Talk Talent To Me

Steve Cadigan, the first CHRO of LinkedIn and one of the most candid voices in the talent space, discusses where AI is genuinely helping organizations and where it is quietly doing damage. Steve challenges the assumption that replacing humans with AI is a strategy, makes the case that entry-level talent is the most AI-fluent generation in history and companies are cutting them at exactly the wrong...

Quentin shares what it actually means to future-proof a workforce, introducing his the three box framework for simultaneously maintaining the present, abandoning the past, and building the future, and walks through a real case study from the SDN era when network engineers resisted upskilling into software roles, with consequences that still inform how he approaches change management today. The con...

Show Notes Rob reunites with Erin Wilson, Talent Lead at Rox and a returning champion from the very first episode of Talk Talent to Me. Erin breaks down the two things Rocks screens for in every conversation, conviction and crank, explains why he still writes his own outreach by hand despite being one of the most AI-enabled recruiters working today, and walks through the exact tools and workflows...

Rob welcomes back Joe Bast, now SVP of People Operations at Crisp, for a wide-ranging conversation that covers what it really takes to operate at the executive level, why AI is not the equalizer most people think it is, and how the definition of retention needs a complete overhaul. Joe brings 25 years of hard-won perspective on building high-performing people functions at growth-stage companies, a...

Donovan shares how he deliberately hires business leaders into HR, why TA and retention must operate as a single strategy, and how he's making the case to Millennial and Gen Z employees that staying at one company for a full career can be the best financial decision they make. If you lead a team or manage talent at any level, this episode is full of frameworks you can apply immediately. Key takeaw...

Lisa is a seasoned CHRO with over 20 years in HR to explore what it looks like to intentionally pause, reflect, and reimagine your next career chapter. Lisa shares how she recognized the natural end of a mission-driven CHRO role, why she's now considering a move into consultancy and fractional work, and what that says about how senior HR professionals are rethinking their careers. The conversation...

Rachel Duran has spent nearly 15 years building her career at the intersection of marketing and talent acquisition, moving through ad agencies, RPOs, and major tech companies. Rob and Rachel cover how the flood of AI-generated applications is forcing a fundamental rethink of what "success" looks like in recruiting marketing, why the candidate experience has to meet consumer-grade expectations, and...

Kevin breaks down how HR leaders can drive real business impact by aligning talent strategy directly to company goals, with a focus on scaling coaching as a lever for workforce performance and development. He shares how listening to employee feedback and preparing for the next phase of growth led his team to invest in coaching at scale, enabled by new technology that makes it accessible beyond jus...

📝 Episode Summary Maura explains why investing in early talent remains a high-impact, data-backed strategy despite growing narratives around AI replacing entry-level roles. She shares how Liberty Mutual has built a long-term pipeline that drives retention, accelerates promotion, and produces global leaders, while also evolving programs to align with shifting skill demands. The conversation explor...

Episode Summary Ilona explains what it takes to transform talent acquisition at a 300,000-person organization. From consolidating a sprawling, decentralized TA function into a unified operating model to simplifying a bloated tech stack and driving global process adoption, Ilona shares how her team moved from fragmentation to focus. The conversation explores the difference between operational busy-...

📝 Episode Summary   Camye Mackey, EVP and Chief People, Diversity & Inclusion Officer for the Atlanta Hawks, joins Rob to talk about building culture inside one of the most community-connected brands in sports. From embedding inclusion into both workforce strategy and marketplace impact, to designing a "Talent Blueprint" that future-proofs the organization, Camye shares how HR can operate as a tr...

📝 Episode Summary Tim shares how he built (and scrapped) a multimillion-dollar AI interview scheduling bot, why we should rethink HR's "pecking order," and lessons from the front lines of automation. The conversation dives into digital assistants, digital workers, and why HR and IT must now operate as true partners. Tim also challenges the idea that transactional HR work is a necessary career ste...

Dr. Ekta Vyas, CHRO at Keck Medicine of USC, joins Rob to unpack what it really takes to lead transformation inside complex healthcare systems. Drawing on her background as a psychologist, scholar-practitioner, and longtime healthcare HR leader, Dr. Vyas shares how emotional intelligence, strategic business alignment, and disciplined measurement turn HR from a transactional function into a true en...

Monica Marquez has held big titles at Google, EY, and Goldman Sachs, but now she's teaching companies how to ditch their outdated playbooks and embrace a new way of working with AI. In this episode, Monica and Rob unpack why the people team, not IT, needs to lead AI transformation, how to automate without losing the human touch, and what it really means to "unlearn" your way to better work. She sh...

Tony Castellanos has seen recruiting from every angle: Google, Square, various startups, and now as Head of Compensation & Talent at Nextdoor. In this episode, Tony breaks down how his team is using AI to rethink recruiter training, eliminating the "practice on candidates" problem by simulating real conversations with virtual personas. He and Rob also dive into community-led recruiting, why values...

André Martin has been CLO at Nike, Mars, and Target, so when he talks about the cost of disengagement, we listen. In this episode, André joins Rob to talk about his new book Wrong Fit, Right Fit , why work feels broken for so many, and what leaders can do about it. From rewriting job descriptions to rethinking culture as a daily operating system instead of a poster, André lays out a blueprint for...

Tracy Layney has led HR at iconic brands like Levi's, Old Navy, and Shutterfly, so it's no surprise she's now training the next generation of CHROs at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Tracy joins Rob to unpack why HR's role is more complex (and powerful) than ever before, and how her coursework is helping senior people leaders develop the human capital strategies their compani...

Angela Briggs-Paige, Chief People Officer at Acelero Learning, joins Rob to share why HR is not your friend —and that's a good thing. Angela breaks down how she shows up as a business leader first and a people expert always. She shares how she earned her seat at the boardroom table, what it really takes to build employee-led career paths, and why performance reviews need a serious glow-up. Plus: A...

Michelle Brooks, Chief People & Culture Officer at Security Compass, joins Rob to unpack what it really means to lead with "compassionate candor." She shares how feedback norms are shifting for Gen Z, how she built a truly strategic people function without a traditional HR background, and why HR's identity crisis is holding the industry back. Plus, Michelle gives a front-row look at how her team i...

Katya Laviolette, Chief People Officer at 1Password, joins Rob to unpack how the company scaled from a scrappy, consumer-first startup to a 1,400-person B2B security powerhouse. She shares why shifting from B2C to B2B hiring isn't just about adding new roles—it's about evolving core competencies. Katya also explains how her team uses "anti-recruiting" to scare off the wrong candidates, and how bei...

Rob reconnects with longtime friend and HubSpot's VP of Talent Acquisition & Mobility, Becky McCullough, for a conversation that spans nearly a decade of growth, both personal and organizational. Becky shares how trust, flexibility, and curiosity have kept her at HubSpot for 10+ years, and why she encourages her team to take recruiter calls (really). They also dig into HubSpot's AI-first approach...

✍️ Episode Description  Jessica Swank didn't set out to be a Chief People Officer—but when the opportunity found her, she said yes. Now CPO at Box, Jessica joins Rob to share her unconventional career journey and how she's helping lead the company into its next era as an AI-first organization. She explains why AI is more about change management than tech, what it means to build cross-functional pa...

Jim Conti, Talent Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners, joins Rob to unpack what it really means to support startups from the VC side. He shares how his role has evolved from operator to advisor, why he often tells founders not to hire, and what makes a great first head of marketing hire. Jim also explains how talent leaders can earn influence without ownership, translate TA metrics into business...

Delivery Hero's Chief People and Sustainability Officer, Ana Mitrasevic, joins Rob to challenge the status quo of performance management. Drawing on her experience in both HR and product, Ana makes the case for replacing rigid review cycles with tech-enabled, real-time performance enablement. She shares her vision of a two-sided internal talent marketplace, explains why traditional career ladders...

Tina Bright wasn't looking—but Inter-Con Security found her anyway. In this episode, Tina shares how a well-timed drink with the CPO turned a polite decline into a fast-tracked offer. She unpacks her playbook for entering a new org, from low-hanging fruit wins to tech stack audits, and explains why TA leaders should stay curious about the latest tools (even when they're not buying). Tina also refl...