In part 3 of our series: HR in the Age of AI - Opportunities and Obstacles, our guests share their diverse perspectives on skills, tools, and relationships HR professionals need to effectively manage and lead in the age of AI.

The conversation also touches upon overcoming the fear of AI with practical advice on low-risk initiatives and personal experimentation.

Special thanks to our contributors:

Blair Corcoran de Castillo - As Opportunity@Work’s Vice President of Policy, Blair leads the organization’s partnerships with the public sector, guiding the strategy to support policy shifts to enable STAR mobility nationally and in regions across the U.S.

Shane Lloyd - As the Chief Diversity Officer at Baker Tilly, Shane leads the firmwide diversity, inclusion, and belonging strategy and advises executive leadership at Baker Tilly. Prior to joining the top 10 professional services firm based in the United States, he worked at Amazon within their Worldwide Consumer and Global DEI teams.

Audrey Mickahail - is Senior Vice President, Private Sector & Membership Experience, at Opportunity@Work. In this role, she is responsible for the organization’s Private Sector business as well as the team that ensures a high quality and consistent customer experience with Opportuniy@Work through its service offerings to help employers, philanthropies, regional consortia, and the public sector enable economic mobility for workers who are Skilled through Alternative Routes (STARs).

Celeste Warren - is Vice President, Global Diversity and Inclusion Center of Excellence. As the leader for Merck’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Center of Excellence, she is responsible for working with Merck’s global leaders to advance and embed diversity and inclusion throughout the organization to enhance the employee experience and maximize business performance.

Business, Engagement, Human Resources, Management, Thought Leadership, Return to work, Inclusion, Hybrid work, AI, phillyshrm.org

In Part 2 of our series, HR and the Age of AI: Opportunities and Obstacles, our guests share their unique perspectives on how AI is transforming HR practices from creating culture to enhancing neurodiversity inclusion.

We also discussed the need for critical thinking and human oversight in AI applications, as well as the legal implications and ethical considerations.

Special thanks to our contributors:

Michael S. Cohen Partner, Duane Morris’ Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group. Michael concentrates his practice in the areas of employment law training and counseling.

Kevin Davis - Principal, Epic Insurance Brokers and Consultants. His focus is on crafting innovative benefits strategies for his diverse clients. He is also a Board member of the Neurodiversity Employment Network (NEN).

Catherine Preim, Senior Business Partner, Baker Tilly US, a leading advisory CPA firm. She serves as a leader within the Talent Management Business Partner team; she partners with leadership in the Pennsylvania/West Virginia market in the development and execution of their people strategy and advises on various people-related matters

Merrick Rosenberg, CEO, Take Flight Learning, affectionately known as The Bird Guy, is not just an author, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur. He is a true visionary! In 1991, he founded Team Builders Plus, one of the first companies in the United States. His groundbreaking work laid the foundation for today’s team building industry.

Business, Engagement, Human Resources, Management, Thought Leadership, Return to work, Inclusion, Hybrid work, AI, phillyshrm.org

Discussing the benefits and challenges of AI can help reduce anxiety around its integration and use. When HR professionals understand the advantages and limitations of AI, they can develop a balanced perspective and in turn, foster collaboration and proactive planning, ensuring that AI is integrated responsibly and ethically.

In this special multi-part series: HR in the Age of AI - Opportunities and Obstacles, recorded during the 2025 Philly SHRM Symposium, we got the perspectives from nationally and locally recognized speakers from different industries on the issue of AI and HR. We asked our guests on what HR professionals may need to tackle this technology that has already revolutionized the workplace.

First up, we'll talk with bestselling author, CEO and our keynote speaker, Charlene Li. She shares her insights on navigating leadership in the age of AI, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking, curiosity, and imagination.

More about Charlene...

Charlene is a Bestselling Author, CEO, Harvard Alumnus and Expert in Disruption, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work.

After earning an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an A.B. degree magna cum laude from Harvard College, Charlene has spent the past three decades helping people see the future and thrive through disruption. She has advised executives and boards to recognize the vital truth that companies can’t simply innovate in order to stay competitive. They must transform.

As a sought-after expert on disruptive transformation, leadership, customer experience, and the future of work, Charlene has worked with hundreds of organizations—ranging from Adobe to Southwest Airlines and 14 of the Dow Jones Industrial 30 companies—to provide her insights to support a winning strategy for disruptive growth and a plan to identify and seize an opportunity no one else has the audacity or confidence to reach for.

Business, Engagement, Human Resources, Management, Thought Leadership, Return to work, Inclusion, Hybrid work, AI, phillyshrm.org

For three seasons, HR Fresh Take has covered topics that affect our business community and how HR is able to meet those challenges. For this episode, we’d like to approach it from a different angle and take this opportunity to share the meaningful experiences of individuals who joined Philly SHRM’s HR Lift Lab in 2024.
With a foundation of leadership self-awareness plus a balanced portfolio of effective HR practices, LIFT LAB elevates people to empower progress.
In a nutshell, Lift Lab’s puts the focus on you, the HR professional and the person.

In Chapter 1, we'll hear about the experiences of the Instructors and Coaches as well as some key advice for our listeners. In Chapter 2, (27:25) we'll hear about the experience from the Learners perspective.

The next cohort will take place from August through December 2025. This 5-month program develops HR leaders to grow themselves to also grow the business and others. Visit phillyshrm.org and click on the HR Lift Lab tab for more information and registration.

Business, Engagement, Human Resources, Management, Thought Leadership, Return to work, Inclusion, Hybrid work, AI, phillyshrm.org

As companies strive to prioritize employee well-being, a concerning trend has emerged: “Care-washing” which is the practice of offering superficial or surface-level wellness programs that fail to address the root causes of employee stress and burnout.

In this episode, we are in conversation with guests Nicole McNeal, Director of Wellbeing at Virtua Health and Anna Greenwald CEO/Founder of On the Goga as well as HR Fresh Take producers and co-hosts Kaela Blanks and Theresa Velykis

We’ll discuss what is “Care-washing” and how HR and business leaders can be more strategic and intentional with their wellness policies that will help employees and avoid programs that are merely performative.

Business, Engagement, Human Resources, Management, Thought Leadership, Return to work, Inclusion, Hybrid work, AI, phillyshrm.org

Silos in the workplace can create divisions that hinder communication, collaboration, and innovation. They often lead to duplicated efforts, missed opportunities, and a lack of cohesion. But what causes these silos to form, and how can we break them down?

In this episode of HR Fresh Take, we’ll talk with Pat Schaeffer, co-founder of Talent Strategy Partners and Barbara Taylor, Business partner of JanBara & Associates. They are the co-creators of Silo-Busting Networking.

We’ll delve into the impact of organizational silos and share strategies to foster a more connected and collaborative environment.

Business, Engagement, Human Resources, Management, Thought Leadership, Return to work, Inclusion, Hybrid work, AI, phillyshrm.org

Born between the mid 1990s and early 2010s, Gen Z is not just another demographic, they are a driving force behind many of the changes we're seeing in today's job market. The challenge for some organizations is figuring out how to engage with Gen Z effectively and how best to utilize their skills within the workforce.

In this episode, we'll talk with Michael Brenner, founder and CEO of Right Chord Leadership. We'll discuss Gen Zs characteristics, expectations and aspirations as they enter the workforce. We'll also discuss opportunities for organizations to tap into Gen Zs talent and what we can learn from them.

Joining in to discussion is Ally Lamson, Area Vice president of Health and Benefits at Gallagher and a member of the Thought leadership committee at Philly SHRM.

Business, Engagement, Human Resources, Management, Thought Leadership, Return to work, Inclusion, Hybrid work, AI, phillyshrm.org

Halloween is around the corner! So come with us as we revisit HR Fresh Take's most fun and popular episode: "An HR Halloween", where we share a few horror stories submitted by the HR community in the Philadelphia area. The names were changed to protect the innocent AND the guilty. We'll also discuss lessons from these cautionary tales. Enjoy!

Business, Engagement, Human Resources, Management, Thought Leadership, Return to work, Inclusion, Hybrid work, AI, phillyshrm.org