The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR

Robert Lopez, the VP, Head of People at Thumbtack, joined us on The Modern People Leader to share how Thumbtack is redefining leadership, building stronger teams, and transforming HR through AI. We talked about Thumbtack's four-part leadership framework, how the company embeds leadership expectations into hiring and promotion decisions, and why developing great managers is essential to busines...

No one has ever volunteered to come on the show and talk about succession, because almost nobody does it well. Katya Laviolette and Gabrielle Caron from 1Password actually did. Katya spent the last four-plus years as 1Password’s Chief People Officer, and she’s now moving into a portfolio career. Gab joined her team from McKinsey, and she just stepped into the CPO seat. No executive search, no “rea...

Megan Barbier (CHRO, Xactly) joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how Xactly is dismantling traditional HR structures, replacing talent acquisition with talent engagement, and rethinking how teams collaborate in an AI-driven workplace. Megan also shared why high-slope talent matters, how leaders can build a culture of continuous change, and why meaningful work and career growth a...

Recorded live at HR Tech in Las Vegas from beqom's booth, Gianna Driver (Chief People Officer, One Workplace) and Emlyn De Leon (Workforce Transformation Leader, USAA) joined Daniel on The Modern People Leader for two conversations about the changing world of work. Gianna shared how leaders can navigate change fatigue, why managing AI agents could become a new career path with its own compensa...

Recorded live at HR Tech in Las Vegas from beqom's booth, Kiran Jalakam and Jacob Little joined Daniel on The Modern People Leader for two conversations about how AI is transforming HR. Kiran Jalakam, VP HR Technology, AI, & Innovation at SRS Distribution, shared why organizations need to redesign work instead of simply automating existing processes, how AI should support compensation and...

Liz Bronson (Chief People Officer, Skimmer) and Sean Page (TA Manager, Propel) joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about the rise of candidate fraud, why traditional hiring processes are becoming harder to trust, and how recruiters are rethinking sourcing, candidate verification, interview techniques, and technology to find real talent. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Request a demo of Shap...

Susan LaMonica, the CHRO at Citizens, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about how Citizens transformed its leadership and culture, why leadership is the most important lever for organizational success, and how its new leadership framework combines intelligence, technology, emotional intelligence, and meaning to develop adaptive leaders. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Til...

Katarina Berg, Chief People Officer at On, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about her journey from Spotify to On, why performance growth is more powerful than performance management, and how people, leadership, curiosity, learning, and AI will shape the next era of work. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Request a demo of Shapes 🔗 Learn more about SixFifty MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL...

Vanessa Okwuraiwe, Head of Inclusion & Accessibility, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about how inclusion work has moved deeper into the business, why purpose matters at Edward Jones, and how human judgment, client trust, accessibility, and AI are shaping the future of financial services. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Schedule a consultation with Manifest 🔗 Request a demo of Shap...

Andy Doyle, Chief People & Agent Officer at Kantar,  joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about Kantar’s agentic HR transformation, why the future workforce will be a mix of humans and agents, and the four dimensions of AI we should be looking at when we think about who benefits from the AI gains. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report 🔗 S...

Luca Oake and Jessica Zwaan joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about building scalable L&D, why onboarding should be outcomes-focused instead of input-focused, and how AI, strong project runways, iteration, and builder mindsets can help people teams move faster. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Request a demo of Shapes 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl 🔗 Learn more about Beq...

Dan Mishin, Founder & CEO of Manifest OS, joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about how Manifest is rebuilding immigration law for the AI era, why talent strategy now requires faster, more creative support for global employees, and how AI-native companies are changing management, engineering teams, vendor strategy, and the war for 10X talent. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Schedule a c...

Laura McGann joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why change management no longer feels like the right term, how the ADKAR framework helps people name where they are stuck, and what leaders need to do as AI, velocity, overwhelm, and constant change reshape work. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Request a demo of Shapes 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl 🔗 Explore the 2026 ​De...

Olivia Williams joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about how Vercel shortened its performance review cycle from 11 weeks to two weeks and how they built a 15-factor flight risk tool to retain top talent. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Request a demo of Shapes MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ----   (12:25) Why Vercel Rethought Its Performance Review Cycle (13:35) Realizing Vercel...

Conor Sweeney joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about what it's looked like to scale culture while doubling in size every year for three years straight. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Schedule a consultation with Manifest 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl 🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ----   (12:05) Lesso...

Alexis Fink joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how AI is changing work, why org design needs to move beyond boxes and lines, and how curiosity, influence, courage, and better systems thinking can help people leaders design for the future. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Schedule a consultation with Manifest 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl 🔗 Learn more about SixFifty MPL...

Dean Carter (Best-Selling Author, 4x CHRO, & CEO of Instill)  joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about the career pivots that shaped his life, what Patagonia taught him about purpose and play, and why trusting your gut, taking big swings, and doing the right thing can lead you somewhere better than the plan you originally had. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte...

D.V. Williams, Chief People Officer from Match Group joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why Match is betting on Gen Z talent, how skills are replacing titles as the new currency of work, and how Match is thinking about flexible mentorship and early-career programs. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Beqom at beqom.com/mpl 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl MPL...

Christy Lake, Chief Administrative Officer at Twilio, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how AI is changing work, why skills, governance, and human judgment matter more than ever, and how Twilio is thinking about remote-first work, employee experience, and curiosity in the AI era. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about SixFifty 🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Tre...

Becks Port, Chief People Officer at Okta, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why AI agents should be treated like digital coworkers, how Okta is thinking about agents on the org chart, and what the future of HR, career development, security, and team design could look like as humans work alongside machines. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Beqom at beqom.com/mpl 🔗 Lea...

Clare Bonham (Chief Product Officer) and Sébastien Baehni (CTO) from beqom joined us on The Modern People Leader.  We talked about how managers can make better pay and performance decisions, why AI should support but not replace human judgment, and what intentional AI looks like in compensation. ----   Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode326   Sponsor Lin...

Heather Dunn, Chief People Officer at Brex, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about Brex’s rapid acquisition by Capital One and how Heather led through diligence, communication, and integration. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report 🔗 Learn more about SixFifty MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ----   (20:45) Joining Brex During a Com...

Patsy Mangan joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about Scribd Flex, why flexibility only works when it is paired with clarity and accountability, and why Scribd needed the GRIT Performance framework. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about SixFifty 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl 🔗 Learn more about Beqom at beqom.com/mpl MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ----  ...

Brandon Roberts, leader of Talent Strategy and Workforce Transformation at ServiceNow, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about how ServiceNow is redesigning HR for the AI era, why every role needs to be mapped for AI impact, and more. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl 🔗Learn more about Beqom at beqom.com/mpl 🔗. Explore the 2026 ​Deloitte Human Cap...

Jessica Zwaan joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about her first four months at Leapsome, why HR needs to operate more like a product team, and how AI agents, forward-deployed engineers, and flexible HR systems could reshape the future of people operations. ----   Sponsor Links: 🔗 Learn more about SixFifty MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build . ----   (11:40) Jessie’s 12-Week Spri...