Skilled

What does it mean to lead HR like a business driver, not an order taker? Kelli Ezell of BMI breaks down the three-legged stool of HR execution, AI adoption done right, and the career advice she wishes she'd heard earlier.

Julie Stone, Chief Learning Officer at TTEC, leads AI-powered learning for 65,000+ employees across six continents. In this episode, she shares why she stopped a fully self-paced program from launching — and why it would have failed — and what that moment taught her about the role humans must play in AI-powered learning. She also breaks down why the most dangerous skill gap in organizations today isn't AI fluency, it's discernment: the ability to challenge what AI gives you and know whether the substance is actually there. If you're navigating AI transformation in L&D, this is the episode to listen to.Chapters: 0:00 — Introduction: Meet Julie Stone, CLO at TTEC3:00 — When L&D is the product: TTEC's dual mandate8:00 — The program that almost launched: why she pulled the human out and what happened14:00 — The Learning Wizards Suite and the Brandon Hall Gold Award20:00 — Running L&D like a software team: pilots, releases, and the cost of constant change26:00 — The speed of AI will always be constrained by the people32:00 — The skill gap nobody is naming: discernment in an AI-generated worldConnect with Julie on LinkedIn, and follow TTEC.

What does it actually take to walk into an iconic American brand as a new CHRO and build culture, values, and an HR strategy from scratch?In this episode of the Skilled Podcast by ‪Growthspace, Omer Glass and Samantha Thomas sit down with Gena Smith, CHRO of J.Crew, to talk about what she learned in 14 years at LVMH, why values mean nothing without accountability, and how she's thinking about AI adoption in a creativity-first organization.Gena shares her honest take on the difference between companies that talk about values and companies that actually live them — and what it takes to make that shift stick across every level of the business.What you'll learn:Why employee experience has to come before customer experienceHow to define values concretely enough that people can actually be held accountable to themThe three pillars of successful AI adoption: mindset, skills, and tools — in that orderWhy "just start" is the most important message any leader can give their team right now What the paradox of AI really means for human skills and leadershipWhether you're a CHRO navigating transformation, an L&D leader trying to embed values into development programs, or a people leader figuring out how to bring your team along on the AI journey — this conversation is for you.