Integrate or Die: a work technology podcast

Dr. Dan Putka, Chief Scientist at HumRRO discusses using AI to support job analysis and assessment system design.  We dive deep into quantitative issues and challenges associated with using AI to change how companies define job requirements and build candidate selection systems.  Some things we cover:
Why it is important to consider the “motivation” underlying the design of AI solutions
How the field of psychometrics must evolve to account for use of AI algorithms
What is and isn’t changing related to development of evidence-based hiring solutions
We also geek out over competitions to build the best predictive algorithms.

Kate Terrell, CHRO of Menlo Security talks about executing AI adoption strategies in a technology forward organization.  This episode provides pragmatic lessons from a senior HR leader on the frontlines of AI adoption.  Some things we cover:
The difference between complex and complicated tasks when developing AI strategies
Equipping employees with the skills need to effectively leverage AI solutions
Managing performance of employees in an AI enabled organization
Steve also uses the phrase “I’m getting AI slopped” for the first but probably not last time.

Evan Theys, Senior Director, People Science at Palo Alto Networks shares how his organization is using AI to redesign jobs and organizational structures. An early adopter of AI, Evan provides insights from experience applying AI across a range of job types and tasks.  Some things we cover:
Using data to identify optimal ways to use AI within an organization
The value of looking beyond work efficiency to organizational transformation
Mining existing data to uncover new talent insights
We also learn how Tik Tok played a key role in Evan’s AI journey.

 Isaac Thompson, Senior Research Scientist at Amazon shares insights from his work using AI to push back the frontiers of science related to talent assessment and prediction of job performance.  A pioneer in the development of applied AI/ML human capital management solutions, Isaac also shares insights from the new book “Artificial Intelligence for IO Psychologists: Research and Applications”.
Some things we cover:
Rethinking validation methods to keep pace with AI driven assessment innovation
Using AI to improve human decision-making 
Why AI is making critical thinking a crucial leadership skill
We also find out how a broken pinky finger led to a major breakthrough in use of machine learning  

Robert Richardson,  HR Technology Strategist, SAP discusses the factors that impact how organizations can get the most value from using AI to transform work and workforce management.  Robert draws on lessons learned from experience helping hundreds of companies adopt AI combined with his work helping companies build the next generation of AI solutions.   Some things we cover:
Matching AI strategies with organizational readiness levels
Managing the risks of “do it yourself” AI programming
Why AI may create a return to on-prem software applications
We also learn how to use AI to stop losing sleep over the use of AI.

Evan Sinar, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist at Amazon discusses how development of generative AI solutions is affecting psychological and organizational research.  Evan led applied research teams at DDI and BetterUp before joining Amazon and works on the forefront of research focused on employee performance and development.  He shares how AI is reshaping research methods but also calls out its limitations and risks.  Some things we cover:
How the ability to analyze qualitative data is transforming organizational research• The largely untapped research knowledge available from mining legacy text sources
Why we should talk about time utilization instead of time savings when discussing the value of AI
We also hear Steve describe his career as a series of ostentatious sounding but vaguely meaningless job titles.

Steve and Alexis talk with Fred Oswald, Professor at the University of California Irvine School of Education about the impact of AI on the assessment and education of students and employees.  This episode dives deep into some nerdy industrial-organizational concepts so be forewarned!   Some things we cover:
Whether psychometric principles apply to the evaluation of AI/ML algorithms
How use of AI is changing the focus of higher education
The role of social sciences in an increasingly digitalized world
This is also the first episode that features not just one, but two past presidents of the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology. 

Steve and Alexis talk with Eric Sydell, founder & CEO of Vero AI about responsible use of AI solutions. Eric built some of the first large scale applications using AI machine learning to support recruiting as a founding member of Modern Hire, a company subsequently acquired by HireVue. He is now building solutions to ensure compliant use of AI applications across a range of areas.  Some things we cover:• The mismatch between what leaders say about responsible AI and what they often do• The tendency for many companies to monitor AI bias without monitoring AI accuracy• How venture capital investment strategies negatively influence how AI solutions are built
We also learn how Alexis got a PhD from Harvard without ever attending a single class.

Steve and Alexis talk with Tyler Weeks, VP of People Technology, Research & Analytics at Marriott International about using AI to support frontline employees in the hospitality industry.  A physicist by training, Tyler brings a high sophisticated but reality-based approach toward the use of AI technology within organizations. Some things we cover:
Why AI LLMs that use natural language interfaces should not be designed to give the illusion of actually being human
How use of AI is limited and often derailed by the complex and imperfect nature of organizational policies and processes
Why the next big wave of AI innovation may focus on using AI for understanding instead of automation
We also hear Tyler explain why he thinks of Alexis as a doula for workforce analytics professionals.

Steve and Alexis talk with Jerome Gouvernel, co-founder of datascalehr about the value AI provides for integrating highly complex, global HR datasets. Jerome’s work is primarily focused on payroll data management, which as we learn is one of the most important, most sensitive, and most complicated areas of HR data. Some things we cover:• Why HR data is fragmented and far more complex than people realize• How AI enables companies to align and harmonize imperfect data• The critical difference between predictive AI vs generative AI
We also hear Alexis describe data integration as the place where the “magic happens”.