As part of our Leadership Insights series, we sat down with Gayle Woodrup, a senior HR leader operating at scale within a global product and technology environment. In conversation with Matthew Bettesworth, HR recruitment specialist at JSS, Gayle shares a perspective shaped by pace and change – one that reflects a broader shift we’re seeing across HR functions.

The move from reactive support to proactive workforce strategy is well underway. One where people, technology, and adaptability must work together.

2026: From managing change to designing it

After an intense period of transformation, the focus for Flutter has shifted from delivery to sustainability.

For Gayle, a key focus is protecting internal capability. Rather than defaulting to external hiring as business needs evolve, the emphasis is firmly on reskilling, redeploying, and retaining existing talent.

“If we can nurture our own talent and help people evolve with the business, we reduce the impact of external change and minimise the unnecessary loss of great people”.

At the same time, HR leaders are acknowledging a difficult reality: not every change will be popular. Increasingly, the role of HR is to keep teams informed and supported, even when decisions are uncomfortable.

This is where resilience becomes important. Organisations need workforces that can adapt as change accelerates, rather than respond to it after the fact.

“Agility, continuous change, and preparing people for a world that keeps shifting will stay hot topics.”

And running alongside all of this is the growing influence of AI.

AI as an enabler, not a replacement

AI now features on every HR agenda. Yet the conversation has matured, with the focus less on hype and more on practical application.

Rather than viewing AI as a threat to roles, Gayle sees it as a way to remove friction from day-to-day work. Used well, automation can reduce administrative burden, support better workforce planning, and enable more informed decisions around skills and resourcing.

“We’re looking at things like Copilot for HRBPs, skills matching, better workforce planning. The opportunity is huge.”

Crucially, she believes AI has the potential to strengthen, not dilute, the human side of work. When routine tasks are reduced, teams can focus on progress rather than process. But that outcome depends on HR leaders staying close to how technology is implemented and experienced.

“If we take admin away from managers and entry-level roles, we actually free people up to spend more time on problem-solving, collaboration, coaching and human connection. That’s the work that really adds value.”

Personalisation as a baseline

One of the clearest shifts in recent years is the level of personalisation employees now expect from their workplace.

Leading HR teams are responding by investing in more holistic people experiences, bringing together wellbeing, learning, mentoring and internal mobility in a way that feels joined up rather than fragmented.

“This is something we’ve been investing in for a long time,” Gayle explains. “We have a very strong People Experience team and a genuinely people-first culture.”

Career development, in particular, is no longer linear. Employees want visibility of options, access to learning, as well as the freedom to move across roles, projects, and even geographies.

“There are technical career paths, internal academies, external learning funds, and mentoring programmes. This includes female mentoring and ‘Lean In’ initiatives. And we’re very serious about internal mobility”.

Tools that surface skills and aspirations early are also becoming powerful retention levers, helping businesses keep talent engaged before the individual feels the need to look elsewhere.

“It [Bimarry] captures people’s skills and aspirations and suggests internal opportunities before they even go looking. That’s how you keep talent — by making the organisation feel full of possibilities.”

Hybrid works, but only if you’re intentional about connection

With teams now distributed across time zones, hybrid working is firmly embedded. But sustaining culture in this environment requires intent.

Gayle’s own team is spread across multiple countries, giving her a clear view of how this works in practice.

“We’re hybrid by default, but not dogmatic. Some offices suggest two days a week, others are more flexible. The real focus is: what’s the point of being together?”

The organisations that are succeeding aren’t mandating attendance. They’re being deliberate about why people come together. Offices are increasingly used for collaboration and connection, rather than simply desk space.

“People coordinate days via Slack, plan collaboration time, run in-person events. Even charity balls. The office becomes a place for connection, not just somewhere you happen to sit with a laptop.”

Her key takeaway is simple, but important:

“Culture doesn’t happen by accident anymore. You have to engineer it”.

That means giving teams ownership over how they create belonging, designing meaningful interactions, and recognising that culture now requires active stewardship.

The biggest risk in 2026? Underestimating the pace of change

When asked what HR leaders are most underprepared for, Gayle doesn’t hesitate.

“Change is no longer episodic; it’s constant. Build adaptability into your workforce now. And most importantly, invest in your people’s ability to cope with and lead change.”

Layer global uncertainty, evolving regulation, and accelerating automation on top of this, and adaptability becomes a defining organisational strength.

The message for HR leaders is clear: move early. Reassess skills, prepare leaders, and build workforces that can absorb and lead change, rather than react to it.

What this means for HR leaders now

Speaking with Gayle, one thing is clear. The future of HR isn’t technology versus humanity – it will be about using one to strengthen the other.

In organisations where scale and speed are a daily reality, the people agenda is becoming more strategic (and more critical) than ever. As leaders rethink how they structure teams and develop talent, HR has a central role in shaping what comes next.

At JSS, we work closely with HR and people leaders experiencing these challenges on the ground. If you’d like to explore how your people agenda needs to evolve for what’s ahead, we’d welcome the conversation.