shiv.at

People Architect · HR Leader · Practitioner

Shiv.

Siva Subramaniam

I build the human systems that make organizations perform when the stakes are highest.

I've spent 15+ years as an HR leader across retail, technology, and manufacturing — delivering talent strategy, leadership development, and executive coaching for global organizations like Amazon.

What I write isn't theory. It's what I've seen work, what I've watched fail, and the frameworks built along the way — a practitioner's lens for HR leaders, founders, and people managers.

Spaces

think.shiv.at →

Essays on people architecture, culture under pressure, and the human OS — plus People Strategy Labs, my newsletter. One framework, one field observation, one question to sit with.

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Working on

The People OS framework. Drafting a comprehensive guide to people architecture — the practitioner's handbook I wish had existed when I started.

HRBP craft at Amazon. Redefining leadership needs for a region, deep in org design work, building forward-looking capability in a fast-moving environment.

Reading

Joyful — Ingrid Fetell Lee. Exploring how design instills joy. Slower than expected, which probably means it's more important than expected.

Working Backwards — Colin Bryar & Bill Carr. Re-reading with different eyes after years inside Amazon's mechanisms.

Thinking about

What AI changes. Not the hype version — the nuts and bolts of capabilities an evolving workforce needs.

The cost of ambiguity. How fragmented ownership quietly destroys high-performance teams, and how few leaders can diagnose it.

A living snapshot · Updated July 2026

Connect

I'm passionate about shaping ideas, running experiments, and mentoring. If you have something on your mind and need a sounding board, reach out with a DM.