Ask Khalil Smith, vice president of inclusion, diversity and engagement at Akamai Technologies, about effective DEI programs at the tech giant and he quickly points to two that he is most proud of.

In fact, one of those programs has been featured as a case study by Harvard Business School and centers on a training program for prospective hires to expand its diverse talent pipeline. In addition, Akamai has also been named one of the "Most Just Companies" in the U.S. by CNBC and JUST Capital, and it's also earned a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index.

"We lead with inclusion because that's something we can start doing right now in every single interaction by recognizing diversity and representation, which is incredibly important," Smith said in a recent conversation with HRE during the Workhuman Live conference in San Diego. He adds that the importance of leading with inclusion played a role in determining the name of his team.