For someone who calls herself an introvert, Tina Salgado is really good with people—both listening to them and leading them.

As the change management lead in New York Tech’s Information Technology Services, Salgado leads the change strategy and execution for Project WIN: Workday Implementation Now, an institution-wide initiative to transform the university’s human resources, payroll, and finance systems and processes. Since joining New York Tech in 2023, Salgado has been developing a plan to help the community smoothly transition to Workday by July 2025.

Learn more about Salgado and her approach to building trust and ensuring the community feels comfortable with the new system.

What does a change management lead do?
My responsibility is to bring technology and people together. As the change manager, I look at the people side of change. I work with stakeholders on how the change will impact them. We can have successful projects, but if people aren’t comfortable using the new system or they use workarounds, they aren’t getting the value of the system. My role is to help the institution manage the human side of change to ensure a smooth transition from the current state to the desired future state.

What challenges do you anticipate in this project?
People are hesitant about it because they’re wondering, “How will this change impact me?” We just started the project, so people haven’t heard a lot about the transition yet. They might describe it as building an airplane as it’s taking off. They don’t see the end yet.  

How will you help employees understand the goal?
I like listening. I try to understand people’s concerns and learn the technology. Then, we can bridge that gap. People don’t mind change; it’s the process we’re frustrated with. Change management helps with that process. We created web pages which will be a valuable resource for engagement, knowledge-sharing, and training. We will start to have more town halls, demonstrations, newsletters, and training as we progress.

How will Workday benefit the university?
Workday is a unified platform for human resources, finance, and payroll. It’s an all-in-one source for information, so we will have increased accuracy and streamlined processes through automation. We’ll no longer have lots of spreadsheets. The administrative burden will be reduced because the reporting function is robust.

How did you find your way into change management?
I’ve been doing it all my life. In high school, I took auto mechanics because I wanted to understand how things worked—and how I can explain it to people who don’t understand how it works.

I first crafted my skillset at a large insurance company, and then I went into consulting, where I had several clients in change management implementing Workday.

Do you consider yourself a technical person?
My bachelor’s and master’s degrees are in business management, which naturally leads to leadership. My aspiration is IT, which is technical, but I’m not the person who is coding. My expertise is leading and understanding what needs to get done. I want to understand the process and how it will impact people. My journey has pushed me toward the IT realm because that’s where implementations are happening.

This interview has been edited.