The AI Bus - Are You Steering or Sitting in the Back?
How HR, IT, and bold crossovers are shaping the future of work!
AI is everywhere in the workplace, and in some places, it is all over the place.
I will let that sink in for a moment :)
But here’s the uncomfortable truth:
No one has a perfect playbook for WHO should actually lead it.
And that gap could define who thrives and who falls behind.
I’ve been talking to leaders in HR, IT, Operations, and beyond - and while every organization has its own story, four clear patterns are emerging.
This isn’t about control.
It’s about having both tech fluency and people fluency to lead change - and helping the entire organization navigate the biggest shift in how work gets done in our lifetime.
1. HR Wants to Lead AI
You know this group. They believe if AI changes jobs, skills, and culture, HR should be in the driver’s seat.
For them, AI is a people-first challenge!
They are taking an interest in setting up governance councils, building adoption playbooks, and talking about ethics and bias.
Questions they might not be asking out loud yet, but are definitely top of mind:
How do we keep this human-centered?
Who will lose their job?
Who will gain one?
More than picking an AI tool, they are interested in building and protecting trust.
These are HR leaders who want to step into the driver’s seat, steering AI adoption with a people-first lens.
Mindset:
“If AI is transforming work, HR should lead the transformation.”
2. IT Wants to Lead AI
Here, AI is treated as a technology stack challenge. Infrastructure. Data security. Integration.
HR often gets called after the fact - when it’s time to train people or manage adoption.
In the best cases, IT listens deeply to HR’s people insights. In the worst case, HR is a passenger in the backseat, saying, “Wait… where are we going?”
Mindset:
“We’ll handle the Tech. HR can support adoption.”
3. HR + IT Merge
The boldest vision: HR and IT literally become one unified function, accountable for how work happens across humans and machines.
This is the future CPO as a Technologist’s vision.
Not “HR and IT report to the same leader.” No.
Literally one function - responsible for how work happens across humans and machines.
Shared budgets. Shared leadership. Shared accountability for productivity.
The future leader here? They need:
Platform strategy chops.
Systems thinking at scale.
The ability to lead people and tech governance as ONE.
Some call it a Chief People & Technology Officer. Others? Chief Delivery Officer.
Mindset:
“People and Tech Governance are inseparable. The future leader will own both.”
4. HR Pros Jump to IT
This one’s bolder.
HR pros moving into IT to learn from the inside.
They’re learning product leadership. Automation. Platform thinking.
They’re making themselves the future leaders of integrated people + tech functions - not just traditional HR teams.
Mindset:
“The HR job I want doesn’t sit in HR anymore - I need technical fluency to be ready.”
Here’s the real takeaway:
This isn’t about who controls or who leads AI.
It’s about who has the fluency to lead the change - to guide the organization through a transformation that will touch every single role.
And here’s the big question I’ll leave you with:
Do you want to be the one driving the car… or the GPS navigator making sure we don’t end up in a ditch?
Both matter.
Both require courage.
Both require speaking tech and people in the same sentence - without losing either.
💬 Your Turn
Which of these patterns are you seeing in your industry or organization?
Are they working?
What’s missing?
Drop me a note - I’m collecting real-world examples for a follow-up edition.
Stay curious,
– AI Lady