PepsiCo CPO says their ‘secret sauce’ to hiring top talent is that they all have hustle—And are agile and curious in the AI era
PepsiCo's Chief People Officer, Becky Schmitt, emphasizes the importance of human skills in hiring amid the AI transformation. The company seeks candidates with hustle, curiosity, and problem-solving abilities while also valuing technical skills. Schmitt believes that innovation will come from people leveraging technology effectively.
- ▪Employers are adjusting hiring criteria in response to the rise of AI, focusing on human intuition and empathy.
- ▪PepsiCo is looking for talent that embodies hustle and curiosity, alongside traditional skills.
- ▪Soft skills are increasingly in demand, with a LinkedIn report highlighting their importance in the job market.
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| Original publisher | Fortune |
| Canonical URL | https://fortune.com/2026/05/25/pepsico-cpo-becky-schmitt-secret-sauce-hiring-top-talent-all-hustle-agile-curious-ai-era/ |
| Publication time | Mon, 25 May 2026 10:55:00 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-25T11:17:36.634Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-25T11:17:36.634Z |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Employers are shifting their hiring requirements in the AI era; while some are seeking vibe coding and prompting skills, others are doubling down on human intuition and empathy. Becky Schmitt, the chief people officer at PepsiCo, says the legacy brand is still looking for old-school skills as it shifts gears amid its current tech transformation. Recommended Video “There’s a couple things that are part of our secret sauce, and I’m sure a lot of companies would say this, but our people have hustle,” Schmitt recently said onstage at Fortune’s Workplace Innovation Summit.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Fortune.
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