Led by Curiosity: From Accidental HR to Building the Company’s GPT

In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Divya Devakran, Director of Human Resources at EVS Engineering, to trace her path from “accidental” HR to building a company GPT. Divya shares how she built EVS’s HR function from the ground up, why she started a passion project to create an AI-powered policy and coaching bot for her organization, and how she is thinking about psychological safety, guardrails, and the very real time crunch HR teams live in. She and Thomas also look ahead at what will separate tactical HR teams from future-ready HR functions in the next few years.Topics Discussed:How a planned finance career turned into “accidental” HRBuilding an HR department from scratch at EVS EngineeringWhy Divya started building a company GPT as a side projectUsing AI for HR policy questions and anonymous supportCoaching bots for new managers and real-time guidanceGuardrails, hallucinations, and knowing when to route back to HRThe difference between tactical HR and future-ready HR teamsAdditional Resources:Cleary’s AI-powered HR ChatbotFuture Proof HR CommunityConnect with Divya Devakran on LinkedIn