Humans of Tech - Maria Cartagena

What do you learn when you’ve helped build teams through rapid scale, personal setbacks, and shifting workplace norms? If you’re Maria Cartagena, you walk away with a clear sense of what matters: trust, flexibility, and people-first leadership.

Maria has led People & Talent functions at several Canadian scale-ups. Today, she works as an advisor to CEOs and leadership teams navigating key inflection points-offering not just HR advice, but strategic guidance.

“It’s project-based,” she explains. “It’s not about being a fractional HR person, it’s about solving a problem.”

That problem might be how to structure a fast-scaling team, how to bring clarity to leadership roles, or how to build culture intentionally before it breaks. In her words: “I help build companies. I work alongside the CEO and leadership team to carve the path forward. And a strong people strategy is a non-negotiable part of that journey.”

A Career Grounded in Curiosity and Respect

Maria didn’t come into tech for the startups or the gadgets, it was the people, especially engineers, that drew her in.

“They do things I can’t even begin to do. I’ve always admired that.” Whether working with biomedical engineers in a hospital or software developers in a tech startup, she found her place by complementing their technical expertise with her strength in building human systems. “They may struggle with the people side, and that’s where I come in.”

That mutual respect has kept her grounded in the tech sector, and it started early. As a University student, she was working with engineers and architects on RFPs for mass transit infrastructure projects—writing proposals by night in order to fund her education. Along the way, she learned to collaborate across disciplines.

Trust Is the Foundation

Some of the most pivotal moments in Maria’s leadership journey didn’t happen in an office—they happened in real life.

When her mother became ill and eventually passed away, Maria was just starting her HR career. She remembers which employers offered compassion and flexibility, and which didn’t. That shaped her philosophy as a leader.

“Trust is the foundation,” she says. “People will forget their raise from last year, but they’ll never forget how they were treated when it mattered most.”

Her own fertility journey further deepened this perspective. “Support doesn’t cost you. If you trust your people and give them the flexibility they need, they’ll give you their best in return.”

Maria also believes in building what she calls “trust equity”—a reserve of goodwill earned through consistently doing right by your people. “If you hire well and trust your employees, everything else becomes easier—whether it’s navigating challenges, layoffs, or hard business decisions. Trust equity is what gets you through.”

Resilience Built From Setbacks

One of the more difficult moments in Maria’s career came when she was working under a CEO who challenged her credibility and attempted to undermine her relationship with the board.

“I was the one giving hard feedback, raising warning flags. And I paid the price.”

It could’ve been a detour. Instead, it became fuel.

“I decided every company I touched from then on would be a success. I had something to prove — to myself, to the market, to the people who doubted me.”

The Future Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All

Long before remote work became standard, Maria was championing flexibility.

At Kira, an AI document and contract analysis company she helped build, remote-first wasn’t a perk, it was a practical choice. “There was no money for office space in the early days. When we could eventually afford office space, teams set their own rhythms. Some came in every day. Some twice a month.”

“Through Kira's growth as a company, we didn’t mandate anything. We focused on building leaders who knew how to manage performance, not presence.”

And even with complete flexibility? “ Pre-covid, 90% of people still chose to come into the office,” she notes. “They believed in our culture. They trusted their coworkers. And we hired really well.”

Now, as companies revisit in-person mandates, Maria is clear: “We’ve already learned that people don’t respond well to mandates. The future is flexible because life is complicated, and good work can happen anywhere.” Maria is not against aspiring to meeting in person, but rather being intentional about that time. She shares, " I think companies should still aspire to meet in person, but really focus on building up the skills of their leaders to be able to manage performance and not presence as good work can happen anywhere, and the market for talent will continue to be difficult. They will need to go where the talent is, vs them coming to you."

Rapid Fire with Maria

Your leadership style in a few words?
“Collaborative, Execution Excellence, and Communicative.”  

One piece of tech you wish existed today?
“An HRIS that actually worked the way HR needs it to and better tech for diabetes management.”