As Executive Vice President, Human Resources, Gautam oversees all aspects of UMG’s global human resources operations spanning more than 60 countries, including workforce and leadership planning, employee relations, organizational development, recruiting, people development, diversity initiatives, compensation, benefits, pensions and retirement, union and regulatory frameworks, and information systems.

During a career that spans more than 25 years, Gautam has held leadership positions in management consulting, technology, and entertainment, as well as early growth start-ups and larger, global companies.

Gautam’s career started with SCA Consulting, a boutique executive compensation consultancy focused on value-creating incentive plans, in Los Angeles and New York. He left SCA to join i-drive.com, a social, online storage startup, as Vice President, Finance in San Francisco, where he was responsible for raising venture capital and financial operations. He then joined On2.com, as Vice President, Business Development, a startup focused on the development and sale of compression algorithms for video on the Internet. Following i-drive.com and On2.com, he helped to start, and then eventually wind down, Starbox Systems, which sought to bring peer ratings to video store rental shelves. He later returned to consulting as Principal, Mercer Human Resources Consulting, where he worked with numerous technology company clients to develop incentive plans to focus executives on growth.

In 2004, Gautam joined Advanced Micro Devices and held several general operating positions through 2008, including Vice President, Compensation and Benefits; Vice President and Chief of Staff, Sales and Marketing; and Vice President, Sales and Marketing and Managing Director, Middle East Africa and Pakistan, based in Dubai, where he was responsible for driving corporate, retail, and channel sales; marketing; and public affairs.

In 2009, Gautam joined LSI, a semiconductor company, based in Milpitas, California, as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, and in 2011, he was also named Chief Marketing Officer. He was part of the management team that transformed LSI into a leader in datacenter storage and networking with more than $3B in sales, operations in more than 30 countries, and over 5,000 employees; and later sold LSI to what is now Broadcom, for $6.6 billion. In 2014, he was named Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Shutterfly, where he helped prepare the company to go private, which it eventually did not.

In 2016, Gautam was appointed UMG’s EVP of Human Resources and a member of the company’s Executive Management Board which advises on UMG’s global business strategy development. UMG’s purpose is to develop and bring artists, songwriters, and their music to fans across the world. The company’s business is comprised of recorded music from our iconic labels, Interscope, Republic, Capitol, Motown, EMI, Deutsche Grammaphon, Island, Def Jam, Mercury, Verve, Decca, and Virgin, to name a few; music publishing; merchandising; and audio-visual content. UMG is the world’s leading music company, with nearly $7B in sales, operations across 60 countries, and more than 8,600 employees.

Gautam is based at the company’s headquarters in Santa Monica, where he lives with his wife and their teenage sons.

Jeanne Morris started her SHRM journey over 30 years ago, advancing from roles in accounting to HR strategy and was recently appointed to SVP, Consumer Products.  Jeanne provides leadership and oversight of the design, development, and execution of all consumer products and certification operations businesses. This includes certification preparation, seminars, specialty credentials, eLearning, the People Manager Qualification (PMQ) and credentialing operations. Jeanne and her team are passionate about providing professionals with the tools and knowledge to elevate performance in their workplaces, build resilient teams, and cultivate positive and flourishing cultures.

Bernée is a Gallup-certified talent development coach committed to helping people transform their innate talents into strengths which allow them to do what they do best every day. In her current role at SHRM, she is excited about being a part of the transformation of workplaces into places where employees look forward to going and where they thrive and are actively engaged. Since work is where people spend the vast majority of their waking hours, Bernée believes that when we get work right, the world will be a better place! 

Giselle is the Practice Lead in Optimus SBR’s Learning & Development Group with over 25 years experience as a sought after resource to industry leaders across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors dedicated to building strategies and programs that help clients target, motivate and engage employees in order to increase performance and productivity.

Giselle has devoted more than 20 years to researching the impact that generational differences have on organizational performance, creating solutions and programs in four areas – leadership, high performance teams, early career talent, and reinforcement & sustainment of learning. Giselle has co-authored two books and completed her Master of Arts Degree in Communications Studies at the University of Windsor.

She is Chair of the Board at The Institute for Performance and Learning (I4PL), co-chair of the Cross Academy Association and Advisory Council member at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University.