Rethinking Recognition and Rewards: New Strategies for Across-the-Board Encouragement
BY Katie Chambers March 11, 2026“We all know the data on the benefits of recognition: when you feel recognized, you feel great, your engagement goes up,” said Naomi Dishington, director of consulting at Workhuman. But did you know: “The giver also experiences that same lift in engagement, that same bump in productivity, that same likelihood to become a brand ambassador.” By ingraining recognition into organizational culture, leaders can help all employees feel a boost in morale, says Dishington, who spoke on an executive panel at From Day One’s Washington, D.C. conference. Panelists spoke about “Rethinking Recognition and Rewards: New Strategies for Across-the-Board Encouragement.”Why Recognition Matters“The stakes are really high, because if you get it right or wrong, recognition is deeply personal,” said Sheila Muhl, SVP of HR talent & total rewards at Viatris, noting that it touches on both employee and corporate values. “It’s incredibly important to have a far-reaching strategy around recognition, so that you can touch people in multiple different ways, so that people are feeling a sense of accomplishment and achievement and a deep connection to your purpose.” At her organization, achievements are tied not only to standard business objectives but also to cultural values such as fostering well-being and inclusion. “In big organizations, you have so many people making outstanding contributions all the time,” moderator Taylor Telford said. “How can employers ensure folks’ contributions aren’t going under the radar?” Muhl advises making recognition not just about end results, but about the entire employee journey, so that it is always top of mind. “Maybe someone learned something. Maybe something got messed up and we had to pivot—those are also important moments,” she said. Kimberly Young, SVP of total rewards at Amentum, agrees that employees “want to be recognized in real time,” even with a simple “thank you.”Panelists shared strategies on the topic of "Rethinking Recognition and Rewards" in D.C.“Recognition is one of the most strategic, powerful tools a leader has, because it’s how you signal what you value,” said Wendy Jolly, VP of total rewards and team member experience at Inova. Every recognition reinforces what you are looking for. She sees recognition as “a counter to feedback,” a quick positive repetitive reinforcement, leaving “rounding out the picture” for a deeper performance discussion. A good recognition and rewards program is “well-designed, well-communicated, and well-funded,” Dishington said, “as well as specific, timely, and meaningful. That doesn’t mean giant amounts, it means little bits dispersed throughout the year with that pop of spontaneity.” Panelists recommend surveying and employee listening to get a sense of what types of rewards and recognitions mean the most to your constituents as you build out your strategy. “Recognition is where the human shows up at work,” Jolly said. “They have to actually feel seen.” Creative methods of rewards include community-building activities like group volunteer opportunities, as well as “redemption store experiences” that can allow for uniquely personal prize selections. In terms of engagement, Muhl notes that recognition is a way to continue courting employees both immediately after and long after they are hired. “Woo your people as if you’re onboarding them continuously to keep that excitement and energy alive. Your strong employer brand and your strong employer proposition need to continue throughout recognition. It has to be nourished over time.” Making an Impact The most meaningful recognition programs, says Dishington, encourage involvement from the entire organization, not just leaders. “When you can empower everyone to use their voice to call out what’s going well in a colleague late at night, on the tarmac or in the hospital on the floor after a 14-hour shift, in the moment on [their] mobile [phone] in two minutes, you’ve done something to energize your culture that managers alone just can’t carry, even with the best intentions,” she said. Dishington notes that AI tools can help identify business benchmarks, flag language from employee skills profiles, and identify opportunities for real-time positive reinforcement. But it’s imperative to not take AI too far, and ensure the human voice is still there. “The challenge with AI is that it can be so impersonal for a lot of people,” said moderator Telford.The implementation of AI across other areas of the workplace means leaders will begin valuing employees’ human innovation and risk-taking as they adopt the technology. “I’m more likely to lean into that risk and that innovative state of mind, if I feel safe psychologically,” Young said. And that’s where recognition comes back in. “You can really do a lot with psychological safety in your environments, when you have a culture built on recognition and appreciation of each other.” AI is not the only way technology is impacting rewards. “Another great thing about technology or platform is the opportunity to put a bigger spotlight on a great moment,” Jolly said, not only to give the celebrated employee added positive attention, but also to educate others about corporate values. “You take it just a step further and say why that was a good moment for our company or our culture that we’re trying to create.” Recognition should come from the top-down. “Helping leaders incorporate a recognition focus as part of their day-to-day leadership is really important,” Muhl said. This includes not just executives but also front-line team leaders and managers. HR can help provide language, strategies, and reminders to help them incorporate it into their management style. Securing buy-in from organizational leaders means aligning your rewards program with their values. “It has to be authentic to your culture and to your leaders. What are the words they use, what are the things they naturally say in a town hall or in leadership messages?” Jolly said. “If you weave those in your recognition program, it will really land in a very genuine way in your workforce.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
How AI Is Reshaping Talent Acquisition Without Replacing Human Judgment
BY Ade Akin March 09, 2026Meghan Rhatigan and her team at Marriott International discovered that candidates didn’t mind getting a text message to book their interviews after automating interview scheduling. In fact, many candidates barely noticed.“We’ve scheduled over 300,000 interviews through an automated process and saved thousands and countless hours,” Rhatigan, VP of global talent acquisition experience at Marriott International, said during a panel discussion at From Day One’s Washington D.C.conference. The impact of that decision has been substantial: the interview process that once took ten days from start to finish now takes only three. Rhatigan’s findings challenged a common assumption in HR spaces, such as the belief that high-touch hospitality recruiting required human coordination at every step. Instead, automation freed Marriott International’s recruiters to focus on building relationships with candidates and hiring managers.Rhatigan shared her insights during a panel discussion with three other HR leaders titled “Modernizing Talent Acquisition: Enhancing Efficiency, Outreach, and the Applicant Experience,” as part of a wider discussion on how artificial intelligence is redefining the recruitment process. Adam DeRose, a senior reporter at Morning Brew’s HR Brew, moderated the conversation.The Case for Keeping Humans in ChargeThe panelists agreed there is a firm line between automation and decision-making. Rhatigan says Marriott made an early philosophical decision early on as it started to integrate AI into its system: AI would never get to select which candidates move forward or get hired. “We’re a hospitality company. We have a business around human connection and travel and experiences, and the last thing that we want is for candidates to go through a hiring process where they never actually talk to a human,” Rhatigan said. “There are companies that are moving in that direction, and that’s fine, but we’re not that company.”Panelists spoke about "Modernizing Talent Acquisition: Enhancing Efficiency, Outreach, and the Applicant Experience"Shabrina Davis, head of manager enablement and inclusive hiring learning at Amazon, offered a counterpoint. She says AI can help identify and reduce bias. It can intervene when recruiters develop unconscious preferences, such as favoring graduates from their alma mater. “From a learning and development perspective, we can have a pop-up that says, ‘Hey recruiter, we see you have a preference for Arizona State, but have you looked at Utah, or Florida State, or Howard University?’” Davis said. “Instead of 30 days later looking at a report and saying, ‘Oh, these recruiters are only looking here,’ we can do it immediately and have an intervention that rewires the thinking.”Data-Driven RecruitingFor Bert Hensley, chairman and CEO of Morgan Samuels, AI’s most valuable contribution has been transparency. His firm conducts executive searches with unusual intensity, typically speaking with more than 250 candidates per engagement, and up to 500 for sales roles. The research required to identify the right people once took 20 minutes per company. Now, AI accomplishes the same task in about 25 seconds.Using AI tools to aggregate data gives recruiters an honest view of their own performances. Hensley cited his wife, a therapist, who observes that “everyone is just hardwired to believe better about themselves than they really are. We live in that myth until you have the data that you’re getting every single day that tells you, no, you’re not quite doing what you thought you were doing.”Hensley says that reality check has improved performance across the organization while reducing anxiety. “They’re living in reality, and they don’t have to worry about what’s happening. They know what’s happening every single morning,” Hensley said.Jason Long, senior HRIS analyst at G-P, framed the broader challenge as one of trust. His company encourages employees to experiment with AI tools, and some of those innovations have made their way into G-P’s employer-of-record platform, helping connect professionals with international opportunities.Long drew a parallel to the early internet. “Pets.com didn’t fail because they didn’t have a good idea. They failed because nobody wanted to put their credit card on the internet in 2000,” he said. “Now we have HTTPS and PayPal and a million ways to do that. So what is that key that will unlock trust and help people actually believe that what they're getting from AI is useful?”Doing More With LessExternal pressures are also reshaping how companies approach the hiring process. Layoffs remain in the headlines, and candidates are asking harder questions. Davis acknowledged that Amazon’s recent workforce reductions come up in conversations.“We’re transparent,” she said. “Candidates ask about it, and it’s the reality of the industry that we’re in.” For new hires, a mindset of adaptability is essential. “The role that you’re hired for today may not be the role that you’re doing in 30 days. With that mindset, when you walk in the door, that hopefully will allow you to weather the storms.”Hensley has observed the same trend, noting that search firms now evaluate candidates on agility quotient (AQ), alongside intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional quotient (EQ). “If they’re afraid of AI, I can’t present them to a client,” he said. “They don’t have to be the master of it, but they need to be embracing it.”For Rhatigan, the pressure is more immediate. Talent acquisition teams are being asked to do more with less. Marriott recently brought its frontline hiring in-house after two decades of relying on a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) model. The company hired 50,000 U.S. frontline associates last year, despite having a team of only 20 people. “We would have never been able to do that without AI, ever,” Rhatigan said. “No one is going to be given a pot of money to add people anymore. But we’re all being asked to hire more. So the answer is technology.”Perhaps the most unexpected win came from Amazon’s learning and development team. Davis says AI has eliminated language barriers in training. A year ago, her team could only produce materials in seven languages due to translation costs. Now there’s effectively no limit. “If you’re in a small country on the continent of Africa, and your language is definitely not in the top seven, you’ll have the same experience as someone who’s in Italy,” she said. “It levels the playing field and makes it fair.”The lesson, panelists agreed, isn’t to chase grand transformations, but to find the small, repetitive tasks where automation can deliver meaningful impact while allowing humans to do what they do best.Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Change Fatigue Is Real: How Leaders Can Keep Teams Adapting
BY Ade Akin March 04, 2026Jennifer Vardeman kicked off the panel discussion at From Day One’s Houston conference by asking the audience about their sentiments when asked to adopt something new, like a tool, system, or policy, and to rate their feelings by raising one, two, or three fingers. One finger signified excitement, two meant exhaustion, and three represented pretending to be excited while feeling exhausted.“I see a few ones, that’s good, but mostly threes and twos,” Vardeman, Ph.D., professor and director at the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, University of Houston, said. “So we’re in the right place at the right time.” The panel discussion moderated by Vardeman brought together HR leaders from four major organizations to diagnose the symptoms of change fatigue and discuss remedies. The Many Faces of FatigueFor Anand Mudunuru, global head of HR for software engineering at Stellantis, change fatigue looks less like resistance and more like weariness born of perpetual motion. Stellantis, the world’s third-largest automaker with over 250,000 employees, has undergone decades of acquisitions, leadership changes, and headquarters relocations.“What I see is that people are used to change,” Mudunuru said. “What happens is that people are exhausted. There is a never-ending story.” He says his teams are open to new things but crave “clarity of thought, focus, and clear timelines.”Clelia Cayama, the senior HR director at Vytl Controls Group, described a similar dynamic in her organization, which is built on continuous improvement and operational excellence. “Everybody over coffee is talking about what we can do better,” she said. “But then it comes, always a joke about, ‘Oh, new implementation, a new project. Who’s going to volunteer for that? Who’s going to lead it?”Panelists spoke on the topic, "Change Fatigue Is Real: How Leaders Can Keep Teams Adapting"Mindy Fitzgerald, the head of HR operational excellence at Air Products, offered a more visceral description. “I see a quiet depletion,” she said. “Discretionary energy into things. A sense of languishing, maybe the joy they got in a job, a task, or an activity. It just seems to be missing.”Brea May, head of HR for the Americas at Mahindra, painted a picture of organizational chaos. With three new product launches, two ERP systems to reconcile, and a host of strategic projects, the same “best and brightest” employees are tapped for every initiative. “It causes a lot of anxiety,” May said. “It causes a lot of burnout.”Communication Across Cultures and Time ZonesCommunication often breaks down first when employees are overwhelmed. Language barriers, cultural differences, and asynchronous work compound the challenge global organizations face.Mahindra, headquartered in Mumbai with over 200,000 employees across 100 countries, is familiar with this problem. Misunderstandings in written communication were once frequent, as only 10% of its employees speak English as a first language.“Somebody is taking in information, they’re translating it into English, and they’re putting it into a written form or speaking it out loud,” May said. “It caused a lot of tension for years.” Employees often interpreted direct, bullet-point emails as aggressive, while softer messages were seen as indecisive.The solution to that problem emerged organically. Employees began using a proprietary AI tool, Mahindra AI, to draft and refine cross-cultural communications. “Since everybody started doing it, it’s become this sort of adoption,” May said. “Hey, I’m not going to take offense to the email. I know that Mahindra AI wrote it.” Some employees even tag messages with disclaimers like “AI drafted this.”Stellantis took a different approach. Mudunuru, who built a 7,000-person software team across 30 countries during the pandemic, instituted monthly town halls as the single source of truth for major announcements. To ensure psychological safety, he introduced Mentimeter, an anonymous question-and-answer tool. “They’re able to bring out their concerns without being judged,” he said. “And most importantly, they’re being heard.”For Cayama, the key is intentional, empathetic leadership. “Our leaders are not afraid to say when they don’t have the answer,” she said. “To be there with people, to be empathetic, to relate themselves to what we’re going through.”The Leadership Behaviors That MatterAs the panel shifted from identifying the problem to addressing it, a clear picture emerged of the leadership habits that matter most: transparency, empowerment, and humanity.Cayama highlighted two of Vytl Controls Group's values: “trust to act” and “make it fun.” Trust to act means empowering people to make decisions and execute their work with the confidence that the organization has their back. Making it fun, she says, is about knowing when to pause. “Sometimes in the middle of a business review, to take the time to have some time to decompress, to make fun, not to talk about the work and the topic of the meeting, but to spend time together, connecting,” she added.Mudunuru emphasized customer centricity, passion, and a global mindset with regional execution. He also offered a more tactical tip that has been adopted at Stellantis: no meeting may exceed seven people, and every employee has the right to decline an invitation. “If you are invited, there’s a tendency just to add people,” he said. “Every employee has a right to reject the meeting.”Fitzgerald introduced the concept of “narrowing the field of focus.” She says leaders can create stability by establishing predictable rhythms when everything feels urgent. She stresses the little things, such as no-meeting Fridays, standing check-ins, or simply focusing on one thing during one-on-ones. “You’re creating a level of stabilization amongst all the churn,” she said.She also offered a mantra for leaders: “Our job as leaders is to prioritize the work for our people and our organization ruthlessly. It’s not to prioritize. It is to prioritize ruthlessly. Remember, all that work that you are unable to prioritize creates change fatigue and unsettledness for your employees.”AI as a PartnerThe panelists all agree that how artificial intelligence tools are introduced matters tremendously as they become ubiquitous. When used correctly, AI reduces overload instead of adding to it.Artificial intelligence is already reshaping the workforce at Stellantis. Mudunuru notes that the company has stopped hiring entry-level software engineers because AI systems now write much of the code needed. Experienced engineers are needed to validate and enhance the code, but the shift has forced a rethink of the talent strategy.Mudunuru created a chatbot trained on two years of town hall recordings for HR purposes. Employees in Poland can request vacation days using the system, while those in Brazil can contact their HR representative. “You don’t need to ask these questions,” he said. “Seventy to eighty percent of the questions are just for HR. They are not strategic questions.”Cayama’s organization uses AI to automate non-value-added tasks, freeing employees to focus on more meaningful work. Inside sales teams, for example, use AI to pull prior quotes, accelerating pricing and freeing up more time with clients. “It’s leveraging technology to do the non-value-added task so we can have more people-to-people interaction,” she said.At Mahindra, AI adoption is supported by monthly lunch-and-learn sessions. “It’s about getting them comfortable with using AI and showing how it could reduce the workload,” May said. “This is your partner. This is your assistant.”Learning From Failure to Keep Moving ForwardNo change initiative unfolds perfectly, and the panelists were candid about their missteps. May introduced a more unusual response to failure, the “smart failure award.” When a project fails despite meeting all deliverables, due to factors beyond the team’s control, the team presents lessons learned and receives recognition for the effort. “At first, people were saying, ‘I failed. This is hard,’” May said. But the award reframes failure as a learning opportunity and acknowledges the work that went into the attempt.As the panel concluded, Vardeman recapped the many strategies shared: clarity of thought, careful planning, listening, standing meetings, cultural onboarding, anonymous Q&A tools, values-based leadership, and ruthless prioritization. She highlighted the importance of seeing employees' lived reality, positioning AI as a partner, and creating space for fun.“Everything cannot be planned,” said Mudunuru. “Everything cannot be super structured. The best part is being on top of the list, prioritizing the list, and just keep executing.”Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Scaling Marketing With AI
BY Ade Akin March 03, 2026Carrie Teegardin kicked off an executive panel discussion at From Day One's Atlanta marketing conference with an iconic line from the original Spider-Man movie: “With great power comes great responsibility.” It was the perfect metaphor to kick off the panel about artificial intelligence and its impact across industries, particularly the marketing world. “There’s a lot of stuff you can do, but really, should we be doing that now at this time?” Teegardin, a reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution who moderated the conversation, asked, setting the tone for the discussion. The panel, titled “AI in Marketing: Scaling Personalization Without Losing the Human Touch,” brought together marketing leaders who are actively trying to find a balance between innovation and ethics. Allison Conrad, the managing director of technology at Accenture, immediately seized on Teegardin's Spider-Man analogy. “It really hits on one of the key things around leveraging AI,” Conrad said. She cited the results of a recent Accenture collaboration with Amazon Web Services that surveyed 1,000 C-suite leaders. About 72% reported they had halted an AI pilot or program because of responsible AI concerns.Conrad encouraged marketers to engage in the governance conversation early on. “Marketers need to be at the table,” she added. “Responsible AI gets real when you turn it to customers. And who knows the customers better than the people in this room? If you’re invited to that, I encourage you to go. If you’re not invited, I encourage you to invite yourself.”When Trust Requires Moving Slow to Go FastChristopher Merrill, the chief marketing officer for the digital platform at Synchrony Financial, shared how his company built a fence around the metaphorical AI playground before opening up access.“In financial services, just like any bank, [we] have your social security number and your bank accounts, and so you would probably not like that information to go out outside of my walls," Merrill said. “The beauty and also the danger of AI is once you submit things to ChatGPT, you ask things, you upload documents, it’s gone forever.”Synchrony initially blocked access to public artificial intelligence tools entirely. Instead, the tech team at Synchrony Financial built its own private ecosystem using open-source AI and dubbed it "SYF-GPT" after the company’s stock ticker. “So, yes, did it take longer? Obviously, you know, it took time,” Merrill said, “We were a little bit behind versus some of the folks that didn’t have that same kind of data constraints. But now it’s allowing us to go faster,” he said. The secure environment Merrill's team built now allows employees to upload sensitive documents and draft copies without fear of data leaks. Keeping the Human in the LoopThe panel unanimously agreed that human judgment remains more valuable than ever despite the rush toward automation. Aniket Maindarkar, the chief marketing officer at business process services company Firstsource, shared a cautionary tale about chasing AI hype.After receiving a provocative email from leadership about a competitor producing an ad video for a fraction of the cost, Maindarkar's team raced to produce its own AI-generated video. The quality wasn’t up to par, he admitted. The team eventually partnered with an agency to refine the story and ensure it resonated emotionally with viewers. “For marketers, the only moat that you have is authenticity. That’s it. That’s the only moat that we are left with,” Maindarkar said. “So tech does stuff, but in today’s environment, I think for marketers, the people aspect becomes so important, because without that, you’re probably lost.”Panelists spoke about "AI in Marketing: Scaling Personalization Without Losing the Human Touch" Conrad built on this, distinguishing between AI’s ability to drive efficiency versus its inability to create true distinctiveness. “The LLMs [large language models] that are out there, unless you’re very sophisticated in doing a lot of native work, they’re learning. They’re learning off of everyone else’s data and your data,” she said. “It’s going to be really hard to be distinctive if you rely too heavily on that. What is the human doing? The humans are the people in this room, making sure that you don’t lose your distinctiveness. AI is not really good at that. That emotional connection that you have been investing in your brand, that’s another thing that AI is not going to give you.”From A/B to Multivariate TestingThe panelists agreed that one of AI’s most impressive capabilities is the ability to optimize performance. “We all do some sort of A/B testing,” Merrill said. “Digital, for a long time, has made that so much easier with tools like AI. You can test not just three, four, or five multivariate models, but literally hundreds at the same time. It is an extremely powerful tool, if done correctly.”Maindarkar says AI is now helping dismantle internal silos, bringing together teams that previously worked in isolation and unifying the content-creation process. Now, teams collaborate on a single platform using shared briefs and templates, giving marketing leaders a direct line of sight into what really drives pipeline and brand perception.The Evolving Skill Set: What Happens to the Grunt Work?Teegardin posed a provocative question to the group: If AI eliminates menial tasks, how will junior employees learn the fundamentals?“How, as young employees, did we learn menial tasks?” she noted, reflecting on her days as a young reporter covering local government meetings. “If our people aren’t doing menial tasks, is that a problem?”Merrill suggested the skill set is simply shifting. “The real skill becomes, well, how do you take full advantage of these capabilities? Do I ask it just one very simple question, or am I asking 100 questions to get deeper at the source to figure it out?” He elaborated. “You can’t just take it and say, okay, this is what the answer is. I’m going to run with it.”Conrad acknowledged this is one of the biggest challenges she’s facing. “That apprenticeship, that mentorship, how do we cultivate that sixth sense? If you don’t have that experience, how do you get it?” All three panelists emphasized that AI adoption is as much about culture as it is about technology. Merrill’s team runs internal campaigns asking employees how they’re using AI, from writing code to creating bedtime stories for their kids. Maindarkar recently held an offsite event where 80 employees formed pods and were challenged to create a campaign ad in 20 minutes using only free tools. “It creates magic within the enterprise,” he added. “In an organization, you often have certain people whom AI is forced upon, but certain people who are experimenting and who are trying and are just waiting for the opportunity to showcase that.”As the session concluded, Teegardin circled back to the villains in the Spider-Man universe. What should marketers watch out forMaindarkar warned that CMOs must now think like a Chief Information Security Officer for their brand. “There is nobody else in the company who’s looking at that in terms of what parts of your brand are being leaked out,” he said. Merrill kept it simple. “I’'ll say just trust but verify,” he added. “AI is an awesome set of tools. But you can’t just take it at whatever it says. You’ve got to have the human in the loop.”Conrad’s final word was a call for robust infrastructure. “You can’t do point solutions,” she elaborated. “Laws are changing. You’re going to need an integrated platform that is constantly monitoring these programs. If you’re going to fight the bad guys, you need to be armed with a lot of automation and a lot of data.”Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.
Rebuilding a Brand From the Inside Out: How Tech and Team Engagement Drive a New Strategy
BY Carrie Snider March 02, 2026As a 116-year-old company, ABM Industries looks very different today than it did in over a century ago. Recently, the company set out to redefine itself—but how it approached that reinvention was critical.Founded in 1909 as a window-washing business, ABM Industries has grown far beyond commercial cleaning into integrated facilities management, serving airports, universities, and complex infrastructures across 14,000 client sites with 100,000 frontline employees.Three years ago, leadership realized the company’s story hadn’t kept pace with its transformation. Cary Bainbridge, chief marketing officer at ABM Industries, spoke during a fireside chat at From Day One’s Atlanta marketing event about how technology and internal alignment drove ABM’s brand evolution.“When you think about our evolution, and what I’ve been fortunate to be part of over the last 20 years, it’s continuing to see that evolution and tell a new story,” Bainbridge told session moderator Stephen Koepp, From Day One’s editor in chief and co-founder. In recent years, ABM has expanded its capabilities, integrating soft and hard services under single contracts and modernizing its operating model. The shift wasn’t cosmetic. It was strategic, says Bainbridge. The company invested heavily in upskilling its workforce and embedding technology into daily operations. Today, frontline employees use mobile devices that direct workflows in real time, while managers and clients gain visibility into building operations through centralized digital platforms.Reflecting the Inside ChangeThe brand refresh, anchored in the theme “Driving Possibility, Together,” needed to reflect those internal changes.“It all started with alignment to our business strategy,” Bainbridge said. “We were going through a system transformation internally. The brand needed to match who we’ve become.” That transformation included modernizing enterprise systems and introducing new tools across the workforce. Leadership was intentional about pacing the change.“How much change can our teams consume at any given time?” Bainbridge recalled asking. “We wanted people to feel the change and see that it was happening—so when we empowered them with a new story, it was something they could believe in.”Cary Bainbridge, CMO at ABM Industries, spoke during the fireside chat Rather than leading with marketing, ABM focused first on operational credibility. Employees needed to see proof before they could authentically champion the new brand.The transformation began internally. ABM pressure-tested messaging with employees, launched the brand inside the organization first, and positioned team members as its primary storytellers before rolling out targeted external campaigns. “We knew we had to start on the inside,” Bainbridge said.Smart Growth, Not Just More GrowthAs ABM expanded into electrical infrastructure, microgrids, and mission-critical environments like data centers, its ambitions began to outpace public perception.“We had an alignment problem,” Bainbridge said. “Customers would say, ‘I didn’t know you did that.’ And internally, our team members would say, ‘I don’t know all that we do.’”Closing that gap required discipline. Rather than chasing volume, ABM intentionally targeted higher-value integrated solutions in sectors such as airports, higher education, semiconductors, and data centers.To support that strategy, the marketing team deployed AI-powered lead scoring and machine learning tools to prioritize quality over quantity—resulting in a 4% improvement in lead conversion rates in the first year.AI also expanded access to performance insights. By layering generative AI into marketing dashboards, ABM enabled more employees to query data directly, freeing analysts to focus on advanced modeling and strategic insights.Bainbridge emphasized that marketing’s credibility depends on measurable contribution to growth. At ABM, sales and marketing operate under shared leadership, with aligned KPIs tied directly to revenue in priority segments. “When I stand in front of our leadership team or our board, it’s about our contribution to new sales growth,” she said.Brand as a Cultural StrategyFor Bainbridge, the evolution of the CMO role requires both culture and ROI. ABM’s CEO is invested in internal culture, reinforcing the idea that the brand begins with employees.Employees represent the company to customers, recruits, and their communities. Internal alignment, therefore, becomes a business driver—not just a communications effort. By modernizing systems, upskilling employees, aligning leadership, and embedding technology into operations, ABM ensured its brand transformation reflected real change.Marketing’s role, Bainbridge said, is to connect those dots—so growth strategy, culture, and customer experience move in the same direction.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Employer Listening With Intent: From Feedback to Follow Through
BY Grace Turney February 25, 2026Around 2009, a few years into his career at CarMax, Craig Cronheim had a habit he now describes with a mix of nostalgia and self-awareness. After visiting a store, he’d board a plane home to Richmond with a mental list of every question and suggestion he’d heard from associates that day, and he’d stay up working to resolve each one. “I thought I was the feedback loop,” he said. It worked, for a while. But as his responsibilities grew, Cronheim learned something that has shaped CarMax’s entire approach to employee listening: personal accountability can only scale so far. The infrastructure has to carry the weight.Cronheim, SVP and chief HR officer at CarMax, shared that progression during a fireside chat during From Day One’s Washington, D.C. conference. Moderated by journalist Krissah Thompson, the conversation explored how CarMax has built a disciplined, trust-generating feedback system across a workforce of more than 28,000 associates.Cronheim was careful to make an important distinction: “Listening is the beginning, but not the end,” he said. At CarMax, the process follows three steps: understand, act, and close the loop. Each stage matters, but the third is where trust is either built or broken.“You can collect the feedback. You can actually do something with it. But if your teams don’t know what you’re doing with it, and they don’t know why, you’re really missing out,” Cronheim said. “They’re not going to trust you, because they’re going to see some action, but they’re not going to be able to connect the dots.”A Well-Oiled Feedback MachineTwice a year, CarMax surveys every associate, says Cronheim. The response rate hovers around 90% – a figure Thompson found remarkable for an organization its size. Cronheim credits the consistency of follow-through, rather than traditional incentives. “What we incentivize with is taking action on the feedback,” he said. After each survey cycle, two tracks run in parallel. Managers at all CarMax locations receive their team’s results and are required to submit an action plan. An astounding 87% did so in the most recent cycle, he says. Meanwhile, centralized HR home office teams receive aggregated feedback sorted by topic and develop their enterprise-wide action plan. The whole picture is then packaged into an all-associate communication CarMax calls “Your Feedback in Action,” which outlines major themes of associate feedback, and what the company is doing to respond to it. CarMax has also begun using AI to analyze open-ended survey comments, helping teams identify sentiment patterns across thousands of responses. Cronheim noted the company is deliberate about boundaries: “We’re using AI on feedback that’s already been offered. We’re not using broader AI sensing tools to understand what our teams are doing or saying unless they’re giving us that feedback directly.”Maintaining the Routine in Rough PatchesThompson, who referenced her own experience navigating difficult workforce decisions during her time at the Washington Post, asked how CarMax keeps its feedback commitments when times get hard. Cronheim didn’t sidestep the question. “We’re in a tough stretch right now,” he said, noting the company is between CEOs and has had a couple of difficult sales quarters. “We have a survey going out on March 16, and we will run the same exact play that we do when times are good.” Craig Cronheim, CHRO at CarMax, spoke about "Employer Listening With Intent: From Feedback to Follow Through" at the D.C. conferenceThat consistency, he says, is precisely what protects trust. When the company can’t deliver on what associates ask for, it says so, and explains why. “At least acknowledging that, and saying, ‘You told us this, we can’t do that right now, here’s why, but here’s what we will do’ – that helps build trust even when you’re not able to deliver on the immediate request.”Feedback That Changed the CompanyOne of the clearest examples of the system working came from the shop floor. Store associates had long complained about the time-consuming daily process of scanning inventory—sometimes as many as 400 to 500 cars, and often in extreme weather conditions. CarMax heard the feedback, spent several years researching solutions, and ultimately implemented a GPS-based system that handles real-time inventory tracking automatically. “It’s been one of the most popular things we’ve done in my nearly 19 years at the company,” Cronheim said.The approach to storytelling around that change mattered just as much as the technology itself. Cronheim now uses specific associate suggestions as teaching moments, naming the person and idea when sharing updates with broader groups. “I’m signaling to a much larger audience: we want feedback, we listen to feedback, and we take action,” he said. “That gives a broader group a sense of how important it is, and how it’s the expectation of every last leader.”Other feedback-driven changes at CarMax include the introduction of parental leave, revisions to time-and-attendance policies, and updated uniform guidelines. The expectations employees bring to surveys have shifted too. “It used to be primarily about pay or schedule,” Cronheim said. Increasingly, associates want to know how the organization will support them through personal and community struggles, which has been the impetus for CarMax to expand its benefits and equip managers for a more complex role.For leaders looking to start somewhere, Cronheim’s advice was simple: audit your own listening. “If you’re not actively asking your team, your customers, and your fellow leaders how you and your function can be doing more and better, you’re missing an opportunity.”Grace Turney is a St. Louis-based writer, artist, and former librarian. See more of her work at graceturney17.wixsite.com/mysite.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
From Recruiting to Communication: How HR Leaders Can Leverage AI to Transform Their Work
BY Jessica Swenson February 24, 2026“Automation has disrupted work for decades,” said Elise Furlan, president and chief people & legal officer, North America, for SICK Sensor Intelligence. However, with the rapid advent of AI tools in the modern workplace, she says companies need to be aware of them to avoid obsolescence.How can HR leaders engage with these technologies and use them to shift focus to higher-value tasks? That was the topic of an executive panel moderated by former KHOU-TV news anchor Shern-Min Chow at From Day One’s Houston conference.Furlan says that AI transforms the workplace by freeing people from tedious and dangerous tasks—though it can, and likely will, cause turnover.Good employers will pivot and help elevate their employees through structured development opportunities, but employees also have to engage in the process. “In my opinion, humans are brilliant and sensitive and creative and will not be replaced by AI. But if your job is highly redundant or administrative, you have to upskill, and you have to own it,” she said. Erinn McMahon, VP of career transition & mobility at LHH, also thinks that individuals need to own their career advancement, with mobility and upskilling support from their employers. Throughout the employee’s lifecycle, she says, companies need to “give them the opportunity to learn new skills, to be able to take what they’ve done and maybe pivot it into something new that will be valuable to the organization.” While AI-powered robots may reduce issues inherent to human workers in manufacturing, Chris DeVault, VP of HR for Daikin Comfort Technologies, doesn’t believe that they can match human nimbleness and discernment. Employers have a social imperative to “eliminate repetitive jobs and get [employees] to the point where they are doing things that are far more rewarding,” he said. Governance ProtocolsJill Zhang, global head of total rewards for SLB, spoke about the company’s very deliberate approach to AI adoption, which focuses on protecting employee and client data. All AI tools are pre-trained models connected only to approved data sources and trained on internal databases.“We want to increase AI literacy across the organization. But we are also quite intentional about doing this responsibly and ethically. So right now, we rely on enterprise-approved tools that are deployed within controlled internal environments for people to use as efficiency tools,” she said. Journalist Shern-Min Chow moderated the session about "How HR Leaders Can Leverage AI to Make Their Work More Effective and Fulfilling"Echoing the need for proactive AI policies and governance, Lynn Moffett, VP of HR at BMC, cautions that without approved tools, employees may use external tools like ChatGPT. “You need to have your policies in place, and you should also be providing the tools to your employees to be able to utilize your AI,” she said. “It is really important that companies help guide it in the way that they want for that governance structure to hold true.”Recruiting and Hiring Moffett’s team uses AI for candidate sourcing, assessment, and interview scheduling. She also partnered with BMC’s IT team to build an in-house tool that detects AI-generated resume content. “It helps with ensuring we’ve got additional authenticity and consistency,” she said.If a candidate’s resume is flagged for high AI usage, managers can query the company’s interview question banks to help them dig deeper into the candidate’s experience or request guidance on customized interview structures. Using these question banks, Moffett says, allows the company to “know that we’ve got our consistent corporate principles being applied, in terms of our overall leveling from a job perspective.”Daikin’s new cloud-based ATS easily integrates with AI tools to analyze and process a high volume of resumes, says DeVault, and AI-driven bot interviews are increasingly realistic. However, his staffing teams are not concerned about job loss due to these systems.“This is just the gateway to get the right people to them, so that they can get the right people to the hiring managers. And it’s really simplified their day.”Internal CommunicationCompanies use AI tools to streamline internal communication as well, such as analyzing employee survey comments and translating team-to-team language.“Using AI to help filter and sort through and understand comments, especially when you’ve got a lot of comments coming at you, is a wonderful use of the tool,” said Moffett. HR business partners at BMC use AI search tools to analyze thousands of survey comments, enabling them to better support their partner teams.With employees across more than 100 countries, Daikin’s use of AI translation tools has transformed internal communications, DeVault says. Not only have these tools helped teams communicate meaningfully, but they have also boosted frontline engagement by allowing Daikin’s interpretation team to “go on the shop floor and actually work hand-in-hand with folks versus sitting on endless [video] calls.” The Future of WorkDeVault says “We are in a machine learning era, and we have to be better than the machine.” He tries to ensure that his team is upskilled and ready for the next challenge, aided in part by Daikin’s continuous internal development programs and advanced skills training. “There are things that will never be able to be done by machines, even from a machine logic perspective. And for those employees that have an interest, there is an infinite amount of training that we're giving them every day.”While we don’t yet know precisely how workplaces will change and what the jobs of the future will be, McMahon says it’s essential to promote curiosity and confidence while offering psychological safety. She urges leaders to “create an environment where people are curious enough to want to try something new and feel strong enough about their capabilities to try new things.” Jessica Swenson is a freelance writer and proofreader based in the Midwest. Learn more about her at jmswensonllc.com.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
The Changing Landscape of Employee Wellness: Navigating Health Plans, New Demands, and Rising Costs
BY Katie Chambers February 24, 2026How do you practice self-care? For panelists at From Day One’s Houston conference, the answers were diverse: Reading. Running marathons. Meditation. Socializing. Stopping mindless scrolling. Weightlifting. Listening to audiobooks. Baking. This eclectic list demonstrates that the true definition of “wellness” is something highly varied and acutely personal. In times of shrinking budgets, employee wellness programs are often the first to be cut. But even with limited resources, they can still be prioritized. Panelists explored how their companies are addressing these challenges in a discussion on “The Changing Landscape of Employee Wellness: Navigating Health Plans, New Demands, and Rising Costs.”At Halliburton, that has meant “we treat it more about the employee experience, the sense of community, and finding ways to build on that community at the office or at the work site,” said Mia Smallman, director of global benefits at Halliburton. Her team deploys wellness resources to visit work sites for a “grassroots feel” that isn’t “one-size-fits-all” and encourages organic connections among employees.The focus should be on what truly matters to an organization’s unique workforce. Mindy Fitzgerald, head of operational excellence and HR director at Air Products, says that it’s less about “programs and visions” and more about practical offerings like “a resource, a tool, a class, or a person to meet them where they’re at.”Supporting Mental HealthFor Houston Methodist, employees struggling with the day to day demands of helping out patients during Covid needed their own emotional support, so it began offering free mental health care to employees through a pool of its own neuropsychologists—most of whom were unable to see patients in person during the pandemic and were looking for ways to give back.The need was still so great that post-pandemic, the organization created its Emotional Health & Wellbeing Office. “We provide free psychiatric and psychological care for employees and beneficiaries on our health plan.” We also provide music therapy, art therapy, and customized programs—we look at the person in a holistic way,” said Laura Matthews, VP, HR, physician organization & academic institute, Houston Methodist. “The first year we started, we saw about 3,500 appointments. In 2025, we ended up at around 14,000 and still have a good wait list. So, the need is there.”Panelists spoke about "The Changing Landscape of Employee Wellness"While the ROI on mental health programs might be difficult to track, Matthews says, that is almost beside the point: “It starts from the top, having a CEO that really is passionate about doing what’s right for our employees and our patients, and then taking care of each other.” Similarly, Fitzgerald’s organization has deployed EAPs that touch on a variety of topics best suited to the needs of employees, with an emphasis on quality or quantity, and allows the employee to define “family member” to include not just those who are traditionally insured. “It really comes from a deep place of humanness and care,” she said. Combatting Rising Healthcare Costs“One of the biggest issues in healthcare right now is cost, as well as resistance among some workers to get the care they need in a timely manner,” said moderator Chelsea Edwards, journalist and talk show host for Fox Television Stations. To help combat this, Curative offers a new model of employee health insurance with $0 out-of-pocket costs—meaning no co-pays or deductibles. “Imagine if your employees could access all of their health care benefits without worrying about a co-pay or deductible. They can go get their prescribed medications, their recommended surgeries, [and more]” said Becca Cosani, VP, health plan medical and pharmacy operations at Curative. Curative’s model is that the price is the premium. “We believe that having a frictionless experience in accessing care and understanding your care benefits and how to use them is the crux of offering stability and health to our members and to our employer partners, so that every member can access our in-network care prescriptions for zero extra dollars,” said Cosani. The organization offers introductory one-on-one meetings with employees to better understand their health needs, explain benefits, and demonstrate how to use the insurance. Even if zero-cost wellness plans are not feasible, organizations can and should still encourage employees to get regular health screenings “to find out what’s ailing them before it becomes expensive and traumatic,” said Smallman. She also recommends regularly vetting third-party vendors to ensure employees receive the most comprehensive, lowest-cost care possible. Cosani also recommends educating employees about different pathways to accessing care, such as getting an MRI at a lower-cost imaging clinic rather than the hospital, so they can learn how to choose more affordable options. Innovative Wellness OfferingsProviding access to GLP-1’s is another way for employers to stay relevant in their wellness offerings. Employers, of course, want plans that allow as many employees to access GLP-1’s as possible, at a reasonable cost. But GLP-1’s are just part of the weight-loss solution, says Manuela Abreu, head of nutrition and community at Nutrium. “When they take the medication, it sends a signal to their appetite. And once they stop taking that medication, those habits go back because there wasn’t an adjustment [to] their habits. This is where the nutrition program is very helpful,” she said. She works with nutritionists who help employees achieve their goals, and employers manage their costs, by teaching healthier habits to support long-term success. In addition to a focus on nutrition and weight management, financial well-being is an increasingly in-demand offering. Matthews cites a recent Bank Rate study showing that 56% of Americans say they would not be able to come up with $1,000 immediately in an emergency. Matthews’ team at Houston Methodist partnered with its brokerage firm, Fidelity, to match up to $250 for each employee who opened an emergency savings account during a specified period. “Through this program, we saw almost double the [number] of employees who opened an account, and are still contributing to that right now.” As an added financial benefit, her organization also offers an immediate cash benefit of $10,000 to the family of an employee who passes away, recognizing that related costs, such as funerals and travel, can add up quickly before any life insurance payments arrive. “You hope you don’t have to use it, but when you do, it’s been extremely beneficial,” said Matthews. Halliburton brings its personalized approach to wellness to its financial offerings as well. “Our Fidelity representative has become part of our family. He’s the same person in all of our locations,” Smallman said. The organization opts for a program that is more “educational” and not at all sales-driven, so that employees do not feel pressured and receive guidance with no strings attached. “It creates a lot of goodwill and camaraderie.” For global corporations, a diverse approach is essential to reach employees across cultures and geographies. Even for more local companies, Fitzgerald says opting for flexible programs is important, especially as employees become more scattered in changing work environments. And don’t just assume what they need—ask. “You don’t know what’s a fit if you aren’t listening.” Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Putting the Human Back in HR: Balancing AI, Culture, and Care in a Time of Change
BY Grace Turney February 23, 2026Six weeks after starting a new job, Katy Theroux got a breast cancer diagnosis. A fireside chat at a From Day One’s Houston conference gave her the opportunity to say it plainly, and to draw a direct line between her experience and her philosophy of HR leadership.“It wasn’t on my bingo card,” said Theroux, CHRO at Westlake, a Fortune 300 specialty chemical and building products company headquartered in Houston. “Nobody puts breast cancer on their bingo card.” She finished treatment just two and a half weeks before the event. The company, she says, had been unwavering in its support; a reflection of the family-owned culture that shapes Westlake even at its considerable scale. The conversation, moderated by Sean McCrory, editor in chief at the Houston Business Journal, covered AI’s role in HR, leadership transitions, and what it really means to build a culture of care.Resilience as a Core HR SkillTheroux arrived in Houston in 2002, just as the Enron and Arthur Andersen scandals were reshaping the city’s business identity. When she returned more than a decade later, the city had changed (the Texas Medical Center had nearly doubled in size), but the underlying dynamic had not. “There’s always so much change in Houston,” she said. “Each company has had its share of ups and downs. Having an HR leader who can handle the highs and help navigate the lows is really, really important.”Katy Theroux, chief HR officer at Westlake, spoke with Sean McCrory, editor in chief of the Houston Business JournalResilience isn’t a personality trait, but a practiced skill, and an especially vital one when companies face leadership transitions, she says. Over 18 years at two organizations before joining Westlake, Theroux navigated five CEO changes. She observed that what makes or breaks those transitions isn’t strategy—it’s honesty. “The most important element of a successful onboarding of a new leader is just real honesty about themselves, their background, and what they’re trying to find out,” she said. “Through that honesty, it really builds trust. And trust is key to long-term success.”AI as an Amplifier, Not a ReplacementAt Westlake, the HR team is experimenting with tools including Microsoft Copilot and an internal GPT system, says Theroux. She frames AI as the latest chapter in a longer story about freeing HR professionals to do more meaningful work.“What we’ve been trying to do for the past 20 to 25 years is take administrative work off our frontline HR leaders so they can spend more time with people,” she said. “I view AI as the next step in that evolution.” One of the most common current uses is drafting job descriptions, by pulling from internal databases, org charts, and historical records to quickly produce relevant drafts. But she was candid about the limits: AI-generated job descriptions are accurate roughly 70-80% of the time, which means careful human review remains essential. “Everyone needs an editor,” McCrory said, “including AI.”Theroux’s broader advice for implementing AI responsibly was to start small. For example, she observed that pilot programs reduce risk, build trust with business partners, and create the kind of joint ownership that allows successful tools to scale naturally. She also emphasized the need to partner closely with technology leadership to ensure any AI use aligns with company policy. “There has to be a real business need,” she stated. “It’s not about replacing people. It’s about doing work better.”Culture, One Person at a TimeWhen asked what Houston’s business leaders should take away to strengthen culture this year, Theroux didn’t reach for a grand framework. Instead, she offered an image: a peony, opening slowly, beautifully, one petal at a time. “My goal with my direct reports is to see them really open and blossom,” she said. “If we can spread that across the organization, that’s really going to change the culture.”The stakes of getting it wrong are real. If companies embrace AI while losing sight of human judgment and care, Theroux says, the casualty won’t be efficiency; it will be trust. “Once you lose trust, it’s really hard to regain that,” she said. “Customers, shareholders, employees, the community at large.”Her closing message was equally grounded. Not everyone needs a stage, she told the audience. The power to shift a culture belongs to anyone willing to meet a colleague where they are: to offer help, or to learn how to accept it.Grace Turney is a St. Louis-based writer, artist, and former librarian. See more of her work at graceturney17.wixsite.com/mysite(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Creative, Results-Oriented Storytelling That Connects
BY Katie Chambers February 19, 2026“The best or nothing”—that was Mercedes-Benz’s tagline for years. But marketers were noticing a concerning trend. “What that actually did was it made people feel like, ‘I’m not ready to graduate to the brand yet. Maybe I’m not ready. I’m not the best in my career yet. So maybe I shouldn’t reward myself with that Mercedes-Benz,” Monique Harrison, head of brand marketing, Mercedes-Benz, shared during an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Atlanta marketing conference. Instead, the company has made a concerted effort to become more relatable to different segments of the population through targeted advertising and brand ambassadors for audiences interested in $40,000 vehicles, million-dollar sports cars, and everything in between. “It’s about finding opportunities to be that human connection in varying places with a diversity of perspectives,” Harrison said. In the age of information overload, compelling storytelling can set a brand apart from the barrage of mediocre content. How can marketing teams craft content that truly engages when audience attention is scattered and fickle? What strategies ensure that brand storytelling is consistent across channels yet tailored to each platform and audience? Panelists shared their insights in this session moderated by Kelly Yamanouchi, business team lead at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.The Evolution of Brand Storytelling Past iterations of brand storytelling, says Sarah Stansberry, SVP of marketing at Fiserv, were extremely direct, emphasizing the quick definition of what the product or service offers. There is now a greater focus on creating compelling, results-driven narratives. “How do we take the complex, make it simple, and make that simple [message] compelling?” she said. Understanding your audience is central to effective brand storytelling. “Storytelling is actually story living,” said Anise Mastin, VP & general manager of global marketing at SAP. “Research substantiates that when we can step into the shoes of our targets, our storytelling gets better. Be the type of marketer that can understand their top three needs, the daily things that they need to do, and the obstacles or pains that stop them from doing that.” Panelists shared their insights on "Creative, Results-Oriented Storytelling That Connects" in AtlantaBut it’s not always easy to reach your audience. “As we look at how to tell a story, grab the attention, and cut through the clutter, it’s so much harder now because of the lack of attention and the fragmentation that we’re dealing with,” Harrison said. Fragmentation is a relatively new and increasingly pressing challenge, as audiences are spread across multiple screens and services. “Ten to 15 years ago, I sat on a panel that [tackled], ‘Is it about driving brand love, or is it about driving performance?’” said Dani Cushion, chief marketing officer at Teads. This is where the number of channels across the customer journey is an advantage rather than a challenge. “The data actually allows us to help engage with the consumer in a way that adds value, and the storytelling then becomes more about how you actually engage folks throughout the whole customer journey, instead of a binary choice.” A Major Marketing Shift: Access to AIThe introduction of AI is also disrupting how marketers traditionally approached brand storytelling. “It’s so much harder today, because you’re not only storytelling for the consumer, you’re storytelling for AI, and what AI will actually bring to market on your behalf,” Harrison said. Social media, which is also ever-evolving, is an important part of the marketing process, but should be used intentionally, with careful research, A/B testing, and an understanding of which platforms your intended audience prefers. “Don’t think of it as a megaphone. Think of it as a targeting tool,” Stanberry said. AI can be deployed on the marketing side, not just by audiences, but exercise caution. Like social media, it is also just a tool, not a replacement for human intuition. AI can expedite support research and speed up responses to customer inquiries, says Mastin. “But it’s not coming for your judgment. It needs a human to be able to take the action,” she said. “It cannot build brand loyalty, customer loyalty.” She warns that AI is the tool, not the solution; even when it provides important insights, it’s up to the human staff to create action plans based on those insights and continue to measure KPIs and business impact. “You can build something actionable, measurable, and repeatable.” In terms of content creation, AI can be useful and often faster than human production, but its capacities are limited, so save it for quick, lower-stakes projects. “AI plays a role when we want to tell the story [a certain] way, where it can be a little bit faster and not perfect,” Stansberry said. Cushion’s team deploys AI “not to replace creatives, but to inform,” using it to pre-test narratives through predictive analytics to understand how consumers engage with specific ads. “It does allow us to make sure that we are packing a whole lot of powerful intelligence into every single impression so that we’re not wasting money up front, and then optimizing later,” she said. AI also helps her team identify the best channels for specific ads. Carving Out Your Niche Differentiating your brand is all about connection, says Mastin. This spans from building a relationship with the customer through driving awareness as they learn about the product, to maintaining their favor even as they compare you with others. “Recognize what your competitors are doing but know your product so well and why it’s differentiated, that value proposition, and how you can say it, by stepping into your target’s shoes so that they’re going to say, ‘I want more,’” Mastin said. Engagement and attention are among the highest-value metrics marketers need to prioritize today, says Stansberry. And customers are craving authenticity. Stansberry’s organization humanizes its marketing by highlighting corporate community engagement and client success stories. This is why Harrison’s team at Mercedes-Benz has begun using celebrity brand ambassadors who are not only influential but also relatable, rather than those who might read as authoritative. “Put yourself in the shoes of the customer. How are you going to feel when you hear? How are you going to feel when you see? Those things play a major role in how we choose those that represent the brand,” Harrison said. Marketing and communications professionals, Cushion says, are naturally empathetic and often mission-driven. And they must be nimble. When leaders task them with changing direction, Stansberry said, “Being clear is kind. The more transparent you can be and say why it matters, [how] what you’re doing is going to impact the end result,” the more effective you will be. Mastin’s top advice for marketers in a climate of constant change: “Don’t be tied or married to content. Be tied or married to success. Be always willing to change and be agile.”Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
How to Harness the Power of AI to Make Your Life (and Work) Better
BY Kristen Kwiatkowski February 19, 2026People may use AI for work or personal purposes, but it can also enhance both areas of daily life. As part of a human-machine partnership, it’s important to understand how to use AI effectively in both professional and personal settings.Celia Quillian, author of AI For Life and director of AI and growth on the innovation team at Greenlight, spoke about just this during a fireside chat at From Day One’s Atlanta marketing conference. Having worked at Greenlight for the past five years, a company that started off as a debit card for kids but has since expanded to a family tech space, Quillian’s role was primarily in the product marketing landscape but she now works in additional areas, including an innovation space for new products as well as an AI enablement focus. Her appreciation and interest in AI began in 2022 when she started navigating through AI on her personal time to learn more about this relatively new technology tool, she told moderator Steve Koepp, From Day One co-founder and editor in chief. “I remember thinking, everything is going to change and people have no idea,” Quillian said. “They’ll be pulling their phone out at parties saying, ‘Have you seen this yet? Try this. Look at what it can do,’” she said. “That inspired me to start my Smart Work AI channel, where I teach people about what I’m learning and what’s happening with AI.” Her devotion to understanding AI and its future implications even prompted her to write her book.Quillian signed complimentary copies of her book, AI for Life: 100+ Ways to Use Artificial Intelligence to Make Your Life Easier, More Productive…and More Fun!, for session attendees At the time, there were many AI books on the market, but all very technical, she says. “Many of them were only about the business use case, there was nothing for the average everyday consumer or just everyday worker.”“My thought is that it’s not as motivating to adopt a new tool if it’s just for work and you’re being told to do it. But if you can find personal value in how you can unlock things for yourself using a tool, maybe you’re going to start experimenting with it more,” she said. “Maybe you'll find more use cases. And so, the book, I’m hoping, unlocks that for a lot of people.”To Quillian, there’s value in using AI in both work and personal circumstances, not just one or the other. “You might learn something at work that it can do and go, hey, I wonder if I can apply this to my home life and vice versa,” she said. “That’s certainly what I did.”Think of your AI as a collaborator–-just not a human one. Understanding its limitations is key to using it wisely, she says. “Expertise is not going away, and it should not go away in the context of AI. That human experience that you have, the training and knowledge that you have developed over your career, you have more context than it will ever have,” said Quillian. “You can use it as a starting point, but bringing yourself into that human-in-the-loop moment is important.”The Best Use Cases, So FarIn her personal life, Quillian says ChatGPT has helped her plan a vacation by providing her with ideas as to where she could travel in the United States that had a variety of features she was looking for in a destination. It helped plan the vacation for her and even built out an itinerary. “I was able to plan a vacation that ended up being one of our favorite trips that we've ever done,” she said. Another AI success for Quillian came when she learned to use Claude and built three applications. The experience left her excited and empowered about AI.However, it’s important to recognize AI’s limitations, including the risks of hallucinations and generating fanciful or inaccurate content. “Hallucinations is a term when an AI very confidently says something that is not true or includes some information that’s a little lacking in some human logic,” she said. That’s where human logic is essential. It’s also important to use prompt layering by feeding AI a series of prompts instead of relying on a single question and answer, she says. AI can handle multiple prompts, help with drafts and outlines, and generate several versions of a document. She also recommends using specific words, action verbs, and using AI for brainstorming purposes. You can also use tools to make correspondence sound better, be more diplomatic, and still get the point across to the reader.You can ask ChatGPT or other AI platforms to rephrase and soften messages so they may be received better by the recipient. You can ask, ‘How do I express myself in a facts-only way and not emotionally?’ “AI can take that and do it for you immediately, without any friction, and over time, you will get better at writing those emails yourself as well, if you collaborate with it that way.”From a marketing standpoint, Quillian points out ways AI can help boost creativity. It can be used to brainstorm ideas and help with various aspects of the entire campaign. As for where AI is headed in the future, Quillian used her experience with Claude Code as an example and stated we may be moving into a time where people start to build their own personal applications more frequently, relying less on direct-to-consumer apps even. “We’re moving into a world where you’re not just prompting AI. The AI is prompting you.”Kristen Kwiatkowski is a professional freelance writer covering a wide array of industries, with a focus on food and beverage and business. Her work has been featured in the Bucks County Herald, Eater Philly, Edible Lehigh Valley, Cider Culture, and The Town Dish.
Effective Marketing in Lean Times: Creative Approaches to Delivering Value
BY Jessica Swenson February 18, 2026“When you have a really lean budget, learning how to speak the language of your C-suite will either stop your budget from getting cut more, or potentially get you back to earning a little bit more of that budget,” said Jessica Bryant, SVP of marketing for NCR Voyix. During times of economic uncertainty, organizations place increased scrutiny on strategies and budgets—even those in marketing.Driving marketing value in a challenging economy was the topic of an executive panel discussion moderated by marketing journalist Lisa Lacy at From Day One’s Atlanta marketing conference.To show the distinct value of her team’s work, Bryant has shifted her C-suite reporting from vanity metrics like impressions and traffic to data that demonstrates revenue impact. “I took a different tack and brought it down the funnel to talk about the things marketing is doing that are actually driving your pipeline, or increasing your sales velocity, or increasing your cycles. And that changed the conversation,” she said.Katie Conrad, general manager of customer performance and insights at Delta, went a similar route. By “being the experts in what we’re doing, that changes customer behavior,” Conrad and team use data points to focus on and illustrate those changes.Since Covid and beyond, companies have responded to budget pressures in a variety of ways as the economy evolves. Delta has leaned into known growth areas, Conrad says, such as high-performing demographics and segments, as well as places where customers are already signaling purchase intent. Once those are identified, from a channel perspective she asks, “How do you truly make sure that whatever is driving that purchase, whether through social commerce or paid search, is protected right before the purchase?”The panelists explored how marketing teams can sustain growth and prove value when budgets tightenRelying on proven partners to ensure stability during new product launches is an approach that Anya Dawkins Johnson, VP of marketing and commercial strategy at TNT Sports, Warner Bros. Discovery, has adopted. “Using tried and true partners is the way that we've flexed into that. Knowing what works, aligning with partners where there are measurement studies and things like that attached.”Johnson also ensures clear ROI reporting to reassure senior leaders and uses hyper-targeted marketing to keep sports relevant to its audience. “We live in a world where consumption shifts are happening in real-time,” she said. “It’s good to advertise in the cable ecosystem, but also outside of it. And then, of course, social is another way to be hyper-targeted. Be where your fans are and remind them of what we have on our suite of networks.”Innovation With Minimal RiskThere are many ways to test new campaigns and processes with minimal financial or business risk. Conrad suggests involving data teams up front and using their forecasting capabilities to estimate potential impact. Johnson recommends leveraging beta opportunities, in part because of built-in perks or data reporting. TNT Sports works with partners running beta programs to experiment with new advertising concepts. “Usually there are some perks that come along with being one of the first to try something. And usually there’s a measurement study associated with it, because they want to see if it works and how we like it as well.”“Start small and fail fast,” said Bryant, advocating for contained experimentation. “Figure out what you want to measure, define it clearly, and measure that metric, then if you don’t see the change [you want], fail fast. Try something different.” There’s also more time in the day to be innovative in the age of AI. Panelists agreed that generative AI adds value by eliminating low-level tasks and accelerating work on higher-value ones.Bryant says the company utilizes AI to reduce its reliance on agency partners for concepting and in-house asset production, but also cautions against overuse or decision-making. Many team meetings start with AI insights, which she says “is great, but I also want that creativity and that authenticity from humans as well, as our brand is unique. AI doesn’t necessarily know everything about our brand yet, so we need to be careful within that.”There are two primary use cases for AI at Delta, says Conrad: creative efficiencies and analytics. Her team uses Adobe tools to “pull and synthesize insights for the everyday marketer” while also empowering the rest of the analytics department through dashboard access.The sameness of AI outputs will only emerge if broader strategy is outsourced to AI. “If you come in with a strategy based on your knowledge and expertise in the brand, it shouldn’t,” Conrad said.Bryant cautions that “untrained marketers [can] create sameness” as well. However, once marketers are trained in prompt engineering, she agrees that “if your prompt has nuance, if it has originality, if it has that untapped framing that only your brand can have, then that sameness goes away 100%.”Citing a 600% year-over-year jump in the use of AI for Cyber Monday shopping and trip planning, content plans need to expand from traditional SEO to include generative engine optimization (GEO), says Conrad. Delta is adjusting its paid search parameters to broader terms, she says, to allow for flexibility in AI interpretation.Reconsidering Priorities for Continued SuccessNCR Voyix has reduced its spend on large-scale video production in the last 18 months, says Bryant, favoring shorter, more authentic content. This shift has resulted in lower production costs, but has also seen stronger performance. “That has really worked very well for us, and actually outperformed a lot of the bigger things that we were doing.”Conrad endorses optimizing the mix of marketing campaigns and channels. Fewer, more focused campaigns will be more effective, she says, than a larger volume of ad-hoc campaigns, ensuring the impact of your media spend.Skills like curiosity and lifelong learning are crucial to the future of marketing as well, said Johnson. “Being an eternal learner will never hurt you, whether it’s AI or whatever the next thing is, there will always be something [to learn].” Jessica Swenson is a freelance writer and proofreader based in the Midwest. Learn more about her at jmswensonllc.com.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
How AI Is Reshaping Talent Acquisition and the Candidate Experience
BY Katie Chambers February 18, 2026While much fuss has been made about the negatives of AI, its greatest benefits, like research, speed, and data processing, are aligned with the needs of an HR department overwhelmed with information during the talent acquisition process. “The AI sweet spot is gathering, synthesizing, and summarizing information, stopping short of decision-making, but certainly helping recruiters, hiring managers, and talent acquisition professionals get to know the inputs on their candidates a bit better,” said Craig Ellis, Ph.D., head I/O psychologist, HighMatch. This information includes skills alignment, level of experience, cultural match, and even the candidate’s desire for the role. Ellis spoke on an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Atlanta conference about making talent acquisition more efficient and inclusive. “Where I’ve seen AI really show efficiency gains, particularly in the talent acquisition space, is around areas where we can infer at a large scale. So, think screening candidates, resume reviews, scheduling interviews, even communication with candidates. AI is helpful in making that a very efficient process,” said Emily Clark, VP at BlackRock. It can even help boost diversity in hiring by automatically removing or hiding identifying characteristics like names, addresses, or graduation years, eliminating the natural temptation to make assumptions. AI can not only sort applications but help with more proactive headhunting for executive-level positions. “AI helps us to radically identify the right candidates faster, because it allows us to have access to information that used to take 10 minutes to get. We can get it in a few seconds,” said Bert Hensley, chairman and CEO of Morgan Samuels Company. “If we’re looking for a candidate that's going to be a CFO of a certain size business in a certain market segment, we can find those companies and know how to sort them by the size of the business and how much they’ve grown, versus taking so much time to find each one of those [criteria].” He cautions that HR still needs to do its due diligence in vetting, but can use AI to at least generate lists and identify appropriate candidates for further human review.Salvador Ortega, global VP of HR at Newell Brands, says HR professionals need not fear being replaced by AI; instead, AI can augment their work. “It's more about how we elevate our value as human beings,” he said, citing research that has shown that AI has already taken over approximately 50% of most talent acquisition tasks. “So, the main question for us is, what are we going to do with this 50% of our time that is free now? And that's where the magic is going to come.” Panelists spoke about "Making Talent Acquisition More Efficient, Inclusive, and Personalized"That magic, in part, comes down to human intuition. “AI doesn't have the ability to use instinct as humans do, connecting the right person with the right job,” said moderator Leon Stafford, senior business journalist. “Do you have concerns that AI could overlook great talent because a candidate doesn’t quite fit the bill in areas that you could obviously see in a one-on-one interview?” Panelists agreed that one of HR’s key roles is helping organizational leaders articulate not just the kind of candidate they want, but also the type of candidate they need. This is a type of complex, intuitive thinking and level of communication, often relying on more than just printed words, that AI cannot accomplish on its own.“[AI is] not able to look at nuances. It’s not able to have the empathy that we’re looking for or the context [for] what the situation might be,” Clark said. For example, AI cannot identify potential in a person’s resume. “That’s where human interaction is required in the hiring process. And as with implementing any other technology, staff must be trained on how to make the most of AI. That means pushing hiring managers to clearly articulate the exact kind of candidates they need and teaching them how to write highly specific, accurate, and informed prompts. In terms of hiring for C-Suite roles, Ellis says, “AI makes a really good co-pilot. It makes a really bad pilot.” In other words, while it can support the C-suite hiring process, it cannot properly evaluate senior-level candidates. “People are complex, and C-suite jobs are complex, and the intersection of those two things is exponentially complex. That human side of C-level evaluation is incredibly valuable: that judgment and that nuance and that ability to ask follow-up questions and probing questions.” AI Best PracticesWhen employing AI in your hiring practice, transparency and boundaries are essential. Clark suggests letting candidates know up front whether AI is being used to parse resumes and match them to job descriptions, which, in turn, gives them permission to use it as well. But boundaries need to be set for when the technology needs to be put away. “I recommend that you tell the candidate, ‘It’s totally reasonable and understandable if you want to use AI to look at questions that we might ask during the interview [and] prep for responses. We do not allow you to use AI in the interview itself,” she said. The signs of a candidate using AI during an interview are usually clear, such as reading off the screen, looking to the side, or having an AI agent on the Zoom call. It tends to be recent college graduates who rely on it the most, Clark says, because they’re so used to it. HR managers should prepare interview questions that deliberately undermine a candidate’s ability to use AI, forcing them to respond in real time if they are not already doing so. “You, as an organization, have to design your interviews to test what AI cannot do. You’re going to want to design your interview questions to look at real-time judgment, critical thinking, communications, and rationale through ambiguity. AI cannot do any of that with ease.” Ellis notes that follow-up questions that deliberately encourage rephrasing and reflection can also force a candidate to go “off-script,” since AI often cannot remember its previous responses.In seeking out future HR leaders themselves, companies should focus on hiring for critical thinking, human intuition, and data analytics skills—competencies that align with an increasingly AI-dependent industry. “You can do more today in really helping your CEO and your organization be proactive instead of being reactive,” Hensley said. Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Holistic and Inclusive Well-Being Strategies for a Multigenerational Workforce
BY Jessica Swenson February 17, 2026With 47,000 associates across 25 states and ranging in age from 15 to 70-plus, Karen Wilkins, VP of benefits for Waffle House, has experience supporting a diverse, multigenerational workforce. “The challenge is, how do we meet them?” she said. “How do we figure out what they need, what they want, how do we best take care of them, and how do we communicate?” she said during an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Atlanta conferenceAs today’s workforce continues to grow and diversify across generations, employers are faced with a new challenge: how to create benefits and well-being programs that can meet a variety of needs? The session among experts was moderated by Kelly Yamanouchi, business team lead at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Leaders Make Well-Being WorkLeadership participation in the benefits programs helps drive employee engagement as well, says Yasmin Meneses, dietitian and manager of consultant relations with Nutrium. If upper management engages in the programs and clearly knows what is offered, they’re more likely to communicate with their employees about them. Meneses suggests that clients get their leadership teams involved “because it's really going to drive the success of whatever well-being program you have in place today.”Anant Garg, global VP of HR at BD, says that managers, not policies, are the number one driver of employee well-being. “We need to advocate for the principle that driving results and driving well-being are not mutually exclusive,” he said. If you don’t invest in good, effective managers who thrive at both, it doesn’t matter how good your benefits plan is, you won’t be able to drive holistic well-being for your employees.Panelists shared how they support a diverse and multigenerational workforce The impact of engaged, empathetic leadership is something that Melanie Moore, Honeywell’s inclusion and engagement director, is personally familiar with. After Moore’s breast cancer diagnosis, her manager prioritized her health over her work and it completely changed the shape of her treatment and recovery. “Having a manager who is understanding and shows that care and concern for you makes a complete difference in how you even go through that journey,” she said.With these perspectives in mind, how can employers ensure that their company cultures and benefit programming are built to suit multigenerational teams? Moore suggests tuning into employee workplace networks to help identify real day-to-day employee needs. This is how Honeywell learned that new parents were seeking a solution to ship breast milk after they returned to work and travel, and led to the recent launch of a new program designed to meet this need.A Proactive Approach to WellnessMeneses suggests a shift to a proactive approach, emphasizing the importance of reframing nutrition and fitness, which apply to everyone, as critical aspects of preventive care. While weight loss is a critical piece of the puzzle, she cautions against making it the sole focus. “It’s not just about that. It’s about holistic well-being and making sure that we’re inclusive of the entire population, and not just those who are looking to lose weight.” Lisa Keenan, regional VP of sales for One Medical, acknowledges that preventive healthcare “is not one size fits all. So we evolved to make sure that we’re meeting the needs of all generations,” she said. Keenan highlighted some of One Medical’s customized offerings: mental and sexual healthcare and family planning for millennials, perimenopause and menopause care for Gen X, and cognitive screenings and fall prevention education for older generations, all available via each age group’s preferred delivery methods, she says. To address the unique challenges of its frontline workers, Waffle House has expanded security and safety training and worked to reduce out-of-pocket employee healthcare costs. “Anyone on the health plan can use the free telehealth visits and get their prescriptions—most are generic—at no cost to them,” said Wilkins. Her team is also known for assisting employees in locating housing, emergency shelter, or financial resources, she says. The discussion underscored that there is no single blueprint for supporting a multigenerational workforce. What matters most is a willingness to listen, adapt, and lead with empathy, recognizing that well-being is not a static offering but an ongoing commitment. When organizations treat well-being as core to how work gets done, benefits programs become more than resources. They become a signal to employees that they are supported at every stage of their lives and careers.Jessica Swenson is a freelance writer and editor based in the Midwest. Learn more about her at jmswensonllc.com.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
How HR Can Be a Strategic Partner in a Culture of Compassion and Accountability
BY Kristen Kwiatkowski February 13, 2026In any business, it’s not only important to attract future employees, but to retain them for years to come. To do so, it takes many pieces of the puzzle to come together and make this goal a reality.Alison Smith, chief HR officer at Piedmont Healthcare, spoke about this with moderator Andy Miller, founder and editor of Georgia Health News, during a fireside chat at From Day One’s Atlanta conference. Smith highlighted various ways that HR teams can help to nurture compassion and accountability, especially in the area of healthcare. Smith pivoted to the healthcare industry from a previous role at Publix and quickly noticed the contrast between retail grocery and healthcare. In healthcare, the stakes are literally life and death, and she values how patient care makes the work both meaningful and complex, with a clear, lasting impact.How HR Teams Make Things HappenWhen asked about her goals as chief human resources officer, Smith mentioned how important it was to have a seat at the table where things happen. “It’s really important to be at that table, to have a seat at the executive table, and really be able to strategically lead the organization not just at where it is now, but where it’s going,” she said. It’s important to see what the growth strategy looks like and what human resources can do to encourage this growth, she says. “The other piece with HR is really making sure that you’ve got the talent, both now and what that succession planning piece is, and are you developing the workforce and keeping the workforce so that you're sustainable for the future in the long term.” The Importance of Both Hiring and RetentionA shortage of nurses as it pertains to both attracting and retaining these medical professionals is a big challenge in the healthcare industry today, says Smith. “With this shortage it makes it a little bit more challenging to figure out,” she said.“How are you going to design the workforce and how are you going to design the work to accommodate the fact that there’s just not enough folks to do the work that is needed down the road?” Thus, the focus needs to be on recruiting. When the company recruits, the focus is on the culture and how their employees are ambassadors of the culture. The organization builds relationships with colleges in the area and Smith states that with her prior company the outreach was also extended to high school students as these 17- and 18-year-olds will soon be graduating and considering future careers. Piedmont is hopeful to start doing this type of outreach as well, she says. A crucial part of retaining employees is knowing how they feel. One way to do so is through surveys. “We use the Great Place to Work tool, and we’ve really found that to be helpful,” she said. “We do an annual survey once you’re on that, but we actually do a lot of pulse surveys, too.”Alison Smith, CHRO at Piedmont Healthcare, spoke with Andy Miller, founder and contributing editor, at Georgia Health News, KFF Health News, and HealthbeatSurveys are sent to recently hired employees to understand their hiring and training experience and whether they feel supported. When employees tend to leave around a similar point in time, the HR team analyzes the feedback to identify why and uses those insights to refine recruiting and training.An employee’s relationship with their supervisor can also have a lot to do with retention, says Smith. Although compensation and benefits are extremely important factors, the appreciation of a supervisor towards their employees goes a long way. A “thank you” goes a long way. If the supervisor is supporting their employees, this can play a part in retention.“When you think about retention, that’s why people want to stay,” stated Smith. “They’re working for someone that they believe cares about them, that champions them, that’s invested in their growth, and that, in the end, means a lot more than anything else that you can do.”Getting Company Values AcrossAnother focal point to help recruit and retain is effective branding, which in this case, can mean showing how the company impacts its community. “Piedmont does a great job of trying to help people understand the community impact that it has,” said Smith. “We're a nonprofit, and so we give back a lot to the communities, and we spend a lot of time on trying to understand community needs.”Part of the branding success also relates to telling an authentic story. The Piedmont Promise Story is something the nonprofit does to highlight individuals within various departments of the team. During the weekly executive meetings, a different executive is tasked with telling a Promise Story about someone on the Piedmont team from any department and how they play a part in making the nonprofit a successful entity. Supporting Well-BeingMental health and well-being are another major focus, especially in healthcare. The company provides tools and resources to support team members and encourages them to seek help when they need it.“Having an environment where you’re encouraged to be supported is one of the first steps in creating an environment where people do actually go get the help that they need, because we know that it can be difficult,” Smith said.Compassion and accountability go hand in hand. When employees feel supported, they are more likely to stay with the organization for the long term.Kristen Kwiatkowski is a professional freelance writer covering a wide array of industries, with a focus on food and beverage and business. Her work has been featured in the Bucks County Herald, Eater Philly, Edible Lehigh Valley, Cider Culture, and The Town Dish. (Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Future-Proofing HR With AI: How to Lead, Adapt, and Keep the Human Touch in a Tech-Driven Era
BY Ade Akin February 12, 2026One key test of Matt Jackson’s leadership was determining the optimal way to support a team member’s return from maternity leave. “I’ve never been on maternity leave,” he said. “I don’t know what I should say. I don’t know what I shouldn’t say.”Jackson, the Chief Growth Officer at the mental health platform Unmind, turned to his company’s AI coach, which is trained on internal policies and empathetic communication. It took the AI only three minutes to provide the guidance he needed to start the reintegration process with care, he shared during an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Atlanta conference. The session highlighted the need for organizations to establish metrics and key performance indicators to measure AI's impact on talent development, performance management, and employee well-being. Starting Where the Pull Is: AI in Career DevelopmentAt AGCO Corporation, a global agricultural equipment manufacturer, a common theme in engagement surveys was employees’ desire for clearer career paths and development opportunities. Creating static career ladders was impractical for a workforce of 25,000 employees worldwide.“Even if we created one tomorrow, it would be extinct the next day because jobs are changing all the time,” Lori Goldberg, the VP of global talent at AGCO said. The solution was an AI-powered career pathing marketplace launched in October. The tool analyzes employees’ current roles and identifies skills they likely possess, which employees can then validate or revise, says Goldberg. It then directs them to internal career opportunities aligned with those competencies. However, deploying AI-powered HR tools requires overcoming challenges such as employee resistance and ensuring proper integration. Leaders must anticipate and address these obstacles to drive successful adoption, Goldberg says.Coaching at Scale: Practice Makes ProgressOne of the most significant applications of AI in HR is in coaching and manager development. Providing consistent, scalable training is a monumental challenge for large, diverse companies. Yulia Denisova, the VP of talent and development at the global sports merchandise retailer Fanatics, joined the company to find a patchwork of performance management practices across its 22,000-person workforce spanning 15 countries. Creating a unified system was step one; building capability was the next.“We cannot run around flying on planes and be there to train 22,000 people. But AI can do that, and it can do it at scale,” Denisova said. Some new technology offers immersive scenarios where managers can practice difficult conversations, such as delivering tough feedback to an underperforming team member, using AI-powered avatars that provide real-time feedback, she says. Denisova notes how rapidly this technology has improved, going from basic simulations years ago to near-human holographic interactions today. Panelists spoke about how AI is reshaping HR, from coaching, to career pathing, and well-being“Back in the day, coaching was typically reserved for your senior executives, and it was often your frontline managers who really needed the coaching,” Robin Patton, the global head of employee relations at restaurant platform Toast Inc., said. AI coaching equalizes access. It offers judgment-free practice, which is particularly helpful for newer or anxious managers. The technology also allows companies to tailor scenarios to their specific values. Feeding AI tools a company’s cultural beliefs ensures guidance comes “in the language that we speak,” says Goldberg. AI as a Tool, Not a ReplacementThe panelists were unanimous in their belief that AI’s role in performance management is to assist, not replace, human judgment. Patton outlined how Toast is exploring the use of AI to help managers draft more consistent, structured, and actionable performance reviews. This helps reduce unconscious bias and reduces the vague or legally risky statements that often plague manual reviews.AI can also be helpful when utilized thoughtfully in promoting wellness. Unmind sits at the intersection of AI and mental health, one of the most sensitive human domains. Jackson addressed the elephant in the room head-on. “Whether we like it or not, AI is being integrated into mental health care,” Jackson said, citing a Harvard Business Review finding that in 2025, the second most common use case for generative AI was mental health companionship. There’s a severe global shortage of human providers, and artificial intelligence can offer 24/7, stigma-free support.Jackson emphasized the importance of using clinically trained AI systems with ethical guardrails in mental health support, addressing concerns about safety, bias, and trust in AI-driven mental health care. “AI is the latest member of a multidisciplinary team,” Jackson said. When designed correctly, these algorithms can support therapy between sessions, provide access in therapist desert regions, and deliver modalities such as cognitive behavioral therapy with consistent clinical precision. The human therapist’s role evolves to oversight, integration, and handling complex escalations.Navigating Anxiety and Building LiteracyThe rapid pace of change brought on by AI inevitably stirs anxiety. Session moderator Carrie Teegardin, a reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, noted that employees’ questions about AI policies reflect widespread uncertainty about the future. The panelists offered strategies for leading through this transition.Jackson says leaders must frame AI as a friend and a tool for empowerment. “People will only be replaced by AI if they don’t learn how to use artificial intelligence in their role,” he said. Denisova also recommends people view AI as a team member to collaborate with. Goldberg described AGCO’s three-tiered approach: encouraging “citizen AI” for personal productivity, forming cross-functional teams to tackle large-scale business problems with artificial intelligence, and focusing on functional transformations, such as talent acquisition.Patton encourages viewing technological change in historical context and focusing on enduring human skills. “Communication is still paramount, integrity, respect, civility, all of those skill sets are still paramount,” she said. One lingering concern among many employees and employers about artificial intelligence taking over routine, menial tasks is how junior employees will gain the practice needed to develop their skills. Denisova raised this concern, asking whether the pursuit of efficiency might erase the 10,000 hours of practice required to master a craft. The answer, the panel suggested, lies in intentionally redesigning how we learn on the job.Goldberg urges human resources teams to partner up with information technology on strategic workforce planning and AI literacy for all. “Stay human, stay curious, and explore and experiment,” Denisova said. Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.
Calm in the Storm: the HR Leader’s Role in Advocating for Well-Being and Mental Health
BY Jessica Swenson January 08, 2026As pressure on employees continues to rise, some companies are rethinking where responsibility for well-being sits inside the organization. At Fox Sports, that responsibility lives at the intersection of HR and business operations, according to Kim Beauvais, EVP of HR and business operations, who spoke with The Ankler’s executive editor Alison Brower at From Day One’s Los Angeles conference.She sees the combination of HR and business ops as “how the organization moves within the business to take care of its biggest investment: its people.”Beauvais praises Fox’s benefit programming—especially its mental health resources, which include access to the Calm app for each employee and their family along with a comprehensive employee assistance program (EAP) and specialized care through Maven for women across the fertility spectrum.She acknowledged the dual role of HR as both a risk manager and employee advocate, and the need for transparency about this dynamic. However, there are clear instances where employee advocacy is the top priority; at these times, she says, it’s up to HR to have the tough conversations with leadership or finance to initiate change. Kim Beauvais, EVP of HR and business operations at Fox Sports, spoke during the fireside chat session in Los Angeles One such situation occurred recently at Fox Sports. Before Covid, the EAP program was available only to full-time, benefit-eligible employees, Beauvais says. But as the pandemic highlighted a widespread need for mental health support—the company saw a 400% increase in mental health calls during and after Covid—she and her team realized a need to expand the program to its thousands of freelancers as well. “We talked to the unions about it, [saying] this isn’t a condition of bargaining. We just need to make sure our people are taken care of. It obviously took a lot of conversations, and there’s a financial impact to that, but I think post-Covid it became ‘How do we take care of our people?’ And this was an easy way to do that.”To learn more about the experience of front-line production employees, Beauvais has made a concerted effort to humanize her team by embedding them with production crews. This helps her HR leaders more directly understand the needs and struggles of the teams they support, and answer questions like “Why are [people] still working here? What do [they] wish was different about working here? What are the struggles about being on the road for 13 weeks straight?”Integration with these teams has caused a noticeable shift. Crews welcome HR partners into their environment and are no longer scared when they call or show up, she says. It has also given leaders insight that enables smaller-scale interventions with big impact, like offering UberEats credits to employees that have been on the road for long periods so they can share a meal with their families, or implementing a breast-milk shipping program to support new mothers returning from maternity leave into travel-heavy roles.“Building trust and having conversations with HR folks,” said Beauvais, enabled HR leaders to introduce the program and facilitate conversations with male production managers on behalf of these new mothers. “That’s an uncomfortable thing as a female, to talk [about breast feeding] to your male production boss that’s been doing TV for 25 years. So, we had those conversations and everybody was super supportive. It made for a much more inclusive environment on the road.”This demonstrates the company’s culture of ensuring that employees feel safe and know they are valued. Meeting employees where they are can be taught in new manager training, Beauvais says, but coaching leaders in real-time is really the most effective support. Her HR leadership team meets regularly with managers and uses role-playing to prepare them for tough conversations and emotionally complex issues. “We can’t be there every second of the day, but having those regular check-ins is really important.”It’s crucial for employees to feel safe to bring their whole, authentic selves to work, says Beauvais—and it seems that they do. The company has employee tenures exceeding 35 years, a testament to its culture and a strong sense of belonging. “Because money is not the only currency. It’s all the other things that bring them to work every day, like enjoying being with [their] co-workers and doing a really good job so that they continue to feel fulfilled.”Jessica Swenson is a freelance writer and editor based in the Midwest. Learn more about her at jmswensonllc.com.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Creating Personalized Pathways for Growth and Development
BY Jennifer Yoshikoshi January 06, 2026The traditional career ladder is giving way to something far less linear. Younger workers increasingly expect growth to look like a mix of learning, mentorship, and well-being rather than a step-by-step climb. Recent research shows that nearly nine in 10 Gen Zers and Millennials prioritize on-the-job learning and practical experience as central to their professional development.“This idea of a career ladder is sort of dead, and I like to think of it now as a climbing wall,” said Teresa Hopke, CEO of Talking Talent, Americas. Hopke spoke on an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s LA conference. Executives discussed how employee growth and development are changing as organizations move toward more inclusive, personalized career paths.Climbing the Career Wall, Not LadderShelley Colón, SVP of people and culture at SiriusXM, added that human resource departments have historically created linear paths for employees to climb up the company hierarchy, but now it “doesn’t totally resonate for the path of a lot of people.”SiriusXM has launched a storytelling series that highlights the careers of people within the company that were able to move across verticals and utilize their skills from one department and transfer it to another, she says. Lisa Richards, senior regional VP at LHH, emphasized that companies also have to understand what growth means for their employees. At LHH, new hires are provided with a form that asks them about their motivations. This opens up an opportunity to have a dialogue about what employees are looking to get out of joining the company, Richards says. “I think it is so critical for us to retain good staff. We don’t want to lose them,” said Richards. “So just having those conversations and getting to know your people from the top down and having that shared narrative is really key and important.” The Wonderful Company emphasizes promotion from within and a culture that supports internal career growth, says Kimberley Fernandes, VP and head of learning and organizational development.There's a cost to staff turnover and in order to retain staff, it's important to build a strategy to address the diverse needs of all employees and create opportunities that recognize individual skills in both technical and functional fields, says Fernandes. The awareness that individuals carry about their own motivations and how it changes over time can also be beneficial for the employee and the company, says Portia Green, VP of talent and organization development at NBCUniversal. Strong companies will continue to have conversations about what drives employees while they develop their own understanding of what their company’s culture is and whether their motivations align. Changing Workplace Cultures “Your organization has work to do. Leaders have work to do. But individuals themselves have a fair amount of work to do to understand themselves and the landscape that they operate in,” Green said. Organizations across the world are changing as younger generations enter more junior positions, creating a cultural divide in a multi-generational workforce. Companies now have to face societal challenges which are causing a shift in company cultures that for decades have resulted in Boomers and Generation X employees moving up as leaders, says Fernandes.Alison Brower, executive editor at the Ankler, right, moderated the discussion among panelists With Gen Z’s position in the workforce, companies are seeing a clash between differing mindsets and beliefs between the older and younger generations. “I see our role of how we build our leaders with the skills to have that inclusive mindset but also, build maturity and resilience in our younger employees,” said Fernandes.Hopke highlighted that teaching leaders about relational capabilities can drive the change that is necessary and inevitable in company culture. Many managers need to be able to develop human connections and often don’t ask their team what they need and carry simple conversations that foster stronger relationships. “Investing in these conversations is probably the key thing that will help us change our cultures around these different career paths and the way people are going to learn,” said Hopke. In light of the pandemic and the rise in remote work, Hopke says that through her prior experience as a flexibility consultant, she found that “flexibility isn’t the problem. Flexibility just shines a light on poor leadership.”“It comes back to teaching leaders how to have the right skills to hold people accountable, to set expectations, to have conversations, whether through a screen or face to face,” Hopke said. “People are craving connection, but you can plan connections, and you can figure out how to help people feel connected through relational skills.”Jennifer Yoshikoshi is a local news and education reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Listening to the Employee Voice to Shape Smarter Total Rewards
BY Carrie Snider January 05, 2026Designing a total rewards program today is less about checking boxes and more about managing tradeoffs. Employers are trying to meet specific employee needs without fragmenting the workforce or leaving others feeling overlooked. At From Day One’s Los Angeles conference, that challenge took center stage as leaders discussed how listening more closely to employees can shape benefits that feel both targeted and inclusive.Jon Harold, head of sales and partnership success at SoFi at Work, underscored the importance of targeting benefits thoughtfully. “You do have to balance fairness with the actual needs of the business,” he said, “because at the end of the day, the business is here to make money and to grow.”Moderated by journalist Faith Pinho, Harold and a panel of other experts from across industries discussed how smarter total rewards start with the employee voice and extend to financial well-being, career growth, flexibility, and perks that truly matter.Targeted programs, like student loan repayment assistance, can deliver significant impact, says Harold. “Imagine coming out of college, you have $35,000 of student debt, and off the bat, your company is contributing $5,000 a year—that’s incredibly powerful and impactful,” he said. Yet, leaders often worry about perceptions among employees who don’t qualify. Harold points out the perspective many overlook: “Do you think those employees wish they had student debt so they could take advantage of it?”Successful organizations pair targeted benefits with offerings that reach all employees. “If you’re launching a financial wellness program, you can help with your student debt, talk with a financial coach, plan your estate, manage your credit—something that appeals to everyone,” Harold said.Offer Highly Valued, Specific PerksCreating a benefits package that resonates with employees means going beyond standard offerings. Arturo Arteaga, VP of total rewards at VCA, emphasizes that understanding employee needs firsthand is critical.“You need to keep contact with them all the time,” he said. “You need to know about them. You need to visit—in our case, we have close to 1,000 hospitals—talk to the CSR, talk to the bed techs, talk to the doctors and understand what they want.”Targeted perks can have a significant impact. For example, VCA’s associate pet discount, which allows employees to receive meaningful discounts on veterinary services, is by far the most appreciated benefit of the company. Similarly, professional development support, including PTO and funding for certifications, is highly valued by veterinarians and veterinary technicians. “What they appreciate the most is to have time and resources for continuous education,” Arteaga said. Panelists spoke about "Listening to the Employee Voice to Shape Smarter Total Rewards," at From Day One's Los Angeles conference Piloting new benefits helps manage cost and expectations, especially in large organizations. “Any benefit is expensive, and we need to be very careful about what we introduce and what we don’t introduce,” he said. For employees on their feet all day, VCA introduced a musculoskeletal treatment program after learning directly from staff about the physical toll of their work.Explore Innovative, Employee-Driven BenefitsModern total rewards strategies increasingly focus on flexibility and innovation, giving employees more control over how they use their benefits. Carol MacKinlay, chief HR officer at Pebl, says employees want options that let them manage their own lives.“People want to control their money,” she said. “They were willing to trade that risk for the reward,” she said, referring to a program where employees could trade bonuses for guaranteed salary increases.Gamification and creative engagement strategies can make benefits more meaningful. MacKinlay says. “People love it. We’re trying to customize, giving people fun things to do, reasons to participate,” she said, describing how compliance training and other programs are turned into competitions to drive participation.Forward-looking approaches also tap into emerging financial trends. “About 30% of employees want to get paid in crypto,” MacKinlay said, highlighting Pebl’s exploration of digital payment options to meet employee needs, particularly in regions with high inflation.Beyond financial benefits, time and feedback can serve as powerful rewards. Spot awards of time off recognize extra effort and reinforce work-life balance, while a structured, partially transparent feedback system gives employees insights into their performance. By offering benefits that employees can shape and control, organizations not only meet immediate needs but also position themselves for long-term engagement, satisfaction, and retention in an increasingly diverse and global workforce.Prioritize Development & Transparent Performance ConversationsIn today’s competitive talent landscape, benefits alone aren’t enough—how organizations handle performance and growth can be just as important. Jerrold Coakley, SVP of HR at Stater Bros. Markets, emphasized the value of clear, early conversations around remote work and career progression.“It’s far better to have that conversation early, although it’s uncomfortable,” he said, referring to discussions about whether certain roles can be performed remotely and how that may impact advancement.Coakley advocates for performance-based differentiation over perceived fairness. “We’re not here to be fair,” he said. “We’re trying to get the top talent in the top roles and pay them the top dollar.” HR leaders should be transparent about expectations, rewarding those who deliver and making career growth contingent on measurable contributions.Simplicity in benefits also drives impact. Programs that are easy to implement, such as time off, spot bonuses, or additional pay, provide tangible value without unnecessary complexity. “The more you can over-invest in areas you know you can execute, you’re going to find that it’s very beneficial for your employees and very easy for you to execute,” Coakley said.Perhaps most importantly, investing in employee development builds engagement and loyalty. “Development is the number one thing,” he said. “Invest your top talent, let them know how much they mean to you.” Growth opportunities, combined with clear expectations and transparent feedback, help employees feel valued and empowered, reinforcing both performance and long-term retention.Successful total rewards programs start with the employee voice. From financial wellness and meaningful perks to career development and innovative, employee-driven options, the key is listening and responding, panelists agreed. Thoughtful design, clear communication, and investment in growth create a culture where employees feel valued and motivated, driving engagement, retention, and long-term organizational success.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
Connection as the Catalyst for Both Well-Being and Performance
BY Carrie Snider January 01, 2026The facts are striking: 1 in 5 employees worldwide feel lonely. “We’re dealing with a new generation of workers who are having a hard time connecting,” said Constance Jones, news anchor at NBC 6. Jones moderated an executive panel discussion titled, “The Connection Solution: Bringing Workers Together for Well-Being and Innovation,” at From Day One’s Miami conference. “It’s up to us to create environments where not only can our employees strive and do better, but also they can be productive,” she said. The panel of leaders explored how human-centered leadership can combat isolation while driving innovation. The message of the session was clear: well-being is about building trust, empathy, and meaningful connection in the modern workplace.Human-Centered Leadership and CultureWhen an organization decides to make wellness a priority, it can then shape daily decisions and leadership behaviors across the company.According to panelist Zoe Hernandez Wolfe, VP of talent management & development at Baptist Health, human-centered leadership is a lived commitment that shapes how employees are supported and heard. “We believe very strongly that our culture, our values, define who we are,” she said.Central to this approach is empathy. Wolfe emphasizes “leading with empathy” and recognizing employees as whole people navigating complex lives, not just contributors to productivity. Baptist Health reinforces this through frequent employee surveys that go beyond engagement metrics to ask questions like, “Do you feel cared about as a person?” The responses directly inform leadership action.Panelists spoke about "The Connection Solution: Bringing Workers Together for Well-Being and Innovation" at From Day One's Miami conferencePrograms like Code Lavender further reflect this culture of care, giving employees space to pause, decompress, and receive emotional support during overwhelming moments. Ultimately, Wolfe says, connection—between leaders, teams, and caregivers—is what sustains both employee well-being and organizational resilience.Key Well-Being Trends Shaping 2026After all employees and organizations have been through since the pandemic, there could be good things coming soon. Panelist Christine Muldoon, SVP of marketing and strategy at WebMD Health Services, sees 2026 as a turning point for more intentional, holistic well-being strategies. “The evolution of well-being is essentially happening,” she said, as organizations adapt to post-pandemic realities.One major shift is a deeper focus on holistic well-being, recognizing the interconnected nature of physical, mental, social, financial, and work health. Women’s health, particularly menopause, is also gaining overdue attention. “It’s a very silent term in the workplace,” Muldoon said.Another trend is using organizational care as a strategic advantage. “It’s not enough to offer well-being,” she said. Employees want to see care embedded into culture, not just benefits. Organizations are also rethinking ROI, expanding success metrics beyond cost savings to include retention, culture, and health outcomes.Wellness as Human Connection and AuthenticityFor panelist Melissa Montgomery, VP of HR at Lennar, wellness begins with authentic human connection. Lennar’s goal to become the healthiest company in America goes beyond programs to focus on helping employees show up as their best selves at work and at home.Montgomery says well-being is built when people feel valued. “When somebody knows what my goals are at work,” she said, “and somebody knows who I am as a person.” That trust is especially important for early-career and Gen Z employees navigating workplace expectations for the first time.Strong leadership, she says, requires clarity and intention, especially when giving feedback or coaching. Wellness depends on leaders being good humans and taking time to connect beyond digital tools. Sometimes, the most powerful support starts with a simple question: “How can I best support you?”Across industries, one theme stood out: connection is the catalyst for both well-being and performance. Whether through values-driven leadership, holistic strategies, or authentic relationships, organizations that prioritize people are better positioned to thrive. When leaders listen, care, and connect, well-being becomes a shared experience and a driver of resilience and innovation.Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)