HR Bytes S5Ep1: Jay Polaki in conversation with Kandi Gongora

Jay Polaki, Founder and CEO of HR Geckos (https://hrgeckos.com/), sits with Kandi Gongora—Chief Transformation and People Officer at Goodway Group and now CHRO at The Car Group, a visionary HR leader with over 20 years of global experience.

In this episode, Kandi shares a practical approach to embracing AI in HR: start with curiosity, experiment with small processes, and seek learning opportunities from mentors and digital forums.

Key takeaways:

• Being open and adaptable is critical—yesterday’s best practices may not solve tomorrow’s problems.
• Human-AI collaboration is essential; tools like “Ruby” enable strategic impact while keeping the human touch at the core of performance management.
• AI empowers HR to move faster, become more strategic partners to the business, and focus on high-value work.
• Start experimenting on a personal level, remain proactive about new tech, and always align technology adoption with business objectives

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 Reach Kandi Gongora on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kandigongora/

Kandi’s connection recommendations: Eva Feng

Kandi’s Podcast recommendation:  The Ready

Kandi’s HR Playlist recommendation: Love Shack

Give our work from anywhere Spotify HR Music Playlist, Geckos Grooves, a listen: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3cgLqXsUutUyfBha9ICNFT?si=06dd8ea87f0a4810

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