In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Lorena Scott, Chief People Officer and Head of Customer Experience at Relay, to explore how AI can be used to accelerate people and CX roadmaps without losing the human moments that matter most.

Drawing on her dual mandate across People and Customer Experience, Lorena shares how Relay thinks about AI not as a replacement for people, but as a way to expand capacity, unlock time, and bring forward initiatives that would otherwise live years out on the roadmap. She explains how lessons from CX such as coaching, enablement, and quality assurance have directly informed people practices, and why unifying these functions has created a more consistent and human-centered experience across the business.

Lorena breaks down practical examples of AI in action, including AI-powered coaching to support managers and individual contributors, using AI to accelerate insights from people data, rethinking headcount planning across human and non-human capacity, and creating space for internal mobility through stretch projects. Throughout the conversation, she emphasizes the importance of showing impact through action, not promises, as the most effective way to build trust and reduce fear around AI adoption.

Topics Discussed:

1. Using AI to accelerate people and CX roadmaps
2. Unifying People and Customer Experience under one operating philosophy
3. AI coaching for managers and individual contributors
4. Expanding human impact by removing low-value work
5. Rethinking headcount planning with human and non-human capacity
6. Applying CX learnings to HR enablement and support
7. Internal mobility and stretch opportunities in a scaled organization
8. Building trust through action, not reassurance
9. Preparing people teams for an AI-enabled future

If you are an HR or People leader looking to use AI to scale impact, improve enablement, and move critical initiatives forward faster without sacrificing humanity, this episode offers a thoughtful, operator-level perspective on what future-proofing really looks like.

Additional Resources:

1. Cleary’s AI-powered HR Chatbot
2. Future Proof HR Community
3. Connect with Lorena Scott on LinkedIn