VaynerX's Chief Heart Officer on why HR should be coaches, not paper pushers
From The WorkOps Podcast · 37:58
Show by by Kinfolk
SummaryClaude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX, joins Jeet Mukerji on The WorkOps Podcast to explain how a role with no job description became the only Chief Heart Officer title in the business. Twelve years ago Gary Vaynerchuk gave her one remit, touch every single human being and deploy empathy, and she has scaled it from about 400 people to 2,200 by renaming HR "People and Experience," dropping the college degree requirement, swapping culture fit for culture addition, and building a network of culture champions who scale the heart.The conversation covers where AI belongs in the People function (answering the benefits, holidays and onboarding questions that once took a full-time person, but not the human moments), why AI adoption should sit with IT, how VaynerX helps people through the fear of AI, and why she expects People teams to keep growing as coaches rather than shrink to a flat G&A line. She closes on kind candor, balancing empathy and accountability without creating entitlement, and why every AI rollout should start by talking to people. For CHROs, People Ops leaders and anyone deciding where AI should and should not sit in their organization.Chapters00:00 Welcome Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX00:20 Never wanting to do HR and becoming Chief Heart Officer03:35 People and Experience, not HR05:45 Dropping the degree requirement and culture fit07:06 Culture champions who scale the heart09:26 Choosing an HRIS that feels human10:22 Why the heart is not automated yet11:38 How the People and Experience team uses AI today13:20 Why IT should own AI adoption14:22 Helping people through the fear of AI16:54 Efficiency still needs critical thinking19:06 The next 18 months: coaches, not paper pushers21:40 What AI means for entry-level HR talent23:13 Advice for starting a career in HR24:08 Testing for AI skills when hiring26:29 Will People teams scale with the company?28:49 Belonging without entitlement31:55 Kind candor in practice34:24 Bespoke training for managers35:37 Final advice: talk to people firstTakeaways- Claude renamed HR "People and Experience" because the job is to take care of people from the moment they send a CV to their last day, and beyond through an alumni network.- VaynerX dropped the college degree requirement and replaced culture fit with skill set fit and culture addition, because culture fit often just means exclusivity.- AI now answers the benefits, holidays and onboarding questions that used to take a full-time person, which frees the team for the human work; AI adoption itself is owned by IT, not HR.- Claude expects People teams to keep scaling with headcount, because the future of HR is coaching, not paper pushing or policing, and well-being is not a product off the shelf.- Retention comes from safety, belonging and recognition delivered with kind candor, balancing empathy and accountability without coddling or creating entitlement.Connect with the GuestClaude Silver LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casilver/Company Website: https://vaynerx.comSponsorThis episode is brought to you by Kinfolk, the AI service desk built for HR.See more at kinfolkhq.com
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