How Medtronic is transforming HR with AI: 3 key learnings

If you are looking for inspiration and ideas on how to bring Agentic AI to everyday HR processes, look no further than Kunal Sethi of Medtronic. I've had the pleasure of spending significant time with Kunal on our Customer Advisory Board, and he thinks deeply about understanding how Agentic AI can have direct impact on business processes across many functions, starting with HR. He has studied almost every platform and tool on the planet, and therefore, grasps nuances that are not obvious to many. Take for example his recent fireside chat from Workday's annual conference, Workday Rising. Kunal shares how HR leaders should think about end to end processes when it comes to delivering meaningful impact via AI agents. This is in sharp contrast to casual or shallow experimentation that most leaders tend to start with. Shallow experiments result in disappointing outcomes, which inevitably leads people to believe that Gen AI is not transformative. Instead, if you take an end to end view of processes, and work towards a sweeping set of AI agents use cases that can fully transform the process - you end up with meaningful outcomes, and more importantly - a template that you can apply across many functional areas and processes. We are proud to have a leader like Kunal on our Customer Advisory Board, and look forward to helping him transform Medtronic.

5 Signals from NYC + Vegas: Where AI + HR Are Really Heading Sooo I’m down on my posting on LinkedIn lately.... Not for any reason other than that post-event decompression zone I go into… you know, when it feels like you need a month to recover 😵💫 Feels good to be ramping back up. My head is still spinning from two weeks of non-stop conversations with HR leaders and practitioners, plus seeing the latest of what AI has to offer. Between MPL Live NYC (record attendance, real talk on AI + the future of work) and HR Tech 2025 (four straight days of demos, decks, and discussions)... I came back with a clearer view of what’s AI signals vs noise for HR leaders. Here are the 5 takeaways that stood out most to me while we were out in the field: 1️⃣ Change management is painful, but progress is real. 2️⃣ Bots aren’t the strategy (and people are admitting it). 3️⃣ The race is on for “One UI to rule them all.” 🧙♂️ 4️⃣ Middleware is quietly becoming the most valuable layer. 5️⃣ Outsourcing innovation may the pragmatic move for some HR teams. One important message I kept hearing: HR leaders are still early on the AI journey. The spectrum is wide but community is helping propel people forward. The good news...most teams are only a couple of weeks away from closing the gap, if they focus. Having the privilege and access Daniel and I do, I thought you might be interested in what we’ve been hearing out in the wild. So I pulled these insights into a longer Huertanomics Field Notes recap - including a mini-playbook on how HR leaders are sustaining AI transformations. If any of this resonates, you don't want to miss the full post - link in comments. HR leaders: Are y’all finding a groove with the bots yet? What’s holding you back?? #Huertanomics #AIforHR #PeopleOps #FutureOfWork

Work today isn’t just changing—it’s transforming. Managing people, money, technology—together—is no longer optional; traditional methods can’t keep up. Enter agentic AI: intelligent agents working alongside employees and digital workers as one unified workforce. They bring efficiency, insight, and precision while keeping humans in the driver’s seat. Workday’s Illuminate platform makes this real across finance, HR, IT, and legal. These agents help: ·         Amplify talent potential ·         Boost productivity ·         Strengthen strategic decisions ·         Ensure compliance 🧐 I’m curious: Where in your organization would AI agents deliver the greatest impact—Finance, HR, IT, or Legal? Discover how agentic AI is redefining work by attending Workday Rising EMEA: https://w.day/46IiSfB #WorkdayPartnership #WDAYRisingEMEA

Before HR Tech I spoke with three different groups about a similar topic - the impact of AI on the HR function + HR’s role in leading AI adoption across the enterprise. The first group was ~350 L&D professionals (thanks again Docebo for inviting me to the great conversation with Kyle Lacy!); the second group was ~15 senior HR and IT leaders from companies across sectors in the San Diego market; and the third group was the CHROs/heads of HR for portfolio companies from a PE firm. Each audience was thinking through what many organizations are considering today on the AI/automation topic: 1️⃣ where do I start? 2️⃣ how do I drive meaningful progress? I shared the following suggestions: - organizations MUST spend the time to understand the capabilities in their current tech stack and whether all the availability AI/automation functionality is being used optimally or not - leaders need to take a critical look at use cases and tie them to task disruption data to understand whether pursuing the AI/automation is worth it - it is critical to be explicitly clear to the workforce on why you’re implementing AI/automation; how the tool(s) were trained; and how you’re investing in the workforce to upskill/reskill/redeploy As conference / event season continues to progress, challenge yourself to keep some grounding thoughts in mind, whether the above or something else, to avoid chasing any shiny objects. A major takeaway from sessions like these are to make sure you’re spending time connecting with other organizations on these topics, as now more than ever, going it alone isn’t the right answer. If you want additional insights on this topic from HR Tech earlier this week, check out Adam Treitler, Filip Misovski, Stacia Garr, Dani Johnson, Jill Barth HR Tech Editor, Matthew Shannon, Franz Gilbert, Madeline Laurano, Lydia Wu, and the many others who shared insights from last week. #Deloitte #HumanCapital #HRReimagined #FutureofHR #MakingWorkBetterforHumans

In private healthcare and aged care, AI isn’t just about automation. It’s about amplifying the people who hold these organisations together. HR leaders now have the opportunity to shape an AI transformation that lifts their workforce up instead of displacing it. From care staff scheduling to credential management, workforce safety, and employee wellbeing, the right approach to AI can reduce admin load and unlock more time for human care. Jacqui Canney, Chief People and AI Enablement Officer here at ServiceNow, explores how HR can lead this change: creating a human renaissance in the workplace where empathy, design, and intelligence come together to drive better outcomes for staff and residents alike. Read more here: http://spr.ly/6041ASkhV James Perrett James Della-Porta Jeff Male Andre Botes Dean Pham Gavin Parker Mo Mazzaro Tom Colless Emily Assaf #HealthcareLeadership #AgedCare #PrivateHealthcare #HRLeadership #AIinHealthcare #HealthTech #DigitalHealth #EmployeeExperience #AgedCareReform #HealthcareNSW #HealthcareVictoria #ServiceNowANZ #WorkforceTransformation

“𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗥” an insightful webinar hosted by RagaAI Inc The session, featuring industry leaders from Workday and UKG, highlighted how AI agents are transforming HR by: ✅ Automating repetitive tasks ✅ Enabling better decision-making ✅ Redefining the employee experience I also had the chance to ask a couple of questions during the session 2 of them that I aksed : 👉 “How do you restrict the AI agent’s access to only the data it needs? Can it access the entire HR database or only role-based subsets?” 👉 “How do you ensure employee Personally Identifiable Information (like salary slips) is not shared outside the organization when AI agents are used?” PS : Sameer Kapoor called one of them a “very interesting and smart question.” :) Excited to see how AI will continue shaping the future of HR and workplace efficiency 🚀 #AI #HRTech #FutureOfWork #Automation #Learning Sameer Kapoor, Gaurav Agarwal, Ankur Goel

https://lnkd.in/gVdt4uUx BetterWorks publishes a yearly #HR research report called "The State of Performance Enablement" which is always full of great insights, and their 2025 report is no exception. Titled "AI and the Employee Experience: Balancing Opportunity and Anxiety", it covers 5 major ways that #AI is affecting the workforce in 2025: 💻 While daily users find that AI is helping improve their productivity, speed and accuracy, most are currently using it more for routine tasks instead of for strategy and planning work, which may have a more transformational effect on their work. 💻 There appears to be a link between a worker's use of AI and their intention to stay in their current position. The results of the survey showed that workers who are more engaged in AI are more likely to be actively seeking a new job, while workers who have no plans to leave their current job are less nervous, and also less savvy, about AI. 💻 The more frequently workers use AI and become familiar with it, the more optimistic they tend to be about its use. Paradoxically though, that also tends to lead to more anxiety about the potential downsides of AI including the prospect of them being replaced in the future by AI. This fear may be well founded, as 6 in 10 managers reported interest in utilizing AI as a means of shedding underperformers. 💻 73% of employees would like AI to assist managers in identifying opportunities for growth and to use that information to help guide workers to internal advancement. There is high potential for AI to be effective in helping managers use their time more productively on higher-value coaching. 💻 89% of workers for whom AI plays a part in their performance management process report being satisfied with their PM experience, compared to only 40% of workers for whom AI plays no part in their PM experience. The top reasons provided by those satisfied AI customers were that it seemed more accurate, fair, thorough and personalized than if their manager did not use AI in their PM process. Overall, AI holds so much possibility for transforming the workplace but only if it's used in a strategic way and adopted more inclusively. Check out the link to the article to see the BetterWorks visualization of their data and even check out the full report! This LinkedIn activity is a component of my #TotalRewards course with Emily Douglas-McNab as part of the Masters of #HR program at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business

Most leaders are drowning in operational tasks while their competitors automate their way ahead. Here's what's happening: AI-powered workforce analytics are transforming how smart businesses operate, turning manual processes into strategic advantages. The data reveals companies implementing AI for workforce management see marked improvements in employee engagement and productivity patterns, but only when they focus on the right areas first. After supporting CEOs for 11+ years, I've seen the difference between leaders who embrace operational AI and those who resist it. The winners aren't just tracking metrics, they're using predictive analytics to forecast staffing needs, eliminate workflow bottlenecks, and free up executive time for actual growth work. Start with your highest-impact, most time-consuming processes. Whether it's calendar management, email workflows, or team coordination, AI can analyse patterns you didn't even know existed and automate the repetitive tasks that steal your focus from strategic thinking. The companies building this operational intelligence now will have months or years of competitive advantage while others play catch-up. Your time is your most valuable resource, stop managing it manually when you could be orchestrating it strategically.

Workday’s latest article on the future of HR management highlights what we’re hearing from our clients. The pace of change is accelerating, and the value of human strengths has never been greater. Technology and AI will continue to evolve, but the real opportunity is how leaders use these tools to elevate the employee experience. #HRLeadership #AIinHR #HRStrategy #HRInsights #OrganizationalChange

🌍 The $1.1B signal: AI is rewriting the future of HR AI isn’t “coming” to HR — it’s already here. And the companies that recognize this fastest will shape how we all work tomorrow. Workday’s $1.1B acquisition of Sana isn’t just another deal. It’s a clear statement: the future of HR will be intelligent, adaptive, and deeply AI-driven. Here’s what I see happening: ✨ HR systems will stop being systems of record — and start being systems of intelligence. ✨ Repetitive processes like onboarding, payroll, and reviews will fade into the background, automated so humans can focus on impact. ✨ HR leaders will move from administrators to strategic enablers of talent, powered by real-time insights. This isn’t about efficiency alone. It’s about reimagining the employee experience — creating workplaces where technology empowers people, not the other way around. My take: we’ve entered the era where AI isn’t just a competitive advantage in HR tech — it’s the foundation. And Workday just put a billion-dollar exclamation mark on that truth. #AI #HRTech #FutureOfWork #Leadership