Leadership Team

Practitioner Co-Chair

David Hughen is the Founder and CEO of AustinWorkNet, a strategic human capital consulting firm. Most recently he served as Founding Principal of Austin HR, having successfully sold that firm to Asure Software, a publicly traded company, in 2018.

David brings over 30 years’ experience as both a business leader and executive coach. In the past twenty years, his firms have provided services to over 500 organizations in the Central Texas region and beyond, adding significant value to their operations and positively impacting their bottom line. David’s emphasis is on optimizing employee commitment and productivity through highly effective leadership—linked to the organization’s strategic business goals. He has the rare advantage of coaching leaders with a number of early to mid-stage tech companies, a range of larger international firms and the non-profit, mission-driven sector.

In his early career, David led human resource operations of prestigious companies such as Applied Materials, Exterprise, ClearCommerce, NEC Electronics, HelioVolt. He’s authored a number of white papers and co-authored “The Culture Book: When Culture Clicks. A Practical Guide to Building Incredible Corporate Cultures.” He’s consulted into a variety of industries — including public sector, nonprofit, semiconductors, internet, software, hardware, and clean technology.

David holds several certifications in the coaching realm including Columbia University’s prestigious 3CP, the International Coaching Federation’s advanced PCC badge as well as Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Human Resources and Organization Development.