Microsoft’s CPO Amy Coleman: ‘As leaders, our goal isn’t to control AI, but to be a part of it’

Kicking off UNLEASH World 2025, was none other that Microsoft’s Chief People Officer, Amy Coleman.

As the crowd descended on the Main Stage, Coleman shared her insights and learnings from leading more than 220,000 global employees, while also discussing how she’s achieving her mission of making Microsoft an exceptional place to work.

Addressing the audience, Coleman discusses how HR leaders can – and should – reimagine their people strategies in an era of AI.

Navigating AI like the ocean’s waves

“I’m excited today to talk about AI, as all of you know, we’re navigating this new era together,” Coleman began.

“It’s really amazing to think about where we are right now. As we are entering the second quarter of the 21st century, I start to think about the last 25 years. 

“For example, when video conferencing was once just science fiction, and now we never need to bring money as we just use our phones.

Technology has transformed our lives. I can’t believe the privilege that we all have to lead through this world of work as AI comes to bear.”

She then likens the moment we’re currently in, to being on the beach looking into the ocean.

“It’s wide, unknown and humbling. There’s so much opportunity, and like the tides, it changes so often,” Coleman explained. 

“So as people leaders, our goal isn’t to control it, but to be a part of it and understand what’s coming and to dive in together and navigate it.

“So sticking with the same idea of waves and water, leaders have the opportunity to catch and accelerate their impact. And as people leaders, we have a unique opportunity and responsibility to guide our organizations to lead through this.”

Coleman explained that transformation is therefore about “moving forward,” and not just changing what organizations do, but rather, how they think.

However, although we’re living in a transformative time that’s “very exciting and optimistic,” Coleman shared that many people are still scared of the uncertainty. 

For example, Microsoft built everything for scale, but now they have shifted to build for customization, for judgement, and for businesses in different places. To achieve this, Microsoft had to rethink how they build, talk, teach, and learn.

Towards the latter part of Coleman’s session, she discusses what it takes to become a frontier: Being empowered, connected, future focused, and thinking about mindset.

Mindset is particularly important, Coleman added, because it’s about overcoming this uncertainty. The four ways this can be tackled is through ability, curiosity, judgement, and trust.

Coleman says: “One of the things that we found at Microsoft is the more you use AI, the more you have to talk about it because people begin to think that you trust them less and trust the tool more.

“So we’re building stories about how AI is actually helping humanity, as I mentioned, bringing more joy and less toil to your work, unlocking the innovation and the imagination that we all hope to bring to the workplace. This is our opportunity to do that.”

Concluding her session, Coleman reflects on what she’s learnt through her time as Microsoft’s CPO, stating that most of her lessons have come from listening to others.

For example, she shared that she often asks her peers what they would have done differently when they first started their role.

“Not one person told me to go slow – every single person told me to make decisions faster. In fact, their biggest regret from the job – in their first year – was how many decisions they didn’t make fast enough, because they’re uncertain.

“This is just a microcosm of the uncertainty that we are all living in together, and how we can make decisions with less information than we’ve ever had, and in more uncertainty.”