How bp is writing the next chapter. Discussing transformation and technology (with Kerry Dryburgh)
bp is undergoing one of the most complex transformations in its more than 100-year history — powered by a focused strategy reset, a leaner operating model, and a global scale-up of digital and AI capabilities. But behind all of this is a fundamental reset of how people experience work - and what it means to lead through change.
In this episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, host David Green sits down with the person leading this transformation, Kerry Dryburgh, Executive Vice President for People, Culture and Communications at bp.
In their conversation, you’ll learn:
How bp is using AI and automation to simplify work and unlock capacity
Why performance culture is being redefined to balance accountability and development
What skills and mindsets are essential for the future of work
How to keep people engaged and supported through uncertainty and change
And why HR has a critical role to play in shaping transformation
If you’re leading transformation, scaling HR innovation, or simply curious about what the future of HR looks like at enterprise scale, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
This episode is sponsored by HiBob.
HiBob is the all-in-one HCM platform built for HR leaders who need connected data, flexible workflows, and a user experience people actually want to use.
Learn more by visiting hibob.com/davidgreen2025.
[0:00:11] David Green: What happens when a company over a century old decides to fundamentally reset its people strategy to pivot toward a more agile, digitally enabled, and purpose-led future? And what does it take to lead that transformation at enterprise scale? Today, we're stepping inside bp, the global energy company many of us know from petrol stations. But beyond the forecourts, bp is undergoing a profound reinvention in how work gets done across 60 countries. To learn more, I had the pleasure of visiting bp’s offices in London recently, where I sat down in person with Kerry Dryburgh, Executive Vice President for People, Culture and Communications at bp. In our conversation, Kerry shares how bp is rethinking the employee experience, from leveraging generative AI to streamline learning and hiring, to transforming performance culture, leadership development, and workforce skills. We explore how the role of the CHRO is evolving in today's uncertain world, and why Kerry believes this is a defining moment for HR to lead with authenticity, courage, and data-driven insight.
So, whether you're leading change, navigating digital transformation, or simply curious about what the future of HR looks like at enterprise scale, this is a conversation you won't want to miss. And with that, let's get the conversation started.
Kerry, thank you for inviting me to the bp offices in London to record this special episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast. To kick things off, please could you start by introducing yourself and your career journey and your role at bp?
[0:02:03] Kerry Dryburgh: Brilliant. Well, firstly, thank you for inviting me. It's a delight to be here and to have the opportunity to have a conversation about what's important to me and obviously our community. So, yes, I'm Kerry Dryburgh. I lead what we call People, Culture and Communications here at bp. And those of you who know our name at least, bp, you might know us from our petrol stations, if you call it that, in the UK or our gas stations in the US. But actually, we operate in over 60 countries around the world. So, we don't just retail fuel, we produce oil and gas, as well as have a number of other businesses producing that energy that the world needs. So, we're an integrated energy company. And in my role across the company, I'm involved in a number of different things. So, people, culture and communications translates into leading our work on people strategy.
But I came to bp 15 years ago, I've worked in a number of roles across different industries. So, I've worked in commercial environments, mainly industrials, before I came to bp, done a lot of work in areas like M&A. And I guess if you'd asked me all those years ago, could I have imagined myself sitting in this seat one day, I would have absolutely said no, because I left school actually at 16 as an apprentice, and I was supported by some great sponsors and mentors, and it's kind of got me to where I am. So, I think, could I have imagined it? No. Am I delighted that I have this opportunity to impact so many people both internally and more broadly in the community? Yes, but it's just taken a lot of time, energy, resilience and grit, I think, at the end of the day.
[0:03:43] David Green: Yeah, it's a really inspiring journey. And actually, when I was downstairs waiting when I arrived, mirrors the inspiring journey that bp’s had over 100 years. I was reading all the different things along the different milestones of how the company's evolved. And you mentioned, Kerry, that you've not always worked in HR, but you've been in HR now for a while, I think. And I'd be interested to see, number one, maybe how did coming into HR with experiences from other areas help? And then, how have you seen the role of the CHRO evolve during your career, and while leading people, culture and communications at bp?
[0:04:26] Kerry Dryburgh: Yeah, I was fortunate, I suppose, that some of the industries I worked in were growing at the time I was in telecoms, as an example. The market was deregulating and it enabled me to have the opportunity to work globally, because we were starting new businesses in different countries in Europe and then later in Asia, and that's the opportunity that I seized. Because I've always had, I guess, a cultural curiosity as well as just kind of what's going on, how do I solve problems and how do I get after them. So, I sort of navigated my way through all of that and it's interesting. I think if I reflect on different parts of my career, there have always been times when things have been growing or changing or shaping, and maybe that's a bit about me and the fact that I like change, I like transformation. Fast-forward to today and your point around, well, what is the future for CHROs and how is the job changing? And I think the whole world is so uncertain right now, whether it's going back to the pandemic, whether it's geopolitics, whether it's the evolution from an energy perspective. All of these things are impacting what we do every single day. And so, for my mind, the role of the CHRO is evolving with that.
I think one could argue it came to the fore in the pandemic because people were at the forefront, both keeping businesses running as well as taking care of people. And so, our roles became increasingly important. And so, for me, that has impacted the remit that I have here at bp, because what it's evolved to in response to many of those things is all of the things that I tend to get involved in and touch on a day-to-day basis are impacting the way our people experience work, and not just our people but the communities in which we operate, because some of what I do also is around social performance in the communities and working with NGOs and educational support to look at how we can build a future talent pipeline for organisations like ours.
[0:06:30] David Green: And it's interesting, I think, a couple of things. You mentioned uncertainty, and we're certainly living in a fairly uncertain world at the moment, lots of things happening, AI obviously being one of those, I think, that potentially changes organisations and the way we work moving forward as well. And actually, we interviewed Peter Hinssen on the podcast a few weeks ago. He's got a book out called The Uncertainty Principle. And I said, "Well, what does this mean for HR?" He said he feels it's an opportunity for HR to lean into this. So, I'd be interested in your thoughts on that, and also maybe that you've got people, culture and communication at bp and how do those three pieces kind of come together?
[0:07:09] Kerry Dryburgh: Yeah, so maybe I'll take the second question first and how it all comes together. So, for me it is this notion of the employee experience that binds it all together, and communications came to me about a year or so ago. And certainly, I think how you then communicate, how you engage, how you energise people across your organisation is critical. And that's impacted not just by what they receive internally in terms of communication, but also what they see externally. So, how are you kind of managing all of those things together? That's something that we're really focused on. It's about people, have we got the skills that we need for now and for the future? It's about what's the environment that they're working in both culturally and physically? And then, how do you engage and energise those people through how you lead and also how you communicate with them? I think it's a really important way of thinking more holistically about the organisation, the people you have who make the company what it is, and the communities that you operate in.
Back to your point on AI, I think it really is an opportunity for us to lean in. So, I think we've got to continuously learn. And there's a whole range of ways in which I think AI is impacting not just HR, but all of our businesses. And for me, I think this is very much about kind of human meets machine. I think it means that the softer skills, the EQ, the leadership, how you deploy AI more effectively, has to come from humans and the people that you have in your organisation. Now, to some extent, I think that means you have more fulfilling jobs, because the AI will take away the stuff that's more repetitive and make it more efficient. And that's our job as leaders. It's about making sure you've got the authentic leadership so the people you have in the company are going to lead in the way you need so that you can be clear on what it is that you need from people and the humans versus what you're going to allow the machines to manage.
[0:09:13] David Green: I agree. And actually, I was talking last week, again, to -- I was actually speaking at a conference in Africa. I'm not actually there, we recorded a conversation. And they were asking about AI, and I said, "Maybe we need to get to a sort of situation where AI guides, but humans decide".
[0:09:33] Kerry Dryburgh: Oh, I like that. That's good.
[0:09:34] David Green: And maybe that, we can do in HR.
[0:09:36] Kerry Dryburgh: I think it's going to be really important for us as leaders in today's industries to think through, okay, what are those new career paths? And how do you think about what are the right skills that people need to pick up? So, as jobs morph and evolve, you can actually combine those skills together to create a career of the future.
[0:09:56] David Green: Let's look at bp, Kerry. So, bp’s recently announced a fundamental reset of its strategy, I think earlier this year. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about this and maybe what it's meant for you and your role in the HR function?
[0:10:10] Kerry Dryburgh: Yeah, thank you. So, we reset our strategy in February of this year, and it was really simplifying the strategy that we had and focusing on shareholder value. And what that means for us is we've increased our investment in oil and gas by around 20%, so that's producing new energy; we are refocusing our consumer and products business, which is where a lot of our convenience and retail sits within the organisation, as well as things like biofuels, and we are refocusing that into markets that we are advantaged in and we therefore will focus on those; and we are also realigning our investments in the transition. But the reality is we're realigning that so that we are reducing our investment and thinking about more strategically where we invest and how we do it. And also, we're very much looking at how we become more efficient from a cost-based standpoint. So, between now and '27, we will reduce our cost base by about $4 billion to $5 billion. And that's where some of the impact for my team takes place, because what does that then mean in terms of where we're headed and how we support the organisation to deliver on this strategy? Because at the end of the day, that's what it's all about.
I'll say there's three areas really. So, one is focusing on the transformation of our company and how we deliver both the cost reduction as well as scaling up in some areas and reshaping others. And we're undertaking quite a big digital transformation, looking at how digital will make our company more efficient; we're looking at access and new geographies; and we're also transitioning work. So, we're working quite extensively to build what we're calling business and technology centres in core geographies. So, we will have them in four centres, predominantly in Pune in India, we're in KL, in Budapest, and also in Brazil. And so, they will be big, what many people would call GCCs, technology and sort of more service lines. So, we're doing that right across the company and my team is very much at the heart of that, both in terms of working with our finance organisation to drive the cost efficiency, but also in scaling up and building these centres.
We're also transforming my own team. So, alongside all of this, so we've got the company transformation going on, and then my team are transforming ourselves. And the reason we're doing that is to ensure that we have more flexibility in the offering, because our company is so diverse. I mean, on the one hand, you've got a ton of retail stations, which is a very different kind of business to upstream or deep-water oil and gas production, to biofuels in Brazil, you know, the diversity is huge. And they're very different models from a financial perspective. And so, what we need to do is to be more flexible in how we service those businesses. We've come from a place where we were pretty centralised and more one size fits all, not entirely, but a bit more of that. And now we need to be more flexible so we can scale up and down. And the transition to centres like Pune, a number of companies will have done that already, but what we're doing now is doing that at scale, and I hope using technology to leapfrog some of the efficiencies that we need to gain as well. So, we're looking at that not just in the people space but also in communications.
Then, of course, alongside of it, we're keeping the operations running. So, we still have to make sure people get paid, make sure they have a great place to work, and make sure we do that safely and that we're looking after people's health and wellbeing, because when you're going through so much change, which we are, it's really important that we think about how you keep people engaged along the way, and it is hard. I mean, the one thing that keeps me up at night that I worry about a lot is how people feel in our company. And we want them to feel proud, we want them to feel that we're serving a real purpose here. And so, keeping people engaged through so much change is tricky, at the same time, making sure that we look after their health and wellbeing, because mental health, as we all know, is a really important issue. And so, knowing that there's a lot of change and therefore stress for people, we need to also double-down on creating psychologically safe environments and providing the right support.
[0:14:40] David Green: This episode is sponsored by HiBob. Still managing comp, performance and onboarding across disconnected tools? It's costing you time and holding your team back. HiBob is the all-in-one HCM platform built for HR leaders who need connected data, flexible workflows, and a user experience people actually want to use. When Ecosia switched to Bob, they cut their contract and onboarding time from 8 days to just 15 minutes and saw a 706% return on investment. Get the full story at hibob.com/davidgreen2025, or come and see us at HR Tech in Las Vegas, booth 2822. HiBob, HCM for people-proud companies.
So, it's a big transformation, the digital element of it as well, and many organisations are going through, or they're at varying levels of going through digital transformation at the moment. So, for other HR leaders listening or for aspiring HR leaders listening as well, what advice would you offer about tackling a business transformation?
[0:16:11] Kerry Dryburgh: I think lessons I've learned and things that I would share, I think firstly, you've got to be bold and courageous, right, because no transformation or no big change happens without having courage, and you've got to do that. But you've also got to listen really hard, because you're never going to get everything right at the beginning. You can have the best laid plans and you can execute those flawlessly, maybe, but there's always something coming around the corner at you that you may not have anticipated. And I think how you then pivot to make sure that you are able to cope with that is really important. And in my mind, the way you ensure you're taking and calibrating that is to make sure you're listening properly, listening to your employees, or just what's going on in the world in general, and therefore being able to shift as you need to.
I think for us, one of the examples that I would share with that is when we set our last strategy, around five years ago, we changed our performance culture. And at the time, like many companies, we went to more of a developmental-type discussion system. What we realised, as we were resetting ourselves now, is that actually we'd lost some of that performance edge in the way that we managed performance across our company, and particularly from an individual perspective as well as team, and we wanted to shift that. So, one of the things that we did was we really listened to what our employees said they wanted, what they needed, and how things were working. And as a consequence, we revamped our performance and reward processes this year, which we've just relaunched, so we now have really clear calibration that helps people understand where they sit personally. We've also changed the way that we link personal performance with team performance and with overall company performance, which was also a shift. So, now you'll know what are the core components that will influence your reward outcomes too. So, bonus plans have shifted and we're going to be having much more regular feedback sessions than we had had before.
But individuals will hopefully be able to see a much clearer line of sight from how I'm performing through to how the company's performing, and they'll be getting regular feedback. So, I think be bold, be courageous, be willing to change. I think it's drive a performance culture. And I would also say it's also about making sure that you take care of people along the way, because at the end of the day, any company is only as good as the people that you have.
[0:18:44] David Green: Very good, and I love the focus on listening as well and being prepared to pivot. It's so important. And again, I think that's where the people and communications piece comes together very nicely. You say quite clearly there, Kerry, as much as this is a business transformation that bp is going on, it's also a people transformation. What can you share about bp’s people experience going forward?
[0:19:09] Kerry Dryburgh: Yeah, I mean, I think our people experience going forward will be somewhat different. So, we've talked about the impact of AI and the impact of digital. And so, for those people that work with bp, I think the core of who we are doesn't change. And what that's about, it's about delivering performance, it's about how we care for our people, and it's also how we live our purpose. So, there's those three things. And that, for me, is what brings people to work a lot of the time, because they like who we are as an organisation. That doesn't change. But the reality is that what we do on a day-to-day basis, and therefore how they experience what they get when they come to work, will change a bit. And so, for the people at bp who are receiving support from my team specifically, it's going to change because it's becoming increasingly digital. We're setting ourselves up differently. I talked about the business and technology centres that we're building. And we will ensure that people actually have access to what they need, but they're going to access it differently.
So, we are deploying AI into our services. And that means, for example, we'll use AI to build learning content much more effectively and much more quickly. We use AI to help us, for example, in recruitment. So, we've just deployed a Workday product actually, HiredScore, which enables us to sift thousands of CVs much more quickly and effectively. We've deployed Copilot right across my team. And whilst I know, again, many people will be using it, it's actually enabling people to work very differently. So, therefore, when employees come in and they are looking for something from us, the first port of call is now going to be, by and large, not entirely, but by and large, it's going to be accessing a service through chatbot, through AI, and then you will get to support when you need it, which again, not rocket science, but what we're doing is we're using the fact that we have this opportunity right now, and technology has advanced to the point it has, to be able to leapfrog, I think, some of the experiences that others have had and create a service and support for our teams that actually, I will say, will be better but will be more efficient and will give people what they need.
[0:21:27] David Green: And generally, we can think about it when we're consumers, if you can get access to the information you need quicker with less friction, then you're happy with that. And also, we think about ourselves as people and HR professionals. If we can take some of the more repetitive, maybe more boring tasks away, and technology can help automate that, we can focus on the stuff that's more interesting, maybe can have a bigger impact. So, that's got to be good as well, you would think.
[0:21:56] Kerry Dryburgh: I think so, because people want fulfilling careers, right, at the end of the day. I mean, I can't think there are many people that enjoy all the boring, mundane aspects of their job. Everybody's got some of that, we all do. So, if you can take that away, then all the better. And I think as we were discussing earlier today, this piece around data and how you use data and insights to really drive therefore what it is you're going to focus on next, I mean that also is a huge shift we've made over the last few years that really, I don't think there's any conversation I now have with the board or with my executive colleagues, or even with my team, that isn't grounded in absolute data. And we're pulling always on data from a number of different sources that tell us how people are feeling across the organisation, as an example, and that underpins almost every aspect of the people strategy and what we do. And therefore, this point around listening and pivoting and changing as you go, I think is really important.
[0:23:01] David Green: I want to take a short break from this episode to introduce the Insight222 People Analytics Programme, designed for senior leaders to connect, grow, and lead in the evolving world of people analytics. The programme brings together top HR professionals with extensive experience from global companies, offering a unique platform to expand your influence, gain invaluable industry insight and tackle real-world business challenges. As a member, you'll gain access to over 40 in-person and virtual events a year, advisory sessions with seasoned practitioners, as well as insights, ideas and learning to stay up-to-date with best practices and new thinking. Every connection made brings new possibilities to elevate your impact and drive meaningful change. To learn more, head over to insight222.com/programme and join our group of global leaders.
Obviously, you've talked about business transformation, and in any business transformation there's certain skills maybe, and particularly with technology coming in, that may be less required. What would you say, on the flipside, what would you say are the sunrise skills that are essential for bp’s future workforce? Do you see this evolving with the strategy reset as well?
[0:24:34] Kerry Dryburgh: Yes, absolutely. I think firstly I would say though, the key for us is evolving from this notion of building my career to building skills, so that you can curate those skills in different ways as roles and jobs and the world around us changes. And that's an education in itself, because I know in our company, having those discussions with people and this whole concept of careers are no longer just vertical, there's horizontal careers, there's curvy career paths, all of that, I think is really, really important. So, thinking that through, but then what are those skills? A couple of things, I would say. We've talked a lot about AI, but that is at the heart of our transformation. Almost everything we do now is going to be impacted and improved by our application of digital and specifically AI. So, if you're not skilled and aware enough, you'll get left behind, because as we've said, everyone needs to be constantly learning. And for me personally, I now spend each Friday, I have an hour lesson and tutorial with some of the AI trainers that we use. So, they're just teaching me some of the stuff that I wouldn't always get to experience on a day-to-day basis, but it's important because I need to understand it, and so, really getting deep into how is AI going to impact the job I do.
I take some of our technical skillsets, for example, in the subsurface. We've developed AI tools now that will aggregate tons of data that previously people would have sifted through to figure out if I'm exploring in a particular area or I'm producing in a particular area, how can I maximise production looking at a reservoir? Well, you'd have sifted through that data and looked at correlations. Now, AI does it all for you. So, if you're not able to understand that or you're not able to use that technology, then it's a problem, because some of those careers that would have been analysing the data will have shifted. So, that's number one, is understand how it impacts what you do, get skilled in it. And we have Grow at bp, which is an AI platform that enables people to develop those career pathways.
I think the other thing for me is ops excellence, because as we move work to some of our GCCs or BTCs as we're calling them, understanding Agile, Six Sigma, Lean, all of these things and how you optimise processes is really, really critical. Everyone needs to be skilled in it. And that's what I'm saying to my team as we transform, "I want you to be skilled in AI. I want you to understand how that's going to impact and learn". Ops excellence is another. And then, the final thing I would say is, it's about authentic leadership, because it doesn't matter all the technical skills you've got, people want to be led by authentic people. And that's, for me anyway, that's why I come to work. If you don't feel that you've got a leader who you work for that's authentic, I don't think people will keep turning up. So, it's both of those things for me. And we've doubled-down a lot. We've spent a lot of time and energy in the last few years in developing our leaders. We've put pretty much 2,000 people through very detailed training. We have got leadership training available to everyone in the company in a leadership role. But it's very much focused on our culture and authenticity.
[0:27:52] David Green: And I think reading and speaking to other people on the podcast, some of those softer skills around leadership, empathy, being authentic, being able to listen, that's really, really important. You also mentioned something else, Kerry, which is certainly in the research that we've done at Insight222 around data literacy, and I'd add AI literacy to that as well. It's so important that leaders role-model this. So, the fact that you're spending an hour every Friday upskilling yourself will likely mean that your team are more likely to invest that time themselves. We found it's three times more likely that people will follow the leaders that are role-modelling using data and using AI. So, really important, I think, there as well. And looking further ahead, what steps is bp taking to develop the skills required for its future workforce, or maybe to even understand what those skills are? It's a bit of both, isn't it?
[0:28:47] Kerry Dryburgh: Well, it is a bit of both. And I think, to a certain degree, you might expect me to sit here and say, "Well, we need these technical skills and we need these low-carbon skills and we need this, that and the other". And of course, we are working those through because, you know, I have a great learning team, as an example, who are very focused on all the disciplines that we operate across our company, because we're such a wide-ranging set of skills, as I mentioned earlier. So, we're really clear on what those discipline career paths are, and the team are working really clearly on kind of what offers we have. So, I mentioned Grow at bp, which is an AI-enabled system that we use. So, everyone understands their discipline, they can go in there work through what offers are available and involve their experiences accordingly.
But I think, like any company, it's a mix of things, right? It's about developing the people that you have, and ensuring that you've got those offers available. It's also about ensuring that you hire too, because we're a company that has many employees of long tenure. But as we've evolved, we've also had to be really clear about what are the skills that actually are new to us or niche that we need to hire people into, and we've been really focused on that too. So, we've actually, if we look at our top 120 as an example, over the course of the last five years, we've hired probably about 25% of those externally because we had to build new skillsets for the strategy and ongoing. So, for me, it's always about making sure you've got a good mix of not just those that you need to develop, but also bringing people in who bring fresh perspectives, but also building those talent pipelines for the future.
So, I mentioned starting my career around apprenticeships. So, I'm really focused on early careers, whether it's bringing graduates in, whether it's apprenticeships, and we set ourselves an apprenticeship goal three or so years ago. So, we actually decided that by 2030, we would double the number of apprentices in our company, and we're bringing in around 900. So, that's work that's underway and it's all sorts of apprenticeships. It's technical, it's degree apprenticeships here in the UK using the levy in our centres now in India and other places, we built our own technician apprenticeship programme in the Gulf of America in the US. So, it's all sorts of areas. But for me, it's about bringing equality of opportunity to different groups that might not have otherwise found their way into our company.
We also then build the pipeline further in the work that we do with different educational organisations. So, whether that's work with AFS, which is an educational NGO we work with on STEM skills and global competence, or whether it's working with other organisations that access work experience placements for people that are more economically disadvantaged, both here in the UK. We run a programme of that nature in the US called the Bridge Program, we have another one in South Africa, we've got them in different geographies. But I'm really determined that we build from the bottom up. So, it's kind of at the top, who are you developing? At the bottom up, who are you bringing in? And in the middle, we'll always want to hire externally too.
[0:32:07] David Green: Yeah, nice mix of buy versus build, but making sure that buying the talent in, you're doing it from a diverse set of backgrounds and stuff is very important, yeah. So, let's explore technology transformation a little bit in HR. How do you see digital and AI evolving the experience for bp’s 80,000-plus employees worldwide?
[0:32:29] Kerry Dryburgh: Yeah, digital regardless is a massive part of the transformation that we're undertaking across the company. So, not just in terms of what my team are doing or the offer that we bring to the organisation. So, we see it as a really important lever to transform our company. And I talked a bit about the subsurface work that we've done. We also look at using technologies in drilling as well. So, when you're drilling a well or when you're accessing different structures, how do you use that to make sure that you're as efficient as you can and you can produce as much as you can? And we've got whole new load of AI technologies that are enabling us to do these things way more efficiently than we ever could. Now, that's just one example, but what it is for me is that the company is changing dramatically using digital and technology. And of course, that applies also to my team and how we do what we do on a day-to-day basis, as well as how we support people across our company.
I think the transformation in my team specifically is really underpinned by the fact that when we complete our standup for the transformed way of operating, which will be January of next year, we will have the most evolved chatbot in the company that supports our people in one way, shape or form. We're using Azure technology to do that. We've implemented Salesforce front and back end to ensure that we've got the whole value chain, and we were one of the first parts of the company to have all of our people systems, of which we have a number in the cloud, I mean this is a few years ago now, so we had a strong foundation. And what we're now doing is looking at how we then bolt on some of these new technologies, and particularly the AI, to ensure that we're taking that work out of the system and evolving.
I think one of the things I'm particularly proud of is some work we did with Origin actually, Atlas Origin on benefits. So, we have, can you believe, 7,200-plus benefits policy documents in our company. So, we actually partnered with Origin to develop a tool that enabled us to analyse all of those documents, because you want to simplify anyway the benefit structure, but it does work now in hours that would have taken us months. And that was something that wasn't on the market, but that we partnered with them to build, and will absolutely, without any question, enable us to become way more efficient than we ever were. The use of AI in recruitment as well, I think given the scale of hiring for us in India in particular, and the volumes of resumés that come through our door for the roles that we're posting.
I was in Pune, it was probably about a year ago now, and met one of our technical team leaders who's hiring engineers. And she said, "Kerry, you just got to help me because I literally cannot get through all of the CVs that are coming to my mailbox". And of course, we've got to fix that in order to get people through the door to complete the transformation. Workday are a partner of ours. I sat down with the CEO of Workday and said, "What can you do to help us?" and he did, and it's been phenomenal, actually. I mean, you have to be careful with all these things in different geographies from an ethics standpoint, but so far, so good, it seems to be going really well. So, I think it's thinking about where those use cases are and how you can really drive efficiency in some of these areas, as well as creating a simpler and easier experience for employees. So, I'm determined it's going to be simpler, it's going to be more efficient, and we're able to therefore vary what we deploy to our employees accordingly.
[0:36:13] David Green: And listening to you there, Kerry, I think there's some important guidance for maybe other HR leaders listening. Identify where you've got a few bottlenecks, where you think technology could potentially support; leverage relationships you've got with the providers that you're working with, whoever those happen to be; try something; and as you said, make sure that it's providing the results that you need and it's all being done ethically and you're not contravening any regulations in any of the geographies that you're working with. And if it works, then maybe look to scale it, but being mindful of the fact about the experience being one of the outcomes that you're looking for. Very good. Well, we're going to get you onto the question of the series now, Kerry. So, this is the question that we're asking every guest on this particular series of the podcast, and this will allow you to look into your crystal ball a little. And I promise not to come back in five years and remark on it. But what's the single biggest shift that you see in the future of work by 2030, and how do you see HR leading it?
[0:37:19] Kerry Dryburgh: Someone said to me the other day, it's a bit the comment you made I think earlier, which is that the people skills are going to come into their own in this new world of AI. I think what we do as people, professionals by and large, is going to come into its own, because we will need to lean in, we will need to impact, we will need to be mindful that the EQ remains and that the great leadership remains, and all of those things. So, I think it is our time in that sense. So, if you ask me, "Well, what are the skills?" I think one of the skills, so people skills, HR skills, leadership skills, it is our time to really make the difference that we have been able to make, but continue to make, be number one. I think it's a bit this notion of skills, not careers, and how do you ensure that you can pivot accordingly?
But I think also, as we evolve and AI evolves even further, generative AI, right now we're using it to simplify processes, we're using it to cut out the work that no one else really wants to do. So, I think if you ask me, "What's the biggest shift for the future?" I think it will be, that's going to happen, whether we like it or not, it is going to happen, and we've got to think how do we continue to ensure that the human touch isn't lost in that world of ongoing generative AI, in my view. I think that would be my thought.
[0:38:45] David Green: So, HR's opportunity perhaps, and listening to you there, Kerry, is to really help set the right governance, make sure we're using AI ethically, and maybe what we talked about earlier where, okay, AI guides, but humans still decide. And that's an important role for us to play as HR function within the organisation, because maybe we're the function that more naturally thinks about the people perhaps, which is why a lot of us get into HR in the first place. So, to kind of help the rest of the organisation, just prioritise and keep the human in the loop, we hear, but you've talked about maximising that human element to it as well.
[0:39:30] Kerry Dryburgh: Yeah, I think so. I think it just says our jobs are more important than ever in what we do, and I think companies will continue to need that, regardless of how many agentic workforces there exist out there.
[0:39:42] David Green: And I think the other thing you said, one of your early answers, was being bold and being courageous. And listening to you, and you can definitely see that in other highly-performing HR leaders as well, it's so important that we don't just sit back, we actually do step forward.
[0:39:59] Kerry Dryburgh: Lean in.
[0:39:59] David Green: Lean in, yeah. I like lean in. Lean in is better than step forward.
[0:40:03] Kerry Dryburgh: Exactly!
[0:40:05] David Green: Well, Kerry, it's been an absolute pleasure speaking with you today. Thank you so much for inviting me to do this face-to-face. It's so nice to do one of these face-to-face and those of you watching on YouTube will actually be able to see the video as well. Before we wrap up, where can listeners find you on social media if they want to learn more about your work, and also find out more about bp’s strategy and maybe opportunities to work for bp as well?
[0:40:30] Kerry Dryburgh: Yeah, thank you. So, yeah, opportunities to work for bp, you can find on bp.com. There's always great roles on there and find out more about us. We have an Insta. We have bp.com. You can also find us on LinkedIn, and that's where generally you can find me. So, I typically post on LinkedIn and try to keep the conversation going around a whole range of topics that I'm particularly passionate about and that are going on across our company. So, yeah, feel free to reach out to me on there.
[0:40:59] David Green: Perfect. Well, Kerry, thank you very much. It's been a pleasure.
[0:41:01] Kerry Dryburgh: Thanks so much, David.
[0:41:04] David Green: That's all for today's episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast. A big thank you to Kerry Dryburgh for taking the time to share her journey, her insights, and a behind-the-scenes look at how bp is reimagining work, leadership, and the employee experience on a global scale. And thank you as always to you, our listeners, for tuning in each week and listening to the show. If today's episode sparked ideas, questions, or even a shift in perspective, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and share the podcast with a friend or colleague. It really helps us reach more forward-thinking leaders like you.
To connect with us at Insight222, follow us on LinkedIn, check out our website at insight222.com, and don't forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter at myHRfuture.com. That's all for now. Thank you for tuning in and we'll be back next week with another episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast. Until then, take care and stay well.