The HR Happy Hour Network Welcomes "Take a Different Seat"
Hosts: Steve Boese & Trish Steed
Guest: Chris Havrilla, Podcast Host & Founder of AI Alchemists™
Summary
The HR Happy Hour Media Network is welcoming a new show to the network: Take a Different Seat, hosted by longtime technology strategist, analyst, advisor, and product leader Chris Havrilla.
In this introductory conversation, Steve and Trish sit down with Chris to talk about the idea behind the new series, the experiences she brings to it, and why perspective matters more than ever as organizations navigate AI, technology, work, and increasingly consequential decisions. The premise behind Take a Different Seat is simple: better decisions begin with better questions, and better questions emerge when we are willing to see a problem from perspectives beyond our own. Rather than beginning each episode with a predetermined answer, Chris will start with a consequential question, bring together different perspectives, challenge assumptions, and see whether the conversation leads to an even better question.
Chris also shares how her career across research, advisory, product strategy, and technology has shaped the new show. Her experience spans organizations including Deloitte and Oracle, where she worked through the rapid evolution of generative and agentic AI and saw firsthand how technological change creates new legal, ethical, operational, financial, and human questions for organizations. Together, they explore why context matters when making technology and workforce decisions, why organizations cannot simply hand responsibility for consequential decisions over to AI, and why leaders need to become more comfortable examining issues from more than one seat.
As Chris puts it, sometimes the most valuable outcome isn't finding the answer. It's discovering the question you should have been asking in the first place.
Topics include:
- The idea behind Take a Different Seat and what listeners can expect
- Why perspective and intellectual humility are becoming essential leadership skills
- How better questions can lead to better organizational decisions
- Chris's experience across AI, product strategy, research, and advisory work
- Why AI is creating new questions around accountability, transparency, and decision-making
Thank you for joining the show today! Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
Workhuman is a proud supporter of the HR Happy Hour Network.
Nearly every HR leader knows the feeling: Teams are stretched thin, priorities keep shifting, and it's getting harder to see what's really going on beneath the surface. That's the subject of Workhuman's new documentary, Spotlight: The Leadership Reset, an investigation into why managers are losing visibility into their teams, and what it takes to see clearly again. Featuring Harvard’s Professor Amy Edmondson, crisis leadership expert Dr. Syra Madad, and bakery-owner-turned-business-leader Joanne Chang. The Leadership Reset premieres September 29th. Register for free today at workhuman.com/spotlight.
