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Most leaders blame people when performance stalls; this episode argues the real culprit is the invisible system wrapped around them.

In this Talent Sherpa conversation, Jackson O. Lynch and Scott Morris sit down with Dave Foley, founder and CEO of Vendi, to talk about a problem every CHRO and senior operator feels but rarely names: you cannot manage what you cannot see, and right now most companies cannot see how work actually moves. AI is speeding everything up, but your operating model and workflows are still built for a slower, simpler world. The result: headcount sprawl, shadow processes, and heroics that hide structural debt.

We walk through the uncomfortable truth that dashboards show tidy outcomes while the real work lives in Slack threads, side spreadsheets, and manual workarounds held together by your top performers. Performance management, learning, and workforce planning all suffer because leaders are planning by role, not by capability and flow. As Dave puts it, new hires do not eliminate the debt, they absorb it.

Then we get practical. We unpack how a CHRO can:

• Trace one high friction workflow and expose where reality diverges from the glossy process map
• Spot the real drag indicators: stalled approvals, repeated handoffs, parallel tools, and rework loops
• Start with discovery instead of activity so AI, HR tech, and the broader operating model finally align with business priorities

If you care about CHRO strategy, HR leadership, and business transformation, this is your field guide to ground truth. Visibility beats volume; the CHRO who can see the work becomes the engine of the future of work inside the enterprise.

Learn more about Vendi at www.meetvendi.com

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Coaching is where it closes fastest — Jackson has developed CHROs from both sides of the table, as their leader and as their coach. The CHRO Ascent Academy, CHRO Chronicles, and the best-selling Substack are there too. 

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In private equity: Propulsion AI surfaces workforce risk before the close and translates strategy into individual accountability after it. Before AI automation -  drive outcome clarity with digital teammates to do the work fast and at scale. 

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