The TechWolf Podcast

In this in-person episode of The TechWolf Podcast, recorded live in New York City, we sit down with Sarah Gretczko, Head of Talent & Belonging at PayPal.

With 20+ years of experience in HR strategy, Sarah shares unfiltered insights on the evolution of skills-based organizations—and why focusing only on skills is a mistake.

From her time at MasterCard and JP Morgan to PayPal today, she brings stories of real transformation, failed pilots, business alignment, and the human side of tech.

Sarah shares: 

• Why skills are only one piece of the puzzle when understanding human potential.

• What companies get wrong when jumping into skills transformations.
• How a failed workforce planning project became a critical success during COVID.
• Her advice for choosing the right use cases and getting business buy-in.
• How to evaluate HR tech vendors without getting lost in the hype.

💡 Final Takeaway: Don't get distracted by buzzwords. Skills data is only useful if it's connected to real business problems—and implemented in a human-centric way.

In this episode of The TechWolf Podcast, Nico Orie, VP of People and Culture at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), shares why technology investments often fail without equal focus on people.

He dives into CCEP's skill-based transformation, the critical gap in how we value human capital, and why organizations must balance AI with a human-first approach.

From dynamic work design to driving adoption on the shop floor, this conversation offers grounded lessons for HR and business leaders alike.

In this episode, Robert Gibby, current Data Science Director at Cox Enterprises, former Director of People Analytics at Meta, and Chief Talent Scientist at IBM, shares his experience designing AI-powered skills intelligence for workforce planning, talent mobility, and hiring.

Robert Discusses:

• How AI can be used to redefine skills-based job architecture
• Why skills-based transformations can stall - how to keep them going
• The problem with self-reported skills data - and how AI improves accuracy
• How companies can move from a job-based to a skill-based workforce
• What's next for skills intelligence - and why the future is skills-to-work, not skills-to-job

He also unpacks the biggest lessons he learned about using skills data to drive real business impact, talent agility, and workforce planning.

Final Take-away: Skills-based organizations don't just need better data - they need Ai-driven strategies to make skills intelligence actionable at scale. 

Meredith Wellard is the former VP of Group Talent Acquisition, Learning, and Growth at DHL, where she spent nearly five years laying the foundation for one of the most ambitious skills-based transformations in a global enterprise. At DHL, she championed internal mobility, launching innovative initiatives like ‘Talent Tinder’ to shift hiring from external to internal placements, reduce onboarding costs, and future-proof the workforce.

Now, Meredith is taking her expertise beyond DHL, helping organizations navigate the people and change management side of tech-enabled transformations—particularly around skills. A true pragmatist with a deep understanding of HR tech, she’s on a mission to help companies move beyond the hype and make skills work in the real world.

In Today’s Episode with Meredith, We Discuss:

• Why the skepticism around a skills-based organization?

• Is a skills-based transformation really worth it to pursue?

• What verticals are in most need to pursue a skills-based transformation NOW?

• How did Meredith go to pursue one of the boldest skills-based transformations at DHL?

• Should HR professionals go out to buy tech & AI, and if so - where do you even start?

• How did DHL get started on their skills journey?

• How to convince SVP-level leaders to go along on a 5-year-long talent transformation journey?

• What did DHL do to avoid the business losing patience with the program in those 5 years?

• What was the business case presented to business leaders?

• How would you advise companies to get started TODAY?

• What is beyond the use case of talent mobility?

• What are companies you look up to for their skills-based approach?

• Question to our next guest?

Sandra is the chief learning scientist at Epam Systems, a global provider of software engineering, digital platform engineering, and product development services.

Interestingly, EPAM has been on a skills-based journey for over 30 years and is as close an example as you’ll find of a skills-based organization.

Sandra has been a proud advocate of Epam’s journey and helped build the critical foundations with ups and downs!

Key topics in this episode:

Explore how Sandra’s expertise can inspire your journey toward a skills-based organization.

My key takeaway quotes:

Gina Jeneroux is the former Chief Learning Officer at BMO Financial Group, where she gained years of experience in enterprise learning and skills strategies, design, operations, and governance.

She now sits at the intersection of AI, skills, and industry as the Chief Skills & Innovation Officer at Executive Networks, Professor of Practice in Future Work & Skills, and Director of the Future Talent Research Institute at International Business University (IBU).

We cover many topics, including:

My key takeaway quotes:

See here for additional reads to this conversation:

Josh Tarr is the Director of Skills-Based Organizations (SBOs) at Workday. He and his team are fully committed to the concept of skills-driven organizations for Workday's internal workforce. In this interview, we explore Josh's vision for SBOs and the steps he has taken to achieve it.

We cover many topics, from the hype cycle around SBOs to Workday’s skills transformation journey, practical milestones the team has already achieved, and the importance of skills use cases.

My key takeaway quotes:

See here for additional reads to this conversation: