I work with Chief Executives and Boards on the people side of change and AI Transformation.
Strategy, transformation and culture.
I am Helen Hovenga, an Executive strategist and Chief People Officer based in Melbourne. How I work is up to you. I advise Chief Executives, coach Executives and their teams, lead whole transformation programmes, or step in as your Chief People Officer on an interim or fractional basis. What stays the same is the level I work at and the standard I hold.
Human-centred AI and organisational transformation
I help organisations bring AI into how they work without losing the people who do the work.
I am not a technology consultant. I come at this as a Chief People Officer, which means I start where the risk actually sits: in whether your people trust what is happening, whether their work still makes sense to them, and whether your leaders can carry the change.
I built this capability on myself before offering it to anyone. Since April 2026 I have run my own consulting practice on an AI system I designed and built, while carrying four client engagements at once. That is why I can tell you where the line sits between what AI should do and what a person must decide.
Where I work:
Deciding where AI genuinely helps, and where it will cost you more than it returns.
Redesigning roles and work so people move up into judgement rather than out.
Bringing leaders and teams with you, so adoption is real rather than reported.
Governance your board can stand behind: who approves what, what happens to your people's data, and how someone challenges a decision.
Building the capability in your team so it does not leave when I do.
I am an Executive strategist and Chief People Officer. My work runs across strategy, transformation and culture, and it is not confined to the people function.
I work at whatever level of the problem. That might be advising a Chief Executive on a decision only they can make, coaching an Executive through a role that has outgrown them, designing and leading a transformation programme, or holding the Chief People Officer seat myself for a while, full time or a few days a week.
My focus is change that lasts. I look for what is actually causing a problem rather than treating the symptom, and I build capability that stays after I leave. Change done to people gets compliance. Change done with people gets adoption, and adoption is the only thing that survives my leaving.
Twenty-five years across healthcare and global health, biotech and pharmaceuticals, fintech and financial services, mining and resources, energy and industrial, automotive, retail and consumer goods, supply chain, and the for-purpose sector. Organisations from private equity backed to ASX listed, in Australia and globally.
I am currently engaged with four Australian organisations, across executive advisory, interim and fractional Chief People Officer roles, and consulting.
HELEN HOVENGA
M.Bus.HRM & IR, BA (Psych)
Track record
Healthcare, global health and for-purpose
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Western Health and Mildura Base Hospital, Impact Global Health, Possability, Make-A-Wish Australia
Biotech and pharmaceuticals
Telix Pharmaceuticals
Consumer goods and retail
Nuchev, Mars Incorporated, Carlton & United Breweries, Coles Myer, Myer Grace Bros, Kennedy Watches and Jewellery, The Red Group
Financial services and fintech
Afterpay, VicSuper
Mining and resources
Newcrest Mining
Energy, industrial and waste
Energy Power Systems Australia, Cleanaway Waste Management
Automotive
Toyota Motor Corporation Australia
Government and major events
Commonwealth Games Organising Committee
Selected results
Energy Power Systems Australia: People and Culture team engagement from 59% to 88% in three months, through a transformation of the P&C function.
Telix Pharmaceuticals: architected the three-year strategy, purpose and values that underpinned 60% growth. 93% participation in the employee survey, 98% awareness of the values, and belonging up 12 points to 83%.
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre: engagement survey participation from 53% to 67% in one year, the highest of any hospital in the state, with an engagement score of 74.
Cleanaway: performance appraisal completion from 41% to 100%, making high performers and high potential visible across the top three levels of the organisation.
Toyota Australia: $25 million in labour cost savings over two years through strategic workforce planning, and $500,000 a year from redesigning recruitment.
Carlton & United Breweries: a three-year supply organisation design delivered in eight weeks, with a 10% labour cost saving.
Purpose - To leave every person I work with more capable and their organisation stronger for it.
Vision - A world of work where people and AI are true partners, and change is done with people, not to them.
Values - Start from trust. Courageous candour, with kindness. Human and grounded. Change that lasts. Excellence, always.
Expertise
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I speak and present on People and Culture strategy, organisational change, and bringing AI into organisations in a human way. I engage teams and organisations to get the best for and from people, with agility, empathy, courage, influencing and curiosity.
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I diagnose culture and lead culture change, using consulting, influencing and stakeholder engagement alongside advanced change management and business transformation expertise, to create an environment where people can thrive. This includes change driven by new technology and AI, where the culture question is usually the one that decides whether it works.
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I work across talent identification, management, development and acquisition, and leadership development, using assessments to identify and develop leaders and talent. I build and expand organisations on a growth trajectory toward maturity in a global setting, with extensive experience in organisation development, organisational design and workforce planning.
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With a strategic mindset, focused on an organisation's true north, I draw on my background in HR information systems and shared services to build the People and Culture strategy, policies, systems and processes for a sustainable, high performing organisation. It also covers the compliance ground that has moved fastest recently, including psychosocial health duties and the obligations that come with using AI near decisions about people.
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I help organisations bring AI into how they work without losing the people who do the work. I am not a technology consultant. I come at this as a Chief People Officer, which means I start where the risk actually sits: in whether your people trust what is happening, whether their work still makes sense to them, and whether your leaders can carry the change. I built this capability on myself before offering it to anyone. Since April 2026 I have run my own consulting practice on an AI system I designed and built, while carrying four client engagements at once. That is why I can tell you where the line sits between what AI should do and what a person must decide. The work covers deciding where AI genuinely helps and where it will cost more than it returns; redesigning roles so people move up into judgement rather than out; bringing leaders and teams with you so adoption is real rather than reported; governance your board can stand behind, covering who approves what, what happens to your people's data, and how someone challenges a decision; and building the capability in your team so it does not leave when I do.
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I coach executives and their teams, and I advise chief executives and boards on the decisions that are theirs alone. Often that is a role that has grown faster than the person in it, a leadership team that is not yet a team, or a chief executive who needs somewhere honest to think out loud. I am an accredited practitioner in Human Synergistics LSI and L/I, Insights Discovery, SHL and OPQ assessments, and Lominger and Korn Ferry competencies, so where it helps I bring evidence to the conversation rather than opinion alone.
Transformation
Global OD and Transformation training - SABMiller
Change
People Centred Implementation (Change Management Accreditation)
LSI and L/I
Human Synergistics LSI and L/I Accredited Practitioner
Insight
Insights Discovery Practitioner
Assessments
SHL Assessment Accreditation including OPQ
Competencies
Lominger Competencies/Korn Ferry Accredited Practitioner