KP Ponti

CEO at Humankind

KP Ponti is the CEO of Humankind, New Zealand’s leading People & Culture and Employee Experience agency, where she helps organisations design and scale workplaces where people thrive — and businesses perform. Before joining Humankind, KP was a Director at North American fashion retailer Aritzia LP, where she served on the Senior Leadership Team that led the company through its successful public listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Her experience spans global leadership, growth strategy, and people transformation, with a focus on building cultures that are both highly human and commercially successful. As a member of the Global EX Council, KP continues to contribute to the evolution of employee experience thinking at a global level. Across every stage of growth, KP is driven by one simple principle: organisations that invest in humanity outperform those that don’t.

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The value of outside perspectives for today’s People leaders

What happens when People leaders stop going it alone? In this panel, Ashleigh Loughnan, David Ky, KP Ponti, and Nic Hopkins share how external perspectives — fractional execs, coaches, operator-advisors, and agency partners — sharpen strategy, challenge assumptions, and unlock clarity. Ashleigh draws from her COO role at Hutly; David brings a systems lens from Airwallex; Nic shares lessons from scaling as a VP of People; and KP adds experience leading Humankind, advising organisations on how to scale humanity and performance side-by-side. Together, they explore how outside expertise helps founders and People leaders cut through complexity, avoid blind spots, and move with more confidence. This is a conversation for anyone feeling stuck in the weeds — and ready to see further.