“For those that are entering, or are part of, the human capital profession, it is a very, very important and responsible time for us to jump on board and grab the agenda with the Board and with the CEOs.”

That’s the view of Peter Fasolo, the CHRO of $85 billion-revenue Johnson & Johnson between 2010 and 2024, who sat down with UNLEASH for an in-depth interview during UNLEASH America 2025 in Las Vegas.

During his tenure, Fasolo led the transformation of J&J’s HR function, was part of two CEO successions, involved in “hundreds” of M&A transactions, and most prominently, he says, the “successful separation of our historical consumer business.”

“J&J has never had, nor will it ever want, just a transactional relationship with their employees,” Fasolo states, pointing to the organization’s long-term investment model in its people, something he says he is “very proud of”.

“What I’m most proud of is what we as a company were able to do on behalf of our associates and their families,” he explains, referencing initiatives such as expanded parental leave, military benefits for armed forces members and spouses, bereavement policies, college counselling, and other benefits and pay.

I was very fortunate to work for a company that continues to deeply, deeply respect the people agenda – it is sacred ground, it shouldn’t be trampled.”

Creating a more productive and effective human capital model

Peter Fasolo, former CHRO, Johnson & Johnson

High among Fasolo’s accomplishments at Johnson & Johnson was the transformation of its HR function, driven by a need to take greater advantage of “moving our people around” and to be more effective and productive.

The organization embarked upon a “massive transformation” of its enterprise functions, which resulted in harmonized policies and procedures, and the creation of a global services organization.

Fasolo details that around two-thirds of the company’s HR headcount went into this new setup, and he says he was “very comfortable providing that kind of separation, because I then became an internal client of these world class experts who were doing hiring, employee relations, among other things.”

He adds that this allowed J&J to leverage AI, machine learning and Large Language Models (LLMs) across its HR operations and draw learnings from other departments at the same time.

“What was left was a more focused corporate group that would design the strategy around how you optimally develop leaders in the organization, how you design executive compensation work, how you work with the board,” Fasolo explains.

“HR leaders out in the field were expected now to pick winners, be world class at selecting individuals, doing early identification of talent.

They were expected to work with their line leaders on how to optimally design their organizational structure to make sure that their innovation agendas were fresh and that the mood of the organization, through surveys and other indicators, were indicative of a healthy organization.”

Further work was done to build out “a very, very big data sciences group” that meant any investments in human capital was linked to “the things that P&L leaders and CEOs and boards care deeply about” such as reputation, innovation, revenue, net income, free cash flow, market share.

This, Fasolo adds, meant he was able to demonstrate that “whatever investment we made in the people agenda, moved the agenda forward through the eyes of the P&L leaders.”

Leadership and AI are central to the Future of Work

Having spent well over a decade at C-Suite level in an organization of Johnson & Johnson’s stature, Fasolo says he has learned not to “confuse collaboration with consensus”.

“Collaboration is very important – you need input, you need a perspective by many people around the table. But you should not wait for 100% consensus, especially in leadership positions,” he adds.

Given the incredible pace of change that has occurred in recent years, and that continues to increase, Fasolo believes that HR leaders that want to ensure their seat at the C-Suite table is secure need to move beyond there mere job description.

CHROs need to continue to expand their views of what this role historically has been,” he explains.

“We’re expected to run our function and what I did with my team over a decade was transform that function. You’re expected to provide an environment where leaders can be selected and thrive.”

However, he also warned that successful and unsuccessful executives tend to “look very similar on the surface.” Both may be highly ambitious, Fasolo says, but the “ones to continue to soar on are more likely to be learners.”

He points out that during his time with J&J, Fasolo would meet with the CFO, technology leaders, those in public affairs and policy, and others so that he had a deeper understanding of externals factors impacting the business.

Successful CHROs are also  more likely to have “a greater variety in their background, so that they can draw from those different experiences when they’re facing new situations, they tend to be more solution-oriented than blame-focused, and quite frankly, their interpersonal capabilities tend to be wider, so they’re as comfortable in the boardroom as they are in the shop,” he explains.

“A CHRO needs to be a role model in all of that regard, and that’s why I think this is some of the most consequential times for companies and firms to have CHROs who are stewards and navigators of their company culture their strategy and their upskilling efforts to transform.”

Not only that, but he also highlights that current and future HR leaders will also need to become experts in strategy formation and AI.

Fasolo says there is “no question” that AI will change the workforce and that it is “one of the most consequential forces” in front of workers and organizations today “coursing through corporations at lightning speed.”

He highlights that from an “exciting standpoint” it is the responsibility of companies, such as J&J, to upskill workers to ensure they can “compete inside their firms, or, quite frankly, in their profession.”

“What we’ve said at Johnson & Johnson is we are going to upskill you, and we’ve had a massive effort to make sure that people have an expanded view of AI and machine learning and LLMs.”

Even if these employees choose to move on beyond J&J, Fasolo says they will still have “a clear signal” from the company that “we’re investing in their professional development – that’s good for the companies, but it’s also good for the workforce in general to stay competitive.”

The next three years in particular are some of the most consequential and exciting times for the human capital profession, because we get to be part of defining the future of work, new ways of working and different relationships with our associates,” he concludes.