Trent Savage, CHRO at Mountain America Credit Union

Episode notes

From Frontline to Future-Ready: Mountain America’s CHRO on Skills, AI, and the Employee Experience Summary How do you align a frontline-heavy workforce while preparing for AI, labor shortages, and shifting leadership aspirations? Trent Savage, Chief Human Resources Officer at Mountain America Credit Union—the eighth largest credit union in the U.S. with 3,700 employees, 100 branches across five states, and $22B in assets—shares how his team is building a skills-based, AI-ready organization without losing sight of member-centric service. Trent explains why flexibility must be defined by role, how rotating talent through branch roles deepens empathy and performance, and why workforce planning must be tightly integrated with talent pipelines. He details a six-pillar employee experience model tied directly to engagement metrics, a dynamic skills ontology to power internal mobility, and a transparent approach to AI that blends social and technical systems. Expect practical guidance on moving beyond AI dabbling, upskilling for problem-solving work, and preparing leaders and employees for the 2026 shift from pilots to productivity.