Join us on Friday, November 14th for a panel discussion the impact of AI on HR practices. Our four panelists will share their perspectives and experiences on the subject.
Rachel Aleknavicius is an Employee Benefits Consultant with Nava Benefits, bringing more than 15 years of experience partnering with HR leaders to build smarter, more strategic benefits programs. She’s known for blending practical, real-world insight with forward-thinking strategy - helping organizations navigate the evolving intersection of compliance, technology, and employee experience. Rachel is passionate about ensuring that tools like AI enhance the human side of HR, not replace it. Her approach is grounded, empathetic, and focused on making complex ideas simple and actionable for today’s HR professionals.
During this session, Rachel along with Mike Freer (CHRO at Bethel University) will share how AI is reshaping the HR landscape — from compliance and risk management to employee experience and operational efficiency. She’ll discuss the practical realities HR professionals face in adopting AI responsibly, and how tools like Nava’s HQ and Employee App are designed to support HR teams rather than overshadow them.
Rachel’s insights will focus on how AI can elevate HR roles — streamlining routine tasks, improving access to information, and empowering professionals to spend more time on what truly matters: people. Rather than framing AI as a threat, Rachel highlights how it can be a powerful partner in creating more compliant, efficient, and human-centered workplaces.
Carita Hibben is Vice President, Human Resources at C.H. Robinson. She currently leads several key functions within HR, including Talent Management, Total Rewards and Executive Compensation (including supporting the Talent and Compensation Committee), HR Service Center and HR Technology.
She is accountable for driving several elements of their talent strategy and through her teams leads approximately 70% of their global HR organization, including teams in Europe and Asia. In her time at C.H. Robinson, she led the successful implementation of Workday, ServiceNow, and Xactly compensation system; she led the effort to modernize and simplify their compensation programs across the enterprise, improving alignment with business objectives, ensuring equitable pay practices and creating more clarity for employees around the linkage between pay and performance. She has played a key role in the development of our expanded leadership development strategy and serves as a sponsor in our sponsorship program for diverse employees and the LNC program. Prior to joining Robinson, Carita served in senior HR leadership roles at Starkey, Schwans, and G&K Services.
Carita will share C.H. Robinson’s journey with AI, and how they are building agents in all parts of the business and how HR has leaned in to support all parts of their business. She will discuss how they are using AI in their own HR function.
Karen Phang is a strategic and business-oriented Human Resources executive with more than two decades of experience in the medtech industry, spanning startups and Fortune 100 organizations. She currently serves as Vice President of Human Resources at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (MHIF), a leading nonprofit cardiovascular research and education institution. In this role, Karen partners with the CEO and senior leadership to shape culture, strengthen organizational alignment, and drive enterprise-wide initiatives in leadership development, talent strategy, and change management.
Prior to joining MHIF, Karen held progressive HR leadership roles at a number of organizations including Medtronic, Danaher, Smiths Medical, AtriCure, and St. Jude Medical (now Abbott) , where she built and led high-performing teams, implemented scalable talent systems, and guided organizations through transformation, integration, and growth. She is recognized for her pragmatic and collaborative approach, integrating business strategy with people practices to achieve measurable results.
Karen holds a Master’s in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management and a Bachelor’s in Human Resources from St. Olaf College. She is a passionate advocate for leadership development, diversity, and building cultures where people and purpose thrive.
Karen’s presentation shares how MHIF used artificial intelligence as a collaborative partner to define, design, and integrate their Employee Value Proposition (EVP) — capturing what makes MHIF a uniquely meaningful and mission-driven place to work.
She will walk through each stage of their EVP journey, highlighting how AI accelerated analysis, creative development, and consistency across the organization. Through this process, they brought their culture, purpose, and employee insights together into a clear, authentic narrative that reflects who they are and what they offer.
*This event is for internal practitioners only. Please no independent HR consultants.
hr connection Best Practice Exchanges are no charge for members and their guests. There is a $49 fee for non-members.