HR’s Real Job in the AI Economy
Show Notes
In this episode of The Work Intelligence Loop, Todd Michaud is joined by Heather Mallette, SHRM-CP, Founder and CEO of The Decision Line®, for a conversation about what HR owes the organization in an AI economy. Her central point: AI makes judgment more important, not less. A recommendation can sound convincing long before anyone has challenged the assumption underneath it.
They get into where AI is already shaping HR work, from recruitment to performance reviews, and what a governance framework looks like when it’s practical rather than theoretical: approved tools, clear limits on what people can enter, and a decision about which calls stay human. Heather is also direct about workforce anxiety, and makes the case that the work worth handing to AI is usually the work nobody wanted in the first place. If you are an HR leader figuring out where to start, this one is worth your time.
About the Guest
Heather Mallette, SHRM-CP
Founder and CEO of The Decision Line®
Heather Mallette, SHRM-CP, is the Founder and CEO of The Decision Line®, a leadership advisory firm focused on strengthening executive judgment in the age of AI. With more than 20 years of leadership and business experience, Heather helps executives navigate the increasingly complex line between what technology can recommend and what leaders must ultimately decide. Her work challenges leaders to think beyond AI adoption and efficiency to the more consequential questions of judgment, accountability, risk, and decision quality.
A speaker, advisor, and thought leader, Heather brings a practical, provocative perspective to conversations about AI and leadership. She believes technology should strengthen human judgment, not replace it, and that the competitive advantage of the future will belong to leaders who know when to trust the technology, when to challenge it, and when to make the call themselves. Her defining belief: Knowledge is abundant. Judgment is scarce.
