Show Notes
AI is already crashing the workplace party, but apparently, the humans were left off the guest list!
Today, I’m joined by attorney and human-centered leadership strategist Val Jensen to talk about biased tools, performative people-first promises, and why letting AI make decisions about employees is a legal and ethical dumpster fire waiting to happen.
We’re also getting into who’s actually responsible when AI causes harm, and why most companies are wildly unprepared, while leadership is sprinting toward the robots.
---
With Shapes, people management looks completely different.
Think AI agents handling the routine, a secure HR core, and the ability to build any people tool your org needs, just by describing it in plain english in their built in Shapes Vibe studio.
If your systems feel stuck in 2015, go check out Shapes at https://shapes.co/
---
If you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration. https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/
And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!
---
Follow Val on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerie-jensen-jd-she-her-hers/
Follow Hebba
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef
Come join Hebba at Safe Space Summit 2026 in Huntington Beach, CA! To learn more, check out: https://www.safespacesummit.com/
More from I Hate It Here
I invited RyanMae McAvoy Pepin and Josiah Hernández back to talk HR, and somehow we ended up recruiting for a hypothetical cult and debating whether Michael Scott deserves a little credit.
We’re back in action, and I gave this season one rule: anything but AI.
I started this solo episode planning to talk about the evolution of HR, and ended up using one of my fav shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to explain why this job can be emotionally unhinged, and suspiciously dependent on one exhausted woman saving everybody.
HR keeps getting handed the mop after someone else’s AI strategy floods the building, and frankly, I’m pretty sure you’re already over it!
Change is inevitable, but apparently at some orgs, explaining it to people is optional!