The rules of work are being rewritten in real time and HR is holding the pen. When everything is changing; markets, leadership, even the rules of work itself, HR becomes more than a business function. It becomes the steady hand that holds culture together.
In today’s unpredictable workplace, three people leaders are showing what it really takes to navigate disruption while keeping employees engaged, grounded, and growing: Symphone’e Lindsey, Global Head of Human Resources at Twilio; Jennifer Do, Head of People at TigerGraph; and Juliette Dupré, SPHRi, Chief People Officer at OtherSide Entertainment.
Across tech, gaming, and AI, each of these leaders is redefining what it means to build trust and community in times of change and their insights reveal what every people leader should be paying attention to in 2025 and beyond.
Symphone’e Lindsey | Twilio: Rewriting the Rules of Career Growth
Symphone’e Lindsey path to leadership spans Fortune 500 brands like BAE Systems, PepsiCo, AWS, and now Twilio, where she leads HR on a global scale. Her career has been defined by what she calls “two-way doors”, strategic pivots that open up new growth without closing the old ones.
At Twilio, Symphone’e is navigating the realities of a shifting tech landscape: restructuring, redefining culture, and supporting teams across multiple continents. Her approach blends strategy with humanity, balancing the rigor of workforce planning with empathy for people navigating uncertainty.
Beyond her corporate role, Symphone’e recently launched an executive coaching practice, Ile Ori Coaching, for Black women leaders, focused on authenticity, confidence, and career strategy. She’s passionate about helping professionals navigate disruption not as a setback, but as a moment to reinvent.
“We talk about productivity and AI a lot,” she said. “But the real future skill is adaptability, how fast we can reimagine ourselves when the world shifts.”
It’s a mindset that mirrors what we see at HIC Consulting, where we help leaders and managers strengthen resilience and people capability through immersive live simulations that accelerate learning and reinforce culture. Like Symphonee, we believe the organizations that thrive will be the ones that treat transformation as a human skill, not just a business strategy.
Jennifer Do | TigerGraph: Building Culture in the Middle of Change
At TigerGraph, a company using graph technology to power advanced data analytics and AI, Jennifer Do faces the challenge many HR leaders quietly carry: keeping culture alive amid ongoing change.
With shrinking teams, evolving leadership, and employees spread across different countries, Jennifer’s task is complex. “It’s one thing to build culture when things are stable,” she shared, “but holding it together through layoffs and restructures, that’s where the real work happens.”
Her department has downsized, her peers have moved on, and resources are limited, but Jennifer’s focus hasn’t wavered. She’s committed to modeling the well-being behaviors she wants her people to follow.
“If I don’t want employees to burn out,” she said, “then I can’t model burnout myself.”
Jennifer’s authenticity has become a cultural anchor at TigerGraph. She praises her CEO’s commitment to modeling time off, “it makes a huge difference when leadership lives the values they preach” and she’s using her background in organizational effectiveness to rebuild alignment between company values and behaviors post-restructure.
Juliette Dupré | OtherSide Entertainment: The Reality of Building ‘Good Work’
As Chief People Officer at OtherSide Entertainment, Juliette Dupré leads HR for a gaming studio known for its creativity and storytelling, but behind every successful creative team lies a deep operational challenge: sustaining culture at scale.
Juliette’s career began in the legal world during the 2008 recession, where she learned to spot and nurture talent under pressure. Now in tech and gaming, she’s navigating the realities of HR tech adoption, team efficiency, and the myth of the “perfect workplace.”
“Even when you have the best tools, leadership, and engagement, people won’t always be happy,” Juliette shared. “It’s not about utopia, it’s about effort, listening, and authenticity.”
Juliette runs regular listening tours across her organization, prioritizing one-on-one conversations that give employees space to share feedback. She views culture as something you rebuild daily, not something you set and forget.
She’s also tackling rising healthcare costs and benefits challenges head-on, balancing financial sustainability with employee well-being, a struggle many HR leaders will recognize.
The Human Side of Strategy
From Twilio to TigerGraph to OtherSide Entertainment, Symphone’e, Jennifer, and Juliette are proving that culture isn’t built by policy, it’s built by presence. They’re leading through uncertainty not with slogans, but with action, empathy, and authenticity.
Their stories remind us that the future of work won’t be defined by technology alone, but by the leaders who know how to humanize it.
At HIC Consulting, we’re proud to help people leaders do just that, designing transformational programs that prepare managers to lead through change, strengthen culture, and build organizations where people and performance thrive side by side.
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