Live from World at Work Total Rewards 2026 with Special Guests Sean Luitjens & Paul Reiman

In this special ‘Swapcast’ episode, Pete and Julie are joined by fellow WrkDefined podcast hosts, Sean Luitjens and Paul Reiman of ‘Totally Rewarding Chats’ for a lively conversation on total rewards, AI, work flexibility, and the changing expectations shaping the workforce.

Recorded live from the annual World at Work Total Rewards event in San Antonio, the conversation starts with the energy of the conference itself, where AI has clearly moved from abstract hype to practical application. Sean and Paul unpack how total rewards, compensation, benefits, payroll, and HR are increasingly converging, and why practitioners need peer communities more than ever as they navigate sensitive workforce data, emerging tools, and rapidly changing employee expectations.

Pete leads the group through three timely workplace debates: the four-day workweek as a benefit and retention lever, the rise of employee resistance to company AI strategies, and Gen Z’s desire for both career ambition and better work-life balance. The discussion gets practical, exploring why flexibility only works when trust, role design, and administration are aligned; why AI adoption fails when leaders frame it as headcount reduction instead of capacity expansion; and why younger workers may not be rejecting hard work as much as redefining the terms under which they are willing to give it.

Connect with Sean, Paul & Totally Rewarding Chats

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulreiman/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-luitjens/

‘Totally Rewarding Chats’: https://wrkdefined.com/podcast/totally-rewarding-chats

Novo Insights: https://www.novoinsights.com/

Salary.com: https://www.salary.com/

Connect with the show:

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0

X: @HRPayroll2_0

X: @PeteTiliakos

X: @JulieFer_HR

BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social