Episodes

WATCH: https://youtu.be/d6QiD--qcgw Recorded live on Day 3 of Transform 2026, this may be the most human episode in the series. Angel Cruzado, founder of Respiris — a career transition and outplacement company — joined the conversation while living with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. What unfolds is part job search masterclass, part reflection on resilience, community, and what it means to keep moving forward when the odds are against you. Angel and Adam share a deeply personal connection through their experiences with pancreatic cancer, and that humanity is felt throughout the episode. Angel opens up about how a diagnosis changes your relationship with community — from your emotional inner circle to strangers online offering support, prayers, and generosity — and the challenge of learning how to receive that help. Professionally, he shares a powerful job-search framework that starts not with a resume, but with self-empathy: understanding who you are and what you truly need before …

WATCH: https://youtu.be/vItZ88XY_yI Recorded live at Transform 2026 as the 10th and final interview of day one, this episode features Natalie Breece, Chief People and Diversity Officer at thredUP — one of the world's largest online resale platforms for women's and kids' apparel. Natalie has been with thredUP for nearly 10 years, watching the company grow from 500 to 2,500 employees, go public, acquire and divest companies, and continuously reinvent how it shows up for its people. Natalie is one of the rare HR leaders who came into the field intentionally — studying organizational psychology, growing up in talent acquisition, then making the leap to the full HR suite. That foundation gives her a grounded, no-nonsense perspective on what actually moves candidates and retains employees. And her answer to what's changed most in the post-COVID world is sharp: compensation is still important, but candidates now want life satisfaction, well-being, and flexibility just as much. Compan…

WATCH: https://youtu.be/QDBe3Td7Sls Recorded live at Transform 2026, this episode features John Cove, Vice President at The Alterity Group — a third-party benefits and HR technology advisory firm that helps large and jumbo employers find, evaluate, and maximize their vendor relationships across benefits administration, HRIS, payroll, 401(k), and more. John spent 20 years on the in-house side — running benefits, payroll, and HRIS programs — before moving to the advisory world, giving him a perspective that's both deeply operational and genuinely independent. The conversation opens with a moment of real humanity: two working dads at the end of a long conference day, talking about presence, FaceTime, and what it means to be there for your kids when your career takes you on the road. That tone carries through an episode that's unusually personal for a benefits-focused conversation, with John sharing two stories that hit hard — a 2 AM telemedicine call that kept his croup-prone inf…

WATCH: https://youtu.be/gddkPTnNtlQ Recorded live at Transform 2026, this episode features David Hanrahan, SVP of People and de facto Chief People Officer at SolarWinds, a global B2B IT observability and management software company with approximately 2,100 employees across the US, India, the Philippines, Poland, Ireland, and beyond. Dave joined SolarWinds about a year and a half ago, two weeks before the company was acquired — giving him a front-row seat to one of the more complex people leadership environments you can walk into. The conversation opens up territory that hasn't been covered anywhere else in this series: what benefits actually look like when your workforce spans six countries and four continents. Dave shares how his team is working through transportation benefits for employees in Bangalore and Manila — cities where commuting isn't a minor inconvenience; it's a daily ordeal — and how something as seemingly simple as a commuter subsidy can be more meaningful than …

WATCH: https://youtu.be/jbrhdi4ra9Q Recorded live at Transform 2026, this episode features Nancy Hauge, Chief People Experience Officer at Automation Anywhere — an AI agent platform company helping enterprises manage agentic solutions at scale. Nancy brings 45 years of people leadership experience to the conversation, and she arrives with a book on the way: The 5-Year Century, co-authored with her CEO and published by Wiley, releasing May 19th. Nancy is one of the most energetic and quotable guests in the series. Her core belief — that people are the least predictable thing in the world, and that's exactly what makes HR the most creative function in any business — sets the tone for an episode packed with sharp frameworks, vivid examples, and a few genuinely surprising benefit ideas. She talks about how AI agents are transforming recruiting and HR operations at Automation Anywhere, from a referral agent that maps new job descriptions to existing and needed AI tools, to agents t…

WATCH: https://youtu.be/0F17Slgg3Tc Recorded live at Transform 2026, this episode features Lucia Guillory, Chief People Officer at Virta Health — a company on a mission to reverse metabolic disease, starting with diabetes and now extending into groundbreaking pancreatic cancer treatment research. Lucia brings a uniquely rigorous perspective to the people function: she holds a PhD in organizational behavior, has studied human connection since childhood, and entered HR with a clear mandate to drive organizational change. Lucia's backstory is one of the most compelling in the series. She is dyslexic and has ADHD, and traces her lifelong fascination with people — and her drive to understand belonging — directly to the experience of feeling isolated as a kid. That foundation shapes everything about how she thinks about culture, transparency, and what employees actually need from their organizations. Her answer to what's most broken in bad cultures is simple and sharp: a lack of hon…

In this engaging interview, Dave Meltzer discusses his new book 'Don't Do Business with Dicks,' sharing insights on toxicity, self-awareness, and building positive relationships. He emphasizes the importance of self-care, recognizing toxic patterns early, and aligning with your divine direction to achieve success and happiness. They say the third time is a charm. Actually, I think it’s his 4th if you count live stream shows. Please welcome back my friend and yours Dave Meltzer! David Meltzer is the Chairman of the Napoleon Hill Institute and former CEO of Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment, the legendary agency that inspired the film Jerry Maguire. He is a globally recognized entrepreneur, investor, executive producer, and one of the world’s top business coaches, honored by Variety as Sports Humanitarian of the Year and awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. David has executive-produced hit shows, including Apple TV’s 2 Minute Drill and Office Hours and Entrepreneur’s #1 dig…

WATCH: https://youtu.be/d8Jj4TvFiys Recorded live at Transform 2026, this is Kyle Forrest's third appearance on the show — and the conversation has never been more timely. Kyle is a consultant at Deloitte with a finger on the pulse of workforce trends, HR transformation, and the evolving relationship between benefits, talent, and business outcomes across industries. A year ago at Transform, the room was buzzing about AI products and features. This year, Kyle observes, the conversation has fundamentally shifted: everyone is now asking what work should be done by humans, and how organizations can invest in the uniquely human capabilities that AI simply cannot replicate. That reframe sets the tone for a wide-ranging discussion on what it means to build a workforce strategy in 2026. Kyle brings hard data from Deloitte's generational research to make the case that pay alone is no longer the primary driver for any of the four generations currently in the workforce — and that purpose…

WATCH: https://youtu.be/8xBOpw_eMyw Recorded live at Transform 2026, this episode features a candid sit-down between host Adam Poser and Tanya Moore, Chief People Officer at West Monroe — a business and technology consulting firm known for its differentiated culture, client NPS scores, and the fact that nearly 75% of its employees hold equity in the company. Tanya brings a remarkable depth of experience to the conversation: 20 years at IBM leading career and skills transformation on a global scale, followed by a CPO role at a design and engineering firm, and now three years at West Monroe, where she's been systematically modernizing the company's people function from the ground up. She walked into an organization with no succession planning, no workforce planning, and a recruiting function built almost entirely on human effort with minimal automation — and she's been rebuilding it all with speed, intention, and a clear eye on candidate and manager experience. The conversation c…

WATCH: https://youtu.be/aFQKlkz3BMo Recorded live at Transform 2026, this episode is a candid, high-energy conversation between host Adam Posner and Allie Shulman, VP of People & Culture at SoundCloud — the iconic music streaming platform that's been a launchpad for artists, DJs, and creators for over a decade. Adam and Allie share a unique origin story: they both started their careers at Onward Search, a recruiting firm where they discovered their love for the people business. That shared foundation sets the tone for a conversation that's as personal as it is professional. Allie opens up about leaving a workplace where she didn't feel safe as a newly out queer person, finding belonging at Onward Search, and ultimately following her passion for music into an in-house HR career that led her to SoundCloud. As VP of People & Culture, Allie is currently leading one of her biggest initiatives: building authentic, lived-in company values from scratch — not the kind that end up as a poste…

WATCH: https://youtu.be/_wvfaqw7v68 Recorded live at Transform 2026, this episode brings together host Adam Poser and Angela Briggs-Paige — Chief People Officer, founder of People Power, and one of the most candid voices in the HR world on what it actually takes to build workplaces where people thrive. Angela's path into HR was anything but planned. She went to college intending to become a doctor, majored in biology, minored in classical languages, and stumbled into HR through a work-study job for a dean. What started as an accident became a calling — and eventually a mission to push organizations past the compliance-and-process version of HR toward something far more human and business-driven. In this conversation, Angela gets genuinely vulnerable — sharing a story from early in her career when she followed policy over people and terminated an employee who needed more support, and the lasting lesson that taught her. She lays out her three-layer framework for thinking about e…

WATCH: https://youtu.be/U3OGGyoxAdM In this episode of the podcast, recorded live on the floor of Transform 2026, host Adam Poser sits down with Katya Laviolette, Chief People Officer at 1Password — the identity security company protecting individuals and enterprises across 6 countries with nearly 1,500 employees. Katya brings over 30 years of HR leadership across manufacturing, e-commerce, and tech to one of the most critical conversations in today's talent market: how do you build and sustain a world-class people strategy when your company is fully remote, hyper-growth, and operating in a complex, AI-driven security landscape? The conversation covers the full spectrum of the employee experience — from how 1Password structures its total compensation and benefits packages (including the often-overlooked employer contribution to healthcare costs), to its distinctive Wednesday start date for new hires, to how it's tackling AI-generated fraudulent job applications. Katya also opens up ab…

WATCH: https://youtu.be/O17Rbnnc0DE Live from Fountain's private event at Transform 2026, Delilah’s After Dark: The Human + AI Experience, Adam Posner sits down with Pete Eisenman of Fountain to break down what’s really happening in frontline, high-volume hiring—and how AI is quietly rewriting the entire playbook. This isn’t theory. It’s happening now. Pete explains how hiring has evolved from manual, recruiter-driven workflows to highly automated, agentic systems that can take candidates from application to conditional offer in minutes—not days. But speed isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about winning talent. In a world where candidates are applying to 20+ jobs at once, the fastest company often gets the best hire. And increasingly, candidates are choosing instant, AI-driven interviews over waiting for a recruiter’s availability. Still, this isn’t about removing humans from the process. It’s about repositioning them—focusing recruiters and hiring managers on the moments that…

WATCH: https://youtu.be/YXiPoBskers Recorded live at Transform 2026, Adam Posner sits down with workplace culture expert Abi Adamson for a candid, no-filter conversation on what it really means to build culture that works—for everyone. This isn’t a conversation about perks, policies, or performative inclusion. It’s about the invisible systems shaping behavior every day—who gets heard in meetings, who gets opportunities, and how leadership behaviors quietly define what’s actually safe inside an organization. Abi introduces her SERN framework (Soil, Exposure, Roots, Nutrients), challenging the idea that people can be managed the same way. Instead, she reframes organizations as living ecosystems—where culture problems aren’t surface-level issues, but deeply embedded in the roots. Together, Adam and Abi unpack why psychological safety isn’t about being nice, why “confidence” is often misdiagnosed, and how most organizations unintentionally reward the loudest voices while silencing…

WATCH: https://youtu.be/MwTk4g91WLY Live from UNLEASH 2026, Adam sits down with Maribel Diz, SVP of People at Visa, to explore how leadership, culture, and career development are evolving in a multi-generational workforce. With nearly 30 years at Visa, Maribel has seen the company—and the world of work—reinvent itself multiple times. Her perspective blends real-world leadership with academic research, offering a grounded yet forward-looking view on what today’s workforce needs. At the center of the conversation is the shifting dynamic between generations—particularly the rise of Gen Z. Maribel challenges common misconceptions, arguing that Gen Z is not entitled or disengaged, but instead highly capable, digitally native, and deeply motivated. What they need isn’t hand-holding—it’s guidance, structure, and leadership that meets them halfway. She shares insights from her doctoral research, including how Gen Z processes information, what drives their engagement, and why traditional le…

My guest on episode #498 of #thePOZcast is Jay Delsing, and he’s someone who has literally lived the dream that most golfers only fantasize about. Jay grew up on the public courses of St. Louis, fell in love with the game early, and that obsession took him all the way to UCLA, where he was a two-time All-American on a full golf scholarship and earned a degree in economics. In 1984, Jay earned his PGA Tour card and went on to compete professionally for over 25 years, lining up alongside some of the biggest legends the game has ever seen. He’s now a Life Member of both the PGA Tour and the PGA of America, which is basically golf’s version of having a lifetime backstage pass. After hanging up the clubs, Jay made a seamless transition into broadcasting. Today, he hosts the nationally syndicated radio show Golf With Jay Delsing, airing in over 50 markets across 64 affiliates, and it’s built a loyal, affluent audience that keeps growing. Each week, Jay brings listeners inside the world of g…

WATCH: https://youtu.be/pzhXicl6Al8 Live from UNLEASH 2026, Adam sits down with Jess Von Bank for a thought-provoking and at times provocative conversation on AI, transformation, and the future of work. Jess began her career as a full-desk executive recruiter, specializing in highly niche, hard-to-fill roles in pharmaceutical and clinical research—long before modern sourcing tools existed. Her foundation in true “old school” recruiting—research, persistence, and deep human understanding—anchors her perspective today. At the center of this conversation is a critical distinction most organizations are missing: AI is not transforming work. It’s scaling whatever already exists. And that’s the problem. Jess challenges the current “AI land grab,” in which companies are rushing to layer automation onto broken or outdated processes rather than rethinking how work should be done altogether. In her view, most organizations are simply doing the same work faster—not better—and leaving mass…

Live from UNLEASH 2026, Adam sits down with Suzan Vulaj, SVP of Global Talent Acquisition at NBCUniversal, to unpack the realities of recruiting in today’s high-volume, AI-driven hiring landscape. Suzan leads a global TA organization of 100+ professionals and has spent the last eight years evolving how hiring works inside a complex, fast-moving enterprise. Her perspective is grounded in both scale and experience—and she doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges. At the center of the conversation is a fundamental shift: recruiting hasn’t just changed—it’s been overwhelmed. With thousands of applicants per role, AI-generated resumes flooding pipelines, and rising candidate fraud, recruiters are being pushed to their limits. Suzan shares why the answer isn’t more tools—it’s a return to fundamentals. The best teams are leaning back into relationship-driven recruiting: tapping into networks, revisiting silver medalists, and proactively building pipelines instead of reacting to job postings. She…

At UNLEASH 2026, Adam sits down with Maryjo Charbonnier, Executive Advisor and former CHRO of Kyndryl, to unpack what HR transformation actually looks like when AI moves from buzzword to business driver. Mary Jo brings a sharp operator’s lens to the conversation, grounding AI not in hype, but in how work actually gets done. She explains why HR is no longer a support function, but increasingly at the center of business strategy—especially as AI reshapes workflows, roles, and skills at scale. From translating customer demand into skills using AI, to dynamically matching employees to opportunities, Mary Jo shares how Kyndryl is leveraging data to better understand its workforce and unlock internal mobility. Her perspective reframes AI not just as an efficiency tool, but as a mechanism to truly “see” employees—their capabilities, potential, and fit across the organization. This is a conversation about shifting HR from reactive to predictive, from administrative to strategic, and from …

At UNLEASH 2026, Adam sits down with Paul Rubenstein of Visier for a masterclass on the past, present, and future of HR—and why this moment in time is unlike anything we’ve seen before. Drawing on a 20+ year career spanning consulting, HR leadership, and now evangelism, Paul walks through the full evolution of HR—from industrial labor optimization to personnel management, to the rise of systems and shared services, and now into the age of AI-driven decision making. But this isn’t just a history lesson. It’s a reframing. Paul makes the case that AI is not just another layer of technology—it’s fundamentally changing how decisions get made, how systems talk to each other, and how organizations must think about work itself. The future isn’t about people-to-systems anymore—it’s systems-to-systems, powered by clean, connected, and contextual data. The conversation explores the promise and pitfalls of AI in HR, the danger of “shiny object syndrome,” and why the real skill gap isn’t learn…

Dulari Amin, and she is one of those rare people who’s seen the full business journey from every angle. She’s an entrepreneur, operator, and investor with over two decades of experience building and scaling high-growth companies, and now backing the next generation of founders doing the same. She’s the co-founder of Sidelines VC, Mothership VC, and Synergy Ventures, where she leads investment strategy and works hands-on with early-stage startups across consumer, healthcare, and tech. But what makes Dulari especially interesting is that she’s not just an investor — she’s a true operator at heart. She played a pivotal role at Cue Health, helping take the company from R&D to a $3 billion IPO, scaling across both enterprise and direct-to-consumer. Before that, she was the co-founder and COO of Phenomenon, a business transformation and marketing agency she helped grow to over $100 million in revenue, and a successful private equity exit. Dulari’s superpower is building. Brands, teams, syst…

At UNLEASH 2026, Adam sits down with Safira CEO Aman Shah, a young founder taking a fresh swing at one of talent acquisition’s biggest bottlenecks: the broken application and screening process. Aman shares the origin story behind Safira—born out of the frustrating reality new grads face today, where thousands of applications meet overwhelmed recruiters, creating what he calls an “AI slop cycle.” Instead of adding another tool to the stack, Safira flips the model by embedding AI interviewing directly into existing ATS platforms through lightweight APIs, enabling companies to screen candidates at scale without adding friction. The conversation dives into what actually differentiates companies in a crowded AI hiring space (hint: it’s not the tech), why bias testing and explainability are mission-critical, and what it’s like building a company as a first-time founder navigating an ecosystem full of seasoned operators. This is a candid, forward-looking discussion on the future of hirin…

In this candid, unfiltered conversation from Unleash 2026, Adam sits down with Matt Charney—industry veteran, investor connector, and one of the most outspoken voices in talent acquisition—to cut through the noise in HR tech and AI. Charney traces his unconventional path from Hollywood screenwriting to corporate recruiting leadership at companies like Amgen, Disney, and Warner Bros., ultimately landing in the world of startups, private equity, and TA tech commentary. Along the way, he challenges some of the biggest narratives dominating the industry today. At the core of the discussion is a reality check: recruiting hasn’t fundamentally changed. Despite the explosion of AI tools, vendors, and buzzwords, the job is still about making hires and improving people’s lives. Charney argues that much of the AI hype is recycled trend-chasing—echoing past waves like social recruiting and big data—while practitioners are left feeling behind in a game no one has actually mastered. The convers…

Live from UNLEASH America 2026 in Las Vegas, Adam Posner sits down with Jason Desentz, CHRO of Toshiba Americas, for a candid, practical conversation on what it really takes to lead HR and talent at scale. Jason oversees a 6,000-employee workforce across the Americas, along with a 50-person HR organization spanning talent, employee health & safety, security, and facilities. With over two decades in automotive (Ford, Chrysler, Goodyear) and consulting, he brings a deeply operational, business-first lens to HR leadership. At the core of Jason’s philosophy is a simple but often missing truth: HR only works when it understands the business. He explains why talent acquisition should sit within HR—but only if HR leaders can challenge hiring managers, calibrate expectations, and translate business needs into realistic hiring strategies. Learn more & Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-desentz/