Do you want to sponsor this newsletter with over 370,000 subscribers, my podcast, or other content? Reach out to me directly and we can explore some options Jacob[at]thefutureorganization[dot]com.
Join over 45,000 other subscribers who get Great Leadership delivered directly to their inbox each week. You’ll get access to my best thinking and latest content. Sign up today.
If you’re a Chief Human Resources or Chief People Officer, then you can request to join a brand new community I put together called Future Of Work Leaders which focuses on the future of work and employee experience. Join leaders from Tractor Supply, Johnson & Johnson, Lego, Dow, Northrop Grumman and many others. We come together virtually each month and once a year in-person to tackle big themes that go beyond traditional HR.
No leader needs another headline telling them that AI is changing everything. Everyone already knows that. What leaders aren’t talking about enough is the quieter, and far more dangerous shift happening underneath the surface: as automation accelerates, culture and human connection are eroding faster than most companies can rebuild them.
Processes are getting smarter, tools are getting faster, but people aren’t magically becoming more adaptable, more trusting, or more aligned. This is the real leadership crisis of the AI era, and it’s something Western Digital CHRO Katie Watson confronts head-on.
In this episode of Future Ready Leadership, Katie shares how she’s modernizing a 55-year-old company for an AI-driven era without losing its soul. The conversation dives deep into three major challenges every CHRO faces today: integrating AI responsibly, future-proofing the workforce through upskilling, and preserving culture in a world increasingly run by algorithms.
Listen to the episode here on Apple Podcast & leave a review!
AI as a Business Partner, Not a Replacement
Western Digital’s AI journey began on the factory floor. In its Thailand manufacturing site—home to more than 10,000 employees—the company has built “lights-out” facilities where machines work around the clock without human intervention. The technology didn’t just cut costs or increase precision—it transformed how people worked.
Most companies rush into AI by asking, “What can we automate?”
Katie takes a different approach: “What should humans still own?”
Rather than eliminate jobs, Western Digital used automation as a catalyst for massive reskilling. Over 50% of employees affected by automation were trained for higher-value roles in engineering, testing, and technical maintenance. The result: efficiency improved and the workforce evolved.
For CHROs, Katie’s approach reframes AI from a threat to a strategic collaborator. The goal isn’t to replace people—it’s to remove repetitive work so humans can focus on creativity, problem-solving, and leadership. Technology can enhance how people work, but it cannot replace why people work. That “why” must be intentionally protected.
Building AI Fluency Across Every Function
Beyond the factory floor, Western Digital is extending AI adoption across engineering, HR, and analytics. The company uses internal tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Glean to streamline workflows—from code reviews to analyzing employee feedback.
But the real story isn’t the technology. It’s how Katie ensures people remain active participants in the transformation. In Western Digital’s manufacturing sites, employees themselves identified which tasks were monotonous, ergonomically risky, or ripe for automation. Because workers helped shape the change, they supported it—and because the company invested heavily in upskilling, thousands were able to transition into higher-value roles rather than be displaced.
Across the rest of the organization, a different challenge emerged: adoption. Many employees hesitate to use AI tools even if they’re familiar with them at home. Katie’s answer is to build AI champions—early adopters who coach their peers, lower resistance, and create a culture of experimentation rather than fear.
This collaborative, people-led approach created something AI can’t manufacture: trust. And for CHROs, the message is clear—AI fluency is no longer optional. HR leaders must invest not just in technical training, but in the mindset shift that fuels curiosity, adaptability, and responsible experimentation.
Listen to the episode here on Apple Podcast & leave a review!
Keeping Humanity at the Center of Technology
When AI writes performance reviews or generates feedback, it raises a profound question: where does the human touch fit in?
Katie warns that while AI can help managers save time, it should never replace the authentic connection between leader and employee. “People want to be managed by people,” she emphasizes. The key is knowing when to automate and when to empathize.
At Western Digital, the rule is simple: if the task requires empathy, judgment, or trust, it stays human. If it’s administrative or transactional, automate it. This principle is backed by an AI Council that governs how new tools are tested, ensuring innovation never comes at the cost of employee experience or ethical responsibility.
For CHROs, this balance is the new leadership frontier—as AI gets better at content, tasks, and data, leaders must get better at what machines can’t do: empathy, curiosity, and meaningful interaction.
Emotional intelligence is now as valuable as technical fluency. Technology should free people to do more human work, not turn the workplace into a scripted, algorithmic experience.
The One Strategy That Will Outlast AI
In the end, Katie’s message for CHROs is clear: technology will keep evolving, but what truly endures is humanity. The companies that thrive won’t be the ones that automate the fastest, but the ones that protect meaning and connection as they modernize.
At Western Digital, AI is designed to take work off people’s plates—not take the people out of the work. That distinction is the real future of leadership. We have to make sure we’re managing the technology, the technology isn’t managing us. Because in a world moving at machine speed, the only strategy that will outlast AI is keeping humans, and the culture that binds them, at the center of everything.
To hear Katie’s full insights on how Western Digital is rewriting the rules of work, listen to the full episode of Future Ready Leadership below.
