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Led by Curiosity: From Accidental HR to Building the Company’s GPT
About this episode
Transcript
About this episode
In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Divya Devakran, Director of Human Resources at EVS Engineering, to trace her path from “accidental” HR to building a company GPT. Divya shares how she built EVS’s HR function from the ground up, why she started a passion project to create an AI-powered policy and coaching bot for her organization, and how she is thinking about psychological safety, guardrails, and the very real time crunch HR teams live in. She and Thomas also look ahead at what will separate tactical HR teams from future-ready HR functions in the next few years.
Topics Discussed:
How a planned finance career turned into “accidental” HR
Building an HR department from scratch at EVS Engineering
Why Divya started building a company GPT as a side project
Using AI for HR policy questions and anonymous support
Coaching bots for new managers and real-time guidance
Guardrails, hallucinations, and knowing when to route back to HR
The difference between tactical HR and future-ready HR teams
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About the guest
Divya Divakaran
Divya Divakaran is a strategic HR leader with 18+ years of experience building HR departments, driving talent strategy, and leading teams across HR, branding, and operations. She is known for her hands-on approach to innovation, designing custom AI tools herself without a technical background, driven by curiosity and courage. Divya advises executives and boards on leadership development, organizational growth, and people strategy, shaping culture and building strong leadership pipelines. An active member of the Forbes HR Council and SHRM Executive Network, she was recently awarded the U.S. EB1A recognition for extraordinary ability in her field.
Divya Divakaran is a strategic HR leader with 18+ years of experience building HR departments, driving talent strategy, and leading teams across HR, branding, and operations. She is known for her hands-on approach to innovation, designing custom AI tools herself without a technical background, driven by curiosity and courage. Divya advises executives and boards on leadership development, organizational growth, and people strategy, shaping culture and building strong leadership pipelines. An active member of the Forbes HR Council and SHRM Executive Network, she was recently awarded the U.S. EB1A recognition for extraordinary ability in her field.
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The leading podcast for the future of HR
The leading podcast for the future of HR
The future of HR is being shaped by real operators doing the work.
If you’ve led change, navigated challenges, or learned valuable lessons in people operations, we’d love to hear your perspective.
Apply below to be considered as a guest on the show.
The future of HR is being shaped by real operators doing the work.
If you’ve led change, navigated challenges, or learned valuable lessons in people operations, we’d love to hear your perspective.
Apply below to be considered as a guest on the show.