AI’s Human Side: Making HR More Personalized

Why AI isn’t here to replace HR—but to finally give it a fighting chance.
From Jeet Mukerji’s conversation with Hebba Youssef on “I Hate It Here.”

The real and invisible crisis is paper cuts

HR teams aren’t collapsing under one big challenge. They’re getting worn down by hundreds of tiny ones.

• Five DMs about the work-from-home stipend.
• Three managers who missed the promotion deadline.
• A perfectly good Notion doc no one ever reads.

Jeet Mukerji, CEO of Kinfolk, said it best: “The biggest blocker to creativity and collaboration is low-level admin. If you give people the time and space, they’ll figure things out. But right now, HR doesn’t have either.”

The problem isn’t capability. It’s capacity. That’s where AI comes in—not to replace HR, but to multiply it.

You don’t need another dashboard

You need a teammate. Forget “AI-powered job descriptions” and “smart surveys.” That’s table stakes.

Here’s what actual transformation looks like:

• Employees get instant answers via Slack, Teams, SMS, or email.
• AI doesn’t just create tickets—it logs into the HRIS, updates records, generates letters, and follows through.
• Managers get nudged before they drop the ball—because the system knows their patterns.
• HR finally sees what’s being asked, by whom, and when—so you’re not relying on hunches or hallway chats.

Kinfolk handles up to 70% of requests end-to-end. That’s not hypothetical. That’s what teams like Vidyard and Correla are already doing.

“It’s like giving every employee their own HR person,” Jeet said. “And letting the real HR team actually lead.”

Admin is not your job. It’s what’s in the way of your job

Hebba nailed the frustration: “I’ve typoed promotion paperwork. I’ve spent hours reminding managers. I’m trying to help people grow—and I’m stuck doing things that don’t need a human.”

That’s the disconnect. AI doesn’t remove the human element. It removes the parts that block it.

• The form you check seven times? AI gets it right the first.
• The onboarding email your People Ops lead sends 50 times a year? AI sends it, tracks it, personalizes it.
• The employee asking for policy info at 9pm? AI answers—without burning out your team.

This isn’t about replacing empathy. It’s about making room for it.

HR knows the data. But are we using it?

Every time an employee Slacks you with a question they should’ve found in Notion, it’s not their fault.
It’s a signal.

Kinfolk turns those signals into something HR can act on:

• Who’s asking what—and how often
• Which workflows are creating friction
• Where communication breaks down, repeatedly

It’s not about service times or CSAT. It’s about giving HR real leverage: “If 57 employees ask the same thing, that’s not a one-off,” Jeet said. “That’s a business case.”

AI isn’t here to cut HR teams

It’s here to stop them from breaking. Let’s shut down the lazy assumption that AI = layoffs.

What it actually means:

• Fewer late-night Slack sessions
• Less scrambling before open enrollment
• More time to think deeply about talent, structure, and growth

“It won’t cut your current team,” Jeet said. “It reduces the need for future hires. And gives your existing team time to do the work that actually moves the needle.”

The Skynet myth. And why nuance still needs a human.

Kinfolk isn’t firing people or rewriting policies without permission. The agent has guardrails. Anything nuanced is flagged and escalated—immediately, to the right person, with full context.

And yes, you can set the tone so it responds like a human—with empathy, clarity, and professionalism. But when something crosses the line into sensitive or subjective? It knows to back off.

“Some things are above its pay grade,” Jeet said. "So it loops in the humans.”

The quiet power of equitable automation

AI can’t eliminate bias on its own. But it can kill the ambiguity that fuels it. When promotions happen without clear documentation—when processes vary team to team—people lose trust. They start to wonder: Was it a mistake? Or something deeper?

“You keep hearing stories—someone’s pay is wrong, their job title is off,” Jeet said. “They start asking: Was it because of my name? My background? AI brings consistency. And consistency builds trust.”

HR can’t afford to think small

If AI is just helping you write job descriptions faster, you're missing the point.

What if:

• You never had to send another onboarding message again?
• No employee ever asked the same question twice?
• Managers got proactive nudges tailored to their behavior?
• HR wasn’t the bottleneck—but the accelerator?

That’s what Kinfolk’s building. And it’s not some distant vision.

“People are smart. They want to do good work,” Jeet said. “Let’s actually enable them to do it.”

What’s next?

“Just try it. Spend the $20. Use Chat GPT. Ask it how to improve your current process.
Treat it like a sparring partner—and start from there.”

The future of HR won’t be built by playing it safe. It’ll be built by teams who finally have the time, space, and tools to lead.