Kelly Monahan: One of the biggest complaints I get is HR's tech stack, because it is usually outdated and the data is all over the place. Oftentimes it is because they cannot get the internal technology support to prioritize the HR function as part of the technology roadmap. They have been asking technology for a long time to update my Workday, update whatever SaaS platform they are on. And it is now becoming a huge issue because now they need to add AI to the tech stack. So we need technology to begin to prioritize HR, or what I am seeing is even better: HR building their own engineering team and beginning to actually self-service what they need in this moment. Tony Buffum: My message to HR leaders is, you're not getting it? Go get it. You can tap into talent marketplaces and other resources outside your organization if you're not getting the attention you need. Tell your tech teams: I've figured out the budget, I've got the resources, they need to partner with you and me, and we need to make this happen. That's the big hang-up, and that's where I think HR folks feel like they're handcuffed already. The front line of HR AI transformation is recruiting, because there is so much expense around recruiting. There has been this massive spike in people applying to jobs, and there is fraud. So how do we deploy AI to get our arms around this? And systematically the first hurdle is, hey, we know our data stinks. I don't want to put a tool on top of bad data and end up with something that is still only telling me half the truth. We need to stop and clean that up, but I don't have time to stop and clean it up. To me, that is change management. That is practical, tactical. You have got to manage that like a project, because not doing it doesn't make things any better. Kelly Monahan: Those change management textbooks are as relevant today as they were back then. How did we lose change management? It is not some new invention we need to figure out in HR. It is literally going back to basics and remembering this is good practice.
