Amy Cappellanti-Wolf
Most large organisations are running multiple transformations at once: an AI rollout, a restructuring, an integration, a culture reset. The people function is asked to absorb all of it without slowing the business or breaking the workforce. Few HR leaders have actually done this at scale across listed tech, consumer goods and entertainment, and fewer still know what to keep when the model changes.
Amy Cappellanti-Wolf is a global Chief People Officer who helps companies hold culture, talent and leadership together through IPOs, M&A, restructures and AI-led change.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Amy Cappellanti-Wolf
- She has held the CHRO seat at Dayforce, Cohesity, Symantec and Silver Spring Networks, including taking Silver Spring Networks public on the NYSE in 2013.
- Her HR career runs from Frito-Lay and The Walt Disney Company through Sun Microsystems and Cisco, so she can speak credibly to consumer, entertainment and enterprise tech leadership teams in their own language.
- At Dayforce she runs people strategy at an HR technology vendor and acts as “Customer Zero” for the company’s AI-powered HR releases, which gives her an unusually concrete view of where AI lands in real HR operations.
- She works at board and committee level on talent and rewards, currently as Compensation Committee Chair at Softchoice and as a director or advisor at D-Wave Quantum, Betterworks and Wellist.
- Recognised externally on people and tech leadership: National Diversity Council Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology, Silicon Valley Business Journal Women of Influence, and the Forbes Human Resources Council.
Biography highlights
- EVP and Chief People Officer, Dayforce, since April 2024.
- Former CHRO at Cohesity, Symantec and Silver Spring Networks; led people strategy through Silver Spring Networks’ 2013 IPO.
- Earlier senior HR roles at Cisco Systems (2001 to 2009), Sun Microsystems, The Walt Disney Company and Frito-Lay (PepsiCo).
- Compensation Committee Chair at Softchoice (TSX: SFTC); board and advisory roles at D-Wave Quantum, Betterworks and Wellist.
- Forbes Human Resources Council member since 2018; National Diversity Council Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology.
- Inducted into the Roll of Distinguished Alumni, WVU’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics, in 2019.
Biography
Few CHROs have stood in the room for a Cisco-era leadership build, a Disney creative organisation, a Symantec security business and a Silver Spring Networks IPO. Amy Cappellanti-Wolf has. That cross-section is what gives her practical authority on what culture and talent actually take when a company changes shape.
Her current seat sharpens the point. As EVP and Chief People Officer at Dayforce, she runs people strategy inside an HR technology vendor and uses Dayforce’s own platform as “Customer Zero” for AI-powered HR releases. That gives her a working view of where AI lands in payroll, performance and workforce planning, not as a forecast but as a live deployment.
Boards use her where rewards, governance and people risk meet. She chairs the Compensation Committee at Softchoice, sits on the board at D-Wave Quantum, and advises Betterworks and Wellist. Her recognition track record, Forbes HR Council, the National Diversity Council Top 50 in Technology, Silicon Valley Business Journal Women of Influence, sits alongside the operating record, not in place of it.
For senior buyers, the practical value is specific. She can talk credibly to a CHRO planning an IPO, a CEO integrating an acquisition, an HR team rebuilding engagement after a restructure, or a board asking what AI in HR really changes. The answers come from having done it, not from observing it.
Key speaking topics
- People strategy through IPO, M&A and divestiture
- AI in HR and the future of the people function
- High-performance culture in scaling tech companies
- Diversity, equity and inclusion as an operating discipline
- Leadership and talent for enterprise transformation
- The CHRO as a board-level voice on people risk
Ideal for
- CHROs and senior HR leaders preparing for IPO, M&A or large-scale restructure
- CEOs and boards weighing the people implications of AI deployment in core operations
- Compensation and talent committees considering rewards, succession and culture risk
- Technology, consumer and entertainment leadership teams running concurrent transformations
Audience outcomes
- A clear sense of how to sequence people priorities through IPO, integration and restructure
- A practical view of where AI changes HR operations now, drawn from a live enterprise deployment
- Sharper questions for boards and executive teams on culture, rewards and talent risk
- Concrete language for inclusion outcomes that survive a politically contested environment
Talks
What it actually takes for the people function to hold an organisation together through IPO, M&A, divestiture and restructure.
Key takeaways:
- How to sequence culture, talent and rewards work across concurrent transformations
- Where the CHRO must lead and where the CEO and board must own the call
- The signals that an integration or restructure is breaking the workforce before the numbers show it
A working model for aligning culture with business strategy in fast-scaling technology companies.
Key takeaways:
- How culture decisions translate into hiring, performance and reward systems
- What to keep, change and retire when the operating model shifts
- Practical tests for whether culture is helping or slowing growth
How AI and HR technology are reshaping the people function, drawn from a live deployment at Dayforce.
Key takeaways:
- Where AI is changing day-to-day HR operations now, not in theory
- What HR leaders need to demand from technology vendors
- How to keep human judgement central as the toolset changes
Integration and separation planning with the workforce treated as a primary variable.
Key takeaways:
- How to design integration plans that preserve critical talent
- Why divestiture is a culture event, not just a legal one
- The first 100 days as a people problem, not an HR project
Inclusion as an operating discipline rather than a brand or compliance exercise.
Key takeaways:
- How to set inclusion outcomes that hold up under board scrutiny
- The role of rewards, promotion and succession data in real DEI progress
- Where boards and executive teams should focus when DEI is contested