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

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 Pepsi Co, says the legacy brand is still looking for old-school skills as it shifts gears amid its current tech transformation. “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. “How do you solve problems? How do you have that internal fortitude to work through it? How are you curious? Are you always asking questions?” PepsiCo is known as a breeding ground for the next generation of Fortune 500 leaders, minting CEOs like Target’s Brian Cornell, McDonald’s Chris Kempczinski, and Delta Air Lines’ Ed Bastian, to name a few. And the company’s CPO wants to keep a dynamic profile in hiring and shaping great leaders at the company, whether or not they stay or move on to other titans of industry. Schmitt explains that PepsiCo is on the hunt for talent in which both parties feed into one another’s success. “I think that it’s really about, what’s the person’s education—the one they come with, [and] the one we provide? What exposure can we give them?” the executive said. “How are we modifying our evaluation process so we’re finding these jewels wherever they sit in the organization?…It’s the kind of work all HR professionals really want to do.” Core human skills have become a hot-ticket item among some employers as AI increasingly automates technical tasks. While tech tools write code, handle meeting notes, and synthesize documents in minutes, people’s natural talents will find new room to thrive. Seven of the top 10 skills on the rise last year were soft skills, according to a 2025 LinkedIn report, including conflict mitigation, adaptability, and publ