CHRO Summit 2025

HR leaders, hands on with agentic AI

In September 2025, Fountain hosted its first CHRO Summit in Napa Valley: two days with about two dozen senior HR leaders, focused on agentic AI and peer conversation. Fountain Labs gave a talk on how agentic AI delivers outcomes, ran a hands-on build session, and built Labs OS, a playful companion site for the event. The aim was to make agents something leaders had used, not just heard about.

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Why we ran it

HR leaders hear a lot about AI agents, but few get hands-on time with them. Without it, it is hard to judge what agents can really do for recruiting and HR, what guardrails they need, and what has to be in place first.

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What we built

A plain-language talk, "How agentic AI delivers outcomes". It compared a GPS to a self-driving car: one tells you where to turn, the other gets you there. It covered what to put in place before handing work to agents: connected data, a human in the loop, clear access controls, and success metrics like time to interview, no-show rates and 30, 60 and 90 day retention.
A hands-on build session. Participants brought an app idea or a problem, turned it into a build prompt and started a first version in an AI app builder, with Fountain Labs on hand to coach.
A prompt builder: a short form for the product name, vision, audience, problem and key features, which Claude turns into a detailed build prompt.
Labs OS, the event companion site: a retro desktop in the browser with draggable windows and pixel-art icons, plus an app launcher on phones. It kept the deck, reading, a quick live survey, the prompt builder and an example voice agent in one place.
An example voice agent, a simple prototype that could place a phone call, hold a short conversation and save the answers. A demo, not a product.

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How it works

Learn the basics: a short talk on what agents are and what to get ready first.
Pick an idea: each participant chose an app idea or a problem they wanted to solve.
Describe it: the prompt builder turned their answers into a clear build prompt.
Build it: paste the prompt into an AI app builder and shape a first version, with coaching from Labs.

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Where it landed

Brought about two dozen senior HR leaders to Napa Valley for two days focused on agentic AI.
Leaders in the build session turned their own ideas into build prompts and started early prototypes.
We turned the talk and build session into a shorter workshop and ran it with other HR leadership teams.

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What we learned

Hands-on time drives the best conversations. Building something turned a talk into a concrete discussion of what HR teams actually need.
Give people scaffolding, not a blank page. A guided form and a starting prompt made it much easier to get going.
Readiness questions come first: connecting to existing HR systems, protecting candidate and employee data, keeping a person in the loop and proving value.
Corporate networks are strict. Keep a plain backup, like a PDF or a direct link, next to anything interactive.