Travis Groom

Travis Groom

Chief of Staff / Director of Operations, Global Talent - Electronic Arts (EA)

Unlike many leaders in talent acquisition, Travis Groom did not begin his career in recruiting.

His professional journey started in the world of advertising and graphic design, where he first discovered a passion for helping people grow and develop.

That passion ultimately became the foundation for the leadership philosophy that continues to shape his work today.

Travis began his career at Apple nearly fifteen years ago, where he was selected to support learning and development initiatives within Apple retail stores.

His role focused on helping employees develop their skills, grow professionally, and unlock their potential.

“That’s really where my passion for learning, development, and growing people started,” Travis shared.

After additional leadership experience at WeWork, Travis joined Electronic Arts six years ago, initially leading learning and development initiatives across the organization.

A few years into his tenure, he was presented with the opportunity to step into a broader leadership role as Chief of Staff for Global Talent and Director of Operations.

That role allowed him to expand his impact beyond employee development and into the full talent lifecycle — from hiring and onboarding to growth, development, and organizational strategy.

“I was presented with the opportunity to make a larger impact on the talent at Electronic Arts,” he explained.

The Leaders Who Shaped His Career

Throughout his career, Travis has been deeply influenced by leaders who challenged him to think bigger, push harder, and step beyond his comfort zone.

One of the earliest and most influential figures in his journey was his college professor, Sigrid Cannon.

While attending art school, Travis recalls Sigrid as one of the toughest instructors in the program — but also one of the most impactful.

“She forced me to think differently,” he explained.

Sigrid intentionally pushed students she believed had potential, placing them into challenging scenarios and exposing them to opportunities beyond what they thought they were capable of handling.

Looking back, Travis credits much of his career growth to the standards and discipline she instilled early on.

“She finally taught me that mediocre wasn’t enough,” he shared.

Another major influence came during his time at the advertising agency DDB Worldwide, where he worked under agency leader Frank Palmer.

Frank gave Travis exposure to multiple sides of the business, including operations, finance, client management, resource management, and pitch support.

That experience broadened Travis’s understanding of organizational leadership and helped him develop a more strategic business mindset.

“He really let me into a lot of things that were going on in the industry,” Travis explained.

More recently, Travis credits his current leadership team at Electronic Arts for continuing to challenge and develop him.

Rather than shielding him from difficult situations, they consistently push him into unfamiliar territory and trust him to figure things out.

“I really appreciate leaders that allow me to grow and push me outside of my comfort zone,” he said.

That philosophy now heavily influences how Travis approaches leadership himself.

His belief is simple: great leaders create environments where people can stretch beyond what they think they are capable of becoming.

Balancing AI With Human Connection

As AI rapidly reshapes recruiting and talent operations, Travis believes the industry is still in the early stages of understanding where AI truly creates value.

“There’s a lot of promise with very little delivery right now,” he explained.

While he sees tremendous potential in AI-powered efficiencies, Travis believes many tools are currently being oversold as complete solutions before they are fully ready for real-world implementation.

At Electronic Arts, Travis and his team are actively evaluating how AI can support recruiting operations while preserving the human aspects of hiring that matter most.

One of the biggest questions organizations are now facing, according to Travis, is where automation should end and human connection should begin.

“Do we want to do interview screens through AI, or should we still keep that in person?” he asked.

While AI can significantly improve processes like candidate matching, interview summaries, and operational workflows, Travis believes recruiting cannot become fully automated without losing something essential.

“You can’t just walk away from the human connections in recruiting,” he said.

Instead of replacing recruiting teams, he sees AI as a tool that can help recruiters move faster, operate more efficiently, and spend more time focusing on meaningful interactions with candidates and employees.

A Strategic Approach to AI

One of Travis’s strongest messages to talent leaders is the importance of approaching AI strategically rather than reactively.

He believes many organizations are rushing into AI adoption simply because of market hype and executive pressure around efficiency gains.

“An AI tool isn’t going to solve your strategy,” Travis emphasized. “It’s going to support a strategy.”

For him, organizations must first establish a strong operational and talent strategy before determining which AI tools actually align with their goals.

Without that foundation, companies risk implementing disconnected technologies that create more confusion than value.

Travis also believes the future of AI in talent management will mirror how other technologies historically evolved in the workplace.

He compares AI to the invention of calculators — not something that replaced people, but something that accelerated certain tasks so humans could focus on higher-value work.

“It just made us faster at processing numbers so we could focus on more important things,” he explained.

That same philosophy shapes how he sees AI evolving across recruiting, talent operations, and workforce management in the years ahead.

His Advice for Talent Leaders in 2026

As AI adoption accelerates, Travis encourages talent leaders to remain thoughtful, skeptical, and intentional about the technologies they implement.

He believes organizations should carefully evaluate whether tools genuinely improve the employee and candidate experience rather than simply chasing efficiency metrics or industry trends.

“Be skeptical of what they’re promising,” he advised.

For Travis, the future of recruiting and talent leadership will not belong to organizations that blindly automate everything.

It will belong to leaders who understand how to balance operational efficiency with human connection, culture, and employee experience.

That combination of strategic thinking, operational leadership, and people-first talent philosophy is exactly what makes Travis Groom a deserving member of the Talent 100.