Tony Buffum

My passion is to motivate and empower HR practitioners to challenge the status quo, embrace technology, and be champions of change that impacts talent and performance throughout the organization.

What motivates me professionally is being able to influence leaders toward positive change. I consult CEOs and other executives to help them make strategic decisions for the betterment of their people and organizations. I advise HR leaders to identify and embrace new models, technologies, and practices that optimize performance of the HR function and the entire enterprise. I advise new HR Tech companies on how best to target their solutions to address the unmet needs of the HR function and connect them to early-adopters.

I also enjoy supporting small to medium organizations along their HR maturation journey, by helping them establish the building blocks of the HR function through projects or fractional leadership, and providing HR and executive coaching to their leaders.

After more than 20 years as an HR learner and leader, I've been motivated by the great strides the function has made amidst the great changes for employers and talent alike. I'm even more inspired and excited about what the next 20 years has in store, and I aim to prepare leaders across functions, industries, and regions to embrace these changes to optimise performance for the future. I meet with hundreds of executives annually, across more than 20 conferences in HR, HR Tech, Private Equity, and Future of Work — executives trying to solve for engagement, technology, and productivity at the same time. I meet with dozens of new businesses to understand and advise on how they can help fill these gaps and deliver the productivity promise while enabling the necessary agility for the modern marketplace. And I love it.

The HR profession is my inspiration, and I live a life of advocation — for the future that sheds decades-old paradigms and practices and leans into the modern way of work. My public speaking resembles this both in data and passion.

Others would describe me as a charismatic and transformational leader. I am an energizer and solutions-oriented. I'm about what's next vs how it's always been. I can be pretty direct, but also tactful, and others appreciate my honest and direct approach combined with my empathy and understanding of change management and data-driven, collaborative approach.