Park Han-sol reports on Korea's financial regulators, along with fintech and insurance. She previously wrote about the art world, from biennales and exhibitions to fairs and auctions, with a focus on Seoul and the figures shaping the scene. Before joining The Korea Times, she spent a year at ABC News' Seoul bureau, contributing to coverage of major Asia-Pacific events.
INTERVIEW AI is rewriting corporate leadership playbook: MetLife global HR chief
Shurawl Sibblies, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at MetLife / Courtesy of MetLife Korea
By Park Han-sol
Embracing uncertainty, building trust emerge as defining leadership traits in age of AI
“The playbook just hasn’t been written yet.”
That’s how Shurawl Sibblies describes the challenge confronting today’s leaders as artificial intelligence (AI) accelerates change faster than organizations can comfortably absorb it.
For the MetLife executive vice president and chief human resources officer (CHRO), however, the technology itself is only part of the story. The more profound shift, she argues, lies in the nature of leadership itself.
“The pace of change, the velocity, is so fast and probably unlike anything we’ve ever experienced,” Sibblies said during her first visit to Korea last week.
That, she believes, calls for a different leadership instinct. In an environment where change outpaces experience, the willingness of leaders to admit they don’t have every answer is becoming as important as their ability to provide direction.
“Making it OK to be vulnerable with your teams and say, ‘I don’t have all the answers, but this is what I do know, and we’re going to learn together,’ makes such a difference,” she said. “It’s a bit of humility that’s required at this moment. It’s authentic.”
That philosophy underpins Lead in the Age of AI, a new global program MetLife is rolling out across its operations worldwide in local languages. Rather than focusing on AI proficiency alone, the program asks managers to rethink the question: What does leadership look like when no one has a complete playbook?
Trust becomes leadership’s new currency
Sibblies’ emphasis on leadership reflects a broader challenge unfolding across workplaces worldwide, including Korea. As companies race to embed AI into everyday operations, more and more employees are grappling with what the technology could mean for their roles and long-term career prospects.
MetLife’s latest Employee Benefit Trends report found that one in five employees are unsure what is expected of them as AI becomes part of their work, while nearly two-thirds are concerned about its risks.
For Sibblies, helping employees build AI fluency is only part of the equation. The greater task is ensuring they do so without losing their sense of purpose or agency. That requires more than simply introducing new technology — it requires rebuilding trust.
“People navigate change effectively when they feel supported, when their work is connected to something purposeful and when they feel their contribution makes a difference,” she said.
And trust, the CHRO argues, cannot be built through reassurances alone. Employees need to see that their concerns translate into tangible action.
Employees at MetLife Korea take part in a collaborative artificial intelligence learning session. Courtesy of MetLife Korea
At MetLife Korea, that philosophy has shaped the company’s approach to AI adoption. After employee feedback revealed a strong desire for greater access to the technology, the insurer made AI capabilities available to employees globally while expanding training on both practical applications and its responsible use.
The learning extends well beyond formal training. Managers regularly demonstrate how they incorporate AI into their own work, while employees exchange practical use cases through Lunch & Learn sessions and other peer-led discussions, helping make the technology part of everyday work instead of a top-down corporate initiative.
“It truly is a source of innovation,” she said of Korea. Ideas born here, she noted, have spread across MetLife’s global operations. One example is 360Health, the insurer’s digital health platform, which was first developed in Korea before expanding to markets across Asia and beyond.
Adaptability as new credential for employees
If AI is democratizing access to knowledge, Sibblies believes it is also forcing companies to rethink what distinguishes exceptional talent.
For decades, career advancement in many countries, including Korea, has been closely tied to academic credentials and technical expertise built through years of experience. Those qualities will remain important, she said, but they will no longer be enough on their own.
“The premium on people who are adaptable and curious, who want to continue learning and take action has gotten much higher,” she said. “Learning is more democratized now with AI, and that means your career can grow in different ways.”
Rather than rewarding narrowly defined expertise, companies will increasingly value lifelong learners — those willing to remain curious throughout their careers, move across functions and apply fresh perspectives to unfamiliar problems. Career paths, she notes, are likely to become less linear as employees reskill and explore new roles across different parts of an organization.
MetLife executives and employees create flower baskets with deaf florists from Flip Flower for patients and their families at Saemmul Hospice during MetLife Foundation's Blooming Day volunteer program, July 9. Courtesy of Metlife Korea
That shift is already taking shape at MetLife Korea, where employees are encouraged to move beyond their original functions and pursue opportunities across the business. Leaders, too, are expected to embrace talent with unconventional career paths, recognizing that diverse experiences often bring about stronger judgment and better decision-making.
In Sibblies’ view, that also requires companies to broaden their definition of talent. Rather than seeing hiring solely through the lens of recent university graduates, employers should be equally open to career changers and people willing to reinvent themselves through continuous learning.
“There will always be something that you can do,” she said. While acknowledging concerns that AI could displace some work, she said the technology would also create entirely new roles. “I actually think there are going to be new roles created that don’t exist today.”
And as AI becomes more capable, she believes the ultimate differentiator will be judgment — the ability to question AI’s recommendations, make values-based decisions and ultimately take responsibility for the outcome.