I Pushed Gen AI Out to Our Managers

When Colleen Brennan stepped into her role as Head of HR at an organization overseeing five specialty and emergency veterinary hospitals across Florida and South Carolina, she brought more than just credentials. A senior certified HR professional, Brennan also brought a conviction: generative AI wasn’t a future tool—it was a present necessity. Within months, as Brennan tells me in our interview, she was actively encouraging the managers there to adopt generative AI technologies to streamline their work and refocus their energy on what matters most: patient care and relationships.

Bringing AI Into the Fold 

Unlike some tech rollouts driven by top-down mandates or formal committees, Brennan’s approach to integrating generative AI was refreshingly organic. Having experimented with these tools in her personal life, she recognized early the time-saving potential and began advocating for their use at the hospitals. They were already leveraging tools like Otter for meeting transcriptions and summaries—a system Brennan admired but noted had flaws, such as struggling with overlapping voices or attributing quotes to the wrong speakers.

Recognizing how much administrative work was falling on already overstretched managers—who split time between treating animals and leading staff—she began pushing ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini into their hands. Her message was clear: “This helps you get to [admin work], be effective, makes it short and sweet, and it’s helping you accomplish your admin goals.”

The tools quickly proved their worth. ChatGPT and Gemini became vital for crafting job descriptions, writing performance improvement plans, drafting formal communications, and even polishing the tone of emails. In tandem, Canva’s AI-powered features helped speed up the creation of internal communication materials, while generative AI embedded in their applicant tracking system started scoring candidates and optimizing job ads for better fit and faster hiring.

Productivity Without Compromise 

In a high-pressure, fast-paced veterinary environment, Brennan has no time for lofty but vague promises. Although she hasn’t yet gathered specific metrics on productivity gains, the impact of generative AI is visible in everyday operations. “Our managers are on the floor. They’re treating patients and then have to turn around and handle admin. This has really helped them knock that out efficiently without cutting corners,” Brennan explained.

What’s more, the AI-enabled applicant tracking system has reduced the hiring timeline from two weeks to as few as three days in some cases. Better-targeted job ads and resume filtering have also led to stronger candidate pools and faster onboarding.

Employees, too, have responded positively. Rather than fearing job displacement—especially in a field where hands-on, specialized care remains irreplaceable—staff appreciate the clarity and speed these tools bring to communication and HR processes. Brennan emphasizes that AI is not replacing people at the hospitals. “In HR, people will always come first. You’re always going to want that human interaction.”

Transparent Rollout, Clear Boundaries 

Still, Brennan doesn’t shy away from AI’s imperfections. Whether it’s hallucinations in early versions of generative models or privacy concerns over meeting recordings, she’s tackled issues head-on with education and policy. “We’re getting explicit consent,” she explained of AI-powered meeting transcriptions. “It’s in our company policy. We have cameras everywhere due to the nature of our business, so most things are recorded anyway.”

Brennan also coaches managers to never blindly trust AI outputs. “You can tell when something is AI-generated. I’ve just asked them to double-check everything and make sure that the voice coming through is truly the voice they want to be heard.” This insistence on human oversight is a key principle in her philosophy: AI is a tool, not a replacement for judgment or empathy.

The team has learned to distinguish between tools that work and those that don’t. Gemini, while convenient due to its integration with Google Workspace, still lags behind ChatGPT in terms of capability. Brennan urges users to be discerning, encouraging feedback and iterations rather than passive acceptance.

The Road Ahead 

Looking forward, Brennan sees even more potential for generative AI at the hospitals. The company is piloting tools like ScribbleVet to help clinicians transcribe patient histories more accurately and efficiently—further freeing up time for direct patient care. Though the organization hasn’t ventured into AI-assisted client interactions just yet, its infrastructure of in-room cameras provides a fallback for clarifying communications when needed.

Brennan is also keeping an eye on emerging trends. From AI in benefits administration to applicant tracking systems that evolve with machine learning, she’s eager to continue expanding her HR toolbox. “I love grabbing extra tools and putting them in my tool belt,” she said. “Whenever I find something new or read about something new, I’m always very curious to test it out and see if it’s a fit.”

But despite her enthusiasm for tech, Brennan remains grounded in the values that drew her to HR in the first place. “There are flaws,” she acknowledged. “These systems aren’t flawless. But I do see a path to get them to a place where they’re really helping everyone. And I still think we will always have to have some sort of human intervention.”

In other words, Brennan isn’t handing over HR to the machines. She’s guiding them—just like she guides her managers—with a steady hand, a clear voice, and a firm belief that technology, when used thoughtfully, can empower people rather than replace them.

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