{"podcast":{"title":"Workplace Stories by RedThread Research","slug":"workplace-stories-by-redthread-research-3600959","podcast_index_feed_id":3600959,"rss_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/show/4800257/episodes/feed","website_url":"http://redthreadresearch.com/podcast","image_url":"https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/48f82915396d22a82e8e5b9b202f0df2.jpg","author":"Stacia Garr & Dani Johnson","episode_count":133,"summary":"Workplace Stories is a podcast for HR and people leaders who are tired of noise and need clarity that actually holds up. It is hosted by Stacia Garr and Dani Johnson of RedThread Research. Each episode features candid conversations with practitioners, thinkers, and executives who are navigating real decisions inside complex organizations. Not hypotheticals. Not vendor promises. Real tradeoffs, real experiments, and real lessons learned along the way. You’ll hear how leaders are making sense of skills, AI, organizational design, and culture when there’s no clear playbook and pressure to show progress is high. The focus is always the same: what’s actually working, what isn’t, and what leaders are doing next. Workplace Stories helps you make sense of complexity, build credibility with evidence, and move from ideas to action with more confidence. Want to be part of the conversation? Join our community for free and connect with others shaping the future of work. Learn more about RedThread Research here: https://redthreadresearch.com/home","last_synced_at":"2026-07-22T14:18:52.086994+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/workplace-stories-by-redthread-research-3600959"},"episode":{"title":"HR in the Age of AI: Cole Napper on People Analytics, Generative AI, and Redefining Value","slug":"hr-in-the-age-of-ai-cole-napper-on-people-analytics-generative-ai-and-redefining-value","published_at":"2025-11-19T06:00:11+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/workplace-stories-by-redthread-research-3600959/hr-in-the-age-of-ai-cole-napper-on-people-analytics-generative-ai-and-redefining-value","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/workplace-stories-by-redthread-research-3600959","url":"https://www.spreaker.com/episode/hr-in-the-age-of-ai-cole-napper-on-people-analytics-generative-ai-and-redefining-value--68523756","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/68523756/hr_in_the_age_of_ai_cole_napper_on_people_analytics_generative_ai_and_redefining_value.mp3","summary":"In this episode, Stacia and Dani sit down once again with Cole Napper, author of “People Analytics: Using Data-Driven HR and Gen AI as a Business Asset.” A year after his first appearance, Cole returns with bold insights about the seismic changes facing HR and people analytics, and why now is the time to rethink how we define value in the workplace. Cole argues that the future of HR depends on shedding its transactional skin and embracing a new, data-driven paradigm. He discusses why traditional models like Dave Ulrich’s COE framework won’t survive the decade, how organizations can “discorrelate” from market forces by proving business value, and why fear, not technology, is the biggest obstacle to transformation. With sharp humor and evidence from his own research, Cole makes the case for a redefined HR: one that blends human strategy with AI-powered intelligence to drive growth, not just efficiency. You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in... [00:00] Building a new HR paradigm in the Gen AI era. [06:00] Why people analytics hit its “identity crisis” after 2022. [12:00] How to prove HR’s business value beyond metrics. [19:00] The decline of the Ulrich HR model and what replaces it. [24:00] The future of AI-driven workforce transformation. [33:00] The tension between the HR and finance worldviews. [46:00] Why data infrastructure is suddenly “sexy” again. [52:00] Three possible futures for HR in the next decade. Building a New Paradigm for People Analytics Cole’s new book calls for a reset in how organizations use data, not as an isolated reporting function but as a business accelerator. He reveals how people analytics can move from being “scorekeepers” to strategic partners by tackling the questions behind the questions: Why is it happening? What shou…","meta_description":"In this episode, Stacia and Dani sit down once again with Cole Napper, author of “People Analytics: Using Data-Driven HR and Gen AI as a Business Asset.”…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3621,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/workplace-stories-by-redthread-research-3600959/episodes/hr-in-the-age-of-ai-cole-napper-on-people-analytics-generative-ai-and-redefining-value/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/workplace-stories-by-redthread-research-3600959/hr-in-the-age-of-ai-cole-napper-on-people-analytics-generative-ai-and-redefining-value.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}