The CHRO Identity Crisis: What AI Is Forcing HR to Confront (ft. Robin Schooling)

About This Episode

Here's something most HR leaders won't say out loud: they don't actually know what HR is for anymore. And AI just made that impossible to hide. In this episode, I sit down with Robin Schooling, a longtime HR practitioner and one of the sharpest critics of the profession's most persistent blind spots. We dig into what AI is actually revealing about HR's purpose problem, what CHROs have to stop doing immediately, and what a healthy HR identity looks like in 2026. 📌 Topics covered: - Why AI is exposing — not causing — HR's identity crisis - The pattern that repeats every time a new HR trend hits - What CHROs get wrong about using AI to "transform" HR - How to rebuild HR's identity from the inside out - What healthy HR leadership looks like in 2026 🔍 Take the FutHRist Self-Assessment → trentcotton.com/futhrist-self-assessment Connect with Robin Schooling: linkedin.com/in/robinschooling CHAPTERS 00:00 Why AI Is Forcing HR to Change 00:57 Meet Robin Schooling 02:07 AI Is Moving Faster Than the Rules 04:10 Why HR Needs AI Governance 06:00 Who's Actually Adopting AI in HR? 09:41 AI Is Creating an HR Identity Crisis 13:18 Stop Letting Process Define HR 18:02 The Work That Actually Creates Value 20:23 Why HR Can't Be the Policy Police Anymore 23:07 3 Ways HR Leaders Should Prepare for AI 28:24 How to Evaluate AI Vendors the Right Way 31:16 Robin Schooling on Her New Book Real HR 35:04 The Biggest Mistake HR Has Made 35:27 Where to Connect with Robin Schooling #CHRO #HRLeadership #AIinHR #FutureOfWork #HumanResources #HRPodcast #WorkforceStrategy #HRTransformation #ArtificialIntelligence #PeopleLeaders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices