NYC Midtown Live 2026: People & HR

Brian Cretella is Vice President of AI Workforce Enablement at Moody’s Corporation, where he leads the enterprise strategy to equip more than 14,000 employees to build, adopt, and transform workflows using AI responsibly and at scale. Through structured training, governance frameworks, and workforce innovation programs, he enables employees to develop fluency, exercise sound judgment, and apply AI with practical confidence across the business.

Most recently, Brian designed and launched a Citizen Developer Bootcamp and Certification Program, a tiered credentialing initiative that develops a new class of AI practitioners capable of designing, governing, and deploying AI-enabled workflows without requiring a technical background. He is currently leading Moody’s expansion into agentic AI enablement, including the launch of an internal Agentic Marketplace and the development of governance infrastructure to ensure citizen-developed solutions meet enterprise standards for risk, data sensitivity, and business criticality. He also leads the AI Innovation Chapter Program, consisting of 30 business unit chapters driving enterprise-wide AI transformation.

Brian holds an MBA in Management and Global Business Strategy from Rutgers University and is both a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and a certified Project Management Professional. He brings a strong process improvement and product management perspective to AI transformation. Prior to his current role, he held product and project management positions at Moody’s Investors Service and UBS, where he led large-scale technology initiatives within financial services.

Jarret Kleppél is the Vice President, Talent & Organizational Development - Operations & Technology at NBCUniversal.

Carolyn Kimmick is a Talent Acquisition and Executive Search professional with experience spanning both agency and in-house environments. She partners with founder-led leadership teams to identify and unlock exceptional talent, helping mission-driven organizations scale with intention. Known as a strategic and trusted advisor to ambitious entrepreneurs, she brings a globally minded, purpose-led, and impact-driven approach to building high-performing teams.

Michael serves as People Function Lead for Latin America Foods, Global Strategy & Transformation and International Beverage organizations.

Jim Priebe is Empyrean’s Chief Strategy Officer, leading the group’s Sales, Marketing, and Product teams and focusing on the delivery of solutions that connect benefits and enrich lives every day.

Over his 30-year career, Jim has been an agent for change in the employee benefits space, delivering several successful market solutions resulting in new businesses and product lines which align with his passion for ensuring all aspects of the insurance and benefits ecosystem work together to provide simplification and education for all users.

Jim is active in the industry, serving in key roles to help shape, define, and position legislative change at both the federal and state levels. Prior to joining Empyrean, he held executive level leadership positions at Bloom Health, United Health Group (Optum), Mayo Clinic, and Acclaris. 

Jim earned a B.A. in Marketing and Communications from Concordia University. He served in the United States Army Reserves and earned an Army Achievement Medal for outstanding performance in Desert Storm.

Yalda M. Haery is the Vice President, Fair Employment & Employee Relations at NBCUniversal.

Tina Gupta is a Senior Vice President in Human Resources at New York Life, where she leads enterprise-wide talent strategy and transformation. She is a future-focused talent executive known for modernizing workforce practices at the intersection of people, technology and AI. In her role, Tina oversees strategies that shape the future of work, from skills-based talent design to performance, culture and AI-enabled transformation.

With more than two decades of global experience across organizations, including WarnerMedia, AT&T’s Xandr, Thomson Reuters and New York Life, Tina has guided leaders and boards through their most pivotal workforce shifts. She has played a key role in large-scale integrations, culture reinvention efforts and the adoption of data- and AI-driven talent practices that enable organizations to stay adaptive and competitive.

Tina is known for translating complex transformations into practical, talent-centered solutions. Her work focuses on helping organizations reimagine the employee experience, build future-ready skills and leverage AI and data to create more agile, high-performing teams. She brings candid insight, real-world experience and a forward-looking perspective on what modern talent leadership requires in an era of continuous change.

Kathleen Navarro is a dynamic talent and diversity leader with strong business acumen and extensive operational experience. She is passionate about building inclusive workplaces where people and businesses can thrive together, bringing a strategic approach to talent development, leadership, and organizational transformation.

With a track record of partnering with business leaders to drive meaningful change, Kathleen combines operational excellence with a deep understanding of people strategy. Her expertise spans talent management, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), leadership development, and organizational effectiveness, helping organizations create high-performing, engaged, and future-ready teams.

As a speaker, Kathleen shares practical insights on inclusive leadership, cultivating diverse talent, and aligning people strategies with business goals. Her engaging and actionable approach inspires leaders to foster workplace cultures that unlock innovation, strengthen collaboration, and drive sustainable business success.

Joan Kronick-Johnson is Regional Vice President at Amazon One Medical, leading enterprise and mid-market growth across the East Coast. She partners with employers and brokers to design primary-care strategies that improve access, reduce costs, and enhance employee wellbeing. Known for her data-driven and relationship-centered approach, Joan has played a key role in expanding One Medical’s footprint, mentoring emerging talent, and helping organizations move from fragmented point solutions to integrated, whole-person care that drives measurable impact.

Kim Duck is the VP of Global Benefits at News Corp., the parent company of many news and publishing companies including the Wall Street Journal, HarperCollins Publishers, Barron’s, and MarketWatch. Prior to her role at News Corp., she was VP of global benefits for Dow Jones. She earned a BA in sociology from Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania. She serves as a superintendent of Sunday School in her congregation, and has served as a soccer coach.

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about work, the job market, and women’s experiences in the workplace. Her work has appeared in the BBC, The Washington Post, Quartz at Work, Fast Company, and Digiday’s Worklife.

Kerri Garbis is the Founder and CEO of Ovation Communication, a globally recognized communication skills training company specializing in Executive Presence, Presentation Skills, and Speaker Development. Under Kerri’s leadership, Ovation, founded in 2011, has expanded its global footprint, working with blue-chip organizations across industries and continents, and launching BRAVO, Ovation’s proprietary asynchronous coaching and rehearsal platform that has transformed how teams practice, receive feedback, and measure communication growth at scale.
In 2025 & 2026, Kerri was named a ’CUSE50 Honoree, recognizing Syracuse University alumni who demonstrate bold leadership, innovation, and impact, an especially meaningful milestone for this BFA Musical Theatre graduate turned business leader. Ovation’s actor-centric methodology leverages business-savvy professional actors to help leaders turn communication skills into instinctive behaviors that stick.
A certified expert in Emotional Intelligence and Business Etiquette, Kerri is also the author of Presentation Skills for Managers (McGraw-Hill) and a TEDx speaker whose talk, “How to Rehearse Anything,” continues to resonate with leaders worldwide.
When she’s not helping organizations show up with clarity and confidence, Kerri pursues her life passion for finding the perfect French fry and lifts weights because she keeps eating French fries regularly.

Diane has partnered with 80+ companies on AI adoption strategy and writes/speaks on human–AI collaboration and responsible implementation. A 20+ year org transformation leader, she’s trained 100,000+ professionals globally. Formerly employee #8 and Head of Product at LifeLabs Learning through a 9-figure exit.

As SVP of Content Strategy at Method Communications, Lydia takes a journalistic approach to working with executives across a range of technology companies to define and execute multi-channel content strategies focused on storytelling and thought leadership. Prior to joining Method, Lydia was a senior editor at Fast Company, where they were responsible for sourcing and editing industry experts in the publication's contributor network across multiple verticals. As a reporter, Lydia has written for CBS MoneyWatch, Entrepreneur, Fortune, The Guardian, Popular Science, and The New York Times, among other publications.

Courtney Vinopal is a senior reporter for HR Brew covering total rewards and compliance. She regularly speaks with CHROs and chief people officers to better understand how executive teams view human capital in light of current economic trends. She's interested in how HR leaders make high-stakes decisions regarding compensation, restructuring, and benefits, and how those choices reflect the direction of corporate strategy.
 
Before joining HR Brew, Courtney contributed to a variety of print, broadcast, and digital outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, PBS NewsHour, and Quartz.

Brendon has a Master’s in Industrial/Organizational psychology, with a focus on employee engagement, retention, and performance. For over a decade, Brendon has worked with thousands of leaders and professionals to overcome challenges, define success, identify gaps, and take meaningful action to enhance their performance.

Stéphanie leads strategic partnerships at CodeSignal. She spent her career in education including 10 years at Coursera where she joined as employee 40, helped launch B2B and scaled teams across EMEA through a successful IPO. She is passionate about leveraging technology to democratize access to education and has a diverse background, having worked in Higher Ed and at the UN.

Tania Rahman is the Social Media Director at Fast Company, where she oversees social strategy while supporting cross-functional team needs. She has a decade of social marketing experience spanning B2B, advertising, and editorial industries, and previously led social at Yext and IBM Watson. In addition, she serves as the Director of Communications on the executive board at the South Asian Journalists Association, helping create a platform and community for current and aspiring journalists in the South Asian diaspora. 

Jason Kim is an Engagement Director at Sia, based in New York. He helps organizations rethink how their people are structured, led, and prepared for change. Jason has guided teams through complex transformations, including a talent review covering twelve thousand employees at a global financial services firm. His work brings together operating model design, change leadership, and learning. He is known for one thing in particular: Making transformation stick with the people who have to live it.

A big announcement takes a day. Changing how people work takes much longer. Neil Barman focuses on everything in between. He is an Engagement Director at Sia and based in New York, where he leads the change, communications, and training behind mergers, restructurings, and global transformation programs. Over his career, his clients have included some of the largest companies in the world, and his teams connect big decisions about how a business operates to the leadership and culture that carry them out. Neil holds an MBA from New York University and teaches at Columbia University.

Ashwarya Poddar is the Founder and CEO of ConverzAI, the Voice AI and Agentic AI platform for recruiting. Passionate about creating technologies that enhance human productivity, he founded ConverzAI in 2019 to transform high-volume recruiting through autonomous AI recruiters. Before starting ConverzAI, he spent over a decade at Microsoft as a Principal Product Manager, taking conversational intelligence products from ideation to commercialization and building them into a $100M+ businesses. He holds multiple patents in conversational AI and natural language processing. Ashwarya earned a Computer Science degree from NIT Rourkela and an MBA from INSEAD. Based in San Jose, he enjoys playing music and cooking with his family.

Chris Gibson is an experienced health benefits leader, specializing in the design, negotiation, and implementation of creative employer-sponsored healthcare solutions. As Vice President of New Business Sales for Aetna’s New York and New Jersey markets, Chris partners with employers and consultants to develop employee benefits packages aimed at controlling costs while ensuring the best health outcomes.

Glizcel Ditto is a business and technology professional on a 25+ year journey providing domain and solution expert leadership in human capital management with a passion for the fine art of total rewards management. Glizcel understands that compensation and rewards are an integral part of a company’s employer brand, and can greatly affect the ability to attract and retain key talent that will help the company obtain its business objectives.

At HRSoft, Glizcel consults with clients and colleagues through intersecting roles in product management, solution consulting, marketing, client implementations, and customer success with a focus in compensation, performance management, pay equity, and total rewards. She expertly aligns rewards philosophies and strategies with technology solutions through extensive industry expertise and deft product knowledge.