The HR Huddle

In this episode of Spilling the Tea on HR Tech, Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson work through everything they saw and heard across Infor Analyst Day, HR Tech Europe, Oracle, Workday Innovation Summit, ICIMS, ADP, Workhuman, and Canva. The 29th annual HR Systems Survey is now open, and the hosts share why companies with fewer than 10 employees are a specific target this year and what new finance and EMEA data will add to the research. A wave of acquisitions, from Phenom buying Plum to Paylocity picking up Grayscale to Gusto acquiring Mosey, signals a market fast consolidating around talent acquisition, compliance, and workforce data.  The episode also covers outcomes-based pricing models gaining traction across major vendors, the growing arms race between AI-generated resumes and AI-powered screening tools, and what it actually costs small businesses to stay compliant when no one is watching. Key points covered include: ↪️ Outcomes-based pricing is moving from concept to contract, with Oracle charging per outcome achieved and Workday shifting its philosophy toward selling results rather than applications, and the hosts break down what that means for HR buyers trying to build a budget around AI. ↪️ Recruiting technology is in an active consolidation cycle, with multiple acquisitions targeting the same pressure point: how to hire at scale, cut through AI-generated resume fraud and deepfake interview responses, and still give candidates an experience that does not erode trust in the process. ↪️ Small business compliance carries a steeper price tag than most owners realize, with businesses under 50 employees spending roughly $14,700 per employee per year on compliance costs, and Gusto's acquisition of Mosey points to a growing market for AI tools built to close that gap. ↪️ Deel's new AI token tracking feature inside its performance management tool puts a spotlight on a question most organizations cannot currently answer: whether employees are actually using the AI tools their companies have paid for. The 29th annual HR Systems Survey is now open through June 24th. Add your organization's voice to the largest HR tech survey in the industry at the link below. LINK TO SURVEY Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below: Sapient Insights Group Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Stacey Harris Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Cliff Stevenson Bluesky | LinkedIn  The HR Channel  Instagram | LinkedIn WRKdefined Instagram | LinkedIn

In this episode of Spilling the Tea on HR Tech, Cliff Stevenson and Tammy Smith, Sapient’s senior manager of data science, mark the public launch of the 29th Annual HR Systems Survey, the most expansive and longest-running survey of its kind. Almost 10,000 professionals representing 4,670 organizations worldwide participated in last year’s survey.  In response to participant feedback, this year’s survey includes two entirely new sections covering finance systems and compliance and risk management.  Cliff and Tammy walk through how the survey works, why organizational-level data matters, and what participants receive when they submit their responses. Key points covered include: ↪️ The survey now includes dedicated sections covering solutions for core finance, travel and expense, and financial planning.  Finance professionals, C-suite leaders, and business managers are invited to complete this new section.   ↪️ The survey platform saves responses so participants can complete the survey in multiple sessions if needed.  Sapient encourages distribution of the survey across departments and subject matter experts.    ↪️ Participants will receive an unabridged copy of the survey results, expected to be published in October 2026. As an additional bonus, after completing the survey, participants have the option to receive a benchmark report based on their answers and last year’s survey data for either their industry or a geographic region. IHRM also awards 10 continuing education credits to those completing the survey.   ↪️Over the last 29 years, the data set has grown exponentially.  For instance, in 2021participants represented 2,177 unique organizations compared to 4,670 in 2025. The annual research report has also expanded, growing from 150 pages to 380 pages over that same period. The 29th Annual HR Systems Survey is now open through June 24th. Use the link below to add your organization's voice. LINK TO SURVEY Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below: Sapient Insights Group Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Cliff Stevenson Twitter | LinkedIn  Tammy Smith LinkedIn The HR Channel  Instagram | LinkedIn WRKdefined Instagram | LinkedIn

In this episode of The Pivot Effect, Teri Zipper and Susan Richards are launching something new. The Pivot Effect is a podcast built around the individual, where you are in your career, where you want to go, and what it takes to get there in a world of work that keeps shifting underneath you. In this first episode, Teri and Susan introduce the show's focus: the skills, mindset, and self-direction that matter now, whether you're navigating AI, rethinking your role, or just ready to stop following and start leading. Think of this as the conversation the organizational lens has been missing. Key points covered include: ↪️ Why AI adoption is moving faster at the individual level than the enterprise level, and what that tells us about who's really driving change at work. ↪️ How early adopters are already offloading routine work to AI tools so they can focus on what actually moves the needle. ↪️ Why reinventing yourself every three to five years used to be the rule, and why that window is shrinking fast. ↪️ What Teri and Susan are planning to cover on the show, including career pivots, personal journeys, and the data behind where you work and why it matters. Don’t miss this exciting thought leader conversation! Follow the hosts and companies mentioned below: Sapient Insights Group Download the 2025-26 HR Systems Survey White Paper Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Teri Zipper Instagram |  Twitter |  LinkedIn  Susan Richards  Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter

In this episode of Spilling the Tea on HR Tech, Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson dig into a news week in which the same question keeps surfacing: how much should you trust the data in front of you? Oracle laid off 30,000 employees, and the financial story behind that decision is more complicated than the AI narrative being used to explain it. Meanwhile, a meta-analysis of six major consulting firms working from the same data produced conclusions so different they barely resemble each other, which is its own argument for never acting on a single source. They also tackle the real cost of removing humans from decision-making chains, using Laszlo Bock's post on AI-assisted military targeting as a case study for what happens when speed becomes the only goal.  Key points covered include: ↪️ The official narrative on Oracle's layoffs is AI replacing unnecessary roles, but the numbers behind $58 billion in borrowing and $156 billion in data center commitments tell a more complicated story about cash flow needs. ↪️ Six consulting firms analyzing the same AI data produced an array of starkly different conclusions.  For instance, one firm concluded that AI had "zero economic impact" while another cited quadrupling productivity rates. According to the hosts, this shows why industry benchmarks and recommendations are not a reliable basis for your organization's AI decisions. ↪️ "Human in the loop" is not enough if that human is only doing a final sign-off without visibility into how the AI reached its recommendation ↪️ AI pricing is moving away from flat subscription models toward usage-based and connector-based charges, and buyers who treat AI as an unlimited resource right now are going to face a reckoning as that infrastructure debt comes due. 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, Cliff Stevenson debuts as host alongside guest Aly Baxter, Director of Product Management at Indeed, to dig into what's actually happening on both sides of the hiring process as AI use accelerates. They look at why more AI adoption hasn't translated into faster hiring, what recruiters really need from these tools, and how Indeed's Smart Screening is trying to fix the dynamic between job seekers and employers. Whether you're trying to fill roles or land one, this conversation cuts through the noise and gets to what actually works. Key points covered include: ↪️ AI adoption in recruiting is at 49%, the highest of any HR function, yet time to hire is still going up, which tells you adoption alone is not the answer. ↪️ Before adding any AI to your hiring process, map every step and how long it takes. That's the only way to know where it will actually help and how to measure whether it does. ↪️ For job seekers, validating your experience, certifications, licenses, work history, matters more than a polished resume in a world where employers can't tell what's real. ↪️ The goal on both sides is the same: get to a real human conversation as fast as possible, and the best AI tools are the ones that clear the path to that moment instead of replacing it. 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 Cliff Stevenson Twitter | LinkedIn  Aly Baxter LinkedIn