The Breaking Views

Theresa
  • 4.7 (3)
  • Arts

Two seasoned HR leaders sit down twice a month to talk about what's actually happening at the intersection of HR, AI, and business. No scripted intros. No 10-minute bios. Just Theresa Fesinstine and Anthony Onesto pulling headlines, reacting to what's real, and breaking down what it means for people leaders trying to keep up. Theresa is a 25-year HR Executive, and the founder of peoplepower.ai, an MIT-certified AI Strategist, and author of People Powered by AI. She spends her days training HR teams to build real fluency with AI tools and stop waiting for permission to lead. Anthony is the creator of AI in HR Today, VP of Platform and Product Marketing at 15Five, and author of The New Employee Contract: How to Find, Keep, and Elevate Gen Z Talent. He's been a CPO, scaled teams from 40 to 3,000, founded an HR AI company before ChatGPT existed, and has lived through every major tech wave from dot-com to mobile to social. Together, they bring a combined perspective that's hard to find anywhere else: deep HR experience, real fluency in AI and technology, and zero interest in sugarcoating the hard parts. Each episode starts with what's in the feed - LinkedIn, the news, the latest lawsuit or product launch - and turns it into the kind of conversation HR leaders actually need. When the topic calls for it, they'll bring in specialists. But mostly, it's the two of them doing what they do best: making sense of the chaos, calling out the hype, and figuring out what actually works. For CHROs, CPOs, HR leaders, and anyone in the people space who's tired of being told AI will change everything without anyone explaining what to do on Monday morning.

Episodes

  1. Jul 17

    Episode 8: The Last Car in the Parking Lot

    California is ordering state workers back to the office four days a week, and Theresa and Anthony use the news as a jumping-off point for a bigger question: what were those years of mandatory presence actually measuring? Anthony makes the case that the technology finally caught up to distributed work, and that the real shift ahead is output over optics, skills-based hiring, fewer traditional W2 roles, and more fractional and project-based talent. Theresa brings the other side of the ledger, recalling her own resistance to a remote CHRO opportunity back in 2017 and the presence culture she came up in, where being the last car in the parking lot was treated as a career strategy. Where they land is more interesting than a simple verdict on RTO. Both hosts dig into what early-career professionals stand to lose without in-person exposure, from a handshake that reshaped a 15-year career trajectory to the unwritten habits nobody teaches on Zoom. Anthony pushes on whether proximity should ever drive promotions, Theresa argues for the human connection that makes work stick, and together they sketch a future where work is curated around how people actually communicate and contribute rather than one-size-fits-all mandates. The episode also marks a 250 milestone for The Breaking Views. Discussion topics California's four-day return-to-office mandate for state workers, and why blanket presence rules keep coming backAnthony's case for outcome-based work: skills-based hiring, fractional talent, and the end of celebrating a calendar full of meetingsTheresa's evolution from RTO skeptic-in-reverse to hybrid realist, including the CFO battles of the COVID eraHow the next generation learns workplace norms, mentorship, and visibility when the hallway moments disappear

  2. Jul 10

    Episode 7: Hold My Beer, Says the Economy

    The economists called a jobs apocalypse. Then May added 172,000 jobs and doubled Wall Street's estimate. Theresa Fesinstine and Anthony Onesto unpack what that number really means, and why "AI is coming for your job" is the wrong story. This one runs from the hiring bias nobody intended to build (the scorecard that quietly follows you across every job you apply to for a year) to the guy in a Utah workshop itching to spin up his own servers while 90% of the room had no idea where to start. Along the way: a 20-year-old who turned a creepy yellow room into a hit movie, why "Name That Tune" might be the future of hiring, and Theresa deciding mid-episode to start writing a book about timeshare work. In this episode, we discuss:  Economists vs. Reality: Why the jobs report keeps embarrassing the experts, and what "people and machines" actually looks like on the ground.  The Scorecard That Haunts You: How one applicant system can tag you for a role you didn't get and carry that judgment everywhere for 365 days, no human in sight.  Proof Over Pedigree: A 20-year-old filmmaker, a classroom of undergrads building their own apps, and the case for hiring on what you've actually done.  Work as a Timeshare: Fractional roles, the polypreneur, and the question nobody's asking. If work stops being where we connect, then what? Timestamps (Chapters)  00:00 - Welcome Back to Breaking Views  00:22 -172,000 Jobs and the Apocalypse That Wasn't  03:35 - Trusting the News Like You Trust a Weather Forecast  06:18 - The Scorecard That Follows You Everywhere  09:32 - Shiny Object Syndrome and the Fear of Falling Behind  11:21 - Why Human-in-the-Loop Isn't Optional  14:50 - The 20-Year-Old Who Built a Hit Movie  19:33 - Proof Over Pedigree: The End of the Resume  25:28 - Hiring as "Name That Tune"  30:47 - Architecting the Company From Scratch  37:07 - If Work Goes Fractional, Where Do We Connect?  45:04 - Closing Hot Takes: AI IPOs and SpaceX

  3. Jun 26

    Episode 6: The Truth About Measuring AI at Work

    Theresa Fesinstine and Anthony Onesto discuss the critical difference between tracking AI usage as a metric and using it to unlock new, billion-dollar human-led opportunities.  From Anthony's major career move into an AI-focused role at Living HR to Theresa's new community for upskilling HR leaders, we tackle the "competence vs. confidence" gap. We're breaking down why gamified AI leaderboards at companies like Amazon are destined to fail by looking at the "Cobra Effect," and contrasting it with how IKEA redeployed its customer service staff into a wildly successful interior design service, creating a new billion-dollar business line. In this episode, we discuss: Career & Community Updates: Anthony Onesto joins Living HR and Theresa Fesinstine launches an HR community. Gaming the System: Why Amazon's AI token leaderboards were a predictable failure. The IKEA Model: How using AI to analyze customer data created a new billion-dollar business. The Future of HR's Role: Moving from asking permission to giving instruction on tech needs. Timestamps (Chapters) 00:00 – Welcome & Winning Bon Jovi Tickets 02:28 – Theresa Launches Her New HR Community 04:51 – Big News: Anthony Joins Living HR 11:15 – Amazon Workers Gaming the AI Leaderboard 13:15 – The "Cobra Effect": When Good Metrics Go Bad 18:45 – How IKEA Found a Billion-Dollar Opportunity with AI 28:06 – Humanoid Robots and the Future of Physical Jobs 30:47 – Will Any Job Be Untouchable by AI? 39:20 – The Final Question: Can Companies Be "Anti-Tech"?

  4. Jun 19

    Episode 5: Who's Driving the Bus?

    Coinbase did it. So did Snap, Dorsey, and a New York HR leader who fired every manager by text. Theresa Fesinstine and Anthony Onesto take on the "kill the managers" trend sweeping AI-era companies, and ask the question nobody seems to: if the managers are gone, who's actually steering? The pitch is that everyone becomes a "player coach." Anthony's response: when were these managers ever coaches? From there the two get into why coaching is genuinely hard, what fresh assessment data says about how little AI literacy most people actually have, and how even seasoned practitioners get swept up in the layoff panic. Plus the Savannah Bananas, fan-owned airlines, and why betting your whole livelihood on one paycheck might be the riskiest move of all. In this episode, we discuss:  No More Managers?: The trend at Coinbase and beyond, the HR leader who eliminated every manager overnight, and why "player coach" assumes a skill most managers were never taught.  The Gap Nobody Admits: Data from 700+ people showing most are using AI with very little literacy, and why that makes "just remove the layer of management" a dangerous bet.  Caught in the Hype: How the layoff narrative pulls everyone in, what the numbers actually show across industries, and where the real hiring is happening.  Betting on Yourself: The Savannah Bananas, fan-owned teams, and the case for becoming a polypreneur instead of trusting a single employer. Timestamps (Chapters)  00:00 - Welcome Back  00:36 - "No More Managers": Coinbase and a Chatham House Confession  04:31 - When Were Managers Ever Coaches?  06:05 - Directive vs. Socratic: What Good Coaching Looks Like  10:25 - Who's Driving the Bus? The AI Fluency Gap Nobody Admits  12:34 - The Data: Middle Management Down 12%, Spans Stretched Thin  15:53 - When "Just Execute It" Lands on a Junior HR Desk  17:28 - Caught in the Layoff Hype Cycle  21:57 - Where's the Good News? Automotive Hiring and the Savannah Bananas  25:06 - Fan-Owned Teams and the Case Against Investor Money  27:47 - The Polypreneur: Why One Paycheck Is a Risk  32:18 - Are Giant Companies a Relic? GE vs. Google vs. Instagram

  5. May 21

    Episode 4: HR's Identity Crisis: Are We Business Leaders or Not?

    In this episode of Breaking Views, Theresa Fesinstine and Anthony Onesto explore the intersection of HR, business strategy, and the evolving role of human capital. The conversation begins with reflections from the Troop HR Retreat, highlighting the importance of connection, intentional design, and creating space for meaningful dialogue beyond traditional conference formats. From there, the discussion expands into a broader critique of today’s HR landscape. They examine the gap between HR-focused content and true business fluency, questioning whether current conferences and conversations are adequately preparing HR leaders to operate as strategic business partners. The episode also dives into topics like resilience, leadership mindset, and the need for more rigorous, standardized ways to measure human capital’s impact on business outcomes. Throughout, the conversation challenges assumptions, surfaces tensions, and pushes toward a more integrated view of HR as a core driver of organizational success. A wide-ranging, candid discussion that connects what’s happening in the world of work to what’s needed next.

  6. May 8

    Episode 3: Fired by Text, Hired by AI

    Theresa and Anthony unpack why every HR conversation right now seems to be either 100% AI or nothing, and what that leaves out. They dig into the wave of AI-justified layoffs at Snap, Oracle, Block, and Allbirds, the Gen Z backlash showing up as employees refuse to train their own replacements, and where the unions are in all of it. Theresa makes the case for a workforce that's part W2, part 1099, part agent, and what that means for benefits, loyalty, and accountability. Anthony shares the AI layoff tracker he vibe-coded for himself and asks whether employees are starting to keep receipts on the companies doing this. They close with a pivot for next time: shifting the lens from who's getting it wrong to who's getting it right.

  7. Apr 24

    Episode 2: AI Security, Layoffs, and the HR Leader's Dilemma

    Theresa and Anthony take on a full news cycle of AI security breaches, the wave of layoffs tied to AI bets at Disney, Amazon, and Block, and the pressure HR leaders are facing from every direction. They talk about what it means when companies announce layoffs in the name of AI and then quietly start rehiring, whether employees are "keeping receipts" on employer behavior, and why the people function has to grow its own AI fluency to lead through this moment. Plus a detour into Disney's knockout video, Danny Meyer's employee-first playbook, and why intentional culture still separates the companies that scale from the ones that stall.

  8. Apr 2

    Episode 1: The Break Out!

    Theresa Fesinstine and Anthony Onesto kick off their new podcast the only way that makes sense: by pulling a headline straight from LinkedIn and ripping into it. The conversation starts with the class action lawsuit filed against EightfoldAI in California, alleging the company scraped social media and public data to build candidate profiles without consent. But instead of piling onto the fear cycle, Theresa and Anthony dig into what's actually worth paying attention to and what's just noise. They unpack the media hype machine around AI, the predictable rotation of panic topics (safety, environment, water usage), and why HR leaders keep getting caught between "adopt everything" pressure from the C-suite and "trust nothing" instincts from a career spent managing risk. The real thread running through this episode: HR's relationship with permission. Why are so many CHROs still asking IT if they can have the tools they need instead of directing what their function requires? Anthony shares the story of being Workday's 61st customer because he refused to wait for approval, and Theresa breaks down the difference between requesting technology and presenting a business case with ROI expectations attached. It's a distinction that changes the entire dynamic. They also get into the parallels between AI hype and every previous tech wave (dot-com, mobile, social), why lawsuits can actually be a good thing for the industry, and how tools like Gemini and ChatGPT's Pulse feature are shaping how they stay sharp day to day.

  • 8 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Two seasoned HR leaders sit down twice a month to talk about what's actually happening at the intersection of HR, AI, and business. No scripted intros. No 10-minute bios. Just Theresa Fesinstine and Anthony Onesto pulling headlines, reacting to what's real, and breaking down what it means for people leaders trying to keep up. Theresa is a 25-year HR Executive, and the founder of peoplepower.ai, an MIT-certified AI Strategist, and author of People Powered by AI. She spends her days training HR teams to build real fluency with AI tools and stop waiting for permission to lead. Anthony is the creator of AI in HR Today, VP of Platform and Product Marketing at 15Five, and author of The New Employee Contract: How to Find, Keep, and Elevate Gen Z Talent. He's been a CPO, scaled teams from 40 to 3,000, founded an HR AI company before ChatGPT existed, and has lived through every major tech wave from dot-com to mobile to social. Together, they bring a combined perspective that's hard to find anywhere else: deep HR experience, real fluency in AI and technology, and zero interest in sugarcoating the hard parts. Each episode starts with what's in the feed - LinkedIn, the news, the latest lawsuit or product launch - and turns it into the kind of conversation HR leaders actually need. When the topic calls for it, they'll bring in specialists. But mostly, it's the two of them doing what they do best: making sense of the chaos, calling out the hype, and figuring out what actually works. For CHROs, CPOs, HR leaders, and anyone in the people space who's tired of being told AI will change everything without anyone explaining what to do on Monday morning.

Information

  • Creator
    Theresa
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Breaking Views
  • Show Website
    The Breaking Views

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