AHEAD CPO Kristin Supancich on how technology and empathy play key roles in supporting employees

Despite the rapid changes in the world of work—from shifting industries and advancing technologies to evolving employee roles and management structures—the one constant is change itself. Everyone is adapting to stay ahead of the curve.

In a recent conversation with Kristin Supancich, Chief People Officer at AHEAD, we explored how the company is living up to its name. We discussed the innovative ways they are reshaping their people strategy to meet the demands of this shift.

From creating personalised yet scalable employee development programs to harnessing data and technology to enhance well-being, Kristin shared how AHEAD gained competitive edge over the years. She also revealed how they balance global goals with regional nuances, the role of middle managers in driving innovation, and how both technology and empathy play key roles in supporting employee well-being.

Read the edited excerpts of the interview:

Q. How is AHEAD designing talent development journeys that are both scalable and deeply personalised? How do you identify and nurture high-potential talent for future leadership roles?

At AHEAD, scalability does not mean standardisation. We have learned that meaningful talent development must honor individual ambition while ensuring enterprise needs are met. Our programs are intentionally layered: there is a common foundation — access to learning platforms, leadership frameworks, and skill certifications — but the true personalisation happens through role-based growth paths, local market-specific interventions, and manager-led coaching conversations.

Especially in India, where career progression is a key motivator, we have adapted our systems to offer clear visibility into advancement opportunities.

High-potential talent is not identified once; it is a continuous discovery. We observe how individuals adapt to stretch assignments, lead peer networks, and show resilience when navigating change. Leadership potential is about influence, initiative, and emotional intelligence, all assessed in context.

Our leadership development journeys are designed to give emerging leaders early exposure to cross-functional roles, client-facing projects, and global assignments.

Q. How does AHEAD ensure that inclusion is embedded beyond just diversity metrics? How do you develop cultural intelligence within leadership to manage global teams effectively? Additionally, how do you balance global diversity goals with India’s cultural nuances?

Inclusion at AHEAD is about the day-to-day lived experience of our people. Metrics help us identify gaps, but closing those gaps requires cultural empathy and sustained action. We invest heavily in leadership training that equips our leaders to manage cross-cultural, multi-location teams with emotional intelligence.

In India, for instance, we recognise that while flexible work is appreciated, structured guidance and community-based collaboration are equally valued.

We localise policies like flexible leave to support family responsibilities and tailor leadership conversations to reflect the collectivist cultural mindset, where decisions often impact extended families, not just individuals.

Balancing global diversity goals with local nuance helps create true inclusion. We think global, but we listen local.

Q. What strategic role do GCCs play in AHEAD's talent ecosystem? How do GCCs contribute to innovation, agility, and cost efficiency? And how do you maintain a consistent culture across geographically dispersed teams?

Our Global Capability Centers (GCCs) are strategic hubs of innovation, problem-solving, and leadership development.

India’s GCC, in particular, plays a pivotal role by bringing together technical expertise, customer-centric innovation, and operational excellence at scale. GCCs allow us to be agile — testing ideas faster, building solutions closer to market needs, and doing so cost-efficiently.

Culturally, we are intentional about ensuring that our GCC teams feel fully integrated into AHEAD’s larger mission. From leadership development programs to innovation sprints to consistent town halls and leadership connects, we invest in building a strong, unified AHEAD identity that transcends geography.

Q. How is AHEAD leveraging technology to enhance people-centric decision-making? What frameworks or analytics are in place to measure the ROI of your people's programs? How are you building a data-driven mindset across the organisation?

At AHEAD, data is a core enabler of our people strategy. We use analytics to track engagement levels, stress indicators, attrition risks, and growth trajectories. Rather than reactively addressing issues, we aim to anticipate and act early. For example,

we measure the ROI of programs like leadership development not just through participation rates, but also through promotion velocity, retention rates, and employee sentiment analysis six to twelve months later.

Building a data-driven culture is an intentional journey. We are equipping our people leaders with self-serve dashboards, training them to ask the right questions of the data, and ensuring that decisions — from team composition to career planning — are made with insights, not instinct alone.

Q. How do you strike a balance between hiring speed and quality? What tools or process changes have made the biggest impact on reducing hiring time?

In India’s hyper-competitive market, the traditional model of hiring simply does not hold. Candidates often juggle multiple offers at once, and the window for action is incredibly tight. We have reengineered our hiring process around agility.

One shift that made a big impact was empowering our hiring managers with clearer decision frameworks — upfront role calibration, fast interview panels, and real-time feedback loops.

We also leverage AI-based screening tools to ensure the first shortlist already meets 80% of the must-have criteria, cutting down multiple rounds.

Speed is important, but not at the cost of alignment. 

Q. How is AHEAD using AI or predictive analytics to support employee well-being? Can you share a recent initiative where tech meaningfully improved the well-being experience?

Employee well-being is nuanced, especially in regions like India, where family responsibilities and financial security are deeply intertwined with individual health. For instance, during the pandemic, we noticed a spike in stress signals through our pulse surveys.

Rather than launching generic wellness programs, we responded by creating localised solutions: financial wellness workshops, flexible caregiving leaves, and mental health sessions woven into leadership meetings.

One particularly successful initiative was transforming an employee-led yoga club into a structured, tech-enabled, certified program spanning multiple time zones, combining digital accessibility with human connection.

Q. What is one workplace trend that you think organisations are underestimating? How is AHEAD reshaping the employee experience to meet evolving expectations? How do you maintain cohesion and culture while offering flexibility?

One trend that is still underestimated is the desire for structured flexibility. While flexibility is important, employees also crave predictability, community, and purpose.

At AHEAD, we have moved beyond binary debates of ‘office vs remote.’ Instead, we focus on setting clear parameters: when it is important to be together physically, and when virtual work is optimal.

We are reshaping the employee experience by ensuring that wherever our employees are, they have equal access to mentorship, learning, and leadership visibility. Consistency in experience matters as much as flexibility in location.

Q. How do you see the role of middle managers evolving in workplace innovation? What systems are in place at AHEAD to empower them to champion new ideas, and what common blockers do you encounter? Can you share an example where a middle manager sparked meaningful innovation, and how do you create a culture where they feel safe to experiment and take calculated risks?

Middle managers are translators of strategy and catalysts of change. At AHEAD, we see them as innovation multipliers. We have embedded innovation expectations into manager KPIs and support them through innovation sprints, structured ideation platforms, and a strong psychological safety net. Mistakes are not penalised if they come from thoughtful experiments.

A recent example: one of our middle managers in India spotted the stress around caregiving during COVID and proposed a flexible micro-leave policy — smaller, more frequent time-offs without bureaucratic approval loops. It started as a pilot and is now a recognised best practice across our locations.

The idea came from being close to the ground realities — something middle managers uniquely experience.

Q. What recent challenge shifted your thinking as a Chief People Officer? What is your north star when it comes to building a future-ready workforce?

The velocity of change in the Indian talent market has been a real shift moment for me (as a Chief People Officer). Traditional talent strategies that worked elsewhere simply did not map here. We had to embrace speed, empathy, and data-centricity as non-negotiables — not as enhancements, but as essentials.

My north star remains simple but challenging: Build a workforce that feels seen, heard, and invested in, while staying relentlessly future-focused. 

It is about equipping people not just for today’s jobs, but for the unknowns ahead. That means anchoring every policy, every platform, and every conversation around growth, adaptability, and trust.