There is something deeply symbolic about returning to where part of your journey began, not as a participant this time, but as faculty.
In 2010, I attended my first Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University (LBS) executive program, sponsored by Human Edge Limited. Beyond shaping the HR advisory work I led across multiple industries for clients, that experience also opened the door to relationships that later contributed to Nigeria’s inclusion in the Global HR Competency Survey led by Dave Ulrich and the University of Michigan – Stephen M. Ross School of Business through CIPM Nigeria.
Two weeks ago, I returned to LBS as a faculty member on the HR Academy programme to facilitate sessions on:
- Becoming a Future-Ready HR Manager
- Working Smarter. Driving Performance & Profit with AI
One thing was clear during the conversations.
The future of HR is already here.
AI is reshaping recruitment, workforce planning, productivity, organisational structures, and decision-making, and the HR leaders who will thrive in this era will not just manage people; they will drive workforce transformation, business performance, AI governance, and organisational adaptability.
To succeed, HR professionals need to become:
- AI fluent
- Commercially minded
- Data-driven
- Strategically influential, and most importantly;
- Deeply human in increasingly digital workplaces
This also aligns with the trends I continue to see serving on the HRM Professional Advisory Group at Edinburgh Napier University and with the recent launch of its MSc HRM and AI program.
The HR leaders who win in the next decade will not simply have the best functional HR proficiency; they will be leaders who understand how to align people, productivity, culture, AI, and business strategy at scale.
To support professionals preparing for this transition, I am sharing a distilled version of the “Future HR Professional Roadmap” I shared with the LBS HR Academy Cohort 5, outlining:
- How HR roles are evolving over the next 1, 3, and 5 years
- Emerging AI-driven opportunities in HR
- Capabilities future-ready HR leaders must build now
- The shift from traditional HR operations to strategic workforce leadership
As Tunde Onakoya says, “great things start from small places”, and I am grateful to God and for leaders like Folarin Longe, who saw what could be and positioned me early for opportunities like this; and leaders preparing the next generation of HR leaders like Professor Henry Onukwuba FCIPM, FNIM, LDS and Dr Dotun Ayeni, who have graciously shared their platforms with me to contribute to shaping the future of HR.
Fun Fact: Both the LBS & Edinburgh Napier are hashtag#AACSB-accredited, making them one of the top 6% of business schools globally.
I am excited to shape HR globally, with the best of the best! 😎
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