HR Leaders

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast On The Road, we sit down with Khalil Smith, VP, Inclusion, Diversity, and Engagement at Akamai Technologies, to unpack what it really takes to build a performance culture where people trust each other enough to speak up, challenge ideas, and grow.

Khalil explains why culture is not what leaders say they want, but what the organization actually rewards, and why silence is often the clearest signal that trust has broken down.

He shares how leaders can build stronger cultures by creating trust, encouraging healthy disagreement, aligning systems with values, and making recognition and feedback feel honest, specific, and useful.

Most importantly, Khalil reveals why the future of culture belongs to organizations that close the gap between what they say and what they reward, creating environments where people can challenge respectfully, perform boldly, and speak up without fear.

🎓 In this episode, Khalil discusses:

1. How culture is shaped through awareness, behavior, community, and systems
2. Why recognition only works when it is grounded in honesty, specificity, and trust
3. ow leaders can create the conditions for employees to speak up and challenge ideas
4. Why healthy disagreement is essential for trust, performance, and better decision-making
5. Why organizations must align internal reality with the values they communicate externally

🙏 Thank you to our partner, Workhuman

Discover how Workhuman helps organizations turn recognition into real business impact, building stronger cultures, more connected teams, and better visibility into the people driving performance.

✅ Learn more about Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast On The Road, we sit down with Peter Andrew Danzig, Senior Advisor, Foundation Culture at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, to unpack what psychological safety really means beyond the buzzword.

Peter explains why psychological safety is not a checklist, policy, or one-time initiative, but a belief system that has to be co-created, practiced, and reinforced through everyday behavior.

He shares how leaders can build safer spaces by embracing healthy friction, operationalizing empathy, and creating room for challenge, accountability, apology, repair, and growth.

Most importantly, Peter reveals why the future of culture belongs to organizations that stop treating safety as comfort, and start building environments where more people can speak honestly, move through conflict, and still feel seen, heard, and valued.

🎓 In this episode, Peter discusses:

1. Why psychological safety must be treated as a belief system, not a checklist
2. How healthy friction, challenge, and disagreement strengthen trust when handled well
3. How rupture and repair can help organizations move through harm, conflict, accountability, and growth
4. Why neuroscience, identity, stress, and life outside work all shape how people experience safety at work
5. Why empathy, compassion, vulnerability, and perspective-taking need to be practiced, not just understood

🙏 Thank you to our partner, Workhuman

Discover how Workhuman helps organizations turn recognition into real business impact, building stronger cultures, more connected teams, and better visibility into the people driving performance.

✅ Learn more about Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast On The Road, we sit down with Julie A. Stone, Chief Learning Officer, Group VP at TTEC, to unpack what it really takes to bring AI into an organization without losing the human connection, trust, and coaching that actually drive performance.

Julie explains why simply training people on AI tools is not enough, and how leaders must help employees understand where, when, and how AI fits into their actual work.

She shares how TTEC is using AI to create more time for human coaching, improve guidance in the flow of work, measure coaching effectiveness, and give people safe spaces to practice, learn, and build confidence.

Most importantly, Julie reveals why the future of AI transformation belongs to leaders who start with real business problems, bring people along transparently, and redesign work in a way that helps people perform better.

🎓 In this episode, Julie discusses:

1. Why AI training fails when people do not understand how to apply it in real work
2. How TTEC is using AI to create more time for human coaching, trust, and connection
3. How safe practice environments can help managers and employees build confidence
4. Why leaders need to measure behavior change, skill development, and coaching effectiveness
5. Why AI transformation requires trust, transparency, experimentation, and thoughtful work redesign

🙏 Thank you to our partner, Workhuman

Discover how Workhuman helps organizations turn recognition into real business impact, building stronger cultures, more connected teams, and better visibility into the people driving performance.

✅ Learn more about Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast On The Road, we sit down with Raúl J. Valentín, EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer at ABM Industries, live from Workhuman Live Orlando 2026, to unpack what it really takes to lead a frontline workforce through constant change, AI transformation, and rising employee expectations.

Raúl explains why the future of HR is not about choosing between people and technology, but designing systems where people and AI work together to make work faster, fairer, and more human.

He shares how ABM is building resilience across a workforce of more than 100,000 team members by focusing on fairness, recognition, manager capability, and helping employees feel seen, heard, and valued wherever they work.

Most importantly, Raúl reveals why HR leaders must stop waiting for perfect answers before taking action, and instead create safe ways to launch, learn, improve, and lead transformation in motion.

🎓 In this episode, Raúl discusses:

1. Why managers are the real unlock for culture, safety, learning, and workflow redesign
2. Why grit, resilience, and learning agility matter more than ever in the new world of work
3. How AI coaching can help managers build confidence and practice difficult conversations
4. How ABM creates fairness and opportunity across a highly distributed frontline workforce
5. How CHROs can balance experimentation, ROI pressure, trust, and transparency when adopting AI

🙏 Thank you to our partner, Workhuman

Discover how Workhuman helps organizations turn recognition into real business impact, building stronger cultures, more connected teams, and better visibility into the people driving performance.

✅ Learn more about Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast, we sit down with Blair Bennett, Senior Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition at PepsiCo, to unpack how talent acquisition is being completely redefined in the age of AI, hyper-personalization, and constant change.

Blair explains why simply adding AI tools into outdated recruitment models doesn’t work, and how PepsiCo redesigned its entire talent acquisition operating model to move faster, stay agile, and deliver better outcomes for both the business and candidates.

She shares how the function is shifting from execution to strategy, enablement, and intelligence, embedding design thinking, talent intelligence, and co-creation with recruiters to build systems that actually scale.

Most importantly, Blair reveals why the future of talent acquisition belongs to leaders who embrace uncertainty, collaboration, and continuous iteration, replacing command-and-control leadership with a model built around problems, not predefined answers.

🎓 In this episode, Blair discusses:

1. Why talent intelligence and external data are critical for future hiring decisions
2. How hyper-personalized candidate experiences are becoming the new standard
3. How leaders must shift from command-and-control to collaborative problem solving
4. How PepsiCo restructured talent acquisition into strategy, enablement, and execution
5. Why adding AI to outdated recruitment models fails without redesigning the operating model

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast, we sit down with Sarah Stary, Vice President Global Head of People and Organisation and Internal Communications at Swisslog Healthcare.

Sarah breaks down what it really takes to lead transformation in a complex global business. She explains why standardizing the basics, especially onboarding and recruiting, became a high-impact priority, how her team built global consistency with local nuance, and why too many leaders still get distracted by innovation before fixing the fundamentals.

Sarah also shares a more important leadership lesson.

Do not rush to prove your value in the first 90 days.

Instead, she argues that credibility is built by listening, traveling, understanding culture, and making changes that fit the business you are actually in, not the one you just left.

The conversation also explores clear communication, trust-building, team autonomy, shared services, AI adoption, and culture integration inside the broader KUKA group.

🎓 In this episode, Sarah discusses:

1. Why new HR leaders lose credibility when they move too fast before understanding culture
2. How clear communication, in-person trust-building, and local dialogue accelerated buy-in for change
3. How to balance global process consistency with local market realities, customs, and business needs
4. Why standardizing onboarding and recruiting created outsized impact across a fragmented global organization
5. How Swisslog Healthcare is thinking about shared services, AI adoption, product capability building, and values integration with KUKA

🙏‍ Thank you to our series partner - atlas copilot

Meet the AI-native adaptive learning platform that builds the course, teaches the skill, and proves the impact, while work is happening, not weeks later → https://www.atlascopilot.com/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast, we sit down with Frederic Patitucci, Chief People & Culture Officer at Philip Morris International, to unpack how one of the world’s largest organizations is transforming both its business model and its workforce capabilities at the same time.

Frederic explains how PMI’s bold shift toward a smoke-free future forced the company to rethink its operating model, moving from a single-product cigarette business to a complex multi-category innovation company spanning consumer technology, healthcare, and new consumer experiences.

He shares how this transformation required new skills, new operating structures, and a completely redefined company culture, including codifying the PMI DNA and embedding it directly into hiring, performance management, leadership development, and everyday decision-making.

Most importantly, Frederic reveals why the future of HR lies in managing skills instead of jobs, preparing employees for the skills that are rising, and helping people avoid career dead ends before disruption makes those roles obsolete.

🎓 In this episode, Frederic discusses:

1. Why managing skills is becoming more important than managing jobs
2. How organizations can prepare employees for future skills before disruption hits
3. Why culture had to be codified to integrate thousands of new leaders joining the organization
4. How PMI embedded its cultural values directly into hiring, performance, and leadership systems
5. How PMI is transforming from a traditional cigarette company into a smoke-free innovation company

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast, we sit down with Andre Heinz, Chief People and Culture Officer at Celonis, to unpack what HR leadership really looks like inside a company scaling at rocket speed.

Andre explains why growth has no mercy in fast scaling organizations, and why HR must constantly think two to three years ahead while still managing the intense operational demands of today. He shares how Celonis went from 800 to over 3,500 employees, and what it takes to build systems, culture, and talent strategies that actually scale with that kind of speed.

Most importantly, he breaks down why HR must act as the guardian of organizational health, protecting the cultural DNA of the company while ensuring talent quality, operational efficiency, and leadership maturity keep pace with the speed of growth.

🎓 In this episode, Andre discusses:

1. Why HR must act as the guardian of organizational health
2. What it takes to scale systems without losing startup agility
3. How to maintain a high talent bar during hypergrowth hiring
4. Why fast scaling companies must think two to three years ahead
5. How Celonis scaled from 800 to 3,500 employees without losing its culture

🙏‍ Thank you to our series partner - atlas copilot

Meet the AI-native adaptive learning platform that builds the course, teaches the skill, and proves the impact, while work is happening, not weeks later → https://www.atlascopilot.com/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast, we sit down with Carlo Steenvoorden, EVP HR People Services, Analytics & HR AI at KPN, to unpack how a 100+ year old telecom company is moving from legacy HR systems to a fully conversational AI powered employee experience.

Carlo explains why KPN made a bold decision to declare that the future of HR interactions is conversational, with systems pushed to the back end and one intelligent interface in front. He shares how reducing human led HR queries from €15–20 per case to cents per prompt unlocked both massive efficiency gains and a better employee experience.

Most importantly, he breaks down the real transformation behind the technology, from rebuilding HR team capabilities, to adopting product thinking, to deciding where AI belongs and where humans must stay firmly in the loop.

🎓 In this episode, Carlo discusses:

1. Why in-house AI development accelerated transformation
2. How hyper personalized learning replaces one size fits all training
3. How HR query costs dropped from €15–20 to cents per interaction
4. Why 25–35% of the HR team had to be renewed to move fast enough
5. How KPN shifted from legacy HR screens to a single conversational interface

🙏‍ Thank you to our series partner - atlas copilot

Meet the AI-native adaptive learning platform that builds the course, teaches the skill, and proves the impact, while work is happening, not weeks later → https://www.atlascopilot.com/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast, we sit down with Ilja Bitterling, VP Skills Intelligence & Performance Management at Deutsche Telekom, to unpack how large organizations can finally make skills data usable, trusted, and decision ready.

Ilja explains why skills intelligence is not about inventories, but about creating a shared language that connects workforce decisions, performance outcomes, and future readiness. He breaks down how Deutsche Telekom moves from fragmented skill signals to clear, comparable insights leaders can actually act on.

Most importantly, he shares why performance management and skills cannot live apart anymore, and how organizations that connect them move faster, allocate talent better, and avoid betting the future on outdated role assumptions.

🎓 In this episode, Ilja discusses:

1. Why fragmented skill data slows workforce readiness
2. What it takes to make skills credible at enterprise scale
3. How shared skill language improves mobility and planning
4. Why skills intelligence must support decisions, not documentation
5. How Deutsche Telekom connects skills and performance, not just roles

🙏‍ Thank you to our series partner - atlas copilot

Meet the AI-native adaptive learning platform that builds the course, teaches the skill, and proves the impact, while work is happening, not weeks later → https://www.atlascopilot.com/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.