The Human Cloud Podcast

Ep. 200: Paul Rios, Head of Revenue Experimentation at Telescoped, LATAM Developer Talent and Building Product Teams with Trust and Intent

Leaders,Developer talent is global, but opportunity is not. For our 200th episode, Paul Rios, Head of Revenue Experimentation at Telescoped and former HubSpot leader, breaks down why more companies are turning to Latin America for engineering.We cover the hotspots driving growth, the loyalty and cultural alignment of LATAM talent, and why “will over skill” matters when building product teams. Paul also explains Telescoped’s invite-only TrustRank model, how curated shortlists beat endless resumes, and what an AI-first go-to-market stack looks like in practice.If you want to hire smarter and build faster, this episode shows you how.

Ep.199: Anurag Bhalla, Co-Founder & CEO at Outsized, Flexibility, Capability Building, and Organizational Change

Leaders,Anurag Bhalla, Co-Founder and CEO at Outsize, shares his journey from corporate and consulting to building one of the most impactful platforms for independent talent across Asia and Africa. He explains why traditional employment models fall short, how cultural attitudes toward work are shifting, and why companies are turning to flexible, project-based talent to stay competitive.Anurag highlights the rise of the five-to-fifteen-year independent segment, the emotional shift from “I am my company” to “I am my skill,” and how enterprises can build agile workforce models that balance a strong core with flexible capabilities. He also discusses why independents often deliver stronger outcomes than traditional employees and how organizations need to rethink engagement, speed, and incentives to succeed in this new era of work.

Ep. 198: Brad Jackson, Founder of Out Of Office, Smarter Events, Stronger Brands, Better Talent

Leaders,Brad Jackson, Founder of Out Of Office, joins the Human Cloud Podcast to unpack the world of experiential marketing and why events have become a top revenue driver for sales and marketing teams. Brad explains what separates trade shows, conferences, and true experiential activations, sharing memorable examples from pop-ups to major brand stunts. He breaks down how freelancers are shaping the future of the industry, why mid-sized agencies are struggling, and how trust has become the new currency in connecting brands with the right partners. Brad also discusses the challenges of measuring ROI, what it truly costs to host an effective event, and how his platform is helping agencies and brands replace outdated spreadsheets with smarter workflows and a living roster of talent. This episode is a candid look at where experiential marketing is headed, the skills that matter most, and why flexible talent will define the next chapter of brand engagement.

Ep. 197: Clayton Lord, Senior Program Director at SHRM Foundation, Building a Skills First Future for HR

Recorded live at SHRM25 in San Diego, host Tony Buffum speaks with Clayton Lord, Senior Program Director at the SHRM Foundation, about the launch of Skills First Future, a new initiative designed to help HR professionals and employers embrace skills-based hiring and advancement strategies.Clayton explains how the program provides a library of 500+ resources, a Skills Action Planner for personalized assessments, and SHRM’s new credential for skills-first professionals. He also highlights the importance of change management, the role of technology in skills mapping, and why incremental adoption can make a big difference for organizations of all sizes.This episode shows why a skills-first approach is not just a trend but the inevitable direction of HR, and how leaders can take their first steps today.

Ep. 196: Ursula Williams, SIA President, CollaborationX, AI, and the Future of Workforce Solutions

Leaders,Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) President Ursula Williams discusses how staffing and workforce solutions continue to evolve, and how that evolution prompted the reimagination of SIA’s award-winning event. The last five years have brought unexpected swings, and Ursula explains why this feels like a true inflection point, how AI and automation are transitioning from buzz to everyday tools, and why speed and quality now determine who wins.She shares what SIA is seeing across the supply chain, why remote work reshaped competition, and how executives are balancing optimism with real constraints. We also explore SIA’s reimagined CollaborationX, a reimagination reflecting the market’s shift beyond gig models toward a broader, tech-driven ecosystem, and practical ways leaders can stay ahead of what’s next.