LISTEN:
David Hanrahan: Global Benefits, Local Needs: SolarWinds CPO on Managing People LIVE @ Transform '26
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 a more meaningful benefit than a gym membership for teams in those markets.
The elder care conversation is where this episode hits hardest.
Dave went through the journey of caring for both his parents without any company support, and it led him to become an advisor for an elder care benefits platform. He makes the case — backed by data — that the elderly population in the US is about to eclipse the child population, and that the sandwich generation (employees simultaneously raising kids and caring for aging parents) is about to become the dominant demographic challenge facing people leaders.
He also covers mental health benefits and the confidentiality challenge, the generational divide in what candidates care about in total comp, and his framework for deciding what HR should hand to AI versus what requires human judgment. This is one of the most globally-minded and personally grounded conversations in the series.
Connect with David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhanrahan/
Learn more: http://www.solarwinds.com
These episodes of #thePOZcast, live from Transform 2026 in Las Vegas, are proudly brought to you by our friends at Overalls
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