Welcome to the first inbox edition of People Over Perks! If you caught our debut on LinkedIn, you saw how top-down return-to-office mandates can fracture trust when they lack clear business justifications. That story isn’t over, but a new pressure wave is building. AI. Because when does HR get a break? 😅
Many top executives see a dazzling promise: faster execution, reduced costs. In many cases, this lift falls on HR’s shoulders, but they are being handed the mission without the map.
“Get all employees to use AI.”
Easy to say — less easy when you’re juggling performance reviews, headcount planning, employee relations, and rising concerns around ethics, job security, and culture.
“Just go use AI” doesn’t work. Not when the tools are constantly evolving, and trust, retention, and team confidence are on the line.
Supporting your people through the change (especially with focused upskilling) is crucial. Even promising initiatives can fall flat or cross ethical lines without clear goals and thoughtful implementation.
This isn’t anecdotal. According to Leapsome’s 2025 HR Insights Report, based on responses from 1,000 HR leaders across the US, UK, Germany, and the Netherlands:
73% of HR leaders say AI-driven restructuring is underway or imminent
85% expect the pace to accelerate this year
Yet 64% still worry about ethical minefields
This disconnect creates anxiety and stalls innovation. Employees fear surveillance or layoffs. Managers can’t answer questions no one clarified. HR is left to bridge the gap — managing tension it didn’t create, with tools it didn’t choose, for outcomes nobody defined.
But here’s the opportunity: HR already sits at the intersection of people, process, and data. And that’s precisely where AI succeeds or fails. With the right approach, HR can turn a vague directive into focused, people-first transformation.
So, what does that look like?
Start with the goal, then work backward. Is feedback too slow? Are employees drowning in admin? Let the problem lead you to the right AI tool.
Choose use cases with care. Focus on roles and tasks AI can enhance, instead of forcing every role to bend around a tool.
Define success in plain terms. Use objective metrics like “hours saved” or “critical workflows streamlined.” Ditch vague goals like “AI coverage.”
Show the human upside. Trust grows when people see AI giving time back, stretching their skills, and freeing them for creative tasks.
Set clear guardrails. Be explicit about where AI assists and where humans make the call (especially in hiring, pay, and feedback).
These five moves can separate teams that unlock AI’s upside from those stuck in proof-of-concept limbo. And they echo a lesson from our RTO conversation: clarity builds confidence. When reasons, boundaries, and benefits are transparent, change feels guided, not imposed.
This issue of People Over Perks includes practical strategies for responsible AI adoption, expert perspectives, visual insights, and timely analysis of what’s going well (and what’s still in a work progress).
“More AI” isn’t the goal. Better work is — with a more human employee experience.
P.S. I’m back every other week with new angles, sharp insights, and human-first ideas to help you navigate the evolving world of work. Thanks for reading.
🔍 TheLeapsome lens
Bringing AI into your HR strategy: What the data (and your peers) are saying
Three themes keep standing out as we chat with HR and L&D leaders and reflect on our own research:
1️⃣ Close the confidence gap
Upskilling on prompts and data analysis matters, but roll-outs stall when people still fear getting it “wrong.” Change management, psychological safety, and guardrails are as critical as the technical training.
2️⃣ Make AI learning a career accelerator Adoption can soar when employees see that AI courses unlock new projects and goals (not pink slips). Frame upskilling as a path to opportunity, not just job security. That shift turns skepticism into momentum.
3️⃣ Elevate conversations in performance management Automating review logistics helps a lot, but the real upside is using AI to bring up feedback patterns, flag coaching moments, reduce bias, and personalize development. Faster admin is nice; richer, fairer growth talks are even better (for people and business outcomes).
See the infographic below for a visual summary of how AI can transform key aspects of performance management. 👇
These perspectives point to a new reality: AI needs to be introduced with context, care, and a clear why. And HR is the function best equipped to do that.
Dig deeper into these ideas in our articles linked above — plus, find out how Leapsome AI can support your team’s next step.
🧩 Ideas shaping the workplace
In each issue, we highlight powerful perspectives shaping how we work. Here are two resources that speak directly to this issue’s theme.
🎧 Josh Bersin: “Fear in the Workforce: Why Workers Are Afraid and What to Do About It”
Global industry analyst Josh Bersin analyzes why AI is triggering fear across the workforce, from frontline roles to the C-suite. He offers a practical perspective on what HR can do to turn fear into focus: clear communication, targeted upskilling, and employee-first policies.
This piece introduces SHRM’s new AI+HI initiative, which centers human intelligence in AI adoption. It highlights why HR must lead on ethics, transparency, and cultural impact — especially as automation redefines performance, productivity, and trust.
Small (or not-so-small) but powerful ideas to help leaders rethink how we work. We asked Melanie Naranjo, Chief People Officer at Ethena, for her take — and she delivered! 🔥
“More AI!!” is the executive mantra frustrating HR teams everywhere.
Leaders keep pushing us to “integrate AI into workflows,” but when pressed for details? Radio silence. No strategy, no measurable goals, no roadmap. Just the expectation that we’ll somehow… figure it out.
Suddenly, HR is expected to turn the entire workforce into AI power users overnight and justify every hire by proving a machine couldn’t do the job — all without clear direction.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m excited about these tools. But this hand-wavy approach makes potential feel intimidating and out of reach.
If we want HR to actually foster innovation, we need to stop hiding behind buzzwords and start talking about real AI applications. Automating candidate screening. Using sentiment analysis on feedback. Let’s name what we’re building.
Clarity breeds adoption. And adoption drives the transformation everyone’s chasing.
📣 Events worth your time
🗓 “What good leaders can learn from bad bosses” Thursday, July 31 | 11 a.m. ET | 5 p.m. CET
A fireside chat with Mita Mallick (best‑selling author of The Devil Emails at Midnight and Reimagine Inclusion) and Liliya Apostolova (Head of Brand & Product Marketing at Leapsome) as they discuss how leadership behaviors build or undermine trust.
▶️ On demand: “How can AI help good managers become great?” This panel features Jenny Podewils (Co-Founder & Co‑CEO at Leapsome), Anthony Onesto (former Chief People Officer at Suzy), and Theresa Fesinstine (Founder, peoplepower.ai), examining how AI can augment management — from reducing admin to fostering better feedback.
▶️ On demand: “What AI Means for the Future of HR” Luck Dookchitra (former VP People & Culture at Leapsome) and Jonathan Passmore (Senior Vice President at EZRA Coaching and Professor of Coaching & Behavioral Change at Henley Business School) dig into how HR teams can leverage AI to streamline operations, strengthen feedback loops, and manage risk without losing the human touch.
