The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

The Modern People Leader

Listen to interviews with CHROs, Chief People Officers, and other work experts on how they're pioneering the way that we work. They share what's working, what's not, and how they've gotten to where they're at in their careers.

  1. 305 - HR Alone Can't Create High Performance: Amy Schwartz, Head of Global HR at Wiz

    17h ago

    305 - HR Alone Can't Create High Performance: Amy Schwartz, Head of Global HR at Wiz

    Amy Schwartz, Chief People Officer at Wiz, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about why HR alone can't create a high-performance culture, why relationships and influence matter more than HR systems, and why "picking up the trash" - a leadership philosophy she picked up working in casinos - has stuck with her ever since. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Cloverleaf at cloverleaf.me/mpl 🔗 Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks Payroll at QuickBooks.com/workforce 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build. ----   (07:02) Amy’s Career Story: From Casinos to Chief People Officer (10:01) Life in Vegas and Leadership Lessons Outside the Strip (11:40) What Wiz Does and Joining a Hypergrowth Company (12:33) Google Acquisition and Joining the Google Cloud Family (13:42) Why HR Alone Cannot Create High Performance (16:11) HR Systems Aren’t the Work, Influence Is (18:01) High Performance Obsession and Getting the Fundamentals Right (19:53) Why Leadership Shapes Culture More Than HR Programs (21:00) The Limits of HR Ownership and Building Executive Influence (22:25) Breaking Out of Traditional HR Thinking (24:10) The MVP Mindset and Reallocating Time to What Matters (25:15) Introducing “Pick Up the Trash” Leadership Philosophy (29:33) What Picking Up the Trash Looks Like at Wiz (31:45) HRBP Expectations and Operating Principles for Teams (34:25) Future-Proofing HR: MVP Thinking and Operational Excellence (37:08) Burnout, Humanity, and Why EQ Still Matters (41:08) People Ops as Product and Design Thinking for HR Teams (45:08) Avoiding Rip-and-Replace Change Management (47:10) Starting Small: Bringing Product Thinking into HR Teams (49:17) Rapid Fire Questions Begin (50:05) Career Advice: Pick Up the Trash (51:30) Team Superpower: The Beacon (52:42) Performance Questions Every Leader Should Ask (53:36) Dream Guests, Molly Graham, and Operator Mindsets  ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

    52 min
  2. 304 - What Actually Being People-First Looks Like: Laura Tomaino (Chief People Officer, Glooko)

    May 26

    304 - What Actually Being People-First Looks Like: Laura Tomaino (Chief People Officer, Glooko)

    Laura Tomaino, Chief People Officer at Glooko, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why “People-First” leadership feels harder in 2026 and what it actually looks like to live up to that today. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Cloverleaf at cloverleaf.me/mpl 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl MPL Links: 🔗Go sign up for MPL Build. ----   (08:51) Building HR from Scratch at HealthEdge & Scaling Through Growth (11:12) Joining Glooko & Leading People Across Seven Countries (13:03) What Glooko Does & Supporting Diabetes Care Globally (13:39) Joining Before a $100M Series F & Building a New Leadership Team (15:15) Why “People-First” Leadership Feels Harder in Today’s World (16:56) The Real Meaning of Being People-First in HR (19:22) Why HR Leadership Can Feel Lonely & the Need for Real Conversations (21:20) The Four Drivers of Employee Experience: Connection, Growth, Recognition & Alignment (25:54) Why Mission Alignment & Business Transparency Matter (28:08) Bringing Remote Teams Together Through Global Company Events (29:09) How to Stay People-First Even on a Tight Budget (32:02) Tough Leadership Decisions, Benefits Changes & Listening to Employees (36:06) AI Anxiety, Flattening Organizations & the Future of Work (38:24) Why Laura Is Optimistic About AI & Workforce Change (42:40) How Employees at Glooko Feel About AI Adoption (46:36) Curiosity Over Fear: What Makes Teams Thrive During Change (48:15) Why Curious People Beat “Brilliant Jerks” Every Time (51:28) Hiring for Curiosity, Passion & Human-Centered Thinking (55:20) AI’s Future in Healthcare & Managing Massive Health Data Responsibly  ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

    1h 3m

  3. May 22

    303 - Directed Innovation: How to Point AI at Something That Actually Matters (Jevan Lenox, Chief People Officer, Writer)

    Jevan Lenox, Chief People Officer at Writer, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about why AI adoption alone is not enough, how companies can use “directed innovation” to drive real business outcomes with AI, and what high performance looks like in the AI era. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Cloverleaf at cloverleaf.me/mpl 🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report 🔗 Book a conversation with Compete at compete.com/mpl MPL Links: 🔗Go sign up for MPL Build. ----   (06:23) Reinventing McKinsey’s Hiring Process Across North America (07:21) Moving to Asia-Pacific & Falling in Love with the People Path (08:22) Leaving Consulting for High-Growth Companies (09:03) Lessons From Square, Blue Bottle Coffee & Founder-Led Companies (10:08) Why Blue Bottle Coffee Changed Jevan’s Perspective on Leadership (12:55) What Writer Actually Does Explained in Plain Language (14:40) The Disconnect Between AI Adoption & Real Business Outcomes (16:10) Why AI Fluency Alone Does Not Create Business Value (17:34) Why the Best AI Strategies Combine Bottom-Up & Top-Down Leadership (20:06) AI’s Next Phase: Growth, Scale & Expanding the Business (21:40) Marketing Personalization, AI Agents & Customer Experience at Scale (23:35) Stephen’s CTO Experiments & Building AI Systems for MPL (27:10) Directed Innovation vs “Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom” (29:30) From AI Adoption Metrics to Real Organizational Outcomes (31:05) Why AI Leaderboards Can Create the Wrong Behaviors (32:22) Understanding AI Workflows, Iteration & Knowledge Sharing (33:28) Positive Deviance & Finding High-Impact AI Use Cases (36:10) AI Virality, Peer Learning & Spreading Better Workflows (38:12) What High Performance Looks Like in the AI Era (39:45) Why “AI-Pilled” Employees Become Force Multipliers (41:18) System Thinking, Career Growth & Reinventing Performance (42:05) Daniel’s AI Sales Bot & Reinventing Enterprise Sales Workflows (43:18) Why Traditional Change Management No Longer Works (44:15) “There Is No Final Answer in HR Anymore” (45:20) AI as a Creative Thought Partner & Expanding Imagination (46:08) AI, Productivity & Unlocking Strategic Thinking Time (47:20) The “Maslow’s Hierarchy” of AI Value Creation (48:10) The Rise of AI Managers & Automated Leadership Structures (50:32) AI’s Impact on Early Career Talent & New Grads (52:02) Why Adaptability Will Matter More Than Specialization (53:32) Why Talent Acquisition & Recruiting May Be Fundamentally Reinvented  ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

    59 min
  4. 302 - Are we ready for AI Coaching?

    May 15

    302 - Are we ready for AI Coaching?

    Kirsten Moorefield, Chief Strategy Officer & Co-Founder at Cloverleaf, Sarika Lamont, CPO at Vidyard, and Sarah Royer, Sr. Manager of People Ops at Nirvana Insurance, joined us on The Modern People Leader for a live discussion on AI coaching.  We talked about what AI coaching actually means today, building these tools in-house versus buying, and why career growth will never be a perfect checklist. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks Payroll at QuickBooks.com/workforce MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build. ----   (08:53) What AI Coaching Actually Means Today (10:47) The AI Coaching Definition Problem & Human Coach Misconceptions (12:01) Why AI Cannot Replace Human Relationships at Work (13:54) AI as an Enabler for Better Manager Conversations (15:05) Teaching Employees to Own Their Career Growth (16:18) Building AI Tools for Managers, Coaching & Performance Conversations (18:08) Connecting HR Systems, Context & Employee Data Together (20:02) Sarah’s Approach to Building AI Coaching Skills in Claude (22:01) Buying vs. Building AI Coaching Tools Internally (24:05) Kinfolk, AI Employees & Workflow Automation at Vidyard (27:00) Claude Skills, AI Coaching Gems & Legal Guardrails (29:47) Why HR Teams Should Start Small & Experiment Fast (31:00) What Makes an AI Coaching Tool Actually Valuable (32:14) Why Daily Coaching & Relationship Context Matter Most (34:11) The Importance of Personalized Coaching in the Flow of Work (36:01) Cloverleaf’s MCP Approach & Integrating Behavioral Data (37:12) Why Managers Struggle With Coaching Conversations (38:04) HR’s AI Adoption Problem & Fear of Falling Behind (40:07) Sarika’s Approach to AI Change Management at Vidyard (42:02) Making AI Adoption Fun, Human & Transparent (44:04) Focus Fridai, AI Enablement & Experimentation Culture (45:12) Why AI Skills Are Becoming Mandatory for Employees (46:09) Sarah on Creating Space for HR Teams to Build With AI (47:53) HR Professionals as Builders & Full-Stack Problem Solvers (48:49) AI Ethics, Compliance Risks & Responsible AI Coaching (50:28) Balancing AI Pressure From CEOs While Protecting Employees (51:15) Q&A: How Employees Are Actually Using AI Coaches (52:43) Career Growth, Self-Ownership & the Limits of AI Guidance (55:09) Why Career Growth Will Never Be a Checklist ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

    1h 1m

  5. May 12

    301 - There's No “Right Answer” Anymore in HR: Jevan Lenox (Chief People Officer, Writer) & Cara Brennan Allamano (Founder, People Tech Partners)

    Cara Brennan Allamano (Founder of PeopleTech Partners and former Chief People Officer at Lattice) and Jevan Lenox (Chief People Officer at Writer) joined Stephen at Fix Healthcare Live. They talked about the growing pressure on HR leaders and why modern people leaders need to rethink how they operate in a rapidly changing world. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report 🔗 Learn more about Cloverleaf at cloverleaf.me/mpl 🔗 Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks Payroll at QuickBooks.com/workforce MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build. ----   (03:00) How the CPO Role Is Transforming in Real Time (04:00) COVID’s Lasting Impact on Employee Expectations and Healthcare (05:00) Why Healthcare Became an Emotional Workplace Issue (06:00) The Tension Between Rising Costs and Better Employee Support (07:00) The Shift From an Employee-Powered Market to an Employer-First Economy (08:00) Why Modern CPOs Are Starting to Look More Like COOs (10:00) Business Acumen, Operating Acumen, and the New Expectations for HR (11:00) Why Traditional Benefits Systems Are Falling Behind (12:00) AI’s Rapid Growth and What It Means for HR Leadership (13:00) How AI Is Democratizing Technology for People Teams (15:00) Why Judgment and Expertise Still Matter in the AI Era (16:00) The Case for Strategic Partners Over Building Everything In-House (17:00) Scaling Better Employee Experiences Through AI Systems (19:00) HR Leaders as Major Buyers of Healthcare (20:00) The Ethical Weight of Benefits Decisions (21:00) Why CPOs Need Innovative Healthcare Partners (22:00) Making Hard Trade-Offs With Integrity (23:00) Why Healthcare Innovation Feels Risky for Finance Leaders (26:00) Cara’s Advice: Stay Educated on Emerging Healthcare Innovation (27:00) Jevan’s Advice: Stop Searching for “The Answer” (28:00) Why the Future of HR Requires Constant Iteration (29:00) Community, Partners, and Navigating Uncertainty  ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

    34 min
  6. 300 - Supporting Parents: AVP of Global Benefits & Well-being at Merck + CEO of Wellthy

    May 8

    300 - Supporting Parents: AVP of Global Benefits & Well-being at Merck + CEO of Wellthy

    Lindsay Jurist-Rosner, Co-Founder and CEO of Wellthy, and Stephan Dolling, AVP of Global Benefits & Well-being at Merck, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about the rising pressures facing working families and what companies can do to support their employees that are caregivers. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl 🔗 Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks Payroll at QuickBooks.com/workforce 🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build. ----   (06:00) HR’s Expanding Role in Healthcare & Family Support (08:00) The Rising Cost of Childcare & Caregiving Challenges (10:00) Layoffs, Workplace Pressure & The “Sandwich Generation” (11:00) How Employee Expectations Changed Post-COVID (13:00) Merck’s Philosophy on Supporting Working Families (15:00) What Real Employee Support Looks Like in Practice (17:00) Flexibility, Compassionate Time & Supporting Diverse Workforces (18:00) The Importance of Benefits Communication & Employee Awareness (20:00) Simplifying Access to Benefits Through Journey Mapping (22:00) Most Popular Benefits at Merck: Backup Care, Flexibility & Concierge Support (24:00) Why Backup Care Peaks During School Breaks (25:00) Senior Care, Pet Care & New Caregiving Trends (26:00) Why Managers Need Better Support & Empathy Training (28:00) What Great Managers Do During Caregiving Crises (30:00) Building a Workplace Culture Rooted in Flexibility & Trust (31:00) The $70 Billion Childcare Disruption Problem (32:00) How COVID Changed Merck’s Backup Care Strategy (34:00) Why Fast, Flexible Care Solutions Matter Most (35:00) The Future of Backup Care & AI-Powered Matching (38:00) Why Employees Don’t Engage With Benefits Programs (39:00) Simplicity vs Specificity in Benefits Communication (41:00) Keeping Benefits Top-of-Mind Before Employees Need Them (42:00) Using Employee Testimonials to Normalize Caregiving (45:00) Why Modern Workplaces Need to Normalize Care Conversations (46:00) Real Stories of Caregiving Support During Crisis Moments (48:00) Helping Employees Through Dementia Care & COVID Emergencies (49:00) Navigating Grief, Medical Debt & End-of-Life Care Support (51:00) Building the Business Case for Caregiving Benefits (53:00) Productivity, Flexibility & the ROI of Caregiving Support (55:00) Why Caregiving Is an Economic Issue, Not Just a Social Issue (56:00) AI, Productivity & the Cost of Context Switching (58:00) Mental Health, Burnout & What Employees Need Most Right Now  ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

    1h 1m

  7. May 5

    299 - AMA with Jessica Zwaan on Org Design & Metrics

    Jessica Zwaan, VP People Strategy & Operations at Leapsome and author of Built For People, joined us for another MPL Build AMA.  This time we talked about how to redesign your People team if you're running your team like a product team, why metrics like internal promotion retention matter more than traditional HR KPIs, and more. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report 🔗 Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks Payroll at QuickBooks.com/workforce MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build. ----   (06:00) Building Internal AI Tools: From Non-Technical to Product Thinking (09:00) The HR Paradox: More Strategic Power, More Emotional Pressure (12:00) Why Most Employees Don’t Understand Company Strategy (15:00) The Real Problem Isn’t AI — It’s Communication and Leadership (19:00) How the CPO Role Changed After COVID and AI Acceleration (22:00) Short-Term vs Medium-Term Thinking in High-Speed Organizations (25:00) Trust, Transparency, and Decision-Making in Uncertain Environments (27:00) Why Scaling HR Strategy Is Harder in Established Companies (29:00) The Death of Traditional Career Paths and Org Hierarchies (32:00) Why the CPO Role Is Still Misunderstood at the Executive Level (34:00) Saying No: The Most Underrated Skill in HR Leadership (36:00) HumanOps vs Strategic Work: Where HR Should Actually Focus (38:00) Aligning AI Strategy with Business Outcomes (Not Just Tools) (40:00) The “So What?” Framework for Driving Real Impact (44:00) Why Most Companies Are Building the Wrong AI Stack (45:00) AI as a Product Advantage: Driving Strategy Through Use Case (46:00) When AI Adoption Becomes Non-Negotiable for Employees (48:00) Why Long-Term Planning Is Dead (and What Replaces It) (49:00) Rethinking Headcount: Hiring vs Rebuilding Roles with AI (52:00) Where AI Will Actually Replace Work in HR (54:00) Stop Thinking Roles — Start Thinking Workflows (55:00) Rebuilding Teams for Human + AI Collaboration (58:00) The End of the SaaS Hiring Playbook (59:00) New Metric That Matters: Revenue per Employee (01:01:00) The Risk of “AI Tech Debt” from Poor Implementation (01:02:00) Why Every Company Will Face AI Pressure Soon (01:03:00) HR as Crisis Management: The Reality of the Role (01:05:00) If HR Isn’t in the Room Early, You’ve Already Lost Influence ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

    58 min

  8. Apr 29

    298 - How to Stop Managing from Memory: Amin Palizban (Co-founder & CEO, Topicflow)

    Amin Palizban, Co-Founder & CEO of TopicFlow, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why managers are at a breaking point, how AI is transforming performance management, and what it takes to build AI-native people products that actually support managers in real time. ----   Get the AI for Performance Management Toolkit: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/aiforperformance Sponsor Links: 🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report 🔗 Book a conversation with Compete at compete.com/mpl 🔗 Learn more about Intuit QuickBooks Payroll at QuickBooks.com/workforce MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build. ----   (03:33) Amin’s Career Journey: From Engineer to CEO of TopicFlow (07:32) Early Exposure to Performance Management Tools and Market Gap (10:05) AI’s Impact on Productivity and Internal Workflows (MPL 2.0) (12:36) Why Managers Are Burnt Out and the “Code Red” Situation (16:30) The Real Problem: Poor Manager Training and Promotion Practices (21:34) Why Traditional L&D and HR Tools Are No Longer Effective (24:21) What Real Manager Support Looks Like in the AI Era (26:49) Coaching vs Performance Reviews: Why They Should Be Separate (29:15) Why AI Coaching Can Be More Effective Than Human Coaching (34:38) The Increasing Span of Control and Manager Workload Challenges (36:02) Why Performance Reviews Are Still Not Data-Driven (40:01) What Data Sources Actually Matter for Better Reviews (46:15) Transcript Data as “Corporate Gold” and Cultural Shift Challenges (52:05) From Asking AI to Ambient Intelligence and Proactive Coaching (56:39) Personalized AI Coaching and the “Scale to One” Future ----  📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ----  Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.

    1h 12m
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5
out of 5
61 Ratings

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Listen to interviews with CHROs, Chief People Officers, and other work experts on how they're pioneering the way that we work. They share what's working, what's not, and how they've gotten to where they're at in their careers.

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