TLDR

97% of AI transformations fail because companies think it's about tools. It's not. It's about behavior change—which means HR should lead it, not IT.

Key Stats:

• 44% of CHROs cite uneven AI access as an attrition risk

• There's a critical 20% gap in entry-level learning—the contextual knowledge AI can't replace

• Only 16% of TA orgs are actively using agentic AI (despite all the hype)

Major Takeaway: The modern CHRO must become the Chief Technologist. This should be someone who understands humans, business outcomes, AND technology simultaneously. You earn this role by getting your hands dirty with the tools yourself, building in public, speaking the language of business (EBITDA, ARR, churn), and leading behavior change through community, not mandates.

Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/NMeOQhwcWWk

When most people think of AI transformation, they picture technology departments rolling out new tools and expecting productivity to magically increase. They're wrong. And according to Sarika Lamont, Chief People Officer at Vidyard, that's exactly why 97% of AI transformations are failing.

"AI transformation is not about tools," Sarika says. "It's about driving change in human behaviors."

This distinction matters more than you might think. Because if AI transformation is fundamentally a behavior change initiative, then the function best suited to lead it isn't IT—it's HR. And that means the modern CHRO needs to evolve into something we might call the Chief Technologist.

The Evolution of the CHRO Role

The role of the Chief Human Resources Officer has undergone a quiet but profound transformation. We've moved away from simply owning "the people function"—designing isolated HR programs and processes—to owning the overall operating model of the organization.

Sarika frames it directly:

"I've moved away from just being owning like the people function. to more of like the overall sort of like operating model owner."

This shift matters because it positions HR leaders at the intersection of three critical domains:

• How people work and behave

• How the business operates and creates value

• How technology enables or constrains both

When redesigning something as fundamental as your performance management process, you can't think about it in isolation anymore. You have to think about humans and agents, about what work should remain human-centered and what can be delegated to automation or AI. You have to understand how information flows across the organization and where bottlenecks exist.

That's operating model thinking. And as Sarika notes,

"There's nobody better to me, there's no function or better suited to be able to do that than HR. Now I say that with a caveat, if you have the right HR leader at the helm."

Separating Hype from Reality

Right now, the noise around AI is deafening. Leaders of major AI companies are making bold proclamations, like the claim that most software development will be automated within 12 months. Meanwhile, articles warn that AI will eliminate entry-level jobs entirely. One headline says it's an extinction event; another says jobs will simply evolve.

The truth, as Sarika points out, is more nuanced. Research from SAP shows that AI is accelerating entry-level roles, not eliminating them. But there's a critical 20% gap: the contextual knowledge and hands-on experience that young professionals need to understand why they're doing something, not just how to do it faster.

Sarika articulates the concern powerfully: "There's also still beauty in that work, in the context that it gives them, in the exposure that it gives them to sit inside of rooms and sort of just like learn through by osmosis." She elaborates on the real gap: "That's not what it would look like in practice. Right. Exactly. That's what they don't The 20%. And that's a pretty critical 20% to not have."

This is where HR's role becomes invaluable. CHROs can cut through the hype and ask the hard questions:

• What does "faster ramp-up" actually mean if we've eliminated the work that teaches them their job?

• How do we preserve the learning-by-osmosis that happens when someone sits in rooms and observes?

• In a world where AI does the task, what do we actually want that person to deliver?

These human questions which means they're HR questions.

The Secret to AI Adoption: Build in Public

Here's something most transformation efforts miss: people will resist what they don't understand. And they won't understand something you're not modeling for them.

Sarika's advice is provocative: HR leaders must build in public. Not alone in your office, building frameworks in isolation. Actually using the tools, sharing what works, what fails, what's hard, what's surprising.

When she switched from ChatGPT to Claude, her LinkedIn DMs exploded with interest. As she describes it: "My DMs were lit that day. Like, could I get on a call with you and understand how you did it? And I'm like, you know what, maybe what I should do is like, I have enough people calling like, let's get a call together. Everybody that wants to do is head on it together and let's problem solve."

This becomes the template for organizational adoption:

• Your CEO isn't going to lead AI transformation by reading about it. They need to build something with Claude.

• Your engineers won't embrace agentic AI if they're just told it's safe. They need to experiment alongside their manager, with their manager saying, "I'm doing this with you."

• Your frontline teams won't unlock productivity if adoption is mandated. They need peer champions—people they trust—showing them what's possible.

Community beats compliance. Shared learning beats top-down directives. And visibility (building in public) changes the fear narrative from "this will replace me" to "I wonder what we can build together."

As Sarika emphasizes when advising companies: "If you're going to do some type of community building. You better make sure that community building is rooted in teaching and learning this together, like this type of innovation together and how we're gonna do this differently, because that's what's going to level us all up."

The 20% You Can't Automate: Business Acumen

Even with full access to cutting-edge AI tools, there's still a 20% gap. And that 20% often comes down to understanding the business.

Sarika is direct about this: "If you want a seat at the table, you have to earn it." And you earn it by speaking the language of your peers—EBITDA, ARR, revenue per FTE, churn, cash flow, portfolio runway.

She doubles down on this point: "You need to be real smart on the business. You want to see it at that table? ***** earn it."

For HR leaders specifically, this means understanding:

• How does revenue flow through the organization?

• What drives churn, and what's the cost?

• How do changes in compensation, benefits, or team structure affect cash flow?

• What's the business justification for the tooling and processes you're building?

This isn't about becoming a CFO. It's about understanding the implications. When engineering uses AI to write 4x more PRs, that's great for velocity. But did it accelerate your product roadmap? Did it get new features to market faster? Did it drive revenue growth? If not, why not?

These questions connect the dots that most functional leaders miss. And when HR can connect those dots, suddenly the case for investment in HR-led initiatives becomes clear.

What CHROs Should Do Now

If you're listening to this and thinking, "Okay, but where do I start?", Sarika offers practical guidance:

1. Get hands-on with tools, today. Don't wait for enterprise rollout or "official training." Use Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude with personal accounts. Build skills. Build in public. Share what you learn. As Sarika puts it: "I'm not saying that HR leaders need to be technologists, but what I'm telling you is you need to, you need to build your own fluency."

2. Don't make excuses about access. Even without enterprise tools, you can learn. Sarika is clear: "There are ways to still learn it, even if you're not getting that full buy-in from your company today. I don't use that as an excuse to like why you're not going to learn these skills that you need now and for the future. Like I worry that if you don't, you're going to get left behind and there's not going to be anybody to blame but yourself."

3. Learn your business inside and out. Revenue forecasting, ARR, churn, customer acquisition cost, gross margins. Understand what makes your business tick. Then understand how your people function directly impacts those metrics.

4. Organize community, not training. Instead of mandated adoption, create space where people solve problems together with AI. A hackathon beats a webinar every time.

5. Own the behavior change piece. Partner with IT, security, and the CEO. But you drive it. You're accountable. Because transformation is change management, and that's your domain. As Sarika emphasizes: "I have no business personally. I have no business talking about AI transformation or AI and HR. If I'm not freaking doing the work myself, who the fuck am I then?"

The Bottom Line

The role of the CHRO is evolving. You're no longer just the keeper of HR programs and processes. You're the Chief Technologist of your organization: the person who understands how humans, systems, and business outcomes interconnect.

That's not a nice-to-have. In a world where AI is rewiring how work gets done, it's essential.

The question isn't whether you'll lead AI transformation. The question is whether you'll earn that role by getting your hands dirty, building in public, and speaking the language of business while staying true to the language of human potential.