This HR leader says the future of HR lies in capability-led strategy, not traditional people management
The boundaries of HR are dissolving. For Kirsty Dent, head of people and capability at Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) and founding consultant at Fractionally New Zealand, that is not a threat to the profession – it is its greatest opportunity.
The most important shift in modern HR thinking, said Dent, is moving from a narrow people-management lens to one of organisational capability – and treating it as the foundation of business strategy.
"I take capability as overall organisational capability and what does that look like from a business perspective," she explained. "Business capability, then leadership, then team, then individual – that layered approach and the systems that exist around it."
She is direct about the consequences of getting the order wrong. "Until you get that right, then any kind of leadership framework or anything else that you're working on, are at risk of becoming a waste of money until you've got that lined up."
At RLB, that means starting with strategy. Dent is currently working across AI implementation, bids process automation, SharePoint transitions, with an eye on the future operating model of professional consultancy – a scope far wider than traditional HR.
'"It's more business savvy HR people who don't just stay in their lane and stick to traditional solutions," she said.
AI as a tool, not a strategy
Dent is enthusiastic about AI, but measured in how she sees it being used. Drawing on her background implementing Lean operating systems at Honeywell Aerospace in Europe, she argued that the rush to AI adoption often bypasses the systems thinking that should underpin it.
"The way that AI is getting implemented in a lot of organisations takes away from the systems thinking," she said. "AI is a tool to be used in continuous improvement, but it's not the only thing."
Her concern is timely. Gartner has identified harnessing AI to reshape HR operations as the top priority for chief human resources officers in 2026, with a particular emphasis on evolving the HR operating model – a shift projected to deliver the highest impact on AI productivity gains, at 29%.
Yet Dent cautioned that embedding AI without first establishing organisational architecture and systems clarity risks delivering the wrong outcomes faster.
She sees this gap as an opportunity for HR leaders who think differently – those willing to engage with process, technology and people holistically. For readers exploring how HR leaders are navigating AI strategy and workforce change, the challenge Dent names is consistent with what is emerging globally.
'The future of work is human'
Dent is unequivocal about where the HR function is headed – and why it has no choice but to evolve.
"The future of work is human," she said. "If you are automating and putting AI agents and systems, robots and other emerging technology, then you are completely changing your workforce, the human interface across that and how that works in the future. So I see a straight line that that's where HR is going to go. Otherwise their role risks being automated."
She has already seen how this convergence plays out in practice. In a previous role, she combined oversight of digital transformation with people, safety and sustainability – and found that the combination was precisely what gave her traction.
"The ability to look end to end across key processes that drive the organisation, then layer over the people impact with technology – that is how we target tech improvements and ways of working improvements.HR people that can do that, I think that is the future of HR."
In New Zealand, that challenge is acute: HR leaders are managing a limited talent pool, shrinking entry-level roles, and a two-speed labour environment where private sector growth contrasts with a contracting public sector, according to Workday's 2026 Future of Work New Zealand analysis.
Dent's model – capability-first, systems-led, technology-enabled – is well suited to that environment. For New Zealand people leaders looking to build future-ready capability frameworks for their organisations, her approach offers a practical reference point.
An enablement role by any other name
If pressed to put a title on what she does, Dent reaches for something beyond conventional HR vocabulary. "If I was going to put a job description or job title to what I do – head of enablement, really."
She is also deliberate about how she introduces herself. "I don't introduce myself as an HR person first. I say, HR is my trade and I'm a Lean Six Sigma expert." The reason is pragmatic: "People put you in a box instantly."
It is a telling observation – and one that reflects a broader truth about the profession. For HR to earn influence at the executive table, it may need to stop leading with its own job title and needs tostart leading with business outcomes. Dent believes the environment is shifting to allow exactly that. "The business needs to be open to curiosity and experimenting and the human lens. If you get that, then you get the shift in enablement roles."
For HR professionals across New Zealand navigating the intersection of workforce strategy, AI implementation and organisational capability, Dent's career trajectory offers a compelling template for the function's next chapter.
