What if I only want to transition one function?

That's the recommended approach. Start with one function — lowest risk, highest impact. Pilot it, measure results, then expand. We give you the full picture so you can prioritize, but you move at your own pace.

← All Accelerators

1 in 3 companies have to rehire for the roles they eliminated: don't make that you.

We know you're downsizing. We'll show you how to do it right.

A function-by-function plan for what to keep, augment with flexible talent, and automate with AI — in less than 5 days.

Apply to HC's Downsizing Accelerator

5 days → 60% cost savings, 350% productivity gains, no PR nightmare

Boeing cut thousands of engineers to save money. It cost them everything.

Throughout the 2010s, Boeing laid off thousands of experienced engineers and outsourced critical work to cut costs. The result: the 737 MAX failures, ongoing fuselage quality issues, and billions in losses. They've since been forced to bring manufacturing and engineering back in-house.

Cutting headcount without a function-by-function plan for what to keep, augment, and automate leads to capability gaps that cost more to fix than they saved. That's exactly what the Downsizing Accelerator prevents.

Let us help you downsize the right way.

How? By identifying what to keep, augment, and automate.

Keep

Retain top talent

Your high-value people stay. Move them to an Employer of Record or reclassify for cost efficiency — without losing institutional knowledge.

Augment

Add flexible talent

Replace or supplement FTEs with specialists from talent marketplaces. Deeper expertise, higher output quality, capacity that flexes up or down.

Automate

Embed the right agents

Build the infrastructure to support your agentic workforce, not just your software developers.

Your exclusive offer.

The Human Cloud team is offering a Flexible Talent Sprint — a four-step process that takes less than five days.

Executive Briefing

A clear understanding of what flexible talent is and where the workforce is going

Day 1

→

Workforce Assessment

Every function mapped — what to keep, what to augment, what to automate

Day 1

→

Vendor Analysis

5+ custom quotes and a clear pilot plan

Day 2-4

→

First Pilot

One function live — proving the model before you scale

Day 5

The results of your Flexible Talent Sprint:

60%

cost savings

350%

productivity increase

92%

of projects succeeding

“Deeper than any metric, you'll have a sustainable talent strategy to navigate the demands of today's uncertain economy.”

Who's leading this.

Practitioners + Platform

We've led workforce transitions at Microsoft, Stanley Black & Decker, Koch Industries, and 50+ Fortune 500 companies — powered by a platform connecting 5,000+ AI agents and flexible talent solutions.

Tony Buffum

Co-Founder, Human Cloud

Former public company CHRO. Led workforce transformations across Stanley Black & Decker, Koch Industries, and 50+ Fortune 500 companies. Designed and scaled enterprise flexible talent programs before the category existed.

Matthew Mottola

Co-Founder & CEO, Human Cloud

Led Microsoft's signature flexible workforce product and helped Microsoft scale their flexible workforce to $50m+ in annual flexible talent spend. Built Human Cloud to make that playbook accessible to every company.

Human Cloud Platform

humancloud.com

AI + Talent Solutions

5,000+ solutions indexed. Save, shortlist, or receive custom quotes.

Common questions.

What is the Downsizing Accelerator?▼

A 5-day Flexible Talent Sprint where our team breaks your department into functions — paid ads, content, engineering, etc. — and classifies each as Keep (retain talent, change model), Augment (add flexible talent), or Automate (deploy AI agents). You walk away with your ideal talent portfolio and matched solutions ready to quote.

How is this different from hiring a consultancy?▼

A big consultancy charges $500K+ for a 6-12 week engagement that gives you a PowerPoint. We give you an assessment, implementation plan, and launched RFP process on Day 1 — with custom quotes from matched solutions within 72 hours. And it's free for executives committed to change.

What does "Keep, Augment, Automate" mean?▼

Keep means retaining your best people but changing the model (e.g., Employer of Record). Augment means adding flexible talent specialists alongside or instead of FTEs. Automate means deploying AI agents — always paired with a human specialist who scopes, QAs, and scales the output.

Will I lose control of my team?▼

No. You decide what to Keep, Augment, or Automate. You pick the solutions. You set the terms. We make the process faster and handle compliance alignment — MSA terms, insurance, indemnification — before you start.

How much does this cost?

Apply to HC's Downsizing Accelerator.

3 companies at a time. If accepted, you'll commit 2-3 hours over 5 days.

Free for executives committed to change.