LH131 AI for People People with Erica Farmer

Two-thirds of HR professionals say AI is their top development priority. But only a third of organisations offer any AI training – and fewer than one in five think their leaders are equipped to lead in an AI-enabled environment. So where is the gap, and whose job is it to close it? Erica Farmer is co-founder of Quantum Rise Talent Group, host of the AI for the Average Joe podcast and author of AI for People Professionals (Kogan Page, 2026). In this conversation she argues that organisations are rolling out AI the way they rolled out every HR system before it, treating people as tech users rather than as people. She also has a challenge for L&D, which she thinks is waiting for HR to tell it what to do. Along the way: writing a book with AI during a backlash against AI, why the tools push you to work their way, the CIPD skills gap, AI literacy and prompting, and what a self-driving Mustang says about human over-confidence. Also: Are HR and L&D in the same place on AI? Double down on what you're great at Co-writing with AI, and the neurodivergent workflow Slop and the AI backlash The CIPD gap: individual capability or organisational readiness? Leaders as practitioner, communicator and strategist Stress, burnout and AI 'golden time' Why prompting still matters LINKS AND RESOURCES Erica Farmer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericafarmer/ [verify handle] AI for People Professionals (Kogan Page): https://www.koganpage.com/hr-learning-development/ai-for-people-professionals-9781398625990 EricaFarmer.AI (speaking): https://ericafarmer.ai/ L&D Global Sentiment Survey 2026 (Donald H Taylor): https://donaldhtaylor.co.uk/research_base/global-sentiment-survey-2026/ CIPD, AI in the workplace: https://www.cipd.org/en/topics/artificial-intelligence-workplace/ Erica's Training Journal piece on writing the book: https://www.trainingjournal.com/2025/content-type/features/my-book-ai-for-people-professionals-was-a-human-first-experiment/ CONNECT WITH LEARNING HACK LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer YouTube: www.youtube.com/@JohnHelmerConsulting X: @johnhelmer Threads: @jphelmer Bluesky: @johnhelmer.bsky.social Website: learninghackpodcast.com