By Debbie Bolla
HRO Today: What’s the biggest trend you are anticipating for 2026?
Casciotti: I anticipate that succession planning for essential skills and knowledge will be a major trend in 2026. With teams increasingly expected to achieve more with fewer resources and a significant portion of the workforce approaching retirement, organizations must focus on retaining institutional wisdom and effectively training new talent. Ensuring continuity by capturing and transferring vital skills and knowledge will be crucial for organizational success.
HROT: How do you plan on addressing it?
Casciotti: We’re working closely with managers to identify essential skills and knowledge within their teams, developing structured plans for capturing and training on this information. Our approach is to create bite-sized, easily digestible video content to teach specific processes and skills. This method helps employees assimilate and apply new information in manageable increments, fitting it seamlessly into their workday without long interruptions. We’re also exploring how AI can automate repetitive tasks so employees can focus on higher-stakes work that demands their expertise and creativity.
HROT: In what ways are you leveraging AI and what difference is it making?
Casciotti: Our HR team uses AI in several impactful ways right now. It helps us create engaging videos and images that enhance our training programs and internal communications. AI also accelerates our research processes and provides templates and examples for policies, job descriptions, and other documentation. We are currently experimenting with AI-driven HR agents that assist employees in quickly locating specific information within our internal systems to improve efficiency. We’re always exploring other innovative AI applications to refine our internal operations.
HROT: What advice would you give your younger self?
Casciotti: My advice to my younger self would be to start by taking a deep breath whenever a “fire” is brought to your attention. Most situations that seem urgent in the moment often don't require immediate action and may not be as critical as they initially appear. Conduct your own assessment calmly to determine the actual severity and what can be done right away. It's important to understand that sometimes the best course of action is to wait a bit until more information becomes available, reducing stress and allowing for more effective decision-making.
HROT: What's your favorite way to spend your free time?
Casciotti: I love spending my free time with family, ideally soaking up the sun on a beach by the ocean. Traveling to new places is also one of my favorite activities, as it allows us to explore different cultures and create lasting memories together. These experiences offer relaxation and joy, providing a perfect balance to my professional life.