Challenge Accepted series

July 21rd, 2026 | Hosted by  Asaf Edni,  Juno Journey
Expert: Shlomit Gruman - Navot

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ICYMI: Becoming an AI CHRO

AI isn't changing HR.

The way HR leaders think, make decisions, and design work is.

That was the central message of our latest Challenge Accepted session, where we welcomed Shlomit Gruman Navot to explore what it really means to become an AI-ready HR leader.

Rather than focusing on prompts, tools, or the latest AI announcements, the conversation challenged us to rethink leadership itself—and the role HR must play in helping organizations adapt.

 

 

Starting with the Right Question

Shlomit has spent more than 25 years leading People organizations across global tech companies, including OLX, Miro, and Alfa Bank. Having led organizations through digital, cloud, agile, and now AI transformations, she brought a perspective grounded in experience rather than theory.

One idea set the tone for the entire session:

"AI is not a strategy. It's an architecture."

That simple shift changes everything.

Organizations shouldn't start by asking, "What's our AI strategy?" They should start by asking, "What business outcomes are we trying to create?" AI then becomes the infrastructure that helps people achieve those outcomes more effectively.

The Real Challenge Isn't Technology

One of the strongest themes throughout the discussion was that most organizations aren't struggling because they lack AI tools.

They're struggling because work itself is changing.

HR spent years designing for consistency, predictability, and stable processes. Annual performance cycles. Fixed job descriptions. Standardized career paths.

Today's environment demands something different.

It demands adaptability.

Not because AI changes every week, but because the nature of work changes alongside it.

That means HR leaders aren't simply implementing new technology. They're redesigning how people learn, collaborate, make decisions, and develop new capabilities.

AI Literacy Isn't AI Fluency

One distinction particularly resonated with the audience.

Shlomit drew a clear line between AI literacy and AI fluency.

AI literacy means understanding the language of AI—knowing what LLMs are, understanding prompts, recognizing the terminology.

AI fluency is different.

It's when your behaviors actually change.

It's when AI becomes part of how you think, solve problems, make decisions, and redesign your own workflows.

The goal isn't to know more about AI.

The goal is to work differently because of it.

HR's Role Is Bigger Than Adoption

Several audience questions centered around one issue:

Who should actually lead AI transformation inside organizations?

Shlomit's answer was clear.

HR is uniquely positioned to lead this transformation—not because AI belongs to HR, but because organizational change, operating models, leadership behaviors, and capability building already do.

But she also acknowledged an important reality:

HR leaders can't lead AI transformation if they haven't transformed the way they work themselves.

Leadership starts with role modeling.

How do you personally use AI?

How has it changed your own workflows?

How has it changed your decision-making?

Those answers become far more powerful than any AI policy or training program.

From Top-Down Change to Connected Change

Another idea that sparked meaningful discussion was how AI adoption spreads inside organizations.

For years, change management often followed a cascade model.

Leadership announced a change.

Managers communicated it.

Employees adopted it.

AI doesn't work that way.

As Shlomit put it:

"AI change doesn't cascade. It connects."

Successful organizations create networks of AI champions across different functions who experiment, learn from one another, and share what works.

HR's role becomes designing those connections—not controlling every step of adoption.

A Conversation Grounded in Reality

What made this session particularly valuable was how practical it remained.

Instead of debating whether AI will change HR, the discussion focused on questions leaders are already facing today:

• How do we redesign work, not just automate it?
• How do we move people from AI awareness to AI fluency?
• How do leaders role-model new ways of working?
• How do we create organizational conditions where experimentation feels safe?

These aren't future challenges.

They're today's leadership challenges.

Closing with a Different Perspective

The session ended with a reminder that perfectly captured the conversation.

The organizations that will succeed with AI won't necessarily be the ones with the best tools.

They'll be the ones whose leaders learn how to think differently, adapt faster, and redesign work around humans and AI together.

Our latest Challenge Accepted session reinforced something we've seen throughout this series.

The most valuable conversations about AI aren't about technology.

They're about leadership.

And that's exactly where HR has an opportunity to lead.