ABOUT

A woman with blonde hair and blue eyes standing on a city sidewalk with tall buildings in the background, wearing a brown top and looking at the camera.

Who I Am

I work at the intersection of applied psychology, human systems, and workforce transformation. I help people reinvent their careers and identities, and I help organizations make better decisions about talent, leadership, and capability in a rapidly changing labor landscape.

I translate complex workforce dynamics into actionable clarity and direction — for both individuals navigating personal transition and companies adapting to structural change.

I don’t believe people are “broken.” I believe systems are outdated, and individuals are hitting the edges of those systems faster than institutions can adapt. My work is about bridging that gap — developing the mindset, language, and strategy for humans to navigate transformational periods with clarity instead of chaos.

Crunchbase: The Wildfire Group

Crunchbase: Keri Tietjen Smith

Experience That Actually Matters

I’ve spent over 20 years inside real hiring systems, building and operating talent infrastructure — not just observing it. At NetSuite, I helped scale the company from roughly 400 employees to more than 5,000 by developing hiring operations and capability-based decision-making frameworks that supported hypergrowth.

I’ve advised CEOs, founders, technologists, and executives across SaaS, AI, enterprise, and public sector environments. I’ve seen hiring from every angle — from the ground floor of operational chaos to the strategic level of workforce architecture.

When I speak about the future of work or identity evolution, it’s not theoretical. It’s grounded in lived systems experience.

My Journey

I also know what it takes to rebuild from scratch.

I spent fifteen years as a military spouse, married at nineteen, raising kids while relocating every few years. When my marriage ended at thirty five, I sold everything and spent four years as a digital nomad, traveling to more than forty countries and living in ten of them while working remotely, while single-handedly paid for my sons college.

Then life hit harder than I ever imagined. My father died suddenly at 68. One year later, my sisters and I were caring for my mother through her sudden stroke at 68 until she passed away, 10 months later. Two weeks later, my grandmother followed her. During that time, I went through multiple tech layoffs and lost nearly everything financially. I lost both parents in their sixties, my financial stability, and the years I had planned to build a retirement cushion

But I didn’t stay in the wreckage. I rebuilt again with the same principles I teach. Systematic thinking. Adaptability. The willingness to face hard truths and move anyway.

My Approach

My work integrates:

applied psychology
organizational behavior
identity transformation
talent strategy
decision science
generational psychology
labor market dynamics
AI in hiring and evaluation systems

I don’t treat people as job titles or resumes. I see capability, potential, and evolving identity. And I help others learn to see it too — both in themselves and in others.

Frameworks I’ve Developed

These aren’t borrowed or recycled ideas — they are original models I’ve designed and applied:

AI-Ready TA Leader Model
For integrating human judgment with machine intelligence in hiring.
Hiring System Reality Stack
For diagnosing where talent processes break down and how to fix them
Capability vs Credentials Diagnostic
For identifying real potential beyond job history or formal qualifications.
Organizational Identity Realignment Map
For companies adjusting to new market, cultural, and technological realities.

These frameworks have been used by leaders, executives, hiring teams, and professionals confronting the instability of modern work.

What I’m Working On Now

helping executives rethink capability and talent
guiding individuals through identity reinvention
advising companies on the future of hiring and workforce design
writing about the psychological and structural forces shaping the future of work
building a body of research on how AI is reshaping human economic identity

This isn’t a side profession or hobby. It’s the focus of my life’s work.

How People Experience Working With Me

“Keri sees human capability before the résumé does. She helped us make better hiring decisions than any ATS or algorithm ever did.”

“Working with her reframed how I think about identity and leadership — it unlocked an entirely new direction in my career.”

Author

My published work explores psychology, identity transformation, human systems, and the future of work. My writing and commentary appear across 15+ publications:

Creator of the AI-Ready TA Leader Model
Publisher of serialized essays on human systems, applied psychology, and cultural reinvention
Contributor of analysis on AI-driven hiring autonomy and workforce ethics
Host of dialogue-based narrative formats exploring human evolution and identity shifts