This CHRO is centering people work, change management, and the AI transformation around human behavior and stakeholder engagement

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Kelsey Holthus is a change maker. She doesn’t have 40 quarters for your ten-spot, but she’s bringing a change -management approach to her work in HR at the Minnesota-based identity, payments, and data security provider Entrust.

“I’ve always had more of a solution mindset, solution orientation, lean into problem solving, and I bring a lot of that to the work that I get to do in HR,” Holthus said. “I was leaning into areas around problem solving and efficiency, and really bringing more of a human lens to that around how people learn and adapt and change behaviors in order to make sure that any change initiative sticks.”

Entrust is “probably more complicated than we—maybe—seem for our relative size,” she told HR Brew. The company has nearly 3,500 employees and contingent workers across more than 20 locations, serving over 150 countries. Holthus leads a global team of 70 HR pros in its centers of excellence, HRBPs in offices all over the world and out in the field, and a growing HR operations and technology team.

Holthus sees talent, culture, and leadership as key facilitators for change, and as Entrust—like just about every other company out there, right now—navigates the AI transformation, her approach to help drive real meaningful change across the growing company.

“I think there’s always opportunity to lean in and shape what can be done, and people are really at the forefront of that. It really got me to see that people are the greatest differentiator to any organization.”

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s the best change you’ve made at a place you’ve worked?

I’ve always been part of extraordinary teams of individuals who work together to enact change. That said, I think my proudest accomplishment has been leading through change to make a positive impact.

My current company, Entrust, went through a major acquisition in 2024 that saw it acquire a UK startup called Onfido. Any M&A is a big undertaking, but talent-wise, this was Entrust’s biggest acquisition in several years. While we have playbooks to refer to in these situations, no manual can fully prepare you for the massive change that comes with M&A. So, to make this change successful, we moved through every phase by chatting openly and honestly with colleagues across the globe to collect feedback. We did this through pulse surveys, forums, ERGs, and Q&As to facilitate a true cultural integration—while maintaining strong engagement, retention, and continuity during a period of significant change.

I always encourage my teams to approach change through a change management mindset. Asking the right questions from the start, like “why are we doing this?” and “what’s the business case?” will always set you up for success.

What’s the biggest misconception people might have about your job?

I think there are a lot of misconceptions about the role of HR, in particular. People commonly default to things like party planning or broadly “creating culture,” but don’t seem to understand there are much more strategic aspects when balancing people and business growth.

HR has gone through an extensive evolution in recent years. Covid-19 was a forcing function there and expedited the transition, but it’s been happening behind the scenes for a long time. In the past, leadership development was laser-focused on telling managers not to talk about employees’ personal lives, keeping the focus on work. That’s completely flipped over the last decade, and is table stakes now. The role has really shifted to thinking much more about colleagues’ whole health and well-being, as well as an integrated work-life.

What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your job?

Helping people and organizations reach their highest potential. I also love helping people find their passion. Working in HR is an incredibly symbiotic process because the more people find what makes them tick, the better they are at their jobs, and that’s better for business. My best advice for helping facilitate this is to slow down and ask people a simple, pointed question,: “When do you feel most alive at work?”

Additionally, working for a forward-looking company is especially fulfilling. Entrust’s purpose is to secure a world in motion. That means a lot of different things, but everything we do ultimately comes back to a central mission of securing identities and fighting cyberthreats. That core purpose is something my colleagues and I can take pride in and is an important tenet of the culture we try to build.

What trend in HR are you most optimistic about? Why?

Can I say AI for this question and the next?!

I’m most excited about AI because I see it as a powerful catalyst for continuous improvement—a mindset that’s deeply rooted in how I lead and how I think about the future of work. Used well, AI can give colleagues time back to focus on higher value work, build new skills, and take on roles that didn’t exist before. I believe it will fundamentally change how we work and learn, reshaping today’s jobs and creating entirely new ones. What excites me most is the opportunity to be intentional about that evolution, so AI becomes an enabler of growth rather than a disruption people feel unprepared for.

What trend in HR are you least optimistic about? Why?

At the same time, I’m cautious about how quickly AI is being adopted without enough attention to trust and accountability. As our workforce expands beyond people to include AI agents, we have to think differently about identity, roles, and decision rights—understanding not just who someone is, but who or what is acting on behalf of the business. That brings important considerations around access, data privacy, and ownership of outcomes. There’s a lot of hype, and if organizations move too fast without the right guardrails, confidence can break down quickly. That’s why I advocate for a measured, principled approach: investing in the right tools, being clear about roles and permissions, and adopting AI in ways that are secure, responsible, and aligned with how the organization actually works.

These views do not necessarily speak for the company, but instead are the personal responses from individuals.