Can an algorithm build trust? Lightstorm’s CPO on the future of human connection at work

As the modern workplace stands at a profound crossroads, the relentless advance of AI is meeting the timeless need for human wisdom. For business leaders, navigating this intersection is not merely an operational task; it is the central strategic challenge of our time, with the future of leadership and organisational resilience hanging in the balance. How organisations choose to blend technological capability with human connection will define the next generation of talent development.

Speaking with HRM Asia, Kelvin Kong, Global Chief People Officer of Lightstorm, offers a clear and forward-thinking roadmap. He explains how a synergy between AI and human insight can transform mentorship from a single programme into a core engine for growth, revealing the critical steps for building a responsible, scalable, and deeply impactful talent strategy for the decade ahead.

As Global Chief People Officer, how do you see AI reshaping mentorship in ways that align with Lightstorm’s long-term people strategy while preserving the human connection essential for trust and growth?
Kelvin Kong: There is no denying that AI has profoundly reshaped industries across the board. In the HR field, it has evolved into a strategic force for driving employee engagement, enabling more personalised, efficient, and proactive support for the workforce.

At Lightstorm, we harness AI-driven platforms to deliver personalised employee experiences—most notably through Lightstorm’s Achieve Academy, where learning courses are thoughtfully tailored to align with each individual’s unique career path. We aim to do just the same with mentorship, allowing room for our human mentors to focus on more high-value interactions that truly build leaders. The role of mentors has since broadened; some can play the role of career or life mentors within a structured or social setting.

In addition to offering on-demand support through virtual assistants, AI also enhances mentorship by enabling smarter mentor-mentee matching, personalising learning paths based on experience, career stages and personality. It helps track progress, generate insights, and reduce bias in mentorship programmes, making guidance more scalable, inclusive and data-driven—especially in fast-paced or large organisational settings.

With that said, the human element remains central. AI cannot replicate the emotional intelligence, nuanced understanding or cultural empathy that human mentors provide. These are essential for building trust, fostering psychological safety, and guiding complex career growth.

We are blending AI’s capabilities with human wisdom. This approach scales our mentorship programmes, accelerates leadership development and ensures that the vital human connection—the bedrock of trust and growth—is always at the heart of a future-ready workplace. Ultimately, I envision an army of mentors in Lightstorm, making themselves available as listening ears, encouragers and signposts for employees towards the tools and resources the organisation has made available for them.

How should global HR leaders rethink mentorship metrics to prioritise transformative relationships over traditional KPIs, and what impact have you seen on Lightstorm from this shift?
Kong: Global HR leaders should move beyond traditional metrics like meeting frequency, programme participation, and KPIs, and instead prioritise impact-driven indicators such as career progression, skill development, and employee engagement. Leaders should start incorporating qualitative feedback to assess trust, growth and the depth of mentor-mentee relationships.

We believe that meaningful, transformative relationships are at the heart of a successful mentorship programme. With qualitative insights, we can gauge success by measuring mentee self-reported growth in areas like confidence and clarity, insights from mentors on emerging leadership behaviours and the compelling narrative success stories that truly illustrate impact.

We also track the long-term retention and progression of individuals who have benefitted from these deep connections, understanding that sustained growth is the ultimate metric. Integrating AI and analytics also helps to uncover patterns in conversations and outcomes that signal meaningful growth and development.

Prioritising such insights ensures mentorship drives real transformation, not just compliance. This approach has significantly impacted Lightstorm’s talent development, particularly across Asia-Pacific. We are seeing stronger engagement across our programmes, particularly in Lightstorm’s Achiever Academy, which offers not only reskilling and upskilling opportunities, but also blended learning models, mentorship, and pathways for internal talent mobility. By embedding AI, inclusivity, continuous learning, and a human-first mindset into every facet of its HR strategy, Lightstorm is shaping a resilient and future-ready workforce.

Given the well-known risks of bias in AI algorithms, what steps are crucial for building responsible mentorship frameworks in Asia-Pacific, and how are emerging regulatory trends or best practices in the region shaping how HR leaders approach responsible AI in talent development?
Kong: The risk of bias in AI algorithms is a significant concern, especially when leveraging AI for talent development like mentorship. In Asia-Pacific, this risk is heightened by cultural nuances and linguistic differences, which can inadvertently reinforce or even amplify existing biases if not thoughtfully managed.

To mitigate these risks, our crucial steps include rigorous, localised data validation to ensure our AI models are trained on diverse and representative datasets that reflect Asia-Pacific’s unique demographics and cultures. At Lightstorm, building responsible mentorship frameworks means prioritising fairness, transparency and continuous human oversight to ensure AI truly supports equitable growth across Asia-Pacific.

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We mandate regular bias audits of our AI systems, often engaging third-party experts to identify and address any discriminatory patterns in our frameworks. Emerging regulatory trends across Asia-Pacific—such as Singapore’s Model AI Governance Framework and South Korea AI Basic Act—are invaluable. They guide our approach by emphasising explainability, accountability and data privacy, pushing HR leaders like us to embed ethical AI principles from design to deployment. This shapes a future where AI responsibly augments, rather than compromises human potential in talent development. Moreover, having humans in the loop is essential—while AI offers valuable insights and enhances connections, the heart of mentorship and all key decisions firmly rest with out human mentors.

Looking ahead, what role should CPOs and CHROs play in shaping mentorship ecosystems that help employees thrive in a future defined by human-machine collaboration, and how should this influence broader organisational transformation?
Kong: CPOs and CHROs are uniquely positioned to be the architects of thriving mentorship ecosystems, especially as human-machine collaboration defines the future of work. Our role transcends traditional HR, and it is all about proactively designing environments where humans and AI augment each other, fostering continuous learning, adaptability and psychological safety.

We must ensure our people are not only prepared for—but inspired by—a future where AI takes on repetitive tasks, empowering them to focus on higher-value, creative, and distinctly human work. This involves cultivating a mindset where curiosity and a growth orientation are paramount, enabling employees to upskill and reskill for evolving roles continuously.

Therefore, this demands a holistic approach to talent strategy. From skills mapping and personalised learning pathways powered by AI to cultivating a culture of trust where employees understand AI as a partner, not a threat. That said, organisations should actively educate and train employees on potential risks to minimise vulnerabilities. In addition, collaborating with industry experts and staying updated on emerging threats is also essential to maintaining a strong and resilient defence system.

By championing this human-machine synergy in our mentorship and development frameworks, we empower Lightstorm to build a resilient, agile workforce, accelerate innovation and ultimately, secure a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving global landscape.