Tom McCarty, CEO of OrgChart, joins William Tincup and Ryan Leary live at SHRM 2025 in San Diego to talk org charts, AI fears, and why spreadsheets are failing HR. The trio digs into how HR teams can own strategic workforce decisions when given the right tools—and what happens when finance tries to go it alone. Tom shares how OrgChart helps HR visualize both present and future states of the org so they can lead with insight, not outdated data.

From Dell call centers to coaching trees in football, Tom opens up about what drives him: creating life-changing opportunities. He recounts a transformational moment from early in his career that shaped how he leads today—and why investing in people always pays off. This episode hits on the tension between tech and trust, the risk of modeling people like numbers, and the irreplaceable superpower of HR pros who do more with less.

Timestamps

00:00 — Tom McCarty joins from the floor at SHRM 2025 in San Diego

01:00 — How OrgChart helps HR visualize current and future org structures

02:30 — Why modeling workforce changes needs more than a spreadsheet

04:00 — AI in HR: where it’s being embraced and where fear still lingers

05:00 — Sensitive data, slow adoption, and the AI trust gap

06:00 — Finance wants in—why people data is becoming a CFO priority

07:15 — Spreadsheets vs org charts: the fight for visibility and accuracy

08:30 — HR + finance collaboration: shared goals, different tools

09:30 — Who HR heroes really are and why doing more with less defines them

10:30 — Tom’s superpower and why coaching beats managing

11:30 — College football analogies and coaching trees as leadership models

14:30 — A moment at Dell that changed how Tom views opportunity

16:30 — The ripple effect of lifting people up—inside and outside of work

This episode was recorded live with isolved at the SHRM Annual Conference in San Diego.

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.

Learn more about isolved: ⁠https://www.isolvedhcm.com/⁠

Connect with Us:

William Tincup LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/⁠
Ryan Leary LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/⁠

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Site: ⁠http://www.wrkdefined.com⁠
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Workforce planning meets real life: Tom McCarty on empowering HR with better org design tools

Workforce planning meets real life: Tom McCarty on empowering HR with better org design tools

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