Leading with curiosity and commercial sense: Kristy Banas on the future of HR

1.6 billion people are seeking mental health support, and only 2.8 million professionals are available to provide it. That’s not just a health problem – it’s a fundamental leadership challenge. Because when work is where so much life happens, the way organizations support their people determines how they perform.

That’s the lens through which Kristy Banas, CHRO at WTW, sees the world. In this episode of Lead from Within, Unmind CEO and Co-Founder Dr Nick Taylor sits down with Kristy to explore how HR is evolving from a support function into a strategic force driving business and human performance in equal measure.

Kristy calls herself “a bit of a nerd.” Growing up in Colorado, she wasn’t the athletic type but proudly remembers being crowned Adams County District 12 Spelling Bee Champion.

Her journey into leadership wasn’t traditional. After one year at university, the money ran out, and she went straight into work, first in accounting and mergers and acquisitions. “I’m a walking advertisement for the value of learning on the job,” she says.

But watching the companies she helped acquire slowly lose their entrepreneurial spark left her questioning her path. “We were taking the value out of what made those companies special,” she said. “It was heartbreaking.”

That moment of misalignment became a turning point, leading her away from spreadsheets and toward people.

Kristy credits much of her trajectory to Celia Brown, a mentor who saw her potential long before she did. Celia, a lawyer by trade, challenged her to finish her degree, to step into roles she hadn’t imagined, and to stop playing it safe.

“She asked me to take jobs I hadn’t envisioned for myself,” Kristy says. “Half of my journey was luck, and the other half was doing the best I could with the luck I was given.”

That blend of curiosity, humility, and courage still defines how she leads.

At WTW, Kristy’s remit spans HR, brand, marketing, and communications, a combination that reflects her view of HR as a strategic business function, not a back-office role.

“The CHRO, CFO, and CEO are a triad,” she explains. “The trust between those three roles defines how an organization runs.”

Financial fluency is central to that trust. HR leaders must understand how the business makes money, how it spends, and how people strategy drives results. Under her leadership, WTW even removed “degree required” as the default from job descriptions, keeping it only when truly necessary.

That principle extends to wellbeing. Mental health and inclusion aren’t isolated programs at WTW; they’re embedded across Total Rewards, Learning & Development, and Inclusion & Diversity, guided by one shared plan.

For Kristy, belonging and psychological safety aren’t soft ideals, they’re measurable drivers of performance.

“When people feel safe enough to speak up, they’re more creative, more open, and more accountable,” she says. “Psychological safety drives performance because it allows honesty.”

She also believes communication is the thread that holds it all together. Change is constant, she says, but clarity is what builds trust: explain the why, show the impact, and repeat until it lands.

“When you feel like you’ve over-communicated – communicate more,” she said.

No conversation about the future of work can ignore AI, and Kristy’s take is grounded in optimism and pragmatism.

“AI won’t replace humans,” she quotes Harvard professor Karim Lakhani. “But humans who use AI will surpass those who don’t.”

At WTW, AI is being used to enhance client solutions and free up people for more meaningful work. Kristy measures success not just in savings, but in productivity and experience. “It’s not about chasing a perfect ROI number,” she says. “It’s about what it enables.”

Still, she’s clear-eyed about responsibility. “When AI interacts with humans coaching, advising, the guardrails have to be higher. Testing and safety matter.”

It’s a balance that defines her leadership: bold about innovation, anchored in care.

As the world continues to shift – economically, technologically, and culturally, Kristy believes HR’s influence will only deepen. But to keep pace, the profession itself must evolve.

That evolution, she says, starts with financial fluency: every HR professional should be able to speak the language of the business and tie people strategy directly to performance. It also calls for digital confidence, where data and technology become allies rather than obstacles. And at the heart of it all is curiosity – the willingness to question, explore, and move beyond the mindset of “we’ve always done it this way.”

Kristy also sees a new era for wellbeing. Mental health should be treated with the same urgency and intention as physical health – not as a crisis to react to, but as a system to sustain. And perhaps most importantly, she urges HR leaders to make space to think. Demand will always exceed capacity, she says, but the best leaders protect time to look up, scan the horizon, and prepare for what’s next.

“HR sits at the intersection of everything,” Kristy reflects. “We have a tremendous responsibility to make sure our organizations are prepared for the future. And there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Hear the complete episode with Kristy Banas, CHRO of WTW, on Lead from Within – Unmind’s podcast for people leaders exploring the intersection of leadership, performance, and mental health.

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube and hear the full story, in her own words.