The HR Digi Podcast

Anna Carlsson breaks down why many HR vendors can’t deliver real AI: old architectures, bolt-on solutions, and unclear roadmaps. She explains the crucial difference between promised directions and actual delivered features, and why you must verify what’s live today.

Learn the three questions to ask vendors, how EU AI Act transparency affects HR tools, and practical steps — from checking architecture to insisting on governance, accountability and realistic cost estimates — so your organisation gets AI that works securely with your data.

All of Anna's upcoming events: https://www.hrdigi.se/nyheter-eng/events

The HR Digi newsletter: https://go.hrdigi.se/newsletter

Anna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annascarlsson/

Talk it through with Anna: https://calendly.com/mot-anna-carlsson

Anna Carlsson has released two things that belong together: the free report From Structure to Value, HR priorities for 2027, and Spihra, the model and tool behind it, built together with Åsa Landin at People Dimension.

In this episode, Anna takes you through the thinking behind the report, why structure is not the same thing as value, and why the real return on HR technology, data and AI comes later in the journey than most organisations expect.

She then explains how Spihra works underneath, what it measures, how the business case is built and why the second measurement matters. She covers the five levels of maturity, the twelve dimensions and eleven enabling factors, and how the model is used to identify where an organisation is today, where it should be heading and what needs to happen in between.

The episode ends with three priorities for 2027 and a simple way to find out where your own organisation stands.

Anna Carlsson reports from a roundtable with senior talent acquisition leaders about how fast AI has already reshaped hiring: candidates, recruiters, hiring managers and organisations have all changed in about two years, bringing challenges like fake candidates, bias and collapsing signals. The episode explores allowing AI openly, designing assessments that test reasoning, and using AI for administrative tasks while keeping humans in judgment roles.

Practical takeaways include thinking carefully before implementing AI, educating stakeholders, prioritising trust and transparency, clarifying processes, and taking small, evaluated steps to adopt AI ethically and effectively.

Links and events mentioned in the episode:

Teamdash, who brought the roundtable together: https://www.teamdash.com/

HR Technology Conference, Las Vegas in October, where Anna is leading an Ask the Experts session on setting AI guardrails in HR without slowing adoption: https://www.hrtechnologyconference.com/

All of Anna's upcoming events: https://www.hrdigi.se/en/news

The HR Digi newsletter: https://go.hrdigi.se/newsletter

Anna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annascarlsson/

Talk it through with Anna: https://calendly.com/mot-anna-carlsson

Anna Carlsson explains how the EU's updated AI Act guidance, the rapid rise in shadow AI, and the upcoming Pay Transparency deadline all point to the same core HR data challenge: a lack of clean, documented role, level and pay criteria.

The episode covers practical next steps: map your AI tools against the Annex III high-risk categories, build a role-and-level structure, set up AI oversight and traceability, and use the extra time to get ahead instead of just delaying the work.

Anna Carlsson reflects on HR Tech Europe 2026 and how the AI conversation has shifted from tools to leadership, data and orchestration. The episode highlights the gap between personal AI use and enterprise adoption, the importance of clean and connected data, and the need for leaders to own AI-driven change.

Practical takeaways include separating personal and enterprise AI, prioritising data and integration, choosing vendors that think ecosystem-first, and treating AI as a leadership topic, not a delegated one.

Mentioned in this episode:

Most HR organisations feel like they've arrived. Systems work, managers are satisfied, AI pilots are running. But there's an invisible wall between where they are and where the real strategic value lives — and almost no one crosses it.

Anna reports from HR Tech Norge in Oslo, where 87% of almost 300 HR tech professionals placed themselves at the Operational level or below. In this episode she explains what's on the other side, and what it actually takes to get there.

Anna Carlsson unpacks why many Nordic organisations invest in people analytics but fail to get impact, drawing on insights from the People Analytics Meetup in Sweden and practical cases like Spotify’s Disco and a Nordic consultancy’s onboarding analysis.

She explains the difference between analytical maturity and adoption, shows how change management and clear business metrics turn data into action, and gives practical advice to start small and build adoption alongside capability.

Finally, she connects these lessons to AI readiness and governance, warning that strong data foundations and culture are required before AI can deliver value in HR.

Research shows a clear link between digital maturity and HR's strategic influence — organizations with high maturity are twice as likely to have HR seen as strategic. Yet Nordic organizations score just 2.9 out of 5, and only 7% report advanced HR digitalization. The gap isn't willingness — it's exposure.

Anna Carlsson breaks down different types of events HR professionals should know about, from local conferences and international HR tech shows to community meetups and vendor events. She shares a three-horizon framework for choosing the right mix, explains the difference between paid and free events, and uses data from the Nordic HR Trends and Tech Report and Sapient Insights Group's 28th Annual HR Systems Survey to build a concrete business case for getting budget.

Anna Carlsson explores why frontline workers—those in retail, healthcare, transport, and more—are the next big opportunity for HR tech. In Sweden often called "Kollektivanställda" or "Bluecollar workers", but without a shared definition. She defines frontline roles, explains the Nordic gap in strategy and terminology, and highlights how mobile-first tools, AI-driven recruitment, and automated onboarding can deliver rapid returns.

Anna urges HR and IT to collaborate, make access a day-one decision, and prioritise frontline in digital strategies so organizations can move from manual processes to scalable, value-driving solutions.

"Why Must We Use AI? What's the Rush?" A question that deserves a real answer.

In this episode, Anna addresses a comment from her LinkedIn follower Lovisa  who asked about the urgency behind AI. Is this about chasing AI trends, or is there something more fundamental happening?

We explore why many Nordic organisations still operate without basic HR systems, the connection between digital maturity and strategic influence, real ROI data showing tangible time savings and business improvement, and the paradox of AI training without proper governance.

This isn't about AI hype. It's about building the capability to govern technology before vendors and market forces decide for you.