Diane K. Adams

CEO

Raleigh, Durham, United States31 yrs 3 mos experience
Highly Stable

Key Highlights

  • Led HR for companies growing from 3,800 to over 70,000 employees.
  • Authored a book on building inclusive business cultures.
  • Managed HR through 140+ acquisitions and complex transformations.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic leader in Human Resources for high-growth technology companies.

Contact

Skills

Other Skills

Acquisition IntegrationApplicant Tracking SystemsBoard-Level EngagementBuilding High Performance CulturesChange ManagementCompensationCross-functional Team LeadershipDeferred CompensationEmployee EngagementEmployee RelationsEntrepreneurshipHuman ResourcesHuman Resources (HR)Influential Presentations/Speaking EngagementsIntegration

About

A global “culture and talent” executive who builds inclusive, high-performing organizations across technology verticals. Proven track-record of scaling businesses that have tripled, quadrupled or increased their revenue streams 20x during tenures at four public companies (Cisco Systems, Allscripts, Qlik, and Sprinklr). Expertise in leading Fortune 500 Human Resources organizations, as well as fast-growth businesses and companies in transition. Experience managing through complex and challenging business transformations including Pre-IPO to Public, Public to Private, rapid growth and scale (150K+ people hired), merger, and 140+ acquisitions. Author of More than "Casual Fridays and Free Coffee: Building a Business Culture that Works for Everyone" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015 - http://bit.ly/1DvqXmo), with the goal of helping people and companies recognize opportunities to engage and energize their teams, develop creative "Culture and Talent" strategies to meet changing market requirements, and build high-performing values-based, inclusive cultures. Work and accomplishments have been featured or cited in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes and Success magazine, among others. Passionate about inspiring and enabling people and companies to achieve excellence, and motivated by helping others reach their potential – both personally, and professionally. “Get the culture right….and everyone has the opportunity to be extraordinary.”

Experience

Harvard university

Fellow, Advanced Leadership Initiative

Aug 2025Present · 7 mos · Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States · On-site

  • Harvard ALI's vision is to unleash the potential of experienced leaders to help solve society's most pressing challenges. ALI Fellows come to Harvard and embark on a year-long immersion in inter-disciplinary academic learning, leadership development, and peer-to-peer collaboration.
  • https://www.advancedleadership.harvard.edu/

Forbes human resources council

Member

Aug 2022Present · 3 yrs 7 mos

Betterworks

Betterworks "The Future of Work" Advisory Council Member

Sep 2019Present · 6 yrs 6 mos

  • BetterWorks is the solution of choice for forward-thinking HR and organizational leaders who want to motivate and engage their employees within a positive company culture of transparency, accountability and continuous employee development. The BetterWorks software suite helps organizations achieve goal transparency and alignment alongside the necessary, meaningful, ongoing conversations between managers and employees on progress, recognition and development.

Sprinklr

Chief Culture and Talent Officer

Apr 2018Feb 2025 · 6 yrs 10 mos · Greater New York City Area

  • Served as the Chief Culture and Talent Officer for Sprinklr, the unified platform for all customer-facing functions. Unified-CXM. I led the Culture and Talent team (otherwise known as human resources) and my team's focus was on accelerating the growth of a high-performance and inclusive culture.

Mcgraw-hill education

Chief Culture and Talent Officer (CHRO)

Nov 2016Mar 2018 · 1 yr 4 mos · NYC

  • Chief Culture and Talent Officer for McGraw-Hill Education with major responsibilities that included building a great workforce culture and accelerating company performance, as well as human resources responsibilities for talent development and succession planning, talent acquisition, organization development, change management, total rewards, and data analytics. Highlights include creating the company’s Core Values with global team member input; launching an aggressive learning and development agenda tied to MHE’s Core Values; greatly expanding benefits and wellness options in a cost-effective manner; and, creating a culture around diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Qlik

Chief People Officer

Jun 2013Oct 2016 · 3 yrs 4 mos · Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina Area

  • I led the global human resources organization of Qlik, one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the world with more than 2,300 people around the globe. We focused on building the Qlik culture --a values-based, high-performance culture that promotes innovation, learning and "making a difference" with our customers and in our communities. My team and I were responsible for creating and implementing innovative HR strategies that scale with rapid growth, include recruitment, total rewards, talent and executive development, HR systems and operations, and workforce analytics.

Breakthrough t1d

Director Emeritus

Jan 2009Present · 17 yrs 2 mos

  • As we drive toward curing type 1 diabetes, we help make everyday life better for the people who face it.

Allscripts

EVP, Culture and Talent

Jan 2009Jan 2013 · 4 yrs

  • In this role, I was accountable for shaping the human resources vision, culture, talent and executive development strategies that enabled Allscripts to meet rapidly-changing business and market requirements. My team focused on building a values-based, high-performance environment where people, learning and fun were the priorities. Since joining Allscripts in 2009, the "Culture and Talent" team led the people integration effort created by the company’s back-to-back acquisitions of Misys and Eclipsys, the largest such effort in healthcare IT. During my tenure, the company tripled in size from 2,000 to 7,000 people while revenues jumped from $548.4M to $1.444B in 2011. Additional highlights included hiring approximately 6,000 people, investing in robust leadership and development programs, improving year-over-year employee satisfaction, implementing a rich communications strategy and intranet focused on open two-way communications, and building a leading philanthropy program.

Cisco systems

VP, Human Resources

Jan 1995Jan 2009 · 14 yrs

  • Before joining Allscripts, I held the dual role of Vice President of Human Resources, International and Vice President, Human Resources, Worldwide Sales. During my 14-year tenure, the company grew from 3,800 employees to more than 70,000 while revenues jumped from $2.2B to $40B+. My team provided Human Resources leadership for 35,000 employees in 152 countries. Partnering with leadership, my team successfully hired over 40,000 people. A strong proponent of the company's Inclusion Initiative, I worked across Cisco to promote a culture of inclusion, trust and mutual respect. A key highlight was shaping the high-performance culture early in Cisco's journey through developing innovative hiring, rewards and recognition, talent development, performance management, philanthropy and internal communications strategies.

Education

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.)

Harvard University

Aug 2025Jun 2026

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