Leading Through Uncertainty: Brunswick’s CHRO on AI, Frontline Talent, and a “Next Never Rest” Culture

Summary

How do you keep a 15,000-person, global, frontline-heavy workforce aligned when tariffs, interest rates, and tech shifts won’t sit still?

Jill Wrobel, Chief Human Resources Officer at Brunswick—parent to 60+ marine brands including Mercury Marine and Freedom Boat Club—shares how the company navigates uncertainty with a continuous improvement mindset they call “Next Never Rest.”

Jill breaks down what’s unique about HR in a cyclical, manufacturing-and-services business that spans welders and machinists to electrification engineers and digital product teams.

She details Brunswick’s “business system” approach to standardizing processes, using Lean Six Sigma and design thinking, and where AI and automation create outsized impact—from Microsoft Copilot for communications to an AI-driven tariff model and AutoCaptain, which can dock a boat at the push of a button while distinguishing a person from a leaf.

Jill also gets candid about the weight HR teams carry—context switching, coaching leaders, and rising expectations—and how she’s scaling HR’s impact with hackathons, smarter prioritization, and a stronger coaching stance so leaders truly lead.

Timestamps

[00:45] – Guest intro: Brunswick’s $5B portfolio, 60+ brands, and global footprint (Freedom Boat Club in 425+ locations)

[02:56] – The core challenge: operating through uncertainty—rates, tariffs, cyclical demand

[04:05] – Mindset matters: control what you can, “power of yet,” and resilience in a changing world

[05:57] – A diverse workforce: welders to electrification engineers to e-commerce and app teams

[09:28] – “Next Never Rest”: Brunswick’s business system, Lean Six Sigma, and design thinking

[10:58] – Practical AI: AutoCaptain auto-docking, Copilot for comms, and an AI model for tariff analysis

[14:13] – Why this is HR’s moment: HR as business leaders enabling humans + machines

[16:02] – Scaling HR: reducing workload, hackathons, automation, and coaching managers to lead

[19:01] – Protecting the team: mental health, boundaries, and sustaining energy

Takeaways

- Build a continuous improvement culture—standardize definitions, map end-to-end processes, and empower teams to iterate.

- Prioritize AI where it tackles the biggest business problems (e.g., tariff modeling, safety-critical automation) before chasing “nice to haves.”

- Equip HR to scale: run hackathons, automate repeat work, and share solutions globally to avoid reinventing the wheel.

- Coach managers to lead—HR adds leverage by enabling leaders, not owning every decision.

- Leverage practical tools now: use Copilot/GenAI for clearer communications, planning, and analysis to reclaim time.

- Support HR well-being: reduce context switching, set boundaries, and normalize recovery so the team can sustain high-impact work.

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