HR & Payroll 2.0

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome Adam Peters, combat veteran turned entrepreneur and evangelist for empowering fellow veterans! 

The group discusses Adam’s inspiring journey from the U.S. Army to navigating the complexities and pitfalls of civilian life, as well as the challenges of finding identity and purpose after military service. Adam shares his passion for helping veterans struggling with the transition process and his work as an advocate for the veteran community and a champion of change. 

Adam shares his transformative experiences with ayahuasca, highlighting the profound impact the psychedelic brew has had on his mental health and personal growth, and his work to help other veterans experience the same benefits.  

Plus, Adam shares his work and passion for AI and automation, emphasizing the importance of a "fail fast,” learn and unlearn mentality, and draws parallels between military adaptability and operating in the evolving world of technology.

Connect with Adam: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thestrategicveteran/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-strategic-veteran/

Website: https://www.thestrategicveteran.com/

Podcast: https://www.thestrategicveteran.com/podcast  

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChSuB5bX_E-zXvi5yJ6R5vQ

Alset Technologies:  https://alsettechnologies.com/

Connect with the show:   

LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0 

X: @HRPayroll2_0 @PeteTiliakos @JulieFer_HR

BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HRPAYROLL2_0

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome Heather Stevenson, Senior Product Manager at UKG, for a fun trip down memory lane with a blast from Pete’s payroll past! 

Pete and Heather reminisce on the chaos, camaraderie, transformation, and formative learnings they experienced as young colleagues leading and navigating the complexity of HR and payroll modernization for The Walt Disney Company. Together, they revisit the “Mission Impossible” digital journey at Disney, the unexpected challenges of running payroll in Hollywood, and the importance of empathy, adaptability, resiliency, and change in successful transformation.

Heather shares her journey from practitioner to product leader - from processing pay for celebrities and cast members to building next-generation HCM products that power the current and next generation of small businesses forward! Plus, insights into how AI is simplifying work, elevating the practitioner experience, and powering more connected HR, payroll and workforce management solutions that drive improved business outcomes!

Connect with Heather:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-stevenson-975ba63/

Connect with the show:   

LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0 

X: @HRPayroll2_0 @PeteTiliakos @JulieFer_HR

BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HRPAYROLL2_0

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome Amanda Kassler, Payroll Shared Services Manager at Otsuka, for a conversation on what it means to lead with heart and strategy in today’s payroll landscape. 

Amanda shares her journey from executive assistant to payroll executive, and how she’s driving transformation through shared services, insights, and leadership. From building a true Payroll Center of Excellence to launching a dedicated payroll onboarding experience, Amanda brings practical insights—and a few surprising stories—about elevating payroll’s role in culture, compliance, and strategic enablement. With a business outcome mindset and a passion for process improvement, Amanada shares insights for driving impactful change and elevating payroll to its rightful place as a strategic partner!

Connect with Amanda:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandakassler/

https://hrforge.com/  

Connect with the show:   

LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0 

X: @HRPayroll2_0 @PeteTiliakos @JulieFer_HR

BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HRPAYROLL2_0

On this episode, Pete and Julie share their POV’s and insights on a rush of HR tech marketplace updates and activity making headlines to wrap up the summer months of 2025!  Pete and Julie share their thoughts on recent acquisitions, product announcements, and news from vendors across HCM, EOR, recruiting, fintech, and more.  Vendors mentioned in the episode include Dayforce, Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, DailyPay, Chime, Deel, Coupa, Flowise AI, Paradox, and SmartRecruiters.

Links to stories mentioned:

MIT Study: The GenAI Divide, State of AI in Business 2025: 

https://mlq.ai/media/quarterly_decks/v0.1_State_of_AI_in_Business_2025_Report.pdf

Story on Super Mom, Super Commuter Rachel Kaur: https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/indian-origin-racheal-kaur-flies-to-work-malaysia-supercommuting-13862272.html

Connect with the show:   

LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0 

X: @HRPayroll2_0 @PeteTiliakos @JulieFer_HR

BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HRPAYROLL2_0

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome Jeronika Dancy, Senior Manager of HR Technology at Amsted Industries, to explore the rise of the Workforce Management Center of Excellence (COE)!

Jeronika shares her unexpected career journey into HR from recruiting to HRIS to leading global workforce management transformation in a complex manufacturing environment. 

Jeronika shares how she blends people, process, and technology to drive measurable business outcomes, and why investing in HR technology and payroll innovation is more than a simple tech purchase, and how the transformative power resides in the people leveraging it. 

The conversation explores the complexities of frontline workforce management, curating partnerships with unions, and the role of governance, change management, and ROI storytelling in driving adoption and impact. Jeronika offers insights on strategic workforce planning, building tech-enabled HR teams, and how culture and leadership support fuel transformational outcomes!

Connect with Jaronika:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaronika-d-11075ba/

Podcast: ‘Logging in to UKG: A Chicago User Group Production’: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/logging-into-ukg-a-chicago-users-group-production/id1819101228

Connect with the show: 

LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0 

X: @HRPayroll2_0 @PeteTiliakos @JulieFer_HR

BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HRPAYROLL2_0

E-book featuring the Amsted Industries CoE Case: ‘The Manufacturing Advantage’: Smarter Workforce: Turning Time and Pay into a Competitive Advantage: https://www.ukg.com/resources/ebook/modern-manufacturing-smarter-workforce-turning-time-and-pay-competitive-advantage?utm_source=payroll-influences&utm_medium=banner

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome Joe Wilson, Colonel U.S. Air Force Reserve and Global CTO at Workday, to share lessons from his 30-year journey in tech and service, offering insights into the modern approach to scalable innovation, the skills-based future of talent, and why back-office operations deserve front-line focus.

Joe provides a candid look at how employers can better support veteran talent and why a “we before me” mindset matters more than ever in today’s world of work, and what a recent sabbatical, 30 years in the making, taught Joe about work and life. 

Joe shares his lens and POV’s on the state of SaaS technology, the power of platform over point solutions and the “platform mindset”, AI “DIY,” and the next decade of back-office innovation. Plus, advice for organizations falling behind on transformation, and where CTOs should focus in 2025!

Connect with Joe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joewilson/

Connect with Workday: www.Workday.com

Connect with the show:   

LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0 

X: @HRPayroll2_0 @PeteTiliakos @JulieFer_HR

BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HRPAYROLL2_0

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome fintech futurist, digital money visionary, and Founder of Bitwage, Johnathan Chester, to the show and go deep into the world of digital money movement! 

From his early Bitcoin obsession to building one of the first platforms enabling crypto payroll, Jonathan shares a front-line perspective on how blockchain, stablecoins, and digital assets are reshaping the global financial landscape—and what it all means for HR and payroll leaders.

The group explores cross-border payment inefficiencies, earned wage access, smart contracts, and the growing appetite among workers for crypto pay options. Jonathan breaks down stablecoins vs. CBDCs, the implications of the new GENIUS Act, and how digital rails are paving the way for real-time, programmable payroll.

Connect with Jonathan: 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanericchester/

X: @JonChest

www.Bitwage.com

Resources: 

Genius Act: https://shorturl.at/ECkG7 

Crypto Regs Tracker: https://shorturl.at/6ceMh 

CBDC Tracker: https://shorturl.at/gL8BY 

Connect with the show:   

LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0 

X: @HRPayroll2_0 @PeteTiliakos @JulieFer_HR

BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HRPAYROLL2_0

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome Mercedes Sullivan, VP of People Transformation at McKinley! 

Mercedes shares her unconventional journey as a touring professional tennis player, which eventually led her to become an IT and HR transformation executive. Plus, her fun story on how experimenting with an AI boyfriend named ‘Mateo’ sparked a curiosity for AI in the future of work. 

The group explores the intersection of AI and human connection, the ethics of automation, and why treating employees like athletes could unlock performance potential across the enterprise. Mercedes also shares her paradigm-shifting mindset of moving from “projects to products”, her vision for governance in an AI-powered workplace, and why HR must lead the way in keeping humanity at the center of innovation.

Connect with Mercedes: 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mercedessullivan/ 

Article about Mercedes, Tennis to Corporate career: https://www.itftennis.com/en/news-and-media/articles/from-court-to-corporate-world-the-touring-teams-influence/

Connect with the show:   

LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0 

X: @HRPayroll2_0 @PeteTiliakos @JulieFer_HR

BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HRPAYROLL2_0

On this very special episode, Julie and Pete take a tour of the 2025 Payroll Profession Confidence Index (PPCI) report!

They share details and color commentary around the results of the 2nd annual PPCI, walking through the unique research set and its key findings and themes, including guidance for leaders and C-suite executives.  The 2025 PPCI assesses the health of the payroll profession and its operations globally, delving deeper into the performance of payroll operations against the Five Pillars of Modern Payroll, introduced in the 2024 inaugural report.  Plus, Pete unveils a groundbreaking new Modern Payroll ROI Framework and POV to help leaders measure, prove, and shape a new narrative around payroll’s strategic contributions and impact! 

Download the 2025 PPCI: https://www.payrollinfluences.com/researches/2025-payroll-profession-confidence-index-report

About the PPCI: 

The Payroll Profession Confidence Index (PPCI) is the first-of-its-kind payroll research designed 'by payroll and for payroll' to amplify the collective voice of its professionals and raise awareness for the value and impact of the critical profession. The PPCI takes the sentiment-based pulse of payroll professionals and measures the health and value-driven impact of their operations to better understand how to nurture the future of the payroll profession and raise the eminence and impact of every payroll professional worldwide. The PPCI remains entirely free of sponsorship or any monetization, and 100% anonymous with no personal information required to participate or to access the final report. 

About Payroll Influences: www.payrollinfluences.com

Founded, curated, and led ‘by payroll and for payroll, ‘Pi’ is the world’s premier virtual forum dedicated to fostering a deeper understanding of the critical payroll profession and empowering its current and future leaders to shape its next chapter. We believe payroll professionals are the most essential workers on the planet and, until now, have lacked an ecosystem dedicated to advancing their eminence and influence. Our mission is to provide THE premier forum to unite the world’s most essential professionals through a community of like-minded leaders eager to explore, share, learn, and advance as payroll executives! 

Connect with the show:   

LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0 

X: @HRPayroll2_0 @PeteTiliakos @JulieFer_HR

BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HRPAYROLL2_0

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome long-time HR technology industry executive and Partner at Acadian Ventures, Thomas Otter, to share his insights on where ‘hype meets truth’ on the state and future of HR and payroll technology!

Thomas shares his path from studying labor law and industrial relations to finding a career in HR technology and now fueling the future of HR tech as an investor.  Thomas provides insight into the Acadian Ventures investment thesis and lens, as well as why the firm is betting big on what he calls the “infrastructure era” of HR tech. He explains why AI is prompting the industry to reassess long-held assumptions and challenges the hype that often surrounds so-called ‘game-changing’ innovations, as well as how unstructured data and conversational UIs are transforming our interactions with systems. 

Thomas makes a compelling case for why HR leaders must understand their business at its core - starting by knowing their organization’s “gold price.” Plus, advice on how HR buyers can cut through the noise to focus on what solutions actually deliver to solve problems and drive business outcomes!

Connect with Thomas: 

Acadian Ventures: https://www.acadianventures.com/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasotter/ 

SubStack: https://thomasotter.substack.com/

“Wedding cakes vs. Cupcakes” blog: https://www.unleash.ai/hr-technology/thomas-otter-on-the-wedding-cake-v-cupcake-of-hr-tech/

Connect with the show:   

LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0 

X: @HRPayroll2_0 @PeteTiliakos @JulieFer_HR

BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HRPAYROLL2_0