BMS CPO Amanda Poole calls on HR to own the AI conversation

For Amanda Poole, Chief People Officer at pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), HR is facing “a unique moment” and the profession needs to rise to it.

Speaking to UNLEASH Chief Reporter Allie Nawrat, the two-decade BMS veteran said CPOs must now be “business leaders at the table” while still driving culture and engagement.

With C-Suite and board conversations now spanning risk, AI and the skills of the future, she argued that HR is “best positioned in the organization to understand the impact of AI.”

That responsibility also means deciding what HR will stop doing, she says, because the function “creates work for the workforce” too.

At UNLEASH 2026 in Paris, Poole talks through BMS’s “rule of three” for navigating change, why managers sit at the centre of AI adoption, and how AI-enabled career tools are driving a level of internal mobility the pharma company “has not seen” before.

Watch the full interview: