Catherine Petersen
Catherine Petersen
Vice President of Talent - Groundworks
For Catherine Petersen, talent acquisition was never part of the original plan.
Her career began in human resources, where she built a strong foundation as an HR generalist before advancing into leadership roles. Early in her career, she served as a Regional HR Director for Lowe’s, focusing on developing talent, supporting business leaders, and driving organizational performance.
What ultimately changed the trajectory of her career was her ability to consistently identify, attract, and develop talent.
“I was recognized as one of the HR directors who was really successful at finding and developing talent,” Catherine explains.
That success led to an unexpected opportunity.
In 2005, during a period of rapid expansion at Lowe’s, Catherine was selected to lead talent acquisition for the organization on an enterprise-wide level. The role represented a significant shift from regional HR leadership to overseeing recruiting strategy for one of the country’s fastest-growing organizations.
Over the next several years, she helped revitalize and refine the company’s talent acquisition function, creating systems and processes capable of supporting large-scale growth.
“Somehow I was good at it,” she says with a laugh. “And somehow I just stayed in it.”
Making a Difference for Families
While Catherine has spent years building recruiting functions and leading talent teams, her motivation remains remarkably simple.
For her, talent acquisition is fundamentally about helping people provide for their families.
Today, she leads recruiting efforts for Groundworks, an organization with approximately 7,000 employees that hires roughly 5,000 people annually to support its continued growth.
Despite the scale of the operation, Catherine never loses sight of the individual lives behind every hiring decision.
“What gets me up every day is the fact that my team can make a difference for people who just want to do an honest day’s work and provide for their families,” she says.
In a labor market filled with uncertainty, economic shifts, and changing workforce dynamics, she sees recruiting as an opportunity to create stability and opportunity for thousands of individuals every year.
For Catherine, the true impact of talent acquisition extends far beyond business metrics.
Every offer accepted represents a family gaining financial security, career growth, and new possibilities.
Balancing Technology with Human Connection
As AI continues reshaping the recruiting landscape, Catherine believes organizations must be thoughtful about how they implement new technologies.
Over the past several years, she has watched the industry move toward greater automation, with many companies relying increasingly on algorithms, automated workflows, and machine-driven candidate interactions.
While she recognizes the value technology can bring, she also believes organizations must be careful not to lose the human element that makes recruiting effective.
“I’ve seen recruiting shift from human interaction to machine interaction,” she explains.
That concern has shaped the way her own organization approaches technology adoption.
Rather than using AI to replace recruiters or automate decision-making, Catherine focuses on leveraging technology to eliminate administrative tasks and create more time for meaningful candidate engagement.
Her team is currently exploring solutions that can automate candidate communications and repetitive recruiting workflows while preserving the personal interactions that candidates value most.
“The technology should help us spend more time with human beings,” she says.
For Catherine, AI’s greatest value lies in enabling recruiters to become more present, responsive, and relationship-focused—not less.
Every Candidate Is a Customer
As she looks toward the future of talent acquisition, Catherine believes one principle should guide every recruiting team.
Treat every candidate like a customer.
Regardless of whether a candidate receives an offer, she believes the experience they have with an organization can have lasting consequences.
“Every single candidate is a customer,” she says.
Candidates talk to friends, family members, colleagues, and future applicants. They may become customers, referral sources, or even future hires. More importantly, they form opinions about an organization based on how they are treated throughout the hiring process.
For Catherine, creating a positive candidate experience is both good business and the right thing to do.
Even when the outcome is a rejection, candidates who feel respected, informed, and valued are more likely to become advocates for the company.
“If you give someone a positive candidate experience—even with a negative outcome—they can still become your brand ambassador,” she explains.
Advice for Talent Leaders Heading into 2026
As organizations continue balancing technology, efficiency, and workforce demands, Catherine encourages talent leaders to remain focused on the human side of recruiting.
Technology will continue to evolve.
Processes will continue to change.
But relationships remain at the center of successful talent acquisition.
Her advice is straightforward:
Treat candidates with respect.
Invest in the candidate experience.
Remember the families behind every hiring decision.
And use technology as a tool to strengthen—not replace—human connection.
By combining operational excellence, people-first leadership, and a deep commitment to candidate experience, Catherine Petersen continues to demonstrate how talent acquisition can create meaningful impact for both organizations and the people they serve.
