Senior Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition

PepsiCo

Blair Bennett is the Senior Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition at PepsiCo where she is responsible for the Global TA Centers of Expertise and overall success of campus, professional and executive hiring. She joined PepsiCo in 2019 and enjoys working with such a passionate TA team, dedicated to creating a candidate experience that embodies PepsiCo's mission to Create More Smiles. Prior to PepsiCo, Blair’s background was in political consulting and then Talent Acquisition at both Korn Ferry International and Walmart. Outside of work, Blair enjoys spending time with their two Wheaten Terriers and playing golf with her husband.

Vice President, Talent Acquisition

Staples

Bertrand brings over two decades of senior HR and business leadership experience serving top tier brands and Fortune 200 public and PE-owned companies.  

He has closely partnered with multiple well-known CEOs and their leadership teams to leverage the art and science of hiring into a competitive advantage, and to help drive cultural, functional, and technological transformations.

Currently, Bertrand serves as the Head of Talent Acquisition for Staples, where he also looks after all AI workstreams across HR.

Prior to his current role, Bertrand served in corporate officer roles at Tenet Healthcare, XPO Logistics, Oracle, American Express, and UBS.

In addition to strong business acumen and an investor mindset, insatiable curiosity about people and technology have been hallmarks of Bertrand’s career.

Outside of work and spending time with family, Bertrand is an avid traveler (over 3,300 flights to 68 countries), five-time Ironman Triathlon finisher, and performance car enthusiast. 

Executive, HR/Talent & Data, Partner, Responsible AI

IBM Consulting

Ms. Kirkwood’s experience spans over 27 years in HR, Technology, Data & Ethical AI currently serving as Partner at IBM. She leads in Data & AI and in AI Ethics, working globally with organizations on their HR journey transforming their workforce strategies. She recently has served as an Executive Fellow for the World Economic Forum (WEF) leading Generative AI -Responsible Business Transformation and Safe Technology Design, led several organizations as VPHR Tech in assignments and served as Data Executives in projects. She was recently a speaker at WEF on these subjects at Davos, Switzerland. In addition, she has helped coauthor due to her experience in HR and AI, many series in/outside of IBM including Augmenting Human Intelligence, Generative AI for CEOs, 7 Trends, Data Literacy for HR leveraging her expertise. She has been a reputed and top ranked executive in her field amongst industry publications and as an individual executive.

Her education includes data science at Johns Hopkins University, Michigan State University and IBM Technology Academy. Before IBM, Jen spent her career at ADP in Global Services as the executive VP in establishing the Future of Work in HR for global organizations. She collaborated with the award-winning data science teams on compensation market benchmarking, pay equity, and DE&I. She helped inspire and build HR data analytics adoption and utilization strategies. Her experience has included change management and HR transformation in some of the very largest and complex multinational firms in the world.

She is a member of SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), IEEE, RAII, and IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals) amongst others. As a Women in Tech leader, she is committed to helping organizations focus on AI governance, education & diversity, She is a member of Girls Who Code, P-Tech, Native American Women in Coding, IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility). She believes at the heart of all data, governance 1. DE&I strategies are essential to eliminate bias and 2. HR needs to lean in data/AI and workforce adoption to drive results.

Jen resides in Louisville, KY traveling the world with her husband and family living her best life and bringing faith and positivity to her community.

Vice President, Master Facilitator & Leadership Coach

Bluepoint Leadership

Joan is a highly skilled facilitator and coach with over 15 years of hands-on experience working with leaders at all levels and in many different industries. She is noted for her passion for what she does and for her energetic and interactive facilitation style. Her feedback typically includes the words: engaging, excellent, enthusiastic, informative and professional. She is equally adept at working with front line emerging leaders as she is with executive teams.

Joan is noted for her unique workshop design and delivers measurable results by inspiring participants to build on their strengths to improve their bottom-line results.

Her growing renown as a facilitator is equaled by her growing reputation as a Thought Leader and a respected authority on what it takes to deliver a learning experience that will last the test of time.

Her areas of expertise include helping organizations, teams and individuals, understand how to lift the performance of others, how to improve team execution by way of innovation and creativity, and how to create an aligned and engaged organization that is primed to deliver on its vision.

She has a BA in English and a Masters Degree in Organizational Science from Villanova University. She has also earned professional accreditations from DDI, Career Systems, Lominger LTD and Right Associates.

Vice President, Advisory Services

Human Capital Institute (HCI)

Karen Guzicki is the founder and principal consultant for the Guzicki Group. As an Organizational Development and Talent Management consultant, Karen loves to draw on her past experiences, current research and love of problem solving to help companies achieve success through the power of their people. She has an extensive background working for and consulting with companies across a wide range of industries and geographies; In the last year alone, her work took her to 7 countries across 4 different continents. In addition to her consulting practice, Karen serves as a faculty member for the Human Capital Institute where she facilitates learning events and supports corporate clients.

Founder and CEO

Vemo Inc.

Peter Louch is the founder and CEO of Vemo, a leading supplier of cloud-based workforce planning and predictive analytics software and services. Mr. Louch has over twenty years of experience in the workforce planning and analytics space and has served as a subject matter expert for many of the world’s largest and most interesting organizations. Mr. Louch also has served as a guest lecturer on predictive analytics and workforce planning theory at Wharton and Claremont Graduate University. Prior to founding Vemo, Mr. Louch held leadership positions at Right Management Consultants and TMP Worldwide. Mr. Louch graduated with high honors from University of California at Berkeley with a degree in Astrophysics.

Chief People Officer

Cardinal Group Companies

Peter Lynch is the Chief People Officer and board member at Cardinal Group Companies. A noted Fortune 500 global executive bringing broad expertise across the entire employee lifecycle

Head of Tech Recruiting

Vanta

Ross is a Talent Acquisition leader with more than 15 years of experience leading recruiting and sourcing teams in the Silicon Valley, and beyond. Most recently, he was with Uber Technologies where he led a Sourcing team of up to 120 individuals, owning the full suite of technical hiring for the organization across North America. 

Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition Experience

Marriott International

Meghan Rhatigan is the Vice President of Talent Acquisition Experience at Marriott, where she leads high-volume hiring and innovative talent acquisition initiatives. Over her 15-year tenure at Marriott, she has held various roles, including leading the organizational change team responsible for the Starwood hotel integration, global HCM adoption, and Talent Acquisition Operations. Before joining Marriott, Meghan worked at Accenture, focusing on organizational change. She holds a BA in HR and Political Science from Marymount University and resides in Northern Virginia with her family.

Senior Manager, HR Data & Analytics

ADM

Sarah Sheffer is a seasoned leader in People Analytics and Workforce Planning with over 15 years of experience driving data-driven strategies that optimize talent management and business outcomes across diverse industries and geographies. A recognized expert in people analytics and strategic workforce planning, Sarah has a proven track record of leading initiatives that harness insights to proactively address both current and future talent needs.

Driven by a mission to promote evidence-based decision-making, continuous learning, and collaboration, Sarah is passionate about helping organizations anticipate workforce trends and implement innovative tools and best practices. She holds a Strategic Workforce Planner certification from the Human Capital Institute and a BA in Psychology from Albion College. Through her work, Sarah is dedicated to building a culture of data-driven decision-making that empowers organizations to thrive in an ever-evolving talent landscape.

Author and Senior Director, Workforce Strategy

Walmart

Ross M. Sparkman is an HR and workforce strategy executive with over 20 years of experience guiding large-scale talent and workforce transformations at Fortune 500 organizations. He currently serves as Senior Director of Workforce Strategy at Walmart where his remit is to lead enterprise-wide initiatives that include Gen AI deployment, advanced analytics, and modern HR technology solutions.

He is the author of Strategic Workforce Planning: Developing Optimized Talent Strategies for Future Growth, a widely referenced guide that helps HR leaders align talent strategies with business objectives by leveraging predictive analytics, scenario planning, and data-informed decision-making. Ross’s extensive background includes leadership roles at Nike, Meta (formerly Facebook), GE Aviation, and Deloitte Consulting, where he led analytics-driven initiatives and refined workforce strategies during periods of rapid organizational change. He began his career in the U.S. Navy, serving in workforce planning and logistics roles across international postings.

Ross holds an MSc in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University, an MBA from Temple University, and an MA in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma. In addition to his corporate leadership responsibilities, he is a sought-after speaker who has presented at numerous global conferences, sharing real-world insights on Workforce Strategy, People analytics, and the future of Work.

At the Global Digital Human Resource Transformation & Analytics 2025 conference, he will Discuss HR’s role in Gen AI Strategy and Adoption. His talk will draw on experiences from his published work and recent corporate projects, illustrating how to collaborate with specialized teams, prepare employees for next-generation tools, and position HR as a strategic partner in accelerating organizational growth.

Head of Talent Programs

GE HealthCare

As the Head of Talent Programs for GE Healthcare's USCAN Service, Tabitha Wright leads a team focused on ensuring the right talent is in the right place at the right time, equipped with the right training. Her innovative approach to onboarding and talent pipeline programs has significantly increased employee retention and generated substantial cost savings, even during periods of significant talent shortages.

With a robust background in strategic workforce planning, Tabitha has successfully developed multiple talent pipeline programs, including the DoD SkillBridge and Military Extern Programs, which have provided valuable opportunities for over 300 veterans and military personnel. She has hired over 1,200 Apprentices and overseen the onboarding of more than 3,500 employees. Her efforts in building partnerships and promoting diversity have been instrumental in creating inclusive and effective talent pipelines.

Tabitha holds an MBA in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management from the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University, where she also earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources and is fluent in Tagalog (Filipino).

Currently residing in Oahu, Hawaii, Tabitha enjoys spending time with her husband, Darius. Together they are able to teach their four children about their Pacific Islander heritage and seize every opportunity to be in the ocean.

Human Capital Institute © 2025     Privacy Policy