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AI is accelerating. Everyone’s racing to automate. Creativity is becoming currency. And somewhere in the middle, the future of talent is being rewritten. Few are asking the harder question: What if the next competitive edge comes from blending AI’s precision with the creativity only humans can unlock?
At International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), Chief People & Culture Officer Deborah Borg has a front-row seat to that transformation, and she’s betting on a very different future of talent—one that combines AI precision with human creativity.
In this episode of Future Ready Leadership, Deborah shares how her team is reimagining talent strategy, offering a roadmap every organization will need in the years ahead.
Listen to the episode here on Apple Podcast & leave a review!
Blending AI and Human Creativity in the Talent Strategy
IFF sits at the intersection of science and artistry—where chemists, perfumers, and flavorists collaborate to craft sensory experiences. Deborah explains that sustaining this creativity at scale requires more than technology. It demands a talent ecosystem where data supports intuition, and AI enhances, not replaces, the spark of human imagination.
For Deborah, that duality defines the company’s talent strategy: nurture creativity with structure, and accelerate science with empathy.
Here’s how they do it in practice:
- Mentorship drives mastery. Every master perfumer mentors an apprentice. This apprenticeship model extends across functions—from scientists to finance teams—cementing IFF’s learning culture.
- AI accelerates hiring, not judgment. In factories and plants, AI shortens the time-to-hire by nearly 10%, handling high-volume tasks like sourcing and scheduling. But cultural fit, curiosity, and human potential remain in the hands of people.
Too many organizations see AI as a replacement for HR’s human touch. But IFF flips that logic. Deborah’s team deliberately inserts humans at key decision points.
For CHROs, this tells: don’t deploy AI to do HR’s job. Deploy it to free HR for better judgment calls. Use technology to screen for skills, but let people screen for purpose. That’s how you protect the creative and cultural DNA that algorithms can’t replicate.
Redefine Talent Development and Engagement Through Skills and Experience
- Onboarding must “invoke joy” and align with the brand’s promise
That same mindset extends to IFF’s onboarding process. Technology handles logistics—forms, background checks, pre-hire videos—but HR focuses on designing experiences that “invoke joy,” reinforcing brand and purpose from day one.
Deborah treats onboarding not as an orientation, but as the first act of engagement. Every touchpoint teaches employees what the company stands for and how they contribute to something bigger.
- The Employee Engagement and Analytics Crossover
When it comes to employee engagement, IFF uses data as a listening system rather than a scorecard. Through predictive analytics. In narrow pilots, the HR team uses predictive analytics for workforce planning.
CHROs, keep in mind that metrics don’t replace empathy; they magnify where empathy is most needed. Your goal isn’t to collect data—it’s to convert it into meaningful human action. AI can help you see what’s changing; only people can decide what matters most.
By connecting these pieces—skills, onboarding, and analytics—IFF turns employee experience into a living system that learns and adapts. It’s not about automating HR; it’s about equipping leaders to make smarter, more human decisions at scale.
Listen to the episode here on Apple Podcast & leave a review!
Scale AI Responsibly—With Governance, Curiosity, and Creativity
As AI reshapes how work gets done, CHROs must become both architects and stewards of this transformation. At IFF, Deborah’s approach to integrating AI into the workforce shows how to scale adoption without losing cultural integrity. Her message to every HR leader: AI should accelerate human creativity, not replace it.
- A culture of curiosity – IFF empowers employees to experiment with Microsoft Copilot—drafting HR policies, creating visuals, and reimagining products. But instead of enforcing top-down training, Deborah fosters a culture of curiosity and peer learning. Employees share what works (and what doesn’t) through internal forums, using experimentation as a form of capability building. This is what a learning organization looks like in the AI era: self-directed, transparent, and psychologically safe.
- Governance – Curiosity without governance is chaos. To balance innovation with accountability, IFF established an AI Council—a cross-functional body that includes HR, IT, legal, data privacy, and business-unit leaders. The council meets monthly and as needed to vet new tools, set data standards, and ensure every experiment aligns with ethical and compliance requirements. Governance should be an enabler. The goal is to make responsible innovation part of your HR operating system.
- AI recruitment with integrity – Deborah also recognizes that the AI in recruiting revolution brings new risks—like the possibility of candidates using avatars in interviews—as reminders that even technology has an integrity threshold. IFF safeguards authenticity by requiring at least one live, human interview for every candidate—keeping empathy at the center of technology.
- AI and human creativity – Even in creative fields, IFF demonstrates how AI and human creativity can coexist. Deborah illustrated how AI could help designers visualize creative concepts, highlighting how technology can expand imagination without replacing it. Yet she is acutely aware of the ethical gray zones—copyright, disclosure, ownership—and actively partners with legal to navigate them.
The future of AI in HR isn’t just automation. It’s augmentation—using technology to unlock the full creative and ethical potential of people.
The CHRO as Architect of Human-AI Harmony
What IFF demonstrates is that the CHRO’s role has fundamentally changed. You’re no longer just managing people—you’re designing the interaction between humans and intelligent systems.
Deborah Borg’s blueprint reminds us:
- Use AI to elevate human creativity, not eclipse it.
- Build governance models that protect both innovation and integrity.
- Anchor every technological decision to culture and joy.
Don’t just digitize processes—reimagine how work feels. Build systems that combine the logic of AI with the emotion of human insight. Design workplaces where data sharpens strategy, but curiosity fuels growth.
Because the future of work isn’t about the smartest algorithms. It’s about the leaders who know where technology ends and humanity begins.
As CHROs, that’s your opportunity—and your responsibility—to redefine what “talent” really means in the age of AI.
Listen to the full episode of Future Ready Leadership featuring Deborah Borg below to discover how IFF is creating a blueprint for blending AI and human creativity across every corner of the organization.
