and from a tech perspective, I view myself as someone who's tech aware and plugged in, um, but also really very focused on this concept around humans and human potential, right? And so those are the conversations that I'm interested in exploring. So the perspective that folks will hear, uh, from me today is again, how we can be aware of the tech, engage with the tech, but also continue to maintain this focus on, on human potential, right? So a lot of, I think, similarity across, across our panelists today. And yeah, I think it's gonna be a fun conversation, Right? Yeah, no, this is gonna be amazing. I'm already feeling a theme here of like, how does this become an social, like a effective tool to elevate the human experience and, you know, create an elevated, you know, human experience within our cultures, and how do we move to more on the offense with this as a, as a thing we can leverage versus a fear-based kind of element of, you know, how do we avoid maybe bad things that could come with it. So let's discuss this. Let's jump right into the discussion. And, and Heather, I'll, I'll kind of come to you maybe to pick off this first segment, which is really the crucial role of, of leadership and inclusive leadership in the modern workforce. And you already, you know, let us off, right? Like, how do we make sure this is something we can leverage to elevate the human experience within our, our cultures, but there needs to be some intention behind that. Um, yeah. With the rise of AI and automation and all these things kind of becoming much more of a norm, how should we maybe redefine or start to look at inclusive leadership or leadership as a whole to ensure it's elevating the human experience? Yeah, that's such a great question. And I think it's not just the rise of ai, it's, you know, we're in a moment of unprecedented change, really. There's global unrest, the 2024 political landscape. And, you know, I think organizations are experiencing layoffs, organizational change. And so as we think about the role of human skills, I really do believe that they're even more important, uh, to navigate this moment and even more durable, really as you think about the role of human skills through, you know, skill development and how we will continue to grow and evolve. And as we think about that, it's important because, uh, it's a skill to incorporate and acknowledge all the different perspectives surrounding this change while still driving high performance in an organization. And so at inclusive leadership, I think, um, we're in this moment where it's not enough to just talk about it in theory or talk about the definitions of inclusive leadership organizations and people leaders really need to have practical and technical, tactical strategies to apply inclusive leadership. And I think that's really where I think AI and these new technologies have the opportunity to shine. Yeah. Stacy, could you maybe build off of that a little bit? I know obviously with your insights and experience on kind of the neuroscience side of things with the human experience, what are some of those, maybe like more specific human skills that you maybe feel like need to be developed or, or prioritized to ensure this inclusivity comes to life? Yeah, and I think this will resonate with what Heather just said and given what her organization does, but it's, it's really starting to drive more practical skill sets around continuous learning. And so, as an example, we said this at the beginning, you have a choice to make here to become more educated as the people at the table who are humanizing this conversation. So I sit with my CIOA lot, and we talk about how do we dispel the fear that comes first. And part of that is education, right? And so for those of you who know and love Brene Brown, she was up on stage at an event and said this like, HR has this open door opportunity to walk through right now to be the leaders in the space of learning and educating ourselves about the technology innovation that's happening, and to be the humanist at the table that are guiding the conversations on how we apply this technology in our organizations to elevate diversity and inclusion, as well as to elevate the human experience, if not us, y'all then who, right? Like, who's gonna do that? And so I think one thing for me is just really starting to, um, zoom in on how do we help our teams continuously learn and embrace continuously learning as a skillset that's required. And I think that's for leaders, that's for teams. And then, um, you know, just starting to, um, talk about and educate about, for example, what AI as a good example is and is not, right, starting to dispel those myths. And instead of engaging and doubling down on the fear, really starting to get people to understand, you know, some of the basics and the guidance there. And that starting to be an evolution collectively that your organization is doing about how technology is changing, um, where work is happening and how it's happening. I feel like there are so many amazing quotes that you just, you just kind of played in there. So I'm gonna have to play back that part of that at, uh, uh, afterwards. But I really appreciate also the education piece and, and we wanna go to you also, 'cause I know we talked about like, how do you create that safe environment for people to feel comfortable engaging with these tools? 'cause yes, the education needs to be there, otherwise you're relying on people and self-educating themselves, which, uh, who knows what direction that goes in for themselves, for, for each individual. And then on the other end of the organization, you know, me as maybe an individual contributor, I might have a fear of using an AI tool or resource because of how it, you know, portrays my work or, or maybe portrays like my role and its necessity anymore. So I might not use it because I wanna reaffirm my, my use case in the organization, right? So, uh, Chantelle maybe talk about that a little bit. Like how do we create that safe environment, uh, to encourage people to leverage this technology or feel comfortable and safe within our organization with it? Yeah. Yeah, I think that's such a good question, Zach. I, I think, um, it's interesting, I think the sort of the, the emergence of, of AI has brought up a lot of different feelings, right? Um, as it relates to sort of the, the moral case or the ethical case around to use this technology or not. And folks are going to fall on sort of different ends of the spectrum and all in between, we're finding that, that as it relates to use of AI in the workplace, right? We're seeing people fall on different ends of the spectrum. And, and I'm starting to see data emerge, um, uh, that, that relates to sort of demographic lines, right? So Salesforce did a study recently around how different generations right, are or are not using ai. Um, and what they're finding is that Gen Z's leaning in, right? That millennials are leaning in, and that, that, uh, gen X and boomers are leaning out, right? In, in many cases, slack also did a study sort of zooming in on Gen Z and found that, that across Gen Z, we're seeing the largest gender divide in usage of AI technology, right? With Gen Z men being more willing to lean in and use AI technologies at work than, than Gen Z women. And so, as a de and I leader, I think this brings up for me questions around productivity, around potential, around impact to career trajectory down the road, right? As some folks are engaging with some of these very productive tools and others aren't. I think, I think for me, I start to think about equity, and to your point, Zach, this, this conversation around, um, uh, equitable, equitable permission, right? If, if, if you, if you would, um, to engage in these technologies. And I can tell you one of the things that, that my chief people officer at Glassdoor has done is some developed really clear, open, honest policies around the usage of ai, right? It's a really simple step that you can take, but it helps you to sort of establish as a workplace your point of view on usage of the tool. And that way everyone knows they've got permission to lean in. To your point, Zach, everyone knows that they, we've got permission to kind of understand. Um, the other thing my chief people officer done is starting to promote informal learning, right? So we're swapping and sharing ideas around how we're using artificial intelligence as part of our work. So it was really normalizing the conversation at work and, um, and starting to democratize access to the tools. I think from a diversity equity and, uh, pardon me, inclusion perspective, that helps to get at sort of that, that equitable access piece and remove some of those fear, ethical, moral barriers that, that I think, you know, folks may be likely to run into That. Well, one on, on the generational and some of the demographic differences with the relationship with the AI is really interesting. And, and I see some people asking like, can we see even links to this? So we'll, so we'll, we'll get some of the links of the research and make sure we follow up with that afterwards. Uh, but yeah, with one older generation staying in the workforce longer and staying within organizations for longer periods of time as well as Gen Z, making its, you know, massive onboarding into the workforce as well over the next couple years, uh, yeah, that's gonna be interesting how, right now, I mean, we've always been for the last five, 10 to 15 years trying to figure out and navigate this multi-generational workforce. And now we're, you know, bringing in more pressures or forces that are either gonna continue to drive a greater divide in ways or, or maybe it ends up being a positive connector in different ways, which is obviously more my optimistic lens coming in on this. So, um, and I really like where you kind of wrapped up there, where, how do we normalize the conversation? How do we create more safe spaces to talk about the use cases for these things and how do use 'em and where they play a role or, or where as a company are there, you know, policies or, uh, security maybe challenges that we want to make sure we make everyone aware of, but also provide them opportunities to be like, we're not saying no completely, we're saying just in this direction or way we want to use this. So, um, this translates well into kind of our, our next maybe topic, which is a little bit more on like, okay, how do we actually start to harness it? How do we start to maybe look at AI in elevating the human experience and use it for, you know, a human skill development, for example. So, uh, Heather, obviously this is in your wheelhouse, and I know you're on the tech side as well. So can you maybe share some examples of like how AI can start to be leveraged to enhance skill development within organizations? And, um, yeah, just examples or frameworks on what that looks like today? Yeah, of course. I think, um, some of what we were thinking about as we started practicing and kind of the core problems that we are trying to solve is that the first time a manager has a hard conversation is sometimes when it matters the most or when it has the highest stakes. So that's performance reviews, that's hiring someone that might even be exiting or firing someone. And how do you do that with care and compassion and accountability? And so when we introduce the stress and anxiety that comes with all of those really important moments, no one really operates at their best at the very first time. Uh, and human skills I think are, like any other skill, uh, they need to be practiced. And I think that is when AI and immersive simulations enables us to do that. So, uh, when we talk about like, leveraging AI within immersive learning, it comes into a couple forms. I think we, we think about it as, uh, embedding within simulations. So conversational ai, how do you really help put someone in that place, simulate that moment of delivering a hard piece of news, navigating conflict, and actually have, have people navigate through those moments as well as giving personalized feedback and coaching so that people can understand in the moment, how are they doing, how can they tweak it? Ooh, they didn't really like how they said something, here's another way to phrase it or kind of approach that problem. Um, and this really helps enable people to practice in a psychologically safe space where they can fail, they can say the wrong thing, mess it up, but try again all without, you know, putting their team at risk or perpetuating harm or, you know, harming others in that process. And so, you know, I think when we think about AI as a core part of that, it is a tool that, you know, almost replaces practicing on another human. Uh, and instead you get to practice, you know, in your own space where you feel the most comfortable. It makes me think of so many situations, especially as like you have your leaders, mid-level leaders and emerging leaders, or maybe leading the team for the first time, and they're thinking about, oh my gosh, I have this one-on-one coming up. I need to provide feedback on the situation that just happened. Can I tap into this resource quick to get guidance on feedback models and practices, but then actually do it right? Immerse yourself in that situation. Is that kind of maybe a situation or example, Heather, that you're starting to see as a, as a potential way to look at this? Exactly. And how do you navigate it when someone becomes defensive or they're surprised or they're emotional? There's such a huge range of, of, uh, scenarios and simulations that you can really think about. How do you wanna approach it in a really human-centered way while still getting your point across? Wow. Yeah, that sounds wonderful. And I'm even thinking about like for our, ourselves in the HR department, right? Like how many times, you know, we have to enter an executive briefing or conversation or a larger discussion about an organizational change that we're trying to drive forward, and, uh, we're just looking for maybe thought leadership and, and, and coaching on it. And there might be opportunities to do those things on a peer to peer model within the organization, but then, you know, layered with an AI enablement piece, right? Like to kind of support those things. I, I believe, and, and Heather correct me if I'm wrong, but when we were talking before, there was also kind of like the importance and, and the focus on making sure we do this in a way with subject matter experts. Um, was that also something where, uh, as we're collaborating with these tools and using these kind of different enablements, how do subject matter experts maybe roll its way into this too? Yeah, I mean, I think to Chantal's point, it's uh, really thinking about how do we approach leveraging these technologies, incorporating these tools with equity in mind and the outcomes in mind, really. So I think one approach that we've taken is working directly with subject matter experts as we think about leveraging AI technology. So learning science, behavior science experts, making sure all of those core learning principles and the content that it's providing is relevant, it's targeted, it's effective because, uh, I think I've seen a lot in chat right now around how AI can mean a lot of different things can be used in a lot of different directions. And so really thinking about what are the guardrails that you need to put in place to make sure that the tool is as effective as possible and not necessarily going in many different directions or, uh, perpetuating bias, Which, yeah, I'm, I'm gonna, let's maybe dig into that too a little bit here. And Stacy, I'll turn to you on that point, but first I kind of wanna launch the second poll here. I'd be curious, as we start talking about like our, our technology stack learning tools and some of these things, I'd just love to get a post from the community quick. Do you feel like your current tech stack is meeting your skill development needs today, right? Like just current state, not even thinking about integrating AI and doing the, and creating those immersive experiences, but is your current tech stack meeting that as it is right now? Uh, and I'm looking at the results, it looks all over the place so far. Um, and I'd be curious in the chat too, if you want to expand on this question. Are there certain things that are working really well from a, a, a tech stack standpoint for skill development? Is it technology based? Is it peer-to-peer learning? I know a lot of groups are launching more and more mentorship programs or coaching type initiatives. Um, what is meeting your needs versus where are the gaps if you, if you have any thoughts, and I really also appreciate, I wanna give a shout out to, uh, Roy and, uh, Zach, Christina, I can't see the full name, but thanks for sharing the references and the research in there. Appreciate you all linking that in. Um, alright, so let's end the poll here. gaba, I'll wait a couple more seconds, but yeah, as that poll's coming through, Stacy, you want to jump in here? Like, I know we've talked about, obviously there's a lot of fear anxiety behind it. Um, there's already, you know, I think one of the biggest fears I hear over and over again are like the potential biases that show up within these technologies. Um, can you expand on that? Like how do we maybe, uh, bring it in or look at it to enhance the development, but also how do we overcome maybe some of those challenges or fears and anxieties that we're seeing? Yeah, I think I'm gonna take the baton Heather had and kind of take it to the next phase of like having a hard conversation as a good example. You know, I don't know how, I'm an HR y'all, like I'm a chief people officer, people on this call for the good portion of my career. Let's talk about Gen X, which I'm in. You know, we were not given permission necessarily to process that hard conversation. We had a hard conversation we got on the next call. Um, and so what we are doing here to start to integrate getting people more comfortable with this process is more of a personal journey with personal, um, experience and personal development. I think, you know, mental health, wellbeing, inclusivity, and, and many of the things we're talking about today are, is an inside out job. And so what we're teaching our leaders to do is to start to recognize after they've had a conversation, to give them permission to take space. And then, um, the second step there is to sort of normalize out of self-compassion. It's normal to feel a little overwhelmed out of that. And then the third is to give them a little bit of a toolkit on where they can go to do some self-regulation to come, you know, to come back down to center. And one of those, you know, several of those tools have AI based algorithms and other elements where it can help guide them into an appropriate downregulation practice. So again, it's this mix of, there's a human component of recognizing where you are. The human has to do that. We have to recognize, hey, I'm somatically feeling this in my body. This is where I'm at. Step two is, you know, giving them a process that is not technical, but just step two is recognizing this is normal. And then step two, three is integrating, you know, we, we use a particular tool, but there's a million behavioral health tools out there that are free and open source for people to utilize. So we give them options, um, that help to guide them into something that can be restorative and downregulating for them before they enter another call conversation or interaction. Um, because again, being in the mental health space, as you can imagine working with people struggling with substance use disorder, there's a lot of dysregulation happening all day, every day, like being in an emergency room. Um, that's very similar to our environment. So I think that's an example, Zach, of like how we can start to break down the barriers and the concern, um, around how to leverage these tools. The other thing we do is we give people some prompts. Like if you wanna use, you know, the Microsoft tool or whatever tools out there of your choice, how do I look for help in those moments and what is, what's some appropriate language? For example, you know, had an, you know, after an anxious conversation, what are down regulation techniques I can use? You could probably put that into many of the AI tools that are again, out there and available and it's gonna give you a list of options. And it just, for me, that starts to reduce the barriers and the fear around utilizing the technology appropriately and utilizing it for your own personal development and utilization. You know, when we talk about bias, we are fairly early adopter in this space of talent acquisition. We use a tool, um, that does an interactive chat, um, with candidates, because again, we're in many time zones and we have limitations to our accessibility in people's work. But we were very intentional in working with that organization again, in setting a charter on what that would and would not be for our organization. It's not indexing on past selection, which can again, reinforce bias in that selection process. What it's indexing on is really on a move forward, we wanna sort of start to look at new profiles and opportunities that we have of an or as an organization to, I identify new candidate pools that we've not tapped into historically. So again, that's an example of where is their concern, be educated about where bias, especially in vulnerable populations, you know, we, we think about this all the time with our patients. Those are dangerous places to really apply AI as early adopters versus more vetted parts to reduce bias and enhance the experience for people and humans on the other end of that conversation, being mindful of the bias that can occur. So that's again why I think it's so important that we in this HR practice are getting educated. You know, I read the book Digital Mindset pretty early on because again, what is ai? What is ai? Not what does it do? What does it not do? What is the function behind it? Now I'm a science and technology geek, so that was great for me. Maybe not everybody's cup of tea. Um, but you know, I think embracing and people's have put some things in the, um, chat, like what are some entry points that would feel comfortable for you so that you can start to just like Heather said, without fear, without failure, try these things out and get comfortable with what that looks like. And I think that's really important for us to encourage again, is this continuous learning process is really important. One of the things that also stood out in your kind of response there and, and some of the ways that you provided really clear, and I think like, uh, the actionable examples, like I think a lot of you, everyone listening here, you could probably take a lot of those examples and that could be certain use cases that you run with from today's session just to become more comfortable and educated about it. But I think the use case piece is really what stood out to me, right? Like maybe how do we shift our, our focus on just all these bells and whistles and different AI tools and plugins that are rolling out all over the place. I mean, it is overwhelming and you feel this pressure to just invest in the tools because that's what you feel like you need to do. And then you maybe skip, you know, some of the crucial reflection points like Stacy just talked about, about like what our potential biases as a part of this, as it fits into this piece of the business, the role, the function, or whatever that is. And I like the idea of just focusing on use cases and drilling down into very specific, you know, scenarios where you can do something with it and and breaking that down for your people, right? And at a personal level even. So then they start to see how that in value elevating their life. Then that starts to maybe create some curiosity around how they might go about thinking about this elevating their role and their impact and their performance in something, uh, and all the way throughout the rest of the organization. Right? So, um, and the poll just came in as well just to kind of share the high level results, but it seems like partially was the, the highest answer here of current tech stack meeting your skills developed needs partially, so not completely. And then the next is no, right? No it is not. So maybe that's also the next action item or use case that we look at is, okay, what are the competencies and skill develops that we're trying to strengthen within our companies? And are there use cases there that we can look at in leveraging this, this new technology? So, um, Chantelle, do you mind maybe building off of that a little bit? I know you already talked about, right, as an organization providing clear guidelines on how to use and support the use of ai, um, especially with leaders like enabling leaders with some of those like foundational seeds to start using the tools and things like that. Can you maybe share a little bit more around that perspective or some of the things that you're thinking about when it comes to that? Yeah, I think I think of a few things. Um, and there are some things Stacy, that, that you shared that sparked some thoughts for me. I think, you know, as I think about sort of the, the, the implement implementation of, of AI and all sorts of technologies, um, I'd like for us to remember right, that humans are still very relevant as part of that process, right? Especially, again, I've got this passion for sort of humans and human potential that humans are still incredibly relevant. And Stacy, I love that you talked about kind of interrogating the technology, right? Not just sort of blindly implementing, but also interrogating the technology during the implementation process and setting some specific standards, right? That you expected the technology to meet. Um, Roy talked about this sort of, I'm, I'm looking at the chat co intelligence living and working with ai and I love Roy that you refer to AI as a thought part partner, right? I think that there, there's a distinction between farming our decision making out to AI versus leveraging it as a thought partner. And I think that thought partner space is right where, where we want to be. And principle number four just made me chuckle, right? Roy says, assume this is the worst AI you ever use. And so what I'm building to right, shout out to Heather and the, and the tools and products that you're creating, right? And, and a, uh, big shout out to Praxis Labs. But, but the, the point that I'm building to right, is that a humans are still relevant and our abil ability to sort of think critically is still very relevant even as we're partnering with technology, right? To, to make decisions and to enhance our skills. Um, and so, you know, as, as I think about sort of this concept around, um, inclusion, high performing teams, how AI plays into that, how we can mitigate bias, I think again, it's important for us to interrogate technology as we implement it to still continue to be aware of the potential of bias, right? Um, uh, as part of the process, I'll, I'll share an example. Um, we are implementing a technology focused around pay and the opportunity equity, right? So we're wanting to understand and ensure that folks are being paid fairly and, and, and that we we're doing our due, um, due diligence there. And being very thoughtful as I think all organizations should. And as we're implementing the technology, we're also continuing to run our manual processes in parallel because what we want to understand is we know that our manual processes are vetted, our clear, we understand how they work right now, let's start to look at the results that the technology's providing and, and understand how, how they line up, right? And in that way we're clear right about what the technology can and can't do, right? We can tweak, edit, manage to ensure that we're getting the results that, that we expect. And once we're very firm and clear about that, right, then we're able to use the technology to do what we expect it to do. So, so again, I think I would sort of wrap up this segment by sharing Zach, that, um, that the technology is incredibly powerful, incredibly alluring. I think, I think, um, some of the temptation is to like farm our decision making out to ai, and I think we've gotta keep it sort of firmly and thought partner space and interrogated as we're starting to, to, um, just to even as we're starting to use it. Yeah. And I would just double click, like I was nodding so much during what you were saying, Chantel, because to your point, like AI is not something that will replace people's roles or will replace a human in the loop. It is truly like a tool to help us scale and, and do even more. Um, I think what I, when we talk with a lot of our partners, I think they're saying that, uh, their HR VPs or learning team, they're just so overextended and over capacity trying to run all of these facilitated sessions or trying to run all of these moments or role plays with people, and instead they're looking for tools to help them scale, but they are still such an integral part of that loop, and they're such an integral part in making sure that the technology is being used in a meaningful way. So just a hundred percent or double click on what you just said, Chantal. Yeah. I appreciate kind of the reaffirming of numerous things that you shared Chantal and, and Heather that you just reaffirmed as well of one. Uh, how the human experience does continue to become more and more of a key even differentiator and strength with the rise of AI in these technologies. And I think those organizations that hand over the keys to all things ai because they're just like automate, automate, give it to technology as much as possible, it ends up becoming, um, uh, less of a differentiator for your organization, right? It's that human experience that ends up being the true thing. And it's interesting, we've been doing a whole series the last quarter on, you know, talent acquisition and changes in that space, and a lot of recruiters and hiring leaders are getting these resumes that are basically created from Chad GBT, right? Like, everyone's using AI to create the resumes so that they match the job description. And when you talk about this with recruiters and hiring leaders, the ones that make it through the the actual hiring process are the individuals who apply their human element to it, right? Like that's the differentiator. And I think it goes vice versa on how organizations leverage it, um, from a customer experience and employee experience standpoint. It's that human element that's gonna be the differentiator. Um, and the other piece that I really loved at the end there, Chantel, that you, you added was like, take an AB testing approach, right? Like, don't just completely hand over the keys on the forefront. And now that tool or technology owns that process completely and off it goes. But you're taking pilot projects, right? You're looking at parts of it while running it in the normal version, and you're comparing and seeing, you know, what parts are working really well over here, but now over here, and now we can start to actually create a great relationship with it that gets the outcomes and, and the objectives that we're looking to achieve. So I really love that ad test. So even like a lot of you listening in today, we're not telling you to hand over the keys to all things ai as we embrace this technology. We're saying, you know, look at it as a tool that you're gonna test and play with and, and, you know, compare to your current ways of doing things and create the strategic partnership with it, right? That makes it more effective to elevate the things your chart would do. So I love that kind of like side by side ab b testing that, that you're taking on that. Okay, so we have about 10 minutes left here. I would love just to like, continue reaffirming mean those human skills. Like let's talk a little bit more how that piece, as it does become more and more of a strength of our organizations as we build the human skills to support a high performing company and team. Um, maybe I, I go to you, Stacy, first to kind of kick, kick off here. What are some of the other human skills that we feel like we really need to prioritize or more critical than ever for leaders? Yeah. So to, to again, to narrow in on what it takes to have a learning mindset. Some things come to mind. How do you cultivate greater curiosity and reduce, Heather mentioned this, that reducing the fear of failure. I think that's a big one. How can you invite people to be more curious? Treat it. You know, Chantal gave a great example of like that ab this is, this is something that we're looking at, we're evaluating, this is something that we're curious on how this will evolve the experience and using that language and inviting people to elevate the curiosity. I also think, you know, I'll just say everybody at the beginning, like some people said, I, I'm not sure where this sits. It does take, you know, some courage to, to say that I don't understand, or I'm not comfortable in this space. And again, generationally, I don't know if I'm, you know, the Gen Xer on the panel. Um, but definitely as we work with these other generations, um, and throughout generations, it takes a lot for someone to say, um, this I, I'm afraid of looking like, you know, really enhancing, um, the, the perception that I'm probably not tech savvy because I'm older. That is probably really intimidating. Let's talk about this, this three women on this panel and you know, if you look at the Salesforce, you know, study that Chantelle mentioned, like, is this more intimidating for more marginalized groups and populations? Um, and so trying to invite those conversations and be open about those conversations I think is really important because having an organization that embraces being a consistently and constantly evolving and learning organization, maybe looking at people that have more of an early adopter mentality and having them, you know, mentor on projects with people that have more, um, reticence to embrace that technology, using those strategies to create greater inclusivity across project teams, I think can be really important. So I think starting to map some of these key elements, um, and behaviors in your population can in your, across your employee base, even on your own team, like my, we call ourselves the employee experience team, the EXT, you know, we do this very consistently across projects. We try to, you know, co-mingle different skillset intentionally so that we have number one, a well-rounded and diverse group of people working on the project, but so that people are learning and growing, um, with each other. So, uh, just some kind of tactical level execution. Um, you, if you've ever read Reid Hoffman's book about, you know, every role is a tour of duty, and that's part of being a learning organization is that you're in this for a period period of time in this project for a period of time. What are you getting from it and what are you giving to it? That's part of being a learning organization. So I think that's gonna become more and more critical as we see, i I would say an acceleration of what this technology can do. It's, you know, by nature and by design gonna get better and better and smarter and smarter. So the earlier we can get comfortable and understand the better off, I think everybody's gonna be. I would like, I, I guess I, I'm not sure if there's like an equation here, but you kind of talked about the need for a level of courage and vulnerability to be built to kind of recognize what we don't understand this and, and share that vulnerability, but then also tap into that almost courage to take an approach to enter it, right? And be curious about it and learn more about it. That does take a level of courage. And when you do recognize some of that vulnerability that maybe you have, and, uh, I think about too, building off of what Chantel talked about before of, and Chantel, maybe you can, you can build off of this too, is like, how do we make sure we take in, uh, that inclusive approach where you might have demographics or, or groups in your organization who have narratives about themselves that say, I've never been good with technology. I don't know technology, so I'm, I I can't learn this. Right? And that's like a, that's a, a narrative that is strong within many people, uh, with, with, with diverse backgrounds. So it's like, how do we make sure we take an inclusive lens that gives them the courage to start learning this with us? And chal do you have anything that kind of add on, like how we might make sure we, we do take that inclusive lens to build this skill set? Yeah, I think so. I think the inclusion piece is so important. I just want to continue building on something that Stacy shared about how the technology is designed, right, to get better and better and to learn. Um, and I'm looking at the chat and, and there's someone who touched on the fact that like, this lack of access and lack of usage across certain demographics actually limits what the technology is learning as it's building, right? And so we've gotta have sort of broad access across groups, across demographics, across geographical locations, right? In order for the technology to be learning, um, and evolving right, in a way that serves us well in the future, right? Equitably, um, and, and in a way that's diverse. So I can't, I can't overstate that. I think, look, um, in terms of sort of opening up this conversation around inclusion, I, I touched on a couple of things. First, making clear your position as a leader has incredible, incredible power. And I know I said it earlier, but I'll just restate that, right? As leaders, folks are looking to you for guidance, for permission, right? For, um, for, I see, I see Jacqueline say it. Amen. Right? They're looking to you to direct sort of, um, their approach. And so I, I cannot overstate just the, the simple power of making clear your position on a topic, a situation, or in this case the usage of the technology, right? So again, I'm just gonna double down on that and share that if any of you are users, make it really clear where you stand, right? That gives people a kind of permission that they may not know that that, that they've got. Um, you know, I'll just, I'll just share. I come from a background where culturally I was raised to sort of keep my head down, right? To work hard. And ai, you know, I'll admit feels like cheating sometimes to me, right? Like, am I getting away with something? Am I taking a shortcut? And I think that in and of itself can create like a reticence to use, but hearing from my leader, we're doing this, um, not only am I doing it is what my leader said, but we all should be again, sort of opens up the floodgates to have meaningful conversations, um, to learn from others. Um, I think the power of, of mentorship is really powerful there, right? In learning, learning from others how they're leveraging technology, even micro mentorship or informal mentorship. But again, that permission is key. Um, I, I appreciate it, Simon. So maybe that's, and we're gonna do kind of round the horn closing action thoughts, and maybe that's the first one we have here, right? Is one, like have an alignment conversation with your leadership team about the stance and how you're gonna role model the way forward on this topic and, and like sharing that with the organization. 'cause as you shared, I think in a lot of ways it threatens the, like, uh, maybe as an employee or individual con contributor using this, yeah, it feels like cheating. It kind of threatens the value I bring to the company because now that's what's actually bringing the value, and I don't want that to like, come in and replace me, right? So there's that fear mentality. So how do we flip that as a leader and be like, no, this is the stance. We want to embrace it and leverage it as a way to amplify the value you're bringing. It's not threat, but it's actually, you know, an enablement tool to your success here. So, um, I love that. That's like a great first action. So, uh, Stacy, you want to jump in here next, as we start to wrap up today's session and close things out, what is maybe like one action or one immediate thing that, that someone listening today can take and, and really start moving the needle forward on this topic or this theme? I mean, again, hitting on the theme of continuous learning, like, um, seek out, carve out time for and share resources. Like, our best opportunity here is to educate ourselves and others. And so I think we don't, again, permission granted, um, to carve out time in your week to, you know, you can find this stuff anywhere at this point, but to consume some element of education on what's, what's relevant to your space. And again, that could be outreach to people that are doing this and applying this in are early adopters, so you can start to understand more completely, um, I mean, you're here. So step one, like here we go. You, you, you're here and you're here to learn. Um, but do this weekly, because I think it's incremental learning that's gonna help us all, um, better, faster, smarter, get there, um, and then sharing that with others. That's my big, you know, call to action for my own team right now as well. I love it. All right, Heather, bring us home. What is, uh, and, and Chantel will come back to you if you have anything to add. We have the, the leadership kind of aspect, but Heather, what about you? What is maybe a tangible actual thing that we should think about doing? Following up today's discussion? I really love some of the points that both Chantel and Stacy have said earlier in this call too, around really investigating where in your role, where in the overall organization and team that you think AI could make a big difference. So first step, educating yourself. What is ai? What can it do? But then where are the opportunities for it to really plug in? Because it should be a value added is a tool for you to just do your job better and do it. You know, I think, uh, earlier in the chat I saw something about AI can really be a humanizing moment where it can take the busy work off of your plate, it can take the things that can be automated. And so, uh, take the time to explore and kind of play with ai. It should also be something that is fun and energizing to really think about where technology can plug in. Love it. Chantelle, anything to add? Uh, bring us home. No, I think, I think we've said it all. I think we've said it all and it's just, it's been a pleasure to be here, Zach. Awesome. Thank you so much. Can we show some love and appreciation in the chat or the emojis for our amazing panelists and, and experts for today? This was awesome. I learned so much from all three of you. I appreciate you sharing time with our community and, and sharing your perspective. We shared their LinkedIns and information in the chat there. Make sure to connect with them as they shared. I think one personally, just look for a use case in your own life, your professional life to kind of play around with this and take action on it. And then one of the most effective ways to kind of get others on your team or company to embrace this too is to share those stories and role model the way forward and give them the safety to also test it and play around with it and use it. And I think that will get you on the path forward. So thank you again. Uh, that concludes things. Uh, we really appreciate everyone joining. We'll share the recording and everything in our resource library within a couple days. If you wanna re-listen to this and, uh, I hope to see you again at the next one. Thank you everyone. Have a great rest of your day.

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