Inspired to Aspire: Great Place to Work’s For All Summit 2025

Glitz, glam, and the afterglow of the world's greatest places to work. The empowering swell of a collective purpose washes over you like a wave from the moment you arrive on site until the closing keynote, carrying you through the intertwined hallways of Hilton's Resorts World. This year's For All Summit was brought to you by way of fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, and it was another masterfully executed week to inspire action for good, led by industry titans of aspirational workplace culture.

For me, this experience always begins with brand. Digital marquees, flawless interlude films, and immersive music elevate the senses to make you fully believe that this is, in fact, the new business as usual—our unified calling card this summit. It also establishes the personal benchmark that getting your own "walk-up song" after an on-stage introduction is the definition of making it in 2025.

It was as exciting as ever to represent Cadence, Fortune's #11 Best Place to Work, and exchange best practices with some of the most highly regarded companies at one of the most highly regarded gatherings of business leaders.

It's also exciting to begin an all-new research partnership with Great Place to Work, focusing on AI readiness in the workplace. This will be our second such endeavor as a founding partner, having recently concluded a three-year cohort experiment, The Great Transformation, which provided participating businesses with mindset-shifting results. Anirudh Devgan, Cadence's president and CEO, touched on the initiative during his keynote interview with Michael C. Bush, Global CEO at Great Place to Work. During the session, they also spoke about some of the technical aspects of Cadence's innovative technology, how it impacts the pace of development for our customers, and why our people are the driving force behind our products remaining on the cutting edge.

The breadth of focus sessions across the two-day event also showcased a cross-section of industries represented at the summit and how these organizations have become leading workplaces in their own ways. If last year's breakout takeaway was "trust," then this year's were certainly "listening" and "humanity." From Delta Airlines to DHL, and Hilton to Edward Jones, they all shared a common vision to put their people first, whether it's giving them the tools to do their jobs or creating an environment where everyone can thrive, even if the avenues they travel to achieve that vision are paved differently. I think Laura Fuentes, Chief Human Resources Officer at Hilton, and Penny Pennington, Managing Partner at Edward Jones, both encapsulated this mindset. Laura stated, "There's always time to listen, and listen like a human." Penny commented on the integration of AI in the workplace with the understanding that to "automate the ordinary is to humanize the extraordinary."

A special session was led by Beau Davidson, vice president of Employee Experience at NVIDIA. His insight on active listening as an employer through open suggestion boxes, asking the right questions on pulse surveys, and continuous implementation of change based on feedback, as opposed to isolated cycles of gathering information and providing solutions, was another example of the people-first momentum being generated by perennial Top 5-ranked companies.

As we wrapped up the final general session, the audience greeted Jon M. Chu, award-winning director of films such as Wicked and Crazy Rich Asians, and Ellen McGirt, editor-in-chief at Design Observer, for a conversation about creativity, storytelling, and finding your strengths in order to succeed. Having grown up in the Bay Area, Jon walked us through his filmmaking journey with hilarious candor, as he told an impromptu story of what ultimately became his big break, directing Step Up 2. By this point in the interview, he had mentioned that his first brush with Hollywood was being discovered as an up-and-coming director by Steven Spielberg. Understandably, I can see how being recognized by your hero could lead to an inflated sense of self, and Jon admitted that he initially wanted to turn down the offer to direct Step Up 2 because it was not slated to be released in theaters. "I was discovered by Steven Spielberg," he said, "I don't do straight to DVD." Fortunately, after some further consideration (read: a conversation with his mother), Jon did sign on to the project, and it became a hit, adding propulsion to his upward trajectory. Even though Step Up 2 did in fact make it into theaters for its release, he made the decision after coming to the realization that being a great storyteller means that you tell it anywhere, whether it's on stage, in a commercial, by a campfire… or on DVD. The career advice section focused on his industry education in becoming an effective communicator.

While Jon's example was specific to a movie set, the concept of conveying your vision to someone with the expertise to bring it to life easily translates to any of us working on or managing teams with colleagues who possess different skillsets. At Cadence, we believe that open dialogue and honest communication are essential components of our high-performance culture. Great companies foster trust early on, support their employees, and enhance customer experiences by ensuring consistent alignment on goals and a shared understanding of their values.

After this year's summit, I feel like I'm returning with a sense of inspiration through aspiration. Continuing to add value and opportunity for our employees to engage in our programs and with each other, as well as elevating our One Team culture, are goals that I'll carry forward thanks to the speakers and insights gained from the conference. We're accomplishing great things at Cadence and are proud of our incredible, global team. Our employees help tell Cadence's story every day and are truly the reason why we've been named a Great Place to Work for the past 11 years. I agree with Julian Lute, insights and innovations strategist at Great Place to Work, who said, "Let's run it back," in reference to 2025's Summit successes. Let's run it back by continuing to give all employees a world-class experience and encourage them to contribute in a way that showcases their strengths, because everyone does better when everyone does better.

Let's run it back, and see you next year.

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