Kristin Paul
Senior Vice President of Total Talent, Maximus
One of Kristin Paul’s proudest accomplishments has been helping turn the future of work from a concept into a workforce strategy. Paul’s team is creating a framework to understand how jobs, skills and technology will evolve, and they are building the capabilities the workforce will need to succeed. This work is helping ensure that Maximus’ people and its business are ready for the opportunities created by a rapidly evolving technology landscape.
“What makes Kristin exceptional is her ability to see around corners,” said Michelle Link, CHRO at Maximus. “She understands that the future of work is about more than technology.
“It’s about preparing people, evolving skills and reimagining how organizations operate and work is done. Her leadership is helping position Maximus to navigate one of the most significant workforce transformations of our time, and she is setting an example for how HR leaders can drive meaningful business impact in the process.”
Maximus is also helping government customers operate more efficiently by preparing its workforce for the changing nature of work itself. That means identifying emerging skill needs, accelerating adoption of AI-enabled ways of working, and creating greater agility in how talent is deployed to meet the mission needs of government partners.
By helping people and technology work together more effectively, Maximus can improve speed, innovation and service delivery across the programs it supports, she said.
Why Watch
Paul and her team are focused on migrating the company’s talent — not just technology — toward AI-enabled ways of working. That means re-envisioning and deconstructing priority roles into the human-plus-AI task mix, identifying the capabilities they will need by 2030 and closing those gaps deliberately, and building the data foundation to forecast workforce demand before new work is won rather than after. The goal is a workforce that is ready for the work ahead, not reacting to it.
“Leaders are experiencing an unprecedented pace of change and disruption,” Paul said. “It can feel daunting, but with the right mindset, it’s equally exciting and a chance to leverage learning agility. I’m fortunate to be surrounded by — and partner with — an amazing team of thought leaders I leverage often to help shape our future strategy.”
Fun fact: After she finished getting her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she packed two suitcases and moved to Oahu with enough money to live for one month and ended up staying for three years.