May 6, 2025

Should Every CHRO Become the Chief Digital People Officer?

Moderna Merge Tech and HR Departments

Read the story in Wall Street Journal

There are four big factors driving this:

AI-Driven Workforce Transformation Moderna’s merger of tech and HR functions is a response to the sweeping influence of AI on workforce planning. The company is optimizing what work gets done by humans vs. what can be automated using AI (notably GPT-powered systems). The partnership with OpenAI signals a strategic shift: automation is no longer just an operational efficiency play—it is reshaping the core architecture of how roles, skills, and people are managed. Strategic Integration, Not Just Efficiency Tracey Franklin’s appointment as Chief People and Digital Technology Officer reflects a structural integration of talent and technology—a rare move that aligns workforce design with digital evolution. It’s a bet on hybrid leadership: combining behavioral insight (HR) with technological foresight (IT). Operational Complexity and Speed Moderna’s explosive growth—from 830 to over 5,000 employees in just five years—created the need for scalable, AI-enabled people systems. During Covid-19, HR had to accelerate hiring under intense pressure. Now, AI offers a way to sustain that pace without chaos—via “digital agents” that answer employee queries, optimize roles, and route people decisions to specialized GPTs. Reimagining Role Design Roles are no longer being designed strictly by traditional job descriptions. They are co-created by understanding what humans should do, what machines can do, and what needs to be done. That thinking allows for AI to take over junior analyst tasks, freeing up humans for higher-order work.

Is this going to be the norm? Should your organization follow suit? I predict that in the next 5-7 years we will see HR, Tech and Marketing all managed under a common leader. Do you agree? Leave me a comment

Why Every HR Person Must Read Anthropology

Most performance reviews, leadership assessments, and potential ratings still assume a narrow model of “the ideal employee”—typically assertive, expressive, confident, visible, and individualistic. This model fits some cultures perfectly. But for millions of employees worldwide, it can feel like trying to perform a symphony with the wrong instrument.

Imagine trying to assess a world-class violinist using a basketball metric. They may score zero on dunks—but does that mean they lack talent? Success means different things to someone who is growing up in rural India as compared to a kid growing up in Silicon Valley.

The Eastern philosophy stresses group harmony, roles and duties. The Western self values personal goals, choice and independence. A married man asking their parents for advice will trigger smirks among colleagues in the West. They will view the parents having failed in their duty to make their progeny independent. In

That’s precisely what happens in talent management systems that fail to recognize a core anthropological truth: The self is a cultural construct. Who we are, how we behave, and what we reveal (or conceal) about ourselves at work is shaped by deep cultural coding—expectations, rewards, punishments, and shared scripts.

What if we flipped the script? What if HR became anthropology-aware?

94% of their students get jobs – the rest get a fee refund

I spoke to the CEO of Kraftshala Mr Varun Satia – the big jaw dropping discovery: They update their curriculum every month! EVERY MONTH??? Yes, every month. And also listen to what Harsha Bhogle had to say about reinvention. Here is a glimpse (the full interview link is given just below)

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Watch the full interview of Kraftshala

Click this

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Every Anecdote is NOT a Story

Someone rushes up to you and says breathlessly, “You won’t believe this…” chances are that they are telling a story. You won’t believe this … is often a sign of a transformation. That is the necessary and sufficient condition of a story.

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