Episode 1 Sharon Green is a professional HR interim, coach and consultant - and one of the quieter connectors in the independent HR world. She founded Chiara Consultancy after a career spanning senior people, project and management roles across the NHS, the not‑for‑profit sector, and international law firms. Alongside her client work, she runs a thriving peer community for independent people professionals - because, as she puts it, it gets lonely out there. Long before AI became the story of the moment, Sharon was already watching waves of workplace technology arrive with bold promises, reshape things partially, and settle into something far more complicated than the hype suggested. Earlier in her career, she helped introduce one of the first online graduate recruitment tools at her organisation - and she’s been watching technology promises collide with workplace reality ever since. So when AI came along, Sharon didn’t rush to the front of the bus. She rates herself a 3–4 out of 10 on ‘the AI spectrum’. Not because she’s behind - but because she’s an intentional AI user. She uses AI for specific things. She treats it as a critical friend rather than an authority. She triangulates across tools because she knows hallucination is real. She anonymises client data before it goes anywhere near a system. And she won’t touch platforms where she doesn’t trust the ethics or values of the people behind them. There’s also one thing she doesn’t use AI for at all. Writing. Not because she can’t - but because writing is a craft. It’s something she loves. Something bound up with her professional identity. For Sharon, that isn’t a gap in AI literacy. It’s a boundary. And that raises a question we don’t ask often enough: What are you not willing to give to AI? In this first episode of The Sovereign Career Podcast, we talk about what it actually looks like to engage with AI intentionally rather than enthusiastically - and why that quieter, more considered stance may be the wiser one for people professionals right now. We also get into the messier, practical side of what Sharon sees in her client work: organisations keen to adopt AI in their people function before their processes are clear or their data is ready. Her view is simple - you can’t just drop a tool onto an unprepared system and hope it works. Foundations matter. Context matters. People need to be met where they actually are, not where leadership wishes they were. Throughout the conversation, Sharon keeps returning to the role HR plays in shaping how AI shows up at work. Sometimes she sees AI treated as a tech project and handed over accordingly. But people, technology and experience are deeply interrelated and perhaps because HR is a broad church - AI adoption can be patchy. If HR isn’t part of the conversation early, something important tends to go missing. This isn’t an episode about keeping up.It’s about staying grounded.About making conscious choices.And about protecting the parts of your work - and yourself - that still need to stay human. What comes up in this conversation * Why Sharon rates herself a 3 to 4 out of 10 on the AI spectrum even though she is using AI regularly and comfortable with the tech. * What being “a curious sceptic” looks like in real client work * Why using AI well sometimes means slowing down, not speeding up * The difference between ‘tech-licensing’ conversations and the conversations that actually matter * Why poor data and unclear processes derail AI efforts in people teams * The ethical lines Sharon won’t cross - and why drawing them matters * The one part of her work she consciously protects from AI * Her advice to HR interims wondering whether it’s worth engaging with AI right now About Sharon Green Sharon Green is a professional interim, qualified coach and consultant, and founder of Chiara Consultancy. She has held senior people, project and management roles across the NHS, the not‑for‑profit sector, and international law firms. Sharon specialises in people change and transformation, people technology and people experience. Alongside her interim and consultancy work, she coaches clients at career crossroads — supporting professionals navigating transition, identity shifts and complex decisions about what comes next. She holds a Masters in HRM, is a Chartered FCIPD, a certified change manager, an Agile® and PRINCE2® project manager, and an ICF‑trained coach. As a #payitforward passion project, Sharon also runs a global LinkedIn peer community supporting over 3,000 independent people professionals, including interims, consultants, coaches, contractors and freelancers. Connect with Sharon * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharongreenchiara/ * Website: http://chiaraconsultancy.co.uk * X (Twitter): https://x.com/SharonGChiara * Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sharongchiara.bsky.social * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharongchiara/ TRANSCRIPT EP 01 The Sovereign Career Podcast Use AI on your terms. Protect what’s yours. Carolyn Shepherd in conversation with Sharon Green Carolyn:Well, hello and welcome to the Sovereign Career Podcast.It’s the first one.And this is my guest, Sharon Green — the lovely Sharon Green — who was there right at the beginning of my AI journey. And I’m sure we’ll come into that a little bit in a few minutes. But that was three years ago.But we’ve only really bumped into each other occasionally live, haven’t we, Sharon? Sharon: Yes. Carolyn: Mainly it’s been an online kind of relationship, or friendship as well as colleague. I like to think of it as almost friendship now.And because I came from an HR interim background myself, and I know that’s really why I was drawn to you and your amazing network that you’ve got, I wondered if you’d tell us a little bit about yourself and the network. Sharon:It’s interesting when you meet people in real life after you’ve connected online. I always love that. I’m Sharon Green, and I would always say that I’m a professional interim. That’s what I do for a living. I used to have a permanent career and many years ago I stepped off to run my own business. In that business I go into clients to add capacity or capability to their people teams. Usually, not always, but usually their people teams. The three areas of work that I focus on are around people change and transformation. That could be running big projects or smaller projects where people want to make changes. People change and transformation, probably over the last 15 years, usually involves technology. So my second area of work and specialism is people technology, which links very nicely to the AI conversation. And then for me, the third area is people experience — how we learn, how we develop people, how we give them a great experience and put the human into work. Those are the paid elements of my work. My passion project, my side hustle, is running a community for people professionals who work independently. That could be coaches, consultants, interims, freelancers, solo entrepreneurs — whatever they want to call themselves. It’s really about peer‑to‑peer support, networking, learning and sharing, because it can get a little bit lonely when you’re on your own. Carolyn:Can’t it? I mean, I know. And it was your WhatsApp group that I came into quite quickly, although I know it’s also on LinkedIn. It’s a vibrant group. I joined it when I was still looking for work — this was three years ago — but the HR interim work dried up for me. It had to be 100% remote for me because of where I live. I think people looked on the map and thought, “That’s a long way away. What are we going to choose her for?” A lot of other things happened as well. I just thought, like you, a lot of my working life has involved HR tech projects. So it was a natural extension for me. I was fascinated anyway. I started experimenting with people at work and they were very willing to join in. Before we go into more detail about AI and how you use it, can you paint a picture of how you work? Are you working from home at the moment? Sharon:It really depends on the client. I’ve done fully remote work, particularly with remote‑first startups and scale‑ups who maybe started without an office. Some clients expect more in‑person work. When you’re an external person, it really helps to build a cultural picture to see people in their own environment and not just transact through screens. This is my Chiara HQ — the centre of the business. Carolyn:Because meeting in person, a lot of people listening will be thinking they go into work some of the time — maybe a couple of days a week — and there’s a lot of value in that peer‑to‑peer contact. It’s social as well. I miss out on all that. I work here on my own quite a lot — just me and the dog, my German Shepherd. I know you’re all about the real stuff, and I think that’s what people are drawn to. It’s certainly why I’m drawn to you. As much as I love AI, I love what I call the Zone Three stuff — the human stuff. Without that, something feels missing from the relationship. Do you think that’s why CEOs — who often get criticised — want people back in the office? Or do you think it’s about control and suspicion? Sharon:I’ve always had the capacity to work remotely since I set up my own business. The acceptability of that from clients has varied over time. For me, it’s similar to my approach to AI or technology — it has to be purposeful and intentional. It has to serve a use and a purpose. There’s now more acceptability for remote‑first work, but there’s still an intentional aspect to being in an office or with people. Coming back to your question about CEOs and senior leadership teams, there are additional layers — scepticism, concern, and sometimes a darker side around control. Managing a dispersed workforce can test leadership s
