San Francisco, California, United States, May 2026 – Rivian has welcomed Jacob Little as Director of People Operational Excellence & AI, strengthening the company’s people leadership capabilities as it continues building future-ready organizational systems aligned with innovation and technology transformation.
Jacob Little brings extensive experience across organizational transformation, people operations, talent strategy, AI-enabled workforce systems, and operational excellence, having led large-scale people transformation initiatives across global technology, retail, and consumer organizations.
Prior to joining Rivian, Jacob served as AVP, People at Cornerstone OnDemand, where he led organization-wide transformation initiatives to prepare the company for AI adoption. He redesigned organizational structures, workflows, and talent systems supporting more than 3,000 employees, helping improve decision-making speed and operational efficiency. He also partnered closely with the C-suite on workforce planning, culture transformation, ESG initiatives, and AI-ready people systems.
Earlier, Jacob spent over three years with Glassdoor in multiple senior leadership roles including Senior Director – People Business Partner & Head of People Experience and Senior Director – Head of People Experience and Talent Acquisition. During this period, he built and scaled People Experience, Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, DEIB, Recruiting Operations, and Employer Branding functions, while strengthening leadership pipelines and employee engagement programs.
Before Glassdoor, he worked with Levi Strauss & Co. as Global Head of Retail Organizational Effectiveness, reporting directly to the Executive Vice President of Global Retail. He led global organization design and operating model initiatives for a retail workforce of more than 30,000 employees across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, while driving AI-powered learning and retail transformation initiatives across over 1,000 stores globally.
Jacob also spent six years with Walmart in leadership roles across organizational development, talent management, and leadership effectiveness. His work included building omni-channel talent strategies, driving digital culture transformation, supporting executive leadership development, and creating large-scale global talent and onboarding programs supporting thousands of employees and leaders across international markets.
Earlier in his career, he worked with the Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics, John Brown University, and other organizations across leadership development, consulting, research, and organizational effectiveness assignments.
Jacob holds an MBA in Business, Leadership, and Ethics from John Brown University.
Rivian is an American electric vehicle manufacturer and automotive technology company focused on building innovative, sustainable mobility solutions. The company is known for its mission-driven approach toward creating products that combine technology, adventure, and environmental responsibility.
Rivian continues to invest heavily in future mobility, advanced technology, operational innovation, and people-centric culture initiatives as it scales globally within the evolving electric vehicle ecosystem.
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