How Business Owners Can Use AI Without Risking HR Compliance and Team Trust with Kelly Price

AI for Business Owners

In this episode of the AI for Business Owners Podcast, host Jeff Torello is joined by Kelly Price, Founder and CEO of Thrive HR, to discuss how small businesses can integrate AI into HR operations without losing the human touch. With a background that spans hospitality, recruiting, and HR leadership, Kelly shares her journey to launching Thrive HR and her mission to help small business owners build strategic, compliant, and people-first organizations. Jeff and Kelly explore how AI can support HR functions like onboarding, performance management, and policy creation, while also emphasizing the irreplaceable value of empathy, context, and human leadership in people operations. This episode delivers practical, experience-backed insights on how to make HR more efficient without making it robotic.

Key Takeaways

• HR is a business function, not just a cost center—strategy and compliance both matter.

• AI is a powerful productivity tool, but it cannot replace human reasoning or emotional intelligence.

• Onboarding, training, and FAQs are ideal areas for AI-powered automation in HR.

• Performance conversations should never be fully automated—context and empathy matter.

• Business leaders must understand the limits of automation and lead with appropriateness.

Noteworthy Quotes

"AI is a tool, not the doer. You still need a person to say the words." – Kelly Price "Teach your people what the box is, and empower them to go to the edges." – Kelly Price "Even if it's all praise, getting a performance review written by ChatGPT and emailed is the wrong approach." – Kelly Price "Appropriateness is everything when you're automating. Just because you can doesn't mean you should." – Jeff Torello "The human factor in HR isn't optional—it’s foundational." – Kelly Price

Key Timestamps

00:36 – Introduction: Meet Kelly Price, founder of Thrive HR 01:52 – Career journey: From psychology and hospitality to HR leadership 06:55 – Launching Thrive HR and supporting small businesses with strategic HR 11:11 – Kelly's AI use cases in HR: job descriptions, reviews, policies 18:18 – Why empathy still matters in performance conversations 22:50 – How big corporations lose the human element in HR 25:14 – Building an HR chatbot: empowering local managers with compliant flexibility 29:10 – AI in onboarding: training systems, customer service, and team culture 36:00 – Balancing automation with real human support and leadership

FOLLOW OUR GUEST KELLY PRICE ON:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellypricethrivehr/

Thrive HR LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thrivehrkc/

FOLLOW OUR HOST JEFF TORELLO ON:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtorello/

Website: https://sinjun.ai/

FOLLOW SINJUN AI ON:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sinjunai/

Website: https://sinjun.ai/

X (Twitter): https://x.com/sinjunai

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sinjun.ai/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sinjun-AI/

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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3yi0lfb6ZtSuqRvKh6a2e1?si=88f9e649d1f546c8

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SinjunAI

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ai-for-business-owners/id1823255627