Priyanka Singh: Transforming HR Through Technology And Visionary Leadership

Priyanka Singh: Bridging the Gaps in HR Landscape with Technical Expertise and Visionary Leadership

We recently had the privilege of having an insightful conversation with Priyanka Singh, currently leading as the Human Resources Manager at Intelligent Finance Consultants. With over a decade of experience in the UAE, she has leveraged her unparalleled expertise to foster growth for every organization she has associated with. A strong advocate for technology and innovation, Priyanka’s leadership is rooted in delivering impactful results.

Table of Contents

The Beginning

We started the interview by asking, “Could you start by telling us about your professional journey and inspiration behind jumping into this industry?”

Priyanka shared, “I spent over 15 years in business and retail operations, team leadership, and customer-facing work. Bose played a significant role in that. It’s where a lot of my thinking about leadership and performance really got shaped. Early on, I went through a Global People Management Initiative and that’s where things really clicked for me. We worked through Stephen Covey’s Speed of Trust, the 13 behaviours, how to handle difficult conversations, and how to give feedback that actually lands. It wasn’t theory for the sake of it, it was immediately usable.

From there, I kept building. I did my Prosci change management training, then CIPD Level 5, which gave me the proper frameworks and underpinnings to what I’d been doing instinctively for years.

And during COVID, I got SEN certified through KHDA in a completely different space, but I wanted to create awareness for parents of students with special needs. It felt important at the time. Somewhere along the way, I realised the common thread in everything I was drawn to was people. How they grow, how they change, how they perform under pressure. That’s what eventually pulled me into HR and L&D full-time. These days I’m focused on capability building and thinking about how AI can make development actually useful in the flow of work — not just another training programme people sit through.”

Embracing Lessons throughout the Journey

Intrigued to learn more about her journey, we asked Priyanka Singh to share more about the few lessons that helped in leading her work in this field.

She responded, “Clarity because most underperformance isn’t about effort, it’s about confusion. People genuinely don’t know what good looks like. That was reinforced early for me through the Speed of Trust work Covey’s 13 behaviours. It’s all underpinned by the same idea: when expectations are clear and trust is established, people rise to them.

Ownership because the moment someone feels responsible, they stop waiting to be told what to do. And I think giving people difficult feedback done well, with the right framework is actually one of the most respectful things a manager can do. It signals that you believe they can do better. And consistency, because honestly, that’s where most leaders fall short. It’s not the big gestures. It’s the repeated, boring, reliable stuff that actually builds a culture.”

Navigating through Challenges

Challenges are a part of every business. To learn how Priyanka Singh deals with the uncertainties, we asked, “Would you like to share what you feel is a major challenge in starting a business or career? And how did you overcome it?”

“During COVID, I decided to get SEN certified through KHDA completely outside my usual lane. But I wanted to help create awareness for parents of students with special needs, and it felt like the right thing to do at that moment. That kind of lateral move, where you’re not sure how it connects, teaches you a lot about yourself.

When I transitioned into HR and L&D more formally, I wasn’t starting from zero, but it felt like it sometimes. What worked was not trying to hide that gap, just staying close to real work, asking the right questions, and connecting what I already knew to what I was learning. The CIPD Level 5 helped anchor the theory. The Prosci change management work gave me a language for what I’d already been doing in practice. That combination eventually bridged it,” she explained.

Current Offerings by Priyanka Singh

We then asked, “What are your plans with the services/products that you provide? Could you share a bit about it with our viewers?”

“I genuinely believe in creating things, not just theorising about them. I’ve already used AI to build my own L&D playbook not as a concept, as an actual working tool. I’ve also used it on the admin side to free up time for the work that actually matters. So when I talk about AI in learning, I’m speaking from having done it, not just having read about it.

The direction is simple: make learning actually work. In the flow of business, not separate from it,” she added.

Adaptability Amidst the Digital Revolution

Nowadays, as you would see, AI is everywhere. Even businesses are adapting to it increasingly. So, we asked Priyanka Singh, “What are your thoughts on this?”

“Practically, I’ve used it for admin tasks and I’ve built my own L&D playbook with it. That’s not a side project, it’s become a real part of how I work. The time it frees up goes directly back into the human stuff: the conversations, the coaching, the design work that actually needs thinking.

In learning and people development, the real opportunity is closing the gap between when someone needs to grow and when they actually get support. AI can do that — if it’s designed well. But it doesn’t replace human judgment. Leadership, reading what a team needs, knowing when to push and when to hold back that’s still very much people work. AI is the enabler, not the answer,” Priyanka reflected

Words of Wisdom for Beginners

Lastly, we asked, “What would be your advice to beginners in this field or in any field of business?”

Priyanka shared, “I think a lot of early-career people are in a rush to reach something, a role, a level, recognition. And I get it. But the ones I’ve seen build careers that actually last are the ones who stayed focused on getting genuinely good at things.

My own bias is toward creating rather than theorising. Yes, CIPD Level 5, Covey, Prosci, all of it has value, and I’ve done all of it. But the real learning happened when I actually built something, tried something, got it wrong, and adjusted. That’s where it compounds.

Take on responsibility earlier than you feel ready for. Don’t wait to be fully prepared, that’s where the real growth happens.”

Connect with Priyanka Singh on LinkedIn to gain industry insights.