“Peel back the onion. It’s really not doom and gloom.” | Former CHRO Susan Youngblood on what the data says about AI and jobs

The AI bills are arriving, and some companies are already asking who should lose access. Meanwhile, the headlines say AI is wiping out entry-level jobs, and the labor data says otherwise.

Susan Youngblood, a former CHRO who rolled out AI across a 9,000-person customer service organization, separates what is happening from what is being reported. She also explains why HR leaders who wait to be invited into the AI conversation will be cleaning up its consequences instead.

Timestamps:

• 01:35 - How progressive companies are redesigning entry-level roles for AI-fluent hires

• 03:09 - The hiring data the media keeps getting wrong

• 06:53 - Two questions that expose fake AI adoption

• 08:35 - The token bill arrives: who keeps AI access, and who loses it

• 13:45 - What rolling out AI to 9,000 people taught her about HR’s real job

• 18:19 - When the CFO asks if a human is cheaper than an agent

• 22:26 - Her prediction: token budgets in your comp package

• 24:05 - AI whitewashing and the layoffs that weren’t about AI