328 - Christy Lake (CAO, Twilio) on designing for a future nobody can see

<p>Christy Lake, Chief Administrative Officer at Twilio, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how AI is changing work, why skills, governance, and human judgment matter more than ever, and how Twilio is thinking about remote-first work, employee experience, and curiosity in the AI era.</p><p>----  </p><p><strong>Sponsor Links:</strong></p><p>🔗 <a href="https://www.sixfifty.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_campaign=The+Modern+People+Leader"><u>Learn more about SixFifty</u></a></p><p>🔗 Explore the 2026<a href="https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/human-capital-trends.html?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+Modern+People+Leader"><u> ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report</u></a></p><p><strong>MPL Links:</strong></p><p>🔗<a href="https://mplbuild.com"><u> Go sign up for MPL Build</u></a>.</p><p>----  </p><p>(11:20) The Hardest Thing on Christy’s Plate as CAO</p><p>(12:00) Why AI Is the Biggest Transformation Christy Has Seen</p><p>(13:00) Upskilling, Security, Data and Governance in the AI Era</p><p>(14:30) Why AI Does Not Have a Clear Playbook Yet</p><p>(15:25) Why This AI Cycle Comes With So Much Fear</p><p>(17:30) Building a Skills Infrastructure for the Future of Work</p><p>(18:15) Tasks, Roles and Where Human Judgment Still Matters</p><p>(19:15) Twilio’s Three-Horizon View of AI Change</p><p>(25:00) The Task Construct of Work and AI-Able Work</p><p>(26:00) Why Existing Companies Still Need Org Design and Change Management</p><p>(29:00) The Future of Employee Experience and the One Prompt Box</p><p>(31:15) Why UX Will Matter More in the Future of Work</p><p>(32:00) Why Companies Should Not Move Too Fast Without Human-in-the-Loop Design</p><p>(33:40) Why People Still Need to Be Seen, Recognized and Thanked</p><p>(36:00) Why Twilio Stayed Remote First</p><p>(38:10) Hiring From Anywhere and Becoming a Net Talent Winner</p><p>(40:45) Remote-First Companies and AI-First Readiness</p><p>(42:00) AI Burnout, Remote Work and the Pressure to Do More</p><p>(44:10) Why AI Upskilling Is Becoming Nights-and-Weekends Work</p><p>(48:05) Why Constant Change Leaves People Without a Sense of Mastery</p><p>---- </p><p><strong>📬 </strong><a href="https://www.modernpeopleleader.com/newsletter"><strong>Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps</strong></a></p><p><strong>💡 </strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-modern-people-leader/"><strong>Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn</strong></a></p><p><strong>😊 </strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-huerta-mpl/"><strong>Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn</strong></a></p><p><strong>😊 </strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhuerta/"><strong>Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn</strong></a></p><p>---- </p><p>Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.</p>