Empathy at Scale: Perforce’s CPO on AI, Authentic Hiring, and Leading Individuals

Summary

When change is constant and AI is rewriting work, how do you create clarity, safety, and performance for a global workforce?

Kristin Gaarder, Chief People Officer at Perforce Software (2,000 employees across 30+ countries), shares how her team supports technologists navigating rapid transformation, geopolitical uncertainty, and change fatigue—without losing the human thread.

She unpacks the real risks AI introduces to talent acquisition (think synthetic candidates and system infiltration) and why Perforce is reintroducing in-person touchpoints to validate skills and character.

Kristin details a company-wide leadership learning journey: from building high-performing teams on trust and healthy conflict to leading each individual with empathy and precision.

She also breaks down Perforce’s listening architecture—small group sessions, town halls, pulse and engagement surveys, CEO surveys, and always-on feedback forms—to replace “hallway chatter” in distributed teams and rebuild trust through action.

Expect practical ways to teach curiosity and critical thinking, normalize not having all the answers, and anchor change in empathy, stability, and clarity.

Timestamps

[00:45] – Guest intro: Perforce’s global footprint and technical workforce

[01:37] – The pace and volume of change: AI’s impact, global uncertainty, and employee anxiety

[04:10] – Skills for the next decade: curiosity, critical thinking, and discerning AI outputs

[06:21] – Talent acquisition in an AI era: preventing “synthetic candidates” and bot infiltration

[07:55] – Back to basics: why in-person interviews may return—and what to look for in humans

[09:24] – Leading without all the answers: humility, listening widely, and pivoting fast

[10:35] – Replacing hallway feedback: listening sessions, surveys, and building trust remotely

[13:08] – Perforce’s leadership journey: high-performing teams to individualized leadership

[15:36] – Development in practice: better feedback, personalized plans, and AI as a tool

[17:22] – Closing principles: meeting people with empathy, stability, and clarity

Takeaways

- Fortify talent acquisition against AI risks—verify identity, add human touchpoints, and assess learnability, not perfection.

- Build a multi-channel listening system (small groups, pulse/engagement/CEO surveys, town halls) and act visibly on feedback.

- Coach leaders to run high-performing teams grounded in trust, healthy conflict, and clear results.

- Shift from team-only leadership to individualized leadership—meet each person where they are, when they need it.

- Teach curiosity and critical thinking so employees can evaluate AI outputs and navigate ambiguity.

- Anchor change in empathy, stability, and clarity to create psychological safety and enable faster, better decisions.

Sponsor

AllVoices brings all your employee relations work together in one place. No more jumping between spreadsheets, emails, and legacy systems just one place to document and manage reports, cases, investigations, and performance conversations. It helps you run a more consistent process, takes busywork off your plate with AI, and makes it easier to spot trends early, so you can work proactively, not just put out fires.

See a demo at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.allvoices.co/

Kristin Gaarder, Chief People Officer at Perforce Software

HR Voices

Kristin Gaarder, Chief People Officer at Perforce Software