Altana CPO Kit Krugman: after automation, leaders' job is the messy work of unpredictable humans
every · x · 2026-09-16
Every.to publishes an essay by Kit Krugman, chief people officer at Altana AI (formerly SVP of people and culture at Foursquare), on what leadership means after automation.
Her thesis: models respond predictably on average, while humans are unpredictable — defensive, grieving, running on adrenaline and caffeine. Once automation absorbs predictable tasks, the messy human work remains, and it falls to leaders. She names three core tasks:
- Modeling and mediating human development: managing your own emotional reactions, mediating conflict across personalities and cultures, helping people metabolize destabilizing change, keeping teams focused on the big picture.
- Architecting a shared reality: an organization's emotional fabric is a collective narrative constantly co-created — you either design it or it shapes you.
- Investing in the analog: genuine connection builds trust, which underpins good work; use automation to buy more face-to-face time, not more screen time.
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