HR & Payroll 2.0

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome Katharine ‘Kat’ Smith, an Australian payroll leader and one of the emerging voices behind the idea of ‘payroll diplomacy’, for a thoughtful conversation on advocacy, literacy, risk, and the evolving role of payroll in the enterprise. The conversation explores ‘payroll diplomacy’: the skill of translating payroll’s operational complexity into language that ex...

On this episode, Pete and Julie share their POV’s and insights on a long list of HR and payroll tech marketplace news and updates rounding out Q2, 2026.  Vendors discussed in the episode include: ADP, Argano, CloudPay, datascaleHR, Deel, isolved, G-P, HiBob, Multiplier, Nuvei and Payoneer, OnePay, Paylocity, Payslip, Remote, Strada Global, and Workday. Mentioned in the episode:  CloudPay Payroll E...

On this episode, Pete and Julie share their POV’s and insights on the spring updates for analysts from across the HCM tech vendor landscape ahead of summer.  Vendor events and news discussed in the episode include: PrismHR: PrismHRLIVE, SAP SuccessFactors: HCM Experts Workshop, Cornerstone Connect, and UKG Virtual Analyst Day.  Connect with the show: LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payro...

In this special episode, Julie is joined by Kristy Durst, Sr. Manager of Payroll & HR Administration at Uline, live from the annual World at Work Total Rewards event in San Antonio, TX, for a practitioner conversation grounded in what modern payroll leadership really looks like inside a complex, frontline-heavy business. The conversation explores Uline’s move from ADP to the full Workday suite, wh...

In this special episode, Pete and Julie are joined by Amy Dufrane Ed. D, CEO of the HRCI (HR Certification Institute), live from the annual World at Work Total Rewards event in San Antonio, TX!  Amy shares how HRCI is evolving beyond certification to become a broader career partner for HR professionals, including its global work around HR standards, its collaboration with WorldatWork, and its role...

In this special episode, Pete and Julie are joined by Chelsea Hamilton and Sam Thomeier, live from the annual World at Work Total Rewards event in San Antonio, TX!  Chelsea and Sam unpack why pay transparency remains one of the biggest issues facing total rewards leaders, and why the shift is being driven by more than legislation. From generational expectations and candidate behavior to the long-s...

In this special episode, Pete and Julie are joined by Sarah Severson, Sr. Manager of Compensation at Medline, live from the annual World at Work Total Rewards event in San Antonio, TX, for a practical conversation on how compensation is evolving inside fast-growing, complex organizations. The conversation explores what happens when family-owned and high-growth companies scale faster than their com...

In this special episode, Pete and Julie are joined by Joe Ranzau, Partner at Grant Thornton, live from the annual World at Work Total Rewards event in San Antonio, TX. Joe brings a CFO-facing lens to the discussion, unpacking why finance, HR, risk, and tax all see payroll differently and why the reporting line may matter less than the governance model around it. The conversation explores payroll’s...

In this special ‘Swapcast’ episode, Pete and Julie are joined by fellow WrkDefined podcast hosts, Sean Luitjens and Paul Reiman of ‘Totally Rewarding Chats’ for a lively conversation on total rewards, AI, work flexibility, and the changing expectations shaping the workforce. Recorded live from the annual World at Work Total Rewards event in San Antonio, the conversation starts with the energy of t...

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome Amy Wang, a shared services and HR operations expert and leader, to explore the intersection of HR, payroll, technology, and enterprise service delivery.  With more than two decades of experience spanning IT, HR operations, and shared services across industries, Amy shares how her unconventional path from IT into HR shaped her approach to building scalable,...

On this episode, Pete and Julie unpack the top 10 learnings and key takeaways from the recent Workday Innovation Summit for industry analysts in Napa, California.  Each year, Workday gathers analysts for a peek behind the Workday curtain, its GTM, roadmap, customer stories, and big bets on what comes next for the ERP platform and its innovation, its customers, partners, and broader ecosystem.  Con...

In this episode of HR & Payroll 2.0, Pete and Julie welcome Kelly Westfall, a payroll leader known for bringing equal parts precision and heart to one of the most mission-critical (and most misunderstood) functions in the enterprise.  Kelly shares how she found her way from HR and onboarding into payroll leadership and why the complexity, accountability, and responsibility of getting pay right dri...

On this episode, Pete and Julie share their POV’s and insights on HR tech marketplace updates and activity making headlines in Q2’2026!   First, an update from the road, including takeaways from the CloudPay Paymakers event in Malta, Workhuman LIVE in Orlando, the Dayforce Distilling AI virtual event, and the SSOW (Shared Services and Outsourcing Week) in Orlando.  Additionally, they discuss sever...

On this special episode, Pete welcomes John Kostoulas, VP of Market Positioning & Strategy at Dayforce and former Gartner Vice President and distinguished HCM tech analyst, for a candid conversation on the future of HR technology, AI adoption, and what it really takes to modernize in the era of agentic AI. John shares his journey from an engineering graduate in Greece to an HCM vendor executive an...

On this special episode of HR & Payroll 2.0, Pete & Julie are joined by friends of the show, John Bernativicz and Tammy Gillenwater of Willory Consulting to talk their new book: ‘Payroll Like a Boss.’  John and Tammy share the origin story behind the book, the inspiration for writing it, and why themes like bravery, influence, community, and leadership are key elements of the content and increasin...

On this special episode of HR & Payroll 2.0, Pete catches up with Amberly Dressler, a brand marketing executive known for helping shape one of the most memorable community-led brand stories in HR tech and now leading corporate and partner marketing at Conga.  Amberly shares on the brand mechanics that matter right now: when a rebrand is truly earned versus vanity, how to create a single truth that...

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome payroll and compensation expert and practitioner, Bri Mullens, to the show to discuss the convergence of payroll, compensation, benefits, and total rewards.  Bri shares how an accounting background led to a career in payroll and why the key ingredients that kept her there were equal parts numbers, compliance, and real human impact. The conversation covers wh...

On this episode, Pete welcomes Asia-Pacific HR and compliance expert Lynette Liew of Links International to the show for a pulse check on one of the most complex and fast-moving regions in the world of work. They explore the rapid evolution of employment compliance across Australia, China, India, and Southeast Asia, the growing shift from global to regional HR and payroll providers, and why enterp...

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome Trey Campbell, legendary HR outsourcing and transformation executive, former CEO, and current board member of OneSource Virtual, for a candid conversation on how HR outsourcing and managed services have evolved and where they are heading next. Trey takes us from the early days of HR outsourcing (HRO) to today’s automation-driven, cloud-enabled service models...

In this special episode, Pete is joined by Raju Vegesna, Chief Evangelist at Zoho, live from the annual Zoho Day analyst 2026 event and update in Austin, Texas! Together they explore Zoho’s 30-year journey from shipping software on floppy disks to delivering integrated SaaS platforms and now AI-driven solutions, and how the company’s distinct culture and values have underpinned that evolution.  Th...

In this special episode, Pete is joined by Holger Mueller, VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, live from the annual Zoho Day 2026 analyst event and update in Austin, Texas! Drawing on decades of watching Zoho grow from early cloud pioneer to fully integrated “ecosystem,” Holger breaks down what makes Zoho’s horizontally and vertically integrated stack so distinctive, and why its pe...

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome Matt Vaadi, longtime payroll industry exec, CEO of GuHRoo, and host of The Payrollin’ Podcast, to take the pulse on the small businesses buyer and talk about the realities of the marketplace for SMB HR and payroll solutions.  From tech-first vs service-first buyers to the rise of niche payroll providers, Matt offers an insider’s view of how small and mid-siz...

On this episode, Pete and Julie are joined by veteran HR Tech exec and Founder and CEO of Traxxion, Jim Jensen, for a wide-ranging conversation on why workforce management has become one of the most strategic and misunderstood pillars of modern HR.  Drawing on Jim’s decades of HR Tech experience, the group explores the past, present, and future of HCM and WFM (Workforce Management) technology in a...

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome longtime HR transformation consultant, HR tech expert, Margaret Godwin, to take the pulse on the SMB HR tech buyer, and explore what’s actually happening inside HR teams in small and mid-market organizations. From AI hype versus operational readiness to why service models, not features, are driving vendor churn.  The group discusses why SMBs churn through HC...

On this episode, Pete and Julie welcome fintech and cross-border payments expert Andy Valentine to talk about the often-unseen realities of cross-border money movement in global payroll operations.  From FX volatility and treasury bottlenecks to compliance risk, bank fragmentation, and payroll “last mile” failures, this conversation goes deep into why payroll and payments have become a strategic g...