Forget chasing the latest software—the biggest challenge in the AI era is the human equation. Carlee Wolfe, Associate Vice President of Leader Development and Organizational Effectiveness at Hyatt Hotels Corporation, is tackling this head-on. She sees the future of talent management not in code alone, but in a powerful partnership between technology and organizational values.
In her session, “Workforce at the Crossroads: Redefining Talent Strategy, Skills, and Leadership in an AI Era,” Wolfe provided senior HR leaders with the essential strategies needed to drive transformation through courageous experimentation and strategic care.
1. The Core Strategy: Care, Courage, and Equity
Wolfe argues that AI adoption cannot be successful if it is driven by efficiency alone. It must be built on a foundation of care and courage.
- The Care Equation: Wolfe defines Care as Empathy + Action. In practice, this means HR must genuinely listen to the needs and fears of employees and the business, and then take proactive steps to address them. This ensures the human element is not lost as technology accelerates.
- Courage to Experiment: Leading in this uncertain time requires the courage to move forward despite the unknowns, rather than waiting for perfect certainty. This means actively testing and trying new AI tools, even if the process isn’t flawless.
A critical part of this foundation is AI Equity. Wolfe warns of “tool equity gaps,” where unequal access to AI tools creates performance disparities and fosters resentment among employees. HR must champion equitable access to technology and skills development company-wide, not just for the executive level.
“If I have access to something and you don’t,” Wolfe explained, “think of the difference on that performance scale. I’m moving faster. I’m learning faster. Where are you? Same as you were before.”
2. Beyond Efficiency: The Augmentation Mindset
To move past employee fear of job loss, HR must shift the focus from automation to augmentation—showing how AI makes jobs more fulfilling and human.
- The “Pina Colada Story”: Wolfe encourages HR to share tangible, positive examples, such as a guest using a bot to order a drink, freeing the human server to focus on enhancing the guest’s personalized experience.
“What are your pina colada or daiquiri stories that you can start telling that are real, that are tangible… that still connect and help people move forward without fear, but with ownership of their journey?”
- Coding for Speed: On the administrative side, AI dramatically boosts efficiency. Wolfe shared how a Hyatt colleague used ChatGPT to generate code for a data dashboard that would have taken months to build, turning it into an afternoon task. This exemplifies AI’s power to augment skilled professionals.
“This is where it starts to pair really, really well,” Wolfe noted, emphasizing that AI doesn’t replace skilled professionals but empowers them to achieve more.
3. Redefining Talent: Curiosity and Democratized Development
The new talent landscape demands a new skill set and a new approach to development:
- Hiring for the Future: HR must stop solely hiring for current job descriptions and instead prioritize “AI curiosity and learning agility.” In customer-facing roles, the human touch remains non-negotiable, requiring HR to strategically identify what can be augmented and what must be preserved.
- Democratizing Development: Traditionally, intensive coaching is reserved for senior leaders. Wolfe reveals that Hyatt is experimenting with AI coaching bots to scale personalized development and insights to employees at every level, ensuring growth opportunities are accessible to everyone, not just those at the top.
By balancing the speed of code with the intentionality of the human heart, HR leaders, as demonstrated by Wolfe, can become the strategic architects needed to successfully navigate the crossroads of the AI era.