By Abhishek Gupta, Head – HR & Admin, ZebPay
About the Author
Abhishek Gupta is a seasoned Human Resources leader and the Head of HR & Admin at ZebPay, one of India’s most prominent cryptocurrency exchanges. With over a decade of experience spanning strategic HR leadership, talent transformation, and organizational effectiveness, he is known for redefining HR from a traditional support role into a business-enabling function. At ZebPay, Abhishek plays a pivotal role in building agile, high-performance cultures aligned with innovation in the fintech and Web3 ecosystem. His career includes leadership stints across reputed organizations such as KFC India, DP World, Yes Bank, and Capgemini, equipping him with deep expertise in scaling people strategies across diverse industries. He is an alumnus of the Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), Pune, and is passionate about future-ready workforce design, AI-led transformation, and culture as a competitive advantage.
HR Voice | A TPOSirji Initiative
HR Voice is a thought‑leadership initiative by TPOSirji (www.tposirji.co.in), curated to amplify authentic perspectives from senior HR leaders, CXOs, and people strategists shaping the future of work.
Introduction
For decades, Human Resources has fought for a “seat at the table.” We rebranded from Personnel to HR, and then to People Operations, hoping to be seen as strategic partners. But as we settle into 2026, I believe the time for asking is over.
In the era of Generative AI, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and hyper-speed markets, the traditional definition of HR as a “Support Function” is dead. If your HR team is still primarily focused on policy compliance, payroll, and engagement surveys, you aren’t just supporting the business—you might be slowing it down.
At ZebPay, and broadly in the Fintech/Web3 ecosystem, we are pioneering a new identity for the CHRO: The Internal Product Manager.
The Shift: Employees as “Alpha Customers”
The biggest mistake legacy organizations make is treating the “Customer Experience” (CX) and “Employee Experience” (EX) as two different disciplines. In a digital-first world, they are the same.
If your internal systems are clunky, slow, and bureaucratic, your employees will build products that are clunky, slow, and bureaucratic. You cannot output speed if you input friction.
We need to treat our workforce not as “resources” to be managed, but as our “Alpha Customer Group
The Product Mindset in HR
The Product: Our Culture, our Tech Stack, and our Workflows
The Metric: Not just “Happiness,” but “Velocity.”
When we launched internal initiatives at ZebPay, we didn’t just roll out policies; we beta-tested them. We looked at “User Adoption Rates” of our HR tools. We measured the “Churn” of our top talent just as a product manager measures the churn of subscribers. This mindset shift forces HR to stop being the “Policy Police” and start being the “Experience Architects.”
The AI Factor: From Administration to Augmentation
By now, most HR leaders have experimented with AI. But are we using it to change how we work, or just to do the same work faster?
True “AI-Readiness” in leadership isn’t about buying ChatGPT licenses. It is about redesigning the organizational chart. The workforce of 2026 is a Hybrid Intelligence network. It consists of Full-time Humans, Gig Workers, and AI Agents.
The role of HR is no longer just to hire humans. It is to architect the collaboration between these three entities.
- How do we measure performance when an AI writes 80% of the code?
- How do we define “integrity” when an algorithm makes the decision?
- How do we prevent “Technostress” when the machine never sleeps?
Agile HR leaders must stop fearing automation and start creating “Sovereign Workflows”—where AI handles the prediction and processing, freeing up humans for judgment and strategy. We must move from counting heads to counting neurons (capabilities).
Agile Culture: The “Minimum Viable Policy”
In the volatile world of Crypto and Fintech, a 50-page Employee Handbook is obsolete the day it is printed. We need to embrace the concept of the “Minimum Viable Policy” (MVP).
Culture should not be a static monument; it should be dynamic software. It requires constant updates, patches, and feature releases based on real-time feedback.
- If a performance review cycle is too slow for the market, scrap it.
- If a rigid attendance policy kills creativity, delete it.
At ZebPay, we strive for a culture of “Permissionless Innovation.” Just as the blockchain allows value to move without a middleman, modern HR should allow talent to move and create without administrative bottlenecks.
Conclusion: The Architect’s Mandate
The future belongs to organizations that can learn, unlearn, and relearn at speed. As HR leaders, we are the custodians of this agility.
We must stop viewing ourselves as the guardians of the status quo. We are the architects of the future workforce. We don’t need a seat at the table; we need to build the table—one that is digital, decentralized, and deeply human.
Let us stop “supporting” the business. Let us drive it.
Call for HR Leaders
Join the HR Voice Initiative
CXO-level HR leaders and senior people professionals are invited to contribute their insights and help spread awareness on the evolving HR landscape.Share your intent to participate by writing to: ceo@tposirji.co.in
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