Netflix: ‘We talk about AI as something revolutionary, but soon it’ll be just another feature’

As UNLEASH America 2025 is just around the corner, Senior Journalist Lucy Buchholz, spoke exclusively to Greg Pilano, Director, Talent Technology & Engineering at Netflix, who will be leading a roundtable at the event in less than two weeks time.

While at the International Festival of HR, Pilano will share exclusive insights on how innovative HR technologies can fuel organizational success, while highlighting strategies for optimizing talent management, enhancing employee experience, and improving decision-making through data-driven insights.

Not got a pass for the International Festival of HR yet? Don’t worry, there’s still time.

Cultivating Netflix’s unique culture

With more than 20 years of experience in the HR sector, Pilano has seen a number of transformations in the technology landscape. 

Having witnessed the emergence of software as a service in the early 2000s and the current rise of AI, Pilano has seen how these two major cycles have fundamentally reshaped organizational operations. 

As a result of these shifts, Pilano believes that technology teams and technologists have assumed a more central role, including within HR functions. 

“Today, HR is expected to leverage technology and data to drive business growth, expansion, and operational excellence,” he says. 

While HR keeps the human element at its core, it also needs to adopt a digital mindset. This is the exciting part: we get to work at the intersection of art and science – the art being the human aspect, and the science being data-driven technology. 

“This dynamic blend keeps our work both engaging and innovative.”

And just like the HR sector, Pilano has also been witness to how Netflix’s culture has transformed, which he says has been a “defining factor” of the company since its inception.  

To promote this, the business strives to provide transparent access to key insights that leaders need to drive the business forward and make data-informed people decisions, while prioritizing people over processes. 

“We don’t tell employees what training or development activity they should engage in; we provide an easy and friction-free environment where they can source all the opportunities that exist within the company, whether it is an expert, a project, a course, or an open role,” Pilano explains. 

“We minimize bureaucracy as much as possible because Netflix thrives on reinvention and transformation. 

“We focus on making processes efficient, we ensure that we don’t create unnecessary steps or procedures, because technology should never get in the way of culture, it should amplify it.”  

Taking this into consideration, UNLEASH was interested to discover how technology is impacting Netflix’s culture. 

Pilano explains that a strong feedback culture is central to Netflix – in fact, it is one of the company’s key tenets. 

The business, therefore, has an internally developed solution to support open, transparent, and constant feedback, and this year, it will be piloting Gen AI into that solution to make the feedback experience more effective. 

As leaders noticed a spike in the use of the internal AI chat during the feedback campaign, Netflix is now introducing AI-powered features embedded in its feedback solution. 

Pilano adds: “We want to create a more efficient path to high-quality conversations by helping employees craft fairer, more constructive feedback for their colleagues, and summarize the feedback an individual receives. 

“For context, employees may receive up to 40 pieces of feedback during a cycle – it’s a lot to process. The AI assistant helps identify key themes and, we hope, makes the feedback more actionable. It is important to note that using these features will be optional. 

“We are thoughtful about where we introduce generative AI, ensuring it adds real value rather than jumping on the hype train. Since AI exploded in popularity with tools like ChatGPT, we have been deliberate about targeting areas where it genuinely improves experiences, like making feedback more actionable.”

Fundamental tensions in innovation

While many HR leaders are eager to gain speed and agility in innovation, it’s paramount that HR technology solutions remain scalable and sustainable.

For Pilano, this means allowing space for ideas to emerge by fostering a culture where people can speak freely, collaborate, and provide transparent feedback. Crucially, this also needs to be balanced with the business’s performance imperatives – budgets, timelines, and the need for tangible outcomes. 

Although there’s no secret formula in striking the right balance, Pilano believes that it’s all pinned on leadership. 

Leaders need to maintain the tension between allowing innovation to flourish while still delivering results,” he expands. “It can be draining because you have to navigate friction zones constantly. 

“At Netflix, we are intentional about this. We analyze which areas of HR technology are strategic differentiators versus commodity processes. 

“If something is a commodity process – something every company does similarly – we don’t reinvent the wheel. We implement existing, proven solutions at scale. 

“But if something is a strategic differentiator, we take a more deliberate, iterative approach, balancing the tension between time for innovation and delivering features.” 

“Leadership is complex because it involves people, and no two individuals, businesses, or industries are the same.” 

Expanding, Pilano advises that leaders must create environments where people feel empowered and informed. To do so, Netflix focuses on providing context, and trusting people’s judgment. 

Instead of prescribing rigid rules, Netflix provides people with the information they need to make smart decisions. For Pilano, employees need three key factors to thrive: Clarity, autonomy, and the right insights. 

“You need people if you want to succeed,” he adds. “You need a few ingredients, but above all, you need great people. 

“Especially today, with AI and all of these advancements, I still believe a business run by humans will outperform a business run solely by technology. 

“That’s the key – great talent, great people. So, as a leader, your primary responsibility is to ensure you have the right people. And for them to succeed and do great things, you need to create the right environment.”

He continues to explain that a valuable environment is one built on trust: “It’s one where you align and assemble people based on shared values – staying as close as possible to what makes us human. You empower them, trust their judgment, and set them up for success.

People are essential to success. So, make sure you have the right ones, treat them well, and provide the right context for them to thrive. That’s what leads to success.”

AI’s impact on the future

Looking to the future, Pilano expects to see AI assisting employees more by taking over some of the more mundane tasks. 

For HR, he believes this could bring to life that long-promised shift where HR focuses on strategic advisory work.

“The tasks that aren’t so strategic could be outsourced to AI agents,” he adds, “allowing HRBPs to fully embrace their role as strategic co-pilots of leaders. 

Over time, AI will simply become part of the software we use every day. Right now, we talk about AI as something revolutionary, but as it gets integrated into our tools, it will just be another feature.”

Explaining this future, Pilano uses the example of how AI helps rewrite text, such as emails on smartphones, overtaking the traditional spell check. It’s the same concept, “just evolved”. 

“Ultimately, while AI will augment our work, I still believe humans will be at the core of great things. The hope is that AI frees us from mundane tasks, allowing us to focus on human connection to deliver higher-value work.”

AI’s impact on the HR sector is just one of the conversations that Pilano is looking to continue at UNLEASH World. He says: “I’m looking forward to connecting with people – especially senior leaders – understanding what they’re working on, how they’re solving challenges, and how they’re managing the tensions we all face in our jobs. 

“It’s also about learning how we stay sane – sometimes, you pick up valuable tips from others in the industry. But above all, it’s about coming together as a community and learning from each other.”