Kelly Monahan: Behind closed doors, what I'm also hearing from CHROs is they are also tired. They were the ones shouldering the organization during the pandemic. And that turned things upside down pretty dramatically for most HR professionals. They had just come through that, getting ready to catch their breath, and now they're being put right back in the spotlight with AI transformation. CEOs are asking them, how do we become an AI native or AI enabled organization? I think every CEO is probably asking their CHRO that to an extent. I'm very worried that there is a true burnout and exhaustion of our current pipeline because we have gone through something pretty radical over the last 10 years, and it really has landed on the CHRO in particular to handle the breadth of what is happening. Tony Buffum: Absolutely seeing the same thing. There was a survey showing a broad majority of HR people wanted to leave the function. I attribute that to the lack of technology adoption. HR is in last place when it comes to digital transformation. You marry those together, of course HR people are fed up. But what you just described, if we pretend that dearth of technological advancement didn't exist, is what we want. As a leader, the biggest moment in the decade, everybody is looking at HR. Then the next biggest right after that, everybody is looking at HR. If there is a question about the value and potential for impact of the function, there is no doubt now: you are at the table. Everybody is looking at you. What do you do? You either throw in the towel, or you sit back and look over to the tech team to step up and get behind them. That is what I feel is happening, instead of us, the broad HR community, really being able to step up and own this moment and drive the change the way that HR should at this point in its evolution as a function.
