Known for his energetic, no-nonsense style, Steve brings a unique blend of humor, straight talk, and hard-earned wisdom to every engagement. Steve Trautman is a leading authority on talent risk management and knowledge transfer. He has built a reputation for helping Fortune 500 companies tackle one of their most overlooked business risks: talent. 

Steve quite literally wrote the book on knowledge transfer (Teach What You Know) and followed it with his definitive work on talent risk (Do You Have WHO It Takes?). His practical, data-driven methodology has been implemented by executives, engineers, and highly specialized experts across industries, geographies, and job levels, from the front line to the boardroom. 

Steve’s expertise is rooted in real-world experience. Early in his career at Microsoft, he led a rapidly scaling technical team and saw firsthand how a lack of knowledge transfer could slow progress and increase risk. He founded an internal department to address these gaps, pioneering systems that still influence his work today. After leaving Microsoft to start his own consulting firm, he was recruited by Expedia to run its online advertising unit, a $20 million business, giving him a front-row seat to the challenges of scaling operations while managing talent.

In 2001, Steve returned to his firm full time, growing it into a trusted resource for corporations and industry leaders navigating change, turnover, and transformation. His tools, including the proprietary Knowledge Silo Matrix (KSM), have helped executives bring visibility and control to areas of the business that were once considered unmanageable.

Whether he’s working with a CEO, a field engineer, or an HR team, his focus is always the same: turn talent risk into a solvable business problem. His work reflects a singular focus: helping organizations move faster and smarter by making talent a source of strength, not vulnerability.