Julie Barker, CEO of Cultivate Talent and veteran HR leader with 20 years of experience, reveals how to build a future-ready people strategy in an AI-driven world. Drawing from her work across startups and global orgs, Julie shares practical ways to evolve roles, close talent gaps, and bring intentionality to every headcount decision. This episode offers clear, real-world advice to help HR leaders stay aligned, uncover under-leveraged talent, and ensure their orgs are built to adapt. Tune in to learn how to lead with impact, and not get left behind.
This episode features an interview with Julie Barker, CEO of Cultivate Talent.
Julie brings 20 years of experience in HR and recruitment, having scaled teams and shaped talent strategies across startups and global enterprises, including Aprimo, Teradata and Appirio. She’s an advisor at Tercera, a VC firm focused on the next wave of cloud companies, and serves on the board of Next Gen Talent, where she helps rising HR leaders build the business acumen to drive impact.
In this episode, Julie unpacks what it really means to build an intentional people strategy in the age of AI. She shares a practical approach to evolving roles, structuring headcount planning that adapts in real time, and aligning talent to shifting business goals. Whether you’re leading a team of 10 or 10,000, Julie’s insights will help you design a more agile, aligned, and human-centered talent roadmap.
Guest Bio
Julie has spent 20 years in HR and Recruitment at companies across all stages and across the globe. Julie is an advisor for Tercera, which is a venture capital firm focused on enabling the third wave of cloud computing. She also serves on the board of Next Gen Talent focused on equipping emerging HR and Talent leaders with the business skills to move their organizations forward.
Guest Quote
“Companies spend a lot of time on their annual headcount plan… and then what I think sometimes happens is we lose sight of these quarterly checkpoints...We forget to reconnect the headcount strategy to those goal realignment conversations.”
Time Stamps
[00:41] Meet Julie Barker: Her Journey Into Talent Strategy
[03:32] The Hidden Risk of Hiring “Great” People
[07:59] What Intentional People Strategy Really Looks Like
[09:32] The Annual Headcount Plan Mistake Most Companies Make
[17:14] Designing for AI: Shifting Orgs, Roles & Mindsets
[21:39] Culture Truths: Tough Decisions, Real Alignment
Sponsor
I’m Telling HR is brought to you by Rippling, the #1 rated HR workforce management system that eliminates the friction from running a business. Visit Rippling.com to learn more.
Links
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Connect with Julie on LinkedIn
Learn more about Cultivate Talent
Connect with Leighton on LinkedIn
[00:00:00] Julie Barker: You come across these amazing people and leaders get super excited about people, right? You know this person that's been at a hundred thousand person company that's led amazing things, right? And come join at 25 people. That could be right. For some people that can be way wrong. This is a consistent theme that I see, and I think just such an important reminder of alignment on both.
Sides and the why.
[00:00:37] Leighton Martin: Welcome to I'm telling hr, the go-to podcast for ambitious HR professionals wanna shake up their status quo, make a real impact and fast track their careers. Brought to you by Rippling. I'm Leighton Martin. I'm an HR business partner here at Rippling. Today we're talking about building an intentional people strategy, what that actually means, how to do it in real time, and why it matters Now more than ever.
In this episode, you'll learn how to evolve roles in the age of ai, how to scale leadership development without relying on off the shelf programs. How to spot under-leveraged talent inside your org. So, so much more. We're joined by Julie Barker, CEO of Cultivate talent. Julie brings two decades of experience leading talent at companies of every size, from startups to global enterprises.
She's currently an advisor at ra, a VC firm backing the next generation of cloud focused companies, and she also serves on the board of Next Gen talent, where she's helping up and coming HR leaders. Build the business skills they need to drive impact. So Julie, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited to be a part of this conversation today. Incredible. So to set the stage, before we really dive in, can you tell us a bit about your background and what first pulled you into the world of HR and talent strategy?
[00:01:57] Julie Barker: I had four majors in college and it started with apparel merchandising to criminal justice.
To finance than hr. And I, I think on the, what attracted me then was I knew I was interested in business, but then the idea of the impact of people and the people strategy on the business. I've been in technology companies, tech services, and SaaS. SaaS side almost, you know, at times 50% of your budget, you know, based on people and on tech services, higher than that.
And so what an amazing impact you can have if you are intentional there. So it's just been so fun across, you know, I'd say over 40 businesses now to see what that actually looks like for leaders, for teams, for talent leaders. It's been a fun journey. There are days where you question, right, why am I doing this?
But I think back to a CEO that I worked for at Aerio and he would always say, are you having fun eight outta 10 days? And I sure am. So I think it's a good outlook too, to say like, we all question it sometimes, but eight outta 10 days is good.
[00:03:04] Leighton Martin: I love that. Having fun is obviously super important and it's, you know, maybe not every day, but if the majority are fun, that is.
You know, a great thing to strive for. Thank you so much for that. It sounds like you've done a lot. So very excited to dig in to this topic. And I guess the first thing before we really go further, you know, you've helped companies scale through big transitions. What is one hard lesson that you've learned along the way on that no one really warns you about?
[00:03:33] Julie Barker: You come across these amazing people and leaders get super excited about. People. Right. And the impact and opportunity because look at what they've done and look at where they've worked. Right? And they're gonna be amazing for us because they've been amazing. And it's like, yes, they are amazing, right? And they're amazing humans and they've done some really great things, but they're not always right for this point in time or.
You know, opportunity that you have and them being just as excited and it being the right opportunity for them is so critical. So I've seen this in a lot of startups, right? Is you know, this person that's been at a hundred thousand, you know, person company that's led amazing things, right? And. Come join at 25 people.
That could be right. For some people that can be way wrong for some people too. And so I think that's probably one of the biggest things that I've seen, especially at stage. And this is a consistent theme that I see. And I think just such an important reminder of like alignment on both sides and the why.
Why is this the right thing for them right now? And we'll talk a little bit more and kind of dive into that. But. I would say that's the biggest thing with scale and thinking about the stage, what you, what they wanna do, what you need them to do, what that looks like and what they bring versus maybe what they can bring eight years from now.
[00:05:01] Leighton Martin: Yes, no, I think like such a key there, alignment on both sides and I'm. Glad you highlighted that, you know, to dig in deeper to solving for scale, you've worked with companies from, you know, startup stage to 8,000 person orgs. I guess, can you share a specific example where you helped a company scale? So you know, it could be one where your people strategy directly supported rapid growth or transformation.
Like what was that? Before and after?
[00:05:26] Julie Barker: I really honed in on. Example of recruiting and a company where, you know, joining and building the recruitment team kind of from the ground up and our kind of process experience. And I think about it was across multiple countries, you know, multiple cultures. And what I think was something that we look back at and I think would the whole company would be proud of is.
There was a consistent experience across those candidates. It was a consistent understanding of that alignment of what am I joining? Why am I wanting to be a part of this, and really helping. Dive into that. I feel like a level deeper. And one of the things that I think was so successful at that company was people worked across peers that all were just super passionate about what they were doing, but also would be, would all say they're not the smartest person in the room.
And they all cared deeply about what they were doing for clients and the work they were doing. So. Finding people that also wanted to be a part of that culture and team was super important. So I think just that how we really helped align across those different teams, countries, you know, business units on that experience, but also that alignment was something that was super important from a scale perspective, when people are thinking about their recruiting strategy, right?
There's so many things changing and there's so many things we're doing with ai, which is. Awesome and exciting and it's taking away a lot of the manual work, but all of that example of what I just shared shouldn't be taken away, right? Like that's the stuff we get to now spend more time and do, which is really, really exciting.
So that's why I think that is something that resonates is it's so important. Back to that like. In that, you know, being a services company, right? More than 50% right of the budget is people. So the impact of getting that right or not right is huge.
[00:07:29] Leighton Martin: I love that example. And you know, I've heard a lot around like alignment and intentionality.
So startups obviously obsess over their brand and OKRs, and I guess what does. It actually looked like to bring that level of intention, like to a people strategy,
[00:07:43] Julie Barker: being intentional to connect people to that strategy. We spend so many time sometimes on these words and how we say these things, but then it's like, how are we actually aligning the entire company and team to this where, you know, I'll have conversations with folks and you know, they're super busy, but then it's what are they working on towards those, those actual OKRs and you're like.
Wow. That's right. We're super busy, but they're maybe not even aligned to one of those. Three, you know, company pillars or OKRs. I think that is the number one focus is like back to the, I always say, why are we doing this? We're not doing this to have a process and to have a framework. We're doing this to accomplish these goals and to align priorities.
So it's to be able to say no to things. It's to be able to say yes to things. It's to be able to focus. And so it's always, if you go back to the why, it's like. That intentionality of the whole purpose of this is to focus and prioritize across the team.
[00:08:45] Leighton Martin: Yes. No, the why, you know, that is the North Star, and then kind of working back from that.
So thinking about. You know, talent strategy and recruiting and headcount planning, when there is an actual gap that exists between headcount plans and actual talent needs, I guess, how do you help your leaders close it? You know, do you have any specific tools or frameworks that you. Think work especially well.
[00:09:10] Julie Barker: Yeah. Something I think that's so important is companies spend a lot of time on their annual headcount plan. So much time. Right. And so lots of time
[00:09:18] Leighton Martin: spent for sure. Yes.
[00:09:19] Julie Barker: And then what I think sometimes happens is we lose sight of these quarterly checkpoints we have sometimes even, you know, some will have QBR and different things where you're very focused on the goals, but we at times forget to reconnect.
The headcount strategy to those goal realignment conversations. So sometimes we'll refocus, right? What are those OKRs? But the headcount went with those OKR decisions or those goals and priorities or, you know, again, product focus. And so one of the things that I think is so important is when you're having those quarterly conversations, it has to also be tied to the headcount conversation alongside.
So what trade-offs are we now making? How would we maybe reinvest in this area because it's a much bigger focus and take from maybe this, this other, and so I think that's an important thing that I would build into your framework for those goals. And here's some of the conversations they have with leaders.
I would say some questions I'll ask if we're just kind of midstream, say it's mid-quarter, but some things are changing or you know, maybe they haven't opened a headcount or maybe they're. Trying to, you know, make a different decision is like, you know, why did you hold on the headcount, if not told to hold, like.
What made it feel like it wasn't the right decision? Sometimes it's just a, I held and I'm not sure, but sometimes there's a, this is why, and this is the conversation that we really should be having 'cause we maybe need to be doing this and helping kind of ignite that. Or did you feel you're getting mixed signals on sales and you're feeling this need to hold, but the rest of the business doesn't know maybe that business is holding on this and really it's a.
Future investment. And so we really don't wanna hold. Or maybe in some situations we're really glad that leader decided to make that decision and call on their own. But are we doing it intentionally? And do we all have back to kind of that alignment to knowing that decision. So checking point on the why there.
Did you believe in the original model built, do you feel empowered to make a suggestion or, you know, so sometimes I'll ask those questions if, you know, sometimes there's a new leader that came in or someone that maybe wasn't as involved in the original headcount process, so. If there's some holding or things that maybe aren't happening or gaps, those are some questions kind of midstream if I see things not happening.
'cause I think we play an important role on the people side where we see these things, right? We see a headcount not opening, we see a headcount moving maybe quicker, or a conversation about a headcount that doesn't exist in creating a role. And sometimes those are really great, or sometimes we're creating it.
Because of a person and maybe it, it isn't as the right decision. So some of those questions are so important and the business is really glad we're asking them. So I think it's just a reminder of, we see a lot of times like across the picture and they might be seeing kind of pieces at a point in time.
And so we have a really great purview to seeing those opportunities to dive in further.
[00:12:19] Leighton Martin: I. Totally agree, and I think exactly right where we do have that context that they don't always have and really those insights across the business. And I guess for you, you know, you've obviously worked with so many execs and talent leaders.
What would you say separates someone who's good at their job from someone who actually, you know, drives culture and change?
[00:12:41] Julie Barker: This one was easy. I was like, definitely like the leader that models the way, not just says, these are the things I value. But models the way in the things that the, the company values, the number one thing is modeling the way, showing what that looks like, not telling what that looks like.
They're also vulnerable and they're open to sharing when they know, hey. That was on me, right? It's the people that are open to other perspectives, they're vulnerable. You know, they want to be able to have those conversations and that trust with their team. So that's definitely what comes to mind for me.
Yeah, I think it's, you know,
[00:13:21] Leighton Martin: walking the walk, not just talking the talk makes such a huge difference. Yeah, I think those leaders that are super vulnerable and show that humility and that, you know, folks really attach to that, and we talked about this earlier around making sure that there is buy-in, like on both sides.
When you're thinking about recruiting and someone joining an organization, you know, how do you make sure that the role fits? The person and not just the other way around. So I guess, can you walk us through a time where that really made a big difference?
[00:13:50] Julie Barker: Yeah. So I like when, you know, if you have a few conversations in the process.
There is a checkpoint of an interview a little bit further along of. You know, tell me what you learned from those couple of conversations. What did you hear as some of the top priorities of, you know, this role, the business, you know, what are you excited about? What are you maybe surprised that you may be focusing on because of what you learned in some of those conversations?
So that way when you hear them kind of articulating that back, you can kind of usually tell like, yeah, is this something that they're like jazzed about? Or is this something that they're like, well, if I have to do it. There's gonna be things right back to the eight outta 10 days. It's kind of like I, it is similar, right?
Maybe about 80% where you're gonna do some things that maybe aren't the things that you're like super, you know, jazzed about. But those can be about 20% on average, not the other way around. And when you start to feel like the conversations like, but I can do those things. Well if they're saying I can do those things versus I wanna do those things, you start to be able to say, okay, you know.
This is really helpful because this is a decision for both of us, not just us. Right? Like, and so what I kind of heard is this is some of the things I think were important to you from the first conversation, right? And what I've heard now from some of those conversations is this, let's dive into that a little bit, right?
And so I think there's just some really intentional questions that you can ask to revisit now based on what they've heard from the conversations from the process. Allow them sometimes the opportunity to reflect then based on you revisiting that and you know, really thinking through that. Because sometimes there is a difference from reading it on paper, right, on a job posting to hearing from what that looks like.
Even if you read everything you know, to what the intention and interest is. There's always a learning in those conversations and opportunity, and again, alignment. So that would be one example. I, I
[00:15:51] Leighton Martin: totally couldn't agree more. You know, you don't want someone to join a company and then be like, wait, this is not what I thought it was, or, you know, so really getting that alignment on from both sides is so important.
Shifting gears slightly, obviously AI is. Here to stay. So, you know, thinking about AI in the world of hr, you know, AI is really changing, not just like what people do, but how teams are structured. What questions should leaders be thinking about for thinking specifically and drilling down into job descriptions or reorg org design?
How does like AI fit into that and what would you be advising leaders to question?
[00:16:29] Julie Barker: I think it's such an important time right now 'cause we're getting ready to go into planning. No matter. When the fiscal year is, you're probably coming up to it in the coming months, let's say. Right? And so I think, you know, some things that come to mind with me here are, we're getting past the experimentation phase.
Some are just leading the charge, right? Don't get me wrong. But in some situations, you know, just kind of, you know, being. Comfortable with just them getting comfortable, and I think next year we're past that. So I think how are we planning for and kind of working towards that shift with our org planning, with our enablement strategy, with our design.
I think it's one thing to say. Great AI is here. So now I'm gonna do this differently in terms of my org structure, but how have you brought people along the way? How are you thinking about, you know, making those changes intentionally? So as we're, you know, going through this strategy, I would say being really intentional to leaders of what can now change because of ai and what do we get to now?
Have this opportunity to focus on differently. What does that look like right in the headcount planning process? And challenge every leader to be a part of that process, to really consider it, to influence it, you know, make recommendations in that, but also what's an enablement strategy to now? Work differently as a team and I'll, you know, talk about this a little bit differently, kinda in one of our, in our future conversations, but how we're focused so much on it kind of within our product.
How are we thinking about that internally? And that is a huge, huge part of our headcount strategy. So I think that's what has to evolve from this year to next year, I would say, as a overall trend. Again, some on this curve a little bit further than others, right? And bringing every leader a part of this conversation versus.
A few folks being involved to say, here's the things that are gonna be different right now from an AI perspective. So I think those are what I would really look at, especially going into the planning cycle coming up.
[00:18:43] Leighton Martin: Yeah, no, that is really great advice. And I guess like what is worked for you when it comes to identifying under leveraged talent or you know, any hidden strengths across the team?
You know, do you have like a specific framework or structure that you typically use?
[00:18:59] Julie Barker: Asking really good questions of checkpoints. It may be even a focus one-on-one versus just in your regular one-on-one, but understanding like. What would someone see an opportunity in the business that they feel like they could help support, but they're not sure if you know they should be getting involved or if it's a part of their role.
Right? So sometimes you see some hidden opportunities, right? Where you're like, wow, I didn't even know that's something they would be excited about. They have the skillset for better tracking skills and talent outside of their job description because. We're gonna be focusing a lot more on that, right? And things are going to look different, like we said, from an AI perspective.
So how do we understand what people are bringing to the table outside of maybe just the role that they're sitting in today? So how are we utilizing, you know, our technology stock to identify and understand that and be able to make decisions around that for future roles, opportunities, things that we didn't maybe need a year ago.
And we now need as part of this shift too. So I think those are a couple things that come to mind for me that. Uh, larger organizations I'd say maybe are doing, but even startups to scale ups can start where they're at today and could be leveraging a lot, I think better.
[00:20:22] Leighton Martin: Yeah, no, I think like digging into outside of just what, what's required for a JD really opens up so much opportunity and ways to leverage your current talent.
So I guess if we're thinking about, you know, some real world advice here, what is the biggest myth about company culture that early stage teams? Fall for, uh, and then on the flip of that, like what does a healthy culture actually look like during growth?
[00:20:47] Julie Barker: When I think about like those, again, those healthiest cultures, it's making difficult decisions in a timely manner.
So especially at these earlier stages, I think there's times where leaders worry, like the perception of that is actually bad of like if you have to make, you know, a difficult termination decision or you know, a difficult decision from a product perspective. Every time I've seen those decisions be made in a way where there's, you know, trust as well as.
This decision needed to be made right? That impacts the culture greatly because you know, those decisions filter down and flow through the team. So I always say, if we're not making the decision because of that one person, we're now making a di a decision that. Is impactful to potentially 20, 30, 50. Right.
A hundred people. So I think those are things, when I think about what's really impactful, especially at maybe more of that, you know, startup and scaling stage, I think it's communication, being intentional. About communication versus reactive makes a world of difference. Right. I work a lot with those kind of startup to scaling stages and people join those companies to be a part of it, right?
And so they, you know, being able to kind of understand that journey, that communication, that alignment, right. Is, you know, is is probably even more so important to them.
[00:22:18] Leighton Martin: Yeah. No, that's really great insights and anecdotes and I know we've. Talked a lot about like intentionality and you know, that alignment.
I guess like, you know, I'm curious if our listeners could do just one thing today to rethink their people strategy in an AI powered world, what would you recommend?
[00:22:37] Julie Barker: I would say evaluate your product strategy from an AI perspective. What does that look like from your people experience? It's such an opportunity to learn from what are you looking to be, that external experience, what do you want that to be internally and how do you.
Move the needle, right? So I think that's where we can play such a huge role and we can also learn from how we're thinking about it, right? From a product and our client, you know, perspective. So I would say that is such a huge thing you could start with today. And that's where I also said get every leader involved, like.
I see so many companies excited about AI and doing a lot from a product standpoint, but in terms of the day-to-day changing and how we're working internally, it's in pockets, right? So I think there's just a lot of opportunity of that strategy internally and learning from how we're thinking about it from a product perspective.
[00:23:34] Leighton Martin: Mm-hmm. No, I think that's. Really good advice that we can all start to implement and think and really, you know, reframe on. So that is. Super helpful. Well, incredible. Thank you, Julie. Thank you so much for joining. Thank you for having me. Yes. This was such a great conversation and thanks for tuning into, I'm Telling HR brought to you by riffing.
I'm your host, Leighton Martin. If you want more, no Fluff Insights for bold HR leaders. Hit the link in the show notes to join the I'm Telling HR newsletter and get the strategies. Stories and tools that thousands of forward-thinking HR pros rely on to lead, change and grow their careers.