Reinventing HR: Courage, Curiosity, and the AI-Ready Workforce

In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Alim Dhanji, CHRO at TD SYNNEX, whose career spans HR, finance, M&A, and even serving as President of Adidas Canada. From leading through supply chain crises to running startups and now driving an AI-first HR transformation, Alim shares how curiosity, simplicity, and critical thinking have shaped his leadership across every function. He talks about reimagining HR as a series of products, helping teams overcome fear of AI through experimentation, and building a “super worker” culture, where technology multiplies human capability instead of replacing it. Alim also reflects on why this is the most exciting moment to be in HR, how leaders can simplify for impact, and how embracing AI literacy and critical reasoning can redefine the next generation of people leadership.

Topics Discussed:

• Reframing HR as a product-driven function.

• Building an AI-first, digitally enabled HR team.

• Turning resistance to AI into experimentation and learning.

• Simplifying HR programs for real business impact.

• The rise of the “super worker” and the fall of technical gatekeeping.

• Why critical thinking is HR’s most future-proof skill.

• How AI creates capacity for more human leadership.

If you’re rethinking what it means to lead HR in the age of AI, this conversation with Alim Dhanji offers a rare look at transformation from both sides of the business where strategy meets empathy, and technology powers people to do their best work.

Additional Resources:

• Cleary’s AI-powered HR Chatbot

• Future Proof HR Community

• Connect with Alim Dhanji on LinkedIn