HRTech Interview with Amy Farner, Executive Vice President and Head of Product for The Josh Bersin Company

Amy Farner, Executive Vice President and Head of Product at The Josh Bersin Company talks about their new AI copilot while throwing light on the evolving HRTech landscape in this interview with HRTech Series:

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Hi Amy, tell us about yourself and more about your time in the HRTech space?

I’ve been working in the HR analytics, consulting, and technology market for the last 25 years. In that time, I’ve seen tremendous evolution in the tools that are available to HR professionals and organizations.

That evolution has created the opportunity for HR to use data and tech to support the organization not only more efficiently, but also in infinitely more strategic ways.

My entry point to HR was in survey administration and analysis, but in the early 2000s, I helped build and launch a product designed to consolidate, process, and report on HR data from various systems. Since then, I’ve helped organizations to best optimize their internal tech stack, but also have built tools to help answer new and emerging needs for HR organizations – like Galileo™, our AI-powered expert assistant for all things HR.

We’d love to hear more about Josh Bersin’s new AI copilot, what makes it different?

Since ChatGPT came out a little over two years ago, we’ve seen a proliferation of AI tools, and we, like many others, started exploring the idea of an AI copilot almost immediately. And, of course, we took a step back to confirm for ourselves that what we have to offer to the market is unique and differentiated from the rest.

First and foremost, Galileo is grounded in over 25 years of HR insights from The Josh Bersin Company – and that means it’s not just really smart (it is), but also that Galileo empowers our users to use the same foundational knowledge and expertise that our team does to inform their advice to clients every day. It’s trustworthy, grounded in research, and just like having a member of our team on call to advise and help you as you work.

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Second, Galileo is constantly evolving across multiple axes. New information, data sources, and content is added to Galileo daily, and that includes content developed by our team, but also data from trusted content partners that is sourced from some of the world’s leading experts and most reliable data sources. This provides the very best information on behavioral and technical skills; labor market availability and compensation benchmarks; critical leadership characteristics and models; employment regulations from across the globe; and more.

Right alongside that, we’re also evolving the technology by making improvements to our model and introducing new tech features. For example, we just introduced our logical reasoning model which has dramatically improved Galileo’s ability to index and respond based on the complexity and richness of our corpus.

Finally, possibly my favorite thing about Galileo is that we have the opportunity to not just provide a tool to the world of HR, but to stand side-by-side and help HR professionals learn how to use GenAI to change their ways of working.

Galileo is a tool that is optimized for the work that they do, but when we first launched it, we found the biggest challenge to adoption was failure of imagination – users simply didn’t know how to incorporate Galileo into their work. Through Galileo, we are constantly sharing examples, use cases, sample prompts, and tools to help show the way.

A great example here is our new Consultant Mode, in which we have trained Galileo to ask the user very specific questions – just like a great consultant does – to provide the highest quality, hyper-personalized work outputs that fit right into users’ to-do lists.

What should today’s HR teams be careful of as they deploy new age HRtech and AI powered co-pilots into their tech stacks?

Governance, privacy, and security are really important here. Two years ago, only the most mature organizations had good processes in place, but by now, we’re seeing that most organizations are in pretty good shape here.

With that in mind, there are a couple of other things to focus on.

First, the change management around GenAI is huge, not just for HR but for the entire organization, and HR is at the center of this change. Helping to support this transition, both from the perspective of redesigning work, but also at the very human level, is critical to success.

And aligned with this change management, we need to teach employees not just how and when to use GenAI, but also how to be good users. I think of GenAI as a people pleaser – if I ask a question, it will do its very best to answer me, even if it doesn’t have access to the very best information, and even if I didn’t give it the very best prompt. It takes some discretion to review and assess the outputs for quality and completeness, and often this is an iterative process.

As the role and structure of a typical HR department evolves in part due to the modernization of HR systems and move to AI powered HR processes; what will the future of work and HR start to look like in your view?

The AI transformation is unlike anything we’ve experienced in our lifetime. Organizations are having to undergo transformations in every aspect of their business all at once – technology, skills, work redesign, product – and HR is at the center of all of these.

I very much believe that in this environment, the future of HR is systemic. AI is the driver behind this requirement, but also the tool that will help us achieve this outcome.

HR is not a standalone or siloed function; it is integrated into all aspects of business operations. The HR function itself is collaborative and empowered by integrated cross-functional teams. AI empowers this transformation by creating efficiency – automating routine tasks, improving workflows, etc. – which frees HR practitioners to focus on higher-order priorities.

But it also improves outcomes across the board by enabling enhanced decision making through better access to information, personalizing learning and development, and improving collaboration and communication.

This combination of automation and improved strategic value creates an exponential impact, and it’s changing what every HR function and role will look like.

Five takeaways you’d share with every B2B SaaS CHRO?

Embrace the change: This is a massive shift in every role in HR – including the CHRO – and this moment requires the evolution of the CHRO into a strategic business partner who is deeply integrated into the company’s operations.

Cultivate a data-driven culture within HR: This involves leveraging analytics to inform decision-making, measure the impact of HR initiatives, and align HR strategies with business objectives. By using data to understand workforce trends, predict talent needs, and assess employee engagement, CHROs can make more informed decisions and enhance the credibility of HR across the business.

Focus on employee engagement and experience: Every employee is experiencing this shift; it is both exciting and (in some cases) frightening and exhausting. It’s critical that the CHRO prioritizes bringing employees along for the journey and supporting them as their jobs change with strong communication, personalized development opportunities, and a supporting company culture.

Develop Cross-Functional Leadership: Encourage all HR leaders to build strong relationships across the organization. This cross-functional collaboration is essential for aligning HR initiatives with business goals, and ensuring that HR contributes to the company’s strategic objectives.

Prioritize Continuous Learning and Adaptability: The rapid pace of change requires CHROs to foster a culture of continuous learning and adaptability. This includes upskilling the HR team, staying informed about industry trends, and being open to new ways of working that enhance organizational agility and resilience.

Top HRTech innovators (HRtech companies / individuals) you’d like to shout out to here before we wrap up?

Of course!

Sana: AI-powered learning and knowledge management, reinventing L&D.

Arist: AI-powered micro-learning seeing immediate ROI for large training needs in distributed workforce.

HiBob: The fastest-growing HCM platform, growing at 2-3x the rate of their competitors.

Eightfold: A pioneer of talent intelligence, with AI-powered sourcing and recruiting.

Maki People: An industry-leading AI-powered recruitment platform.

Paradox: A leading AI recruiting platform for high-volume, hourly, blue-collar workers.

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