Gretchen A. Schoser blends talent tech, wellness and AI education

Gretchen A. Schoser, founder of Schoser Talent & Wellness Solutions in Groton, New York, is building a business around UKG consulting, workplace wellness and responsible AI training. Her work includes free rural AI classes, a new conference workshop and a growing focus on helping small organizations adopt technology without leaving people behind.

Why it matters: - Schoser’s work sits at the intersection of hiring technology, employee wellness and responsible AI, three areas many organizations now have to manage together. - Her focus on Rural America addresses a gap in AI access for small businesses, nonprofits, educators, older adults and community groups outside major metro areas. - Her consulting and teaching are aimed at making technology adoption more usable, less stressful and more human-centered.

What happened: - Gretchen A. Schoser is founder and principal consultant of Schoser Talent and Wellness Solutions in Groton, New York. - She launched the company in January 2025 and has since worked with clients in law, food service, mental health, manufacturing and financial advising. - Her background includes more than four decades in technology and more than 18 years in the UKG ecosystem. - Schoser also serves as co-host and business manager of the global mental health podcast Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads. - She is available for UKG consulting, responsible AI training, keynote speaking, panels, media interviews, career coaching and wellness partnerships.

The details: - Schoser Talent and Wellness Solutions supports small and midsize organizations with UKG Recruiting and Onboarding, UKG Pro and UKG Ready implementations, talent acquisition strategy, process improvement, employee experience, change management, workplace wellness and team training. - A recent project included building a competency framework with 40 competencies across nine job families for a national advisory firm’s performance review rollout. - The company is accredited by the Better Business Bureau. - Schoser has taught nine free AI classes at the Groton Public Library since December 2025. - Those sessions are kept small, with five to 10 people, to create a low-pressure setting for beginners. - She has also led AI sessions for Chambers of Commerce in Tompkins and Cortland counties, Rotary and local business groups. - Schoser created Learning AI With Gretchen, a free beginner-friendly application for users ages eight and older. - She builds practical apps and educational tools using no-code and vibe-coding platforms. - Her AI training covers privacy, data protection, bias, accuracy, verification, intellectual ownership and human judgment. - She is set to present “Getting Comfortable and Staying Safe with A.I.” on Aug. 6, 2026, for the Tompkins Chamber. - She was selected to speak at the 2026 LWTSUMMIT in New York City on Oct. 5-7, 2026. - Her workshop there, “AI as a Thought Partner: Reducing Overwhelm, Protecting Mental Health, and Working Smarter,” is aimed at women and nonbinary technologists, founders, executives, managers, operators and team builders. - She is building the SHIFT Thought Partner app around her SHIFT framework: Spot the load, Halt, Instruct clearly, Filter the output and Take the human step.

Between the lines: - Schoser’s message is that workplace change usually fails because people were not asked, trained or given a clear reason for the change, not because the software was flawed. - Her rural AI work reframes the conversation from “catching up” to recognizing the strengths and needs of smaller communities. - Her approach treats AI as a tool to reduce overload and support decision-making, not replace human expertise. - Her mental health advocacy is tied to lived experience, including a suicide attempt and a crisis in 2022 that reshaped her approach to work and leadership. - She has turned that experience into a broader view that employee well-being depends on workload, communication, culture and the tools people use every day. - Schoser says the crowded AI and consulting market makes trust, authenticity and real relationships more important for buyers.

What's next: - Schoser plans to continue expanding AI education, especially for rural communities and small organizations. - She is developing the SHIFT Thought Partner app to extend her conference workshop beyond a single session. - Her memoir on concealed depression, mental health crisis and recovery is in editing. - She expects demand to grow for partners who can connect technology, people and workplace culture without sacrificing well-being.

The bottom line: - Schoser is building a consulting and education platform around a single idea: technology should help people do better work without losing their humanity.