In this episode of HR, We Have a Problem, Teri Zipper and guest Sofia Whelan, Managing Partner at HorizonHuman, explore how HR can lead during AI adoption. The conversation addresses the gap between AI hype and real-world application, focusing on workforce planning, transparency, and solving actual business problems.

Key points covered include:

↪️ HR must lead workforce planning by identifying which tasks AI will handle and which roles require human skills, then invest in upskilling employees for work that only humans can do.

↪️ Start with AI already embedded in your HR technology stack rather than buying new tools - focus on solving specific business problems through user research and testing.

↪️ HR should remain the caretaker of the human workforce and organizational culture, working closely with the CTO rather than merging these roles into one position.

↪️ Build trust through transparency about job impacts and enable change at the team level where people can experiment with AI and share practical use cases.

Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below:

Sapient Insights Group

Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Teri Zipper

Instagram |  Twitter |  LinkedIn 

Sofia Whelan

Linkedin

HorizonHuman

Linkedin

In this episode of Spilling the Tea on HR Tech, Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson return with a jam-packed, catch-up episode discussing the wave of strategic acquisitions, the growing importance of viewing compliance as a talent strategy, and the rise of "bring your own AI" in organizations. This conversation also explores how vendors are solving real business problems while HR professionals are navigating rapid scaling and frontline worker challenges. 

Key points covered include:

↪️In the market’s ongoing quest to build comprehensive solutions, ADP acquires compensation management platform Pequity, Sage buys Criterion HCM for compliance capabilities, and Learning Pool picks up authoring tool Elucidat.

↪️ Organizations are turning regulatory requirements into cost savings and talent advantages. Stacey and Cliff discuss Sapient’s research focus on compliance and how they’re seeing examples of companies leveraging comprehensive compliance solutions into business and employee value.   

↪️ Sapient’s research reveals that while only 22% of survey participants report using AI-supported enterprise systems, significantly more employees are bringing personal AI tools to work.  This “BYO AI” practice creates security, privacy, and policy challenges for HR leaders.

↪️ OpenAI data shows 73% of usage is for personal tasks rather than work-related functions, raising questions about whether AI tools are delivering on their promised business value or simply making individual tasks easier.

Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below:

Sapient Insights Group

Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Stacey Harris

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Cliff Stevenson

Twitter | LinkedIn 

In this episode of HR, We Have a Problem, Teri Zipper along with guest Craig Friedman, Talent and Skills Transformation Leader at St. Charles Consulting Group, unpack what enterprise skills really means for organizations today. Craig explains how skills-based talent management represents a data-driven transformation that moves HR from headcount management to capability management, enabling companies to understand not just who they employ but what their workforce can actually deliver. The conversation also explores the practical challenges organizations face when implementing skills strategies, from avoiding the "boiling the ocean" problem to securing strong business sponsors who can drive meaningful change. 

Key points covered include:

↪️ Enterprise skills transform HR systems from person-level tracking to granular capability data that links across job architectures, talent marketplaces, workforce planning, and development programs.

↪️ AI makes skills-based talent management possible by handling the complexity of tracking and matching skills data that would otherwise overwhelm traditional HR systems.

↪️ Organizations should start with focused business problems rather than enterprise-wide implementations, building use cases that generate measurable top-line or bottom-line value before expanding.

↪️ The biggest implementation mistakes include over-engineering taxonomies without clear business use cases and launching skills initiatives as HR housekeeping exercises rather than business-sponsored strategic projects.

Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below:

Sapient Insights Group

Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Teri Zipper

Instagram |  Twitter |  LinkedIn 

Craig Friedman

LinkedIn 

In this episode of Spilling the Tea on HR Tech, Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson interview guest George LaRocque, WorkTech’s Founder and Chief Analyst, to discuss the state of the HR tech market and where it's heading. The conversation explores how investment activity, market data, and adoption trends come together to paint a realistic picture of the industry. George shares insights on tracking growth capital and M&A activity across 60+ HR tech subcategories, while the team discusses how practitioners can use different data sources to make informed decisions about technology purchases, vendor stability, and budget planning.

Key points covered include:

↪️ The HR tech investment ecosystem is larger than commonly reported, with 220+ registered investors at HR Tech 2024 alone; approximately 300 to 400 people attended the conference because of investment interests.

↪️ Enterprise HR platforms will increasingly operate behind the scenes while AI-powered chat interfaces become the primary user experience within the next 2 to 3 years.

↪️ Performance management is positioned as the next major area for disruption, with agentic AI enabling real-time feedback.  Use will come from manager-led adoption rather than traditional HR-driven implementation.

↪️ The market faces a critical juncture between open, integrated ecosystems and closed vendor marketplaces that could limit interoperability and increase lock-in risks.

Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below:

Sapient Insights Group

Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Stacey Harris

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Cliff Stevenson

Twitter | LinkedIn 

George Laroque

LinkedIn

WorkTech

LinkedIn

In this episode of HR, We Have a Problem, Teri Zipper and guest Libby DeLucien, Founder of WootRecruit, discuss common hiring mistakes, the role of AI in recruiting, and why companies need to rethink their approach to attract quality candidates. The conversation covers how personal development directly impacts leadership effectiveness and why treating employees as valuable assets requires a human-centered recruiting process.

Key points covered include:

↪️ Traditional hiring processes fail because they're designed around business convenience rather than candidate experience, leading to ghosting and poor-quality hires.

↪️ While AI can speed up certain recruiting tasks, removing the human element from hiring risks losing valuable candidates, especially when an employee is often worth more  than a single customer in terms of revenue generation, depending on the business..

↪️ Personal development directly impacts leadership effectiveness. Working on your own mindset, health, and energy management creates a leader others naturally want to follow without micromanagement.

↪️ Quality applicants for entry-level positions are hired within 6-8 days, not the 45-day industry average, leaving companies with slow processes facing chronic understaffing and lost revenue.

Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below:

Sapient Insights Group

Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Teri Zipper

Instagram |  Twitter |  LinkedIn 

Libby DeLucien

LinkedIn

In this episode of Spilling the Tea on HR Tech, Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson discuss why compliance has become the surprising number one topic in HR technology, exploring how AI is changing verification processes and I-9 management. They cover major market moves including Qualtrics' $6.7 billion acquisition of Press Ganey and break down Dayforce's latest product announcements at their user conference. 

Key points covered include:

↪️ HR leaders are reassessing compliance technology and exploring how AI can automate compliance management, with particular focus on I-9 verification and ensuring interview candidates match actual hires.

↪️ Qualtrics acquires Press Ganey for $6.7 billion, demonstrating that the ability to collect, analyze, and present healthcare benchmarking data commands premium valuations.

↪️ Dayforce announces new compliance AI assist tool, collaborative AI workspace environment launching Q1 2026, and the Agent Noon acquisition bringing strategic workforce planning with financial modeling into the platform.

↪️ UKG's "When Work Works, Everything Works" rebrand focusing on frontline workers, Workday's Middle East expansion through Dubai, and emerging pay transparency solutions from PayScale and Workday.

Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below:

Sapient Insights Group

Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Stacey Harris

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Cliff Stevenson

Twitter | LinkedIn 

In this episode of HR, We Have a Problem, Teri Zipper and guest Dennis Hill, Founder of Sagacity, LLC, and Chairman/President/CEO at IHRIM, explore Web3, blockchain, and distributed ledger technologies that promise to solve the security problems that have plagued HR systems for 60 years. The conversation covers data ownership rights, the shift toward crypto-based financial systems, and the competitive advantage of same-day pay solutions. 

Key points covered include:

↪️ Blockchain and DAG (directed acyclic graph) architecture provide one-in-15-trillion security against data breaches, eliminating the need for add-on security patches that have failed organizations for 60 years.

↪️ Employees should own their personal data on distributed ledgers rather than having it stored on corporate systems, requiring federal legislation to establish clear data ownership rights.

↪️ HR tech vendors currently lack substantive Web3 roadmaps and are simply patching AI onto existing systems rather than embedding it as core architecture.

↪️ Same-day pay is now a competitive advantage in recruitment, with multiple vendors offering solutions that allow employees to access earned wages immediately rather than waiting for traditional pay cycles.

Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below:

Sapient Insights Group

Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Teri Zipper

Instagram |  Twitter |  LinkedIn 

Dennis Hill

LinkedIn

In this episode of Spilling the Tea on HR Tech, Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson discuss the reality of AI adoption in HR, exploring the "Bring Your Own AI" phenomenon where 81% of HR professionals are using AI tools but only 14% have company-paid access. They also examine how recent policy changes, including H1-B visa cost increases to $100,000, will disproportionately impact small and medium businesses.

Key points covered include:

↪️ Workday acquired Sana for enterprise knowledge/learning capabilities, iCIMS bought Apli for frontline worker recruitment automation, and Nayya acquired North Star to expand into financial wellness.

↪️ While only 31% of organizations use embedded HRMS AI, 81% of HR professionals are personally using AI tools for work tasks like presentations and emails, with most using free versions that create potential security risks.

↪️ New $100,000 cost for H1-B visas will disproportionately affect small businesses, potentially accelerating the trend of service-based companies moving operations outside the US.

↪️ HR technology is moving toward integrated "cluster" systems with bi-directional data transfer, blurring lines between HR, finance, and IT systems rather than standalone point solutions.

Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below:

Sapient Insights Group

Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Stacey Harris

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Cliff Stevenson

Twitter | LinkedIn 

In this episode of HR, We Have a Problem, Teri Zipper along with Susan Richards and guests Tee Thorsen, LAITHOS Co-Founder and Managing Partner, and Mary Ellen Clagett, LAITHOS Leadership Catalyst and Co-Founder and Managing Partner, explore how leadership directly shapes organizational culture and why both elements are critical for driving sustainable business results, especially during rapid technological and market changes. 

They discuss what makes culture "adaptive" - including psychological safety, learning mindsets, and resilience - while addressing the communication challenges leaders face in building trust across their organizations. 

Key points covered include:

↪️ Leaders must focus on being trustworthy through the equation C+R+I/SO (Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy divided by Self-Orientation), demonstrating expertise, consistency, and genuine care while keeping personal agendas in check.

↪️ Organizational culture functions like a hidden operating system - you can have the best strategy, but without supportive culture, it's like running new software on outdated hardware and simply won't work effectively.

↪️  Successful organizations cultivate curiosity, psychological safety, learning mindsets, and the ability to balance stability with flexibility.

↪️ Leaders must be "multilingual" in their communication approach while maintaining authenticity, and the medium of communication matters as much as the message itself.

Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below:

Sapient Insights Group

Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Teri Zipper

Instagram |  Twitter |  LinkedIn 

Susan Richards

LinkedIn

Tracey (Tee) Thorsen

LinkedIn

Mary Ellen Clagett

LinkedIn

In this episode of Spilling the Tea on HR Tech, Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson discuss Anaplan's purchase of AI-powered supply chain company Syrup Technologies and Gusto's acquisition of 401K provider Guideline, alongside significant product launches including Salary.com's multilayered AI compensation suite. 

They analyze OrgView data revealing that Fortune 500 companies avoiding layoffs outperformed those making cuts by 4-5%, while discussing the challenges facing OpenAI's proposed LinkedIn competitor. 

Key points covered include:

↪️ News from ADP’s Innovation Day shows that the company’s AI investments are paying off.  ADP embeds AI assistants throughout its platform at no extra charge, contrasting with 50 to 60% of HR vendors charging additional fees for AI features.  ADP’s AI assistants focus on compliance, payroll, and auditing applications. ADP’s HCM suite Lyric is also gaining traction.

↪️ OrgView data shows Fortune 500 companies that maintained stable workforces outperformed those reducing workforces by 4 to 5% across revenue, productivity, and other business metrics, challenging the conventionally held benefits of workforce reduction.

↪️ Salary.com just launched its new CompAnalyst AI Suite, designed to give employers simplified and more powerful ways to manage compensation based on detailed and deep talent data with multilayered AI agents giving users the ability to analyze data from many different perspectives with complete transparency.  

↪️ OpenAI's proposed hiring platform, intended to take on LinkedIn, faces the same obstacles that derailed previous attempts by Microsoft, Meta, and Google; the B2B market with its complex sales processes, compliance laws, and regulatory requirements is much different than the consumer market.

Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below:

Sapient Insights Group

Download the 2024-25 HR Systems Survey White Paper

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Stacey Harris

Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Cliff Stevenson

Twitter | LinkedIn