The AI Shift Every HR Leader Needs to Prepare for in 2026

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast, we sit down with Khadija Ben Hammada, Member of the Executive Board and Chief People Officer at Merck Group, to unpack how HR can lead through AI transformation without losing the human heart of the organization.Khadija shares why leaders cannot run global organizations from an ivory tower, and why being close to employees on the ground creates the trust, safety, and pride people need to speak up. She explains how field visits, human connection, and a strong sense of global community help Merck stay united across regions, even as the world outside becomes more fragmented.Most importantly, she breaks down how Merck is building AI capability across the business, from AI literacy for everyone, to leader upskilling, internal AI tools, hackathons, flagship use cases, and HR agents that can improve employee experience at scale. Through it all, Khadija is clear: AI should take tasks, not humanity, and HR must stay at the intersection of business, technology, and empathy.🎓 In this episode, Khadija discusses:How Merck is building AI literacy across employees, leaders, and top executivesWhy the future of HR sits at the intersection of business, technology, and humanityWhy AI should remove low value tasks so HR can focus on human and strategic workWhy leaders must stay close to employees on the ground, not lead from headquartersHow hackathons and flagship use cases help turn AI learning into real business impact🙏 Thank you to our series partner, AristMeet the end-to-end AI agent for enablement that finds talent gaps, builds personalized interventions, and delivers learning directly in the flow of work → https://arist.com/resources/webinars/agent?utm_source=hr_leaders_podcast&utm_medium=sponsored&utm_campaign=hr_leaders_podcast_cr_june_2026See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.