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The 24-Month Head Start: Rethinking People, CX, and Capacity with AI
About this episode
Transcript
About this episode
In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Lorena Scott, Chief People Officer and Head of Customer Experience at Relay, to explore how AI can be used to accelerate people and CX roadmaps without losing the human moments that matter most.
Drawing on her dual mandate across People and Customer Experience, Lorena shares how Relay thinks about AI not as a replacement for people, but as a way to expand capacity, unlock time, and bring forward initiatives that would otherwise live years out on the roadmap. She explains how lessons from CX such as coaching, enablement, and quality assurance have directly informed people practices, and why unifying these functions has created a more consistent and human-centered experience across the business.
Lorena breaks down practical examples of AI in action, including AI-powered coaching to support managers and individual contributors, using AI to accelerate insights from people data, rethinking headcount planning across human and non-human capacity, and creating space for internal mobility through stretch projects. Throughout the conversation, she emphasizes the importance of showing impact through action, not promises, as the most effective way to build trust and reduce fear around AI adoption.
Topics Discussed:
Using AI to accelerate people and CX roadmaps
Unifying People and Customer Experience under one operating philosophy
AI coaching for managers and individual contributors
Expanding human impact by removing low-value work
Rethinking headcount planning with human and non-human capacity
Applying CX learnings to HR enablement and support
Internal mobility and stretch opportunities in a scaled organization
Building trust through action, not reassurance
Preparing people teams for an AI-enabled future
If you are an HR or People leader looking to use AI to scale impact, improve enablement, and move critical initiatives forward faster without sacrificing humanity, this episode offers a thoughtful, operator-level perspective on what future-proofing really looks like.
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About the guest
Lorena Scott
Lorena Scott is the Chief People Officer and Head of Customer Experience at Relay, where she unifies people and CX strategy to create consistent, human-centered experiences across the organization. With extensive HR and operational leadership experience scaling talent and culture in high-growth companies, Lorena has previously led people functions at organizations including 500px, Ritual, Algolia, and CaseWare International Inc. Her career journey spans finance, entrepreneurship, and senior people leadership roles, giving her a unique lens on how to marry human expertise with technology to accelerate business impact. In this episode, Lorena shares how Relay is leveraging AI to expand capacity, enable coaching at scale, rethink headcount planning, and bring forward strategic initiatives—without sacrificing the moments that matter most for people and customers.
Lorena Scott is the Chief People Officer and Head of Customer Experience at Relay, where she unifies people and CX strategy to create consistent, human-centered experiences across the organization. With extensive HR and operational leadership experience scaling talent and culture in high-growth companies, Lorena has previously led people functions at organizations including 500px, Ritual, Algolia, and CaseWare International Inc. Her career journey spans finance, entrepreneurship, and senior people leadership roles, giving her a unique lens on how to marry human expertise with technology to accelerate business impact. In this episode, Lorena shares how Relay is leveraging AI to expand capacity, enable coaching at scale, rethink headcount planning, and bring forward strategic initiatives—without sacrificing the moments that matter most for people and customers.
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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.