The New HR Imperative: 5 Takeaways From Transform

Forbes

28-03-2025

As organizations navigate unprecedented change, HR and people leaders are redefining their roles to meet evolving workplace demands. Last week at Transform in Las Vegas, I spoke with executives and thought leaders from across the talent landscape who shared insights on how companies can build resilient organizations amid technological disruption, shifting employee expectations, and complex social dynamics.
Now in its sixth year, Transform has evolved into a premier global gathering of HR and people operations professionals, with attendees from over 35 countries. As Samara Jaffe, the GM and Co-Founder of Transform, shared with me, the conference emerged from a gap in the HR conference landscape: "We saw Chief People Officers and CHROs who were hungry to discover new technology, connect more meaningfully with their peers, and challenge the way work gets done.'
The evolution of HR In 2025
Here were my five takeaways from being at the conference in 2025:
'I'd say the number one [change] for me has been, we're finally in the eye of the storm and the seat at the table, which before HR was a real support function," emphasized Tina Gupta, Senior Vice President of Talent Management at New York Life. "I don't think people call us a support function in the same way anymore. Like when we're at the table making big decisions that are strategy focused, that is about how we're enabling the future of work, the workplace, and how we're enabling the company to achieve their goals."
This transformation represents a significant shift in how companies view people operations. Kyle Forrest, Principal at Deloitte, noted that for some organizations, "this is the seat at the table moment," while for companies with established strategic HR leaders, "it's shifting from a seat at the table to leading the table."
The elevation of HR from support function to strategic partner reflects a broader recognition that organizational success depends on effective people leadership. In a business environment characterized by rapid technological change and evolving employee expectations, HR professionals possess unique insights into culture, talent, and engagement—critical factors for sustainable growth.
"HR is about to be ripped in half," added Matt Poepsel, PhD, "Godfather of Talent Optimization" at Predictive Index. "All the tactical, menial stuff is going to go away to outsourcers and AI. But the strategic stuff that's left—that's what I want to help these people prepare for."
Christine Kaszubski Aldrich, Chief People Officer at Pin Drop, argues that what's changing isn't just the perception but the function itself: "Human resources is the foundation—and it's not going anywhere. Benefits, payroll, taking care of your people—that's the core operational work that keeps everything running. But then you build upon it with people operations, which is the strategic layer, and that drives excellence and moves the organization forward."
Artificial intelligence emerged as both a significant disruption and opportunity, reshaping how organizations approach talent strategy and workforce planning.
Tina Gupta from New York Life shared her enthusiasm: "I'm excited. Thrilled, actually. Can't wait. And the reason why is because it's going to force disruption in the workforce... HR is really slow to move. We overthink everything... The infiltration of AI in the work is the same type of pace and impact that's going to have on how we have to disrupt the way that work gets done."
This optimism about AI signals a significant shift in HR mindset—from caution to embracement. Far from fearing automation, many HR leaders now view AI as a catalyst for long-overdue transformation in how organizations structure teams, evaluate performance, and optimize talent deployment.
This is especially true for Gen Z. Valerie Capers Workman, the Chief Talent & Engagement Officer of Handshake, noted that 'much like millennials and the early rise of social media platforms, Gen Z are becoming experts in GenAI in real-time. I'm blown away by the progress. They're experimenting with tools in their day-to-day and professional lives, from school projects, research, and trip planning to design and presentations.'
Forrest highlighted a critical shift in how organizations are now measuring workforce success: "One right now that a lot of organizations are beginning to look at is revenue per employee. Especially in an environment where there are trends around fewer job postings, so maybe organizations holding headcount flat. If you're trying to have more productive employees, what's a metric you can look at? Revenue per employee."
This new focus on productivity per employee is directly connected to AI's potential, explained Jonathan Kestenbaum, Managing Directory at AMS: "During the Industrial revolution, machines became the great equalizer of physical labor... What we're going through now is we're building the assembly line for knowledge work. Gen AI is a great equalizer for knowledge labor."
In this new paradigm, Kestenbaum noted, "our knowledge is now a commodity," and human value will increasingly come from "building relationships and engaging" while 'machines are going to focus on doing the tactical knowledge work.'
As AI takes over more routine cognitive tasks, HR leaders are reconceptualizing how they structure teams and measure success. The value proposition for human talent shifts toward uniquely human capabilities like emotional intelligence, creativity, and strategic thinking—areas where machines still struggle.
Michael Yang, Managing Partner at Omers Ventures, emphasized how this shifts strategic workforce planning: 'Today, it's 'I need to think, should this be an employee? Should it be part-time, 1099? Should we lean into a third party vendor? Or should we consider a digital FTE a la agentic AI?' The optionality around how we solve the talent piece in this day and age becomes a whole new thing for HR leaders to know and understand.'
Perhaps no workforce segment faces more pressure than middle managers, yet they remain consistently overlooked despite their pivotal role in driving organizational change.
Tom Whitty, Chief Revenue Officer at Upflex, identified this persistent gap "When we hire a brand new individual contributor, they tend to get a lot of training and support. Executives tend to get a lot of training and support. And then it's those front to middle levels of management that you get thrust into, and it's like, 'go be a manager.' That's the biggest gap."
This training gap creates a dangerous blind spot in organizational capability. Middle managers serve as the critical connective tissue between strategic vision and day-to-day execution, yet companies routinely promote high-performing individual contributors without providing adequate management training. The result is a leadership layer that often lacks the tools to navigate increasingly complex workplace dynamics.
This creates a challenging dynamic, as Jim O'Gorman, Chief People Officer at Included Health, explained. He described these individuals as "sandwich managers" caught between strategic demands and frontline realities: "They're right at the center of how we do things more efficiently, but they also know what the work is. If they lose sight of the day-to-day work that a manager needs to do to motivate their teams and only focus on efficiency, you're putting that manager in a really difficult situation."
The pressure particularly manifests around difficult conversations, according to Amit Mohindra, CEO of People Analytics Success: "They end up taking it on. The leader has total mental burnout because they're like, 'I don't want to give the feedback, so I'll just do it. And now I'm working nights and weekends.' That's why middle leadership sucks."
Tina Gupta offered a structural perspective on this challenge: "I think it's time. If you spoke to most managers, they're like, I just don't have the time to coach that individual, to give them feedback, to support them. We give a manager 100% of a job to do, and then on top of that, you manage. We don't say 80% of your time should be spent on your job, and 20% we've reserved for managing your team and feedback."
When asked what skill is most crucial for these managers today, O'Gorman didn't hesitate: 'Being great change managers. We're heading to a place where AI is going to automate... changing individuals from being great analysts to great critical thinkers. If we could get middle managers to be really proficient in change management... that's the wand I would use.'
In a polarized political environment, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts face new scrutiny—yet leaders at Transform emphasized these initiatives remain business imperatives, not just social ones.
Sarah Reynolds, Chief Marketing Officer at HiBob, addressed how companies are responding to the current political climate: "There's a lot of media attention right now about big companies who are walking back their DEI practices. But some of our clients that are small and mid-sized companies are really interested in competing for talent, especially diverse talent. They are actually doubling down on their practices because they're finding that it is a way to differentiate their employer brand."
Reynolds shared a powerful example of how data can reshape DEIB conversations: "One of our customers added demographic questions to a recent employee engagement survey. What they found was more than 50% of their employees identified as members of the LGBTQIA community. That takes the conversation at the executive level from making decisions to support a 'minority' of our organization to making decisions that support the majority of our employees."
They emphasized practical steps companies can take regardless of political headwinds: "Think about your employee handbook... Do you have clear anti-discrimination policies? Do you specifically call out anti-discrimination based on things like gender or gender identity? You can create an environment in your workplace with clear rules and policies that say we don't tolerate discrimination."
In a world of constant disruption, resilience has emerged as the most critical quality for effective leadership at all levels. The path to this resilience, according to Transform speakers, begins with personal work and extends outward to organizational impact.
"We have so many leaders who are overburdened and overwhelmed," explained Jolen Anderson, Chief People and Community Officer at BetterUp. "Agency, optimism, resilience—that's where people really struggle. And because they don't have those things, they aren't able to deliver empathy, which is what their employees want." Anderson emphasized that without managing our internal state, we struggle to provide what others need from us as leaders.
The concept of resilience has evolved beyond simply "bouncing back" from setbacks. Today's resilient leaders demonstrate adaptability, emotional regulation, and the ability to navigate ambiguity—qualities that can be systematically developed through deliberate practice and self-awareness work.
This inner work manifests differently for each leader. Jim O'Gorman, Chief People Officer at Included Health, described how his personal practice of hot yoga provides essential boundaries: "I disconnect completely for almost two and a half hours. Everyone knows that on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I check out at 4:00. I think demonstrating that at the chief level is really important." For O'Gorman, this isn't just self-care—it's modeling the behaviors needed for sustainable leadership.
Amit Mohindra, CEO of People Analytics Success, articulated how this focus on personal well-being connects to a fundamental shift in management philosophy: "For me, a great manager is one who truly knows me and will have my back. The organizational model where a manager was there to observe and monitor the employee, to make sure they were doing the work and to evaluate them using incentives as a motivator—there wasn't much trust. And I think that's shifted completely now."
This evolution represents perhaps the most significant transformation in management thinking—from control to connection, from monitoring to mentoring. As Mohindra noted, the challenge lies in "getting organizations and teams and people to change their behavior, which is the hardest thing."
Matt Poepsel from Predictive Index captured the essence of this transformation in what he calls "the great leadership paradox": "As a leader, it's not about you. It's about the mission and it's about the other people around you. And the second part of the paradox, though, is it's only about you in the sense that you can't control other people. They're not extensions, they're not machines. You can only influence them through your leadership."
As I departed Transform, the message was clear: people leadership has evolved from a supporting function to the core driver of organizational success. The companies that will thrive are those investing in resilient leaders who can navigate constant change, leverage technology effectively, and create inclusive environments where diverse talent can flourish.