65+ Global Influencers in HR Tech to Follow in 2021

Written by Neelie Verlinden
26 minutes read

Our global influencers in HR tech list is back! The idea behind this article is to share inspiring people from the global HR tech world with you. Some of them have just entered the industry while others have been around for a long time. We very much enjoyed checking out this year’s new additions and we hope you will too. So, take a look, follow them, and engage with these HR influencers.

The names are listed in no particular order and this list is by no means exhaustive. Of course, if you feel we missed people, please do leave their names and why you think they should be included in the comments.

Here goes!


Brigette Hyacinth

Keynote speaker on Leadership, HR, AI, and Digital Transformation

Brigette Hyacinth

Brigette is a bestselling author, and an international keynote speaker on leadership, management, HR, digital transformation, and AI. She has been advising CEOs, entrepreneurs, educators, governments, and leaders from all over the globe on how to build innovative organizations, unlock creative potential, and increase productivity for more than 15 years.

So far, Brigette has written 5 books, including “Leading the Workforce of the Future: Inspiring a Mindset of Passion, Innovation, and Growth.” The book provides concrete advice and best practices on how to engage and retain top talent. 

Follow Brigette on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @MbaCaribbeanOrg

Hung Lee

Curator of Recruiting Brainfood | Co-Founder and CEO of Workshape.io

Hung Lee

Hung Lee is the man behind the immensely popular weekly newsletter Recruiting Brainfood (go here if you want to subscribe). The newsletter for the talent industry covers topics such as AI, blockchain, culture, future of work, employer branding, sourcing, tech hiring, D&I, assessment, organizational network analytics, cool tools, and other stuff related – and occasionally not – to the recruiting & HR industry.

Hung is also co-founder and CEO of workshape.io, a matching service for tech talent.

Follow Hung on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @HungLee


Philippa Penfold

CEO and Co-Founder of People Collider | Lecturer | Start-up mentor

Philippa Penfold

Philippa is the CEO and co-founder of People Collider, a company that designs and delivers learning experiences for HR professionals about new and emerging technologies including: AI, robotic process automation, blockchain, augmented and virtual reality, and the Internet of Things.

She’s also a lecturer at the Kaplan Business School, speaker, and a start-up mentor/advisor.

Follow Philippa on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @philippapenfold

Erik van Vulpen

Founder of AIHR | Leader in HR Upskilling, Digital HR, and HR Innovation

Erik van Vulpen

Of course, AIHR’s very own Erik van Vulpen also deserves a spot on this year’s global HR tech influencers list. Erik is a writer, keynote speaker, and thought leader in HR upskilling, HR innovation, and digital HR.

In his role as founder of AIHR, he speaks and advises many CHROs and global heads of learning on their upskilling needs in HR. He also writes on a wide range of HR topics to give an evidence-based approach with actionable information for HR professionals.

Follow Erik on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @van_Vulpen

Aubrey Blanche

Founder and CEO of Mathpath | Director of Equitable Design, Product, and People at Culture Amp

Aubrey Blanche

Aubrey Blanche is The Mathpath (Math Nerd + Empath), Director of Equitable Design & Impact at Culture Amp, and a startup investor and advisor. Through all her work, she seeks to question, reimagine, and redesign the systems and practices that surround us to ensure that all people can access equitable opportunities and build a better world.

Aubrey is the inventor of the balanced teams approach to building proportional representation and a culture of belonging in the workplace, as well as the Balanced Teams Diversity Assessment in the Atlassian Team Playbook. She works to open source these methods for all practitioners and business leaders, and releases thought leadership and tools to create positive change at aubreyblanche.com.

Follow Aubrey on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @adblanche

Enrique Rubio

Founder of Hacking HR | Co-Founder of Cotopaxi | Speaker

Enrique Rubio

Enrique is the founder of Hacking HR, a global learning community of HR and business leaders, HR practitioners, vendors, consultants, and everyone else interested in learning, sharing, collaborating, and advancing the HR profession.

The community focuses on all the things at the fabulous intersection of future of work, technology, organization, innovation, people, transformation and the impact in HR, the workforce and the workplace.

Enrique also is the co-founder of Cotopaxi, an artificial intelligence based recruitment platform for Latin America. 

Follow Enrique on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @erubio_p

Stacy Donovan Zapar

Founder of The Talent Agency | Keynote Speaker

Stacy Donovan Zapar

Stacy is the founder of The Talent Agency, a boutique recruitment consulting, training, and search firm helping clients build and successfully execute talent acquisition strategies and initiatives. Her specialties include Search, Sourcing as a Service, Talent Attraction, and Recruiter Training.

Stacy has been featured in renowned publications such as Forbes, the Washington Post, and HBR. She has been named numerous things such as Trendsetter of the Year in Talent Acquisition by SHRM’s HR Magazine, a Top 100 HR Influencer by Human Resource Executive Magazine, and #5 on 50 Most Popular Recruiting Influencers List – LinkedIn / ERE.

Follow Stacy on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @StacyZapar

Ben Eubanks

HR Analyst | Author | Podcaster

Ben Eubanks

Ben is another one of those people who seem to be good at everything they do. He currently is a human capital management industry analyst helping companies and vendors with strategy, content, and more.

He also is the co-founder of the HRevolution movement, an event that has attracted hundreds of attendees from around the globe to work together and explore the future of HR, work, and business.

Ben’s other activities include writing at upstartHR.com and speaking at events such as ATD TechKnowledge, and the HR Technology Conference. He also writes guides and develops courses to help HR professionals be better at what they do with a key focus around HR certification.

Follow Ben on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @UpstartHR

Rishita Jones

HR Transformation Advisor & Coach at NRG HR | HR Visionary

Rishita Jones

Rishita chose HR on purpose, 14 years ago. Her professional journey of searching for more egalitarian ways of working, purpose, and sense of belonging led her to discover Agile.

Over the last few years, she has worked as a change agent in HR, bringing the Agile values, principles, and tools to individuals, teams, and organizations wishing to make a transition to more innovative, trustful, and team-centered ways of working. 

Follow Rishita on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @JonesRishita

Adam Gordon

Co-Founder and CEO of Candidate.ID

Adam Gordon

Adam has years of HR and recruitment experience and co-launched Candidate.ID in 2016. Put simply, Candidate.ID helps organizations attract high-performing, passive candidates by engaging them with compelling content.

The company has won recruitment tech start-up competitions at Unleash, Amsterdam and Hiring Success, San Francisco. I had the pleasure to speak with Adam myself at a conference, you can watch our lively conversation about the candidate journey here.

Follow Adam on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @Adam_W_Gordon

Ellyn Shook

Chief Leadership & Human Resources Officer at Accenture

Ellyn Shook

Ellyn Shook is responsible for helping the more than 425,000 people of Accenture succeed both professionally and personally. Together with her global team of HR leaders and experts, she is re-imagining leadership and talent practices to create the most truly human work environment possible in the digital age.

Ellen is a strong advocate for inclusion and diversity, and Accenture has been widely recognized externally for its diversity efforts. She is, among many other things, active in Women in America and Ellevate Women’s Network, and is also a member of the HR50 division of World50.

Follow Ellyn on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @EllynJShook1

Andrew Spence

Workforce Futurist | HR Transformation Director

Andrew Spence

Andy is an independent management consultant specializing in building people-centric organizations working with progressive leaders. After gaining an MSc in Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, long before Siri and Watson, he worked at the intersection of people, technology, and organizational development.

Andrew’s recent research has included publishing a paper with the Tapscotts’ Blockchain Research Institute on “Blockchain and the CHRO.” He has also developed an eLearning course on “Blockchain and HR” for the Academy to Innovate HR.

Follow Andy on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @AndySpence

Katrina Collier

The Searchologist | Author | Podcast host | Speaker

Katrina is on a mission to inspire 1 million people who recruit to treat people better. Through facilitation with HR, recruiters and hiring managers, she shows companies how to improve their recruitment & candidate experience. She is a popular global keynote speaker, author of ‘The Robot-Proof Recruiter’ and Mastermind programme, and host of The Hiring Partner Perspective (Unedited) podcast.

Side-hustles, as she calls them, include being the Founder of DisruptHR London & Cambridge, being an Ambassador for Hope for Justice, being a Business Mentor to the amazing Radical Recruit, and much, much more.

Follow Katrina on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @KatrinaMCollier

William Tincup

President at RecruitingDaily.com

William Tincup

William is the president of RecruitingDaily, a leading website for recruiting, Human Resources & talent acquisition professionals globally. William’s sweet spot lies at the intersection of HR and technology and he has written over 250 HR articles, spoken at over 375 HR & recruiting conferences, and done more than 1,350 podcasts and webinars.

As an HR Tech advisor, he also supports startups in various areas of business.

Follow William on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @williamtincup

Jay Polaki

Founder and CEO at HR Geckos | Forbes Human Resources Council | HR Tech Entrepreneur

Jay Polaki

Jay Polaki is the Founder and CEO of HR Geckos, an HR Technology and Management company. Throughout her career, she has impacted how some of the most critical HR functions are defined and executed.

At HR Geckos, Jay continues to create, fuel, and encourage next-gen ideas, practices, and tools on HR Technology, Leadership Development, Talent, and Compensation Strategies.

Among many other things, Jay is also the Founder and CEO of Career Acers, and an official contributing member of the Forbes Human Resources Council.

Follow Jay on:
Jay Polaki
Twitter: @jaypolaki

Anna Ott

People/Talent Advisor to +70 startups in HV Capital’s portfolio

Anna Ott

Anna Ott is VP People and responsible for ESG initatives at HV Capital, one of the leading VC funds in Europe. She has more than two decades of experience in HR, emphasising start-ups and digital business. She’s worked closely with the portfolios of venture builders, incubators, and venture capitalists.

In her current role, she, therefore, shares advice on how to think about organizational design, when to hire which talent, how to prepare for growth, and how to build a healthy organization.

Follow Anna on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @frauott

Soumyasanto Sen

Digital HR, Transformation & People Analytics Leader | Author & Speaker

Soumyasanto Sen

Soumya is a Digital HR, Transformation & People Analytics leader with over 18 years of experience in advisory and management in technology and transformation (people and organizations) across various large firms worldwide in America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific.

He is also the founder of People Conscience, providing advisory, research, mentorship, and coaching to start-ups, entrepreneurs, leaders, and organizations to create a better and sustainable future. Soumya is the author of the book ‘Digital HR Strategy.’

Follow Soumyasanto on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @soumyasanto

Frida Polli

CEO and Co-Founder of Pymetrics

Frida Polli

We continue ourglobal HR tech influencer list with another female CEO and Co-Founder, Frida Polli. Frida is passionate about revolutionizing access to economic opportunity through unbiased tech. She also is an avid technophile who believes audited AI can help retain all the wisdom of humans while stripping out ineradicable bias.

Frida heads Pymetrics, an recruitment tech company that, in a nutshell, applies proven neuroscience games and elements of machine learning & AI to democratize career search and hiring.

Follow Frida on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @fridapolli

Alexandre Pachulski

Co-Founder of Talentsoft | Author and Speaker

Alexandre Pachulski

Alexandre is one of the founders of Talentsoft, a European leader in cloud-based talent management and learning software.

He is passionate about helping people fulfill their dreams and ambitions in their work-life and author of the books Unique(s) and Génération I.A. His areas of expertise include entrepreneurship, leadership, management, innovation, AI, HR, and HRIS.

Follow Alexandre on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @apachulski

Geetanjali Gamel

Global Workforce Analytics at Johnson & Johnson

Geetanjali Gamel

Geetanjali is an analytics leader, experienced at driving better business decisions through quantitative and qualitative insights for Business and HR organizations at global Fortune 500 companies.

Before joining Johnson & Johnson, she was Global Head of Workforce Analytics and Planning at Merck and People Analytics Leader at Mastercard.

Geetanjali leads the design and execution of digital analytics road maps from start to finish. Her specialties include digital HR strategy, employee listening roadmap, workforce analytics, design thinking, strategic workforce planning, data visualization, and much more.

Follow Geetanjali on:
Linkedin

Kevin Moore

Director Workforce Analytics at AON

Kevin Moore

Kevin is an experienced workforce analytics leader and speaker who helps organizations use data to improve their HR processes. His specialties include HR and D&I analytics, change management, workforce planning, and predictive analytics. Kevin uses his knowledge to support companies on their way to organizational improvement, increased sales productivity, and greater profitability.

Follow Kevin on:
Linkedin

Ambrosia Vertesi

People & Operations Executive | Co-Founder @HROpenSource

Ambrosia Vertesi

Ambrosia is the Co-Founder of HR Open Source, the largest HR open source community in the world with nearly 10,000+ practitioners across 70+ countries. HROS is a community of practitioners who believe that collaboration is the key to preparing their organizations for the future of work.

Ambrosia also is an advisor at PeopleTech Partners, where she gives advice to companies in the HR/People tech space on product and business needs.

Follow Ambrosia on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @AmbrosiaVert

Javier Calzolari

Co-Founder of HumanosReales | HR Data Analyst

Javier Calzolari

Javier is the co-founder of HumanosReales.com, an HR training academy that was the first to create an HR Bootcamp in Spanish. He is also the director of Cuvyz.com, a company that advises professionals from all areas to enhance their personal branding through their CVs and LinkedIn profiles.

And there is (much) more. Javier also leads LinkedInSinHumo.com together with other LATAM content creators. On this website, they share information to help more professionals recognize and avoid deception in the professional social network.

In 2020, Javier was named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices.

Follow Javier on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @javiercalzolari

Susanna Frazier

Owner Sourcing FYI | Founder Sourcers Who Code

Susanna Frazier

Susanna is an IT staffing recruiter turned strategic corporate sourcing enthusiast with 10 years of experience. She also is an international recruitment consultant, trainer, advisor, and speaker, and the founder of Sourcers Who Code.

Susanna is the owner of Sourcing FYI, a consulting agency that assists with sourcing. Before starting her own business, she worked as head of strategic sourcing at Universal and lead talent sourcing researcher at Walmart Labs.

Susanna has heaps of honorable mentions such as Recruiting Brainfood’s Big List of People to Follow and Recruitee’s HR Tech Influencers to Watch.

Follow Susanna on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @ohsusannamarie

Jan Tegze

Talent Acquisition Leader | Bestselling Author | Blogger| Speaker

Jan Tegze

Jan is a talent acquisition leader with broad knowledge in recruiting, sourcing, recruitment branding, and innovative sourcing techniques. He is also the author of the bestseller “Full Stack Recruiter.

Jan has a lot of experience streamlining recruitment processes with an emphasis on developing innovative sourcing strategies, optimizing the use of technology & social media, and creating collaborative hiring manager relationships. He also runs a great blog with articles on, for instance, ATS-friendly resumes, data ownership, and the importance of transparency in employer branding (go here if you want to check it out).

Follow Jan on:
LinkedIn

Jen Phillips Kirkwood

Executive Strategist | VP Future of Work at ADP

Jen Phillips Kirkwood

As an executive with over 20 years experience in digital Human Capital Management, Jen Phillips Kirkwood has created a renowned HCM Advanced Technology consulting practice by hand-selecting a brilliant team of AI, DE&I, Data & Worker Experience, Global Business Transformation principals and DevSecOps technologists.

As the Vice President, Future of Work, for ADP, she leads this team today that consults and serves enterprise organizations across the world. This practice is leading the way as a new model of consulting excellence for the HCM Technology industry.

Jen also dedicates time to Girls Who Code as a mentor & judge, Women in Leadership, as well as Hacking HR.

Follow Jen on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @JenPhillipsK

Kyle Lagunas

Ideator, Loudmouth & Director of Strategy at Beamery

Kyle Lagunas

Kyle keeps tabs on key practices in recruiting, hiring and retention strategies and technologies, as he puts it himself. As such, he keeps people in touch with important conversations and emerging trends in the rapidly changing world of talent.

For the past several years, he has offered companies a fresh take on the role of technology as part of an integrated talent strategy. He currently works at Beamery, a Recruitment CRM and Marketing Automation platform, as their Director of Strategy.

Follow Kyle on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @KyleLagunas


Taemie Kim

Co-founder and Chief Scientist at Humanyze

Taemie Kim

Teamie Kim is the co-founder and Chief Scientist of Humanyze, a world leader in understanding team dynamics and work patterns. The company has developed a People Analytics platform that analyzes corporate communication data collected by wearable sensing technology.

Taemie is a global expert in collaborative technologies and has published over 40 research articles including pieces about using sensor technology to capture collaboration forms. She currently leads Humanyze’s Analytics Division and is responsible for the science behind the platform.

Follow Taemie on:
Linkedin

Laszlo Bock

CEO and Co-Founder of Humu

Laszlo Bock

Laszlo Bock is probably most known for his book ‘Work Rules!’ and his former role as SVP of People Operations at Google, especially since the company won numerous ‘Best Place to Work’ awards during the time Laszlo was there.

At Humu, Laszlo works to help companies use behavioral science and machine learning to build stronger, happier and more capable teams. 

Follow Laszlo on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @LaszloBock

Natal Dank

Co-Founder of PXO | Agile HR | Author & Speaker

Natal Dank

In 2016, Natal hosted the first Agile HR Meetup in London with the aim of building a community of like-minded disrupters. The Meetup has since grown into a regular event held across the world both on- and offline. A year later, she co-founded the Agile HR Community and Natal has recently published the book, Agile HR – Deliver Value in a Changing World of Work.

In 2020, she founded PXO Culture focused on defining modern HR for the 21st Century and helping organizations build great People Experience and Operations.

Natal is widely recognized and seen as a pioneer in Agile HR and People Experience.

Follow Natal on:
Linkedin
Twitter : @NatalDank

Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman

The Chad & Cheese Podcast

The Chad & Cheese Podcast

Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman are the men behind ‘HR’s most dangerous podcast’. They are, as they put it themselves, here to punch the recruiting industry right where it hurts, complete with breaking news, brash opinion, and loads of snark.

With over 40 years combined experience in the recruitment industry, Chad and Cheese bring a unique perspective and flavor to their weekly podcast. Chad previously worked for Online Career Center, Monster.com, DirectEmployers, RecruitMilitary and Randstad. You can find him at Catch22Consulting.com.

Joel has worked for e.span, JobOptions, CareerBoard, Jobing, Recruiting.com, and EmployeescreenIQ. He’s also started a variety of businesses, including Ratedly and his latest venture, Poach.

I got to speak with Chad and Joel at Unleash a while ago, you can watch our fun conversation here.

Follow Chad and Joel on:
Chad’s Linkedin
Joel’s Linkedin
Twitter: @Chad_Sowash
Twitter: @joelcheesman

Alexis Fink

VP People Analytics and Workforce Strategy at Facebook

Alexis Fink

Alexis is a leading figure in People Analytics. She has led People Analytics teams at several major tech companies and she has also done extensive work in organizational transformation, organizational culture, leadership assessment, and the application of advanced analytical methods to human capital problems.

Among many other things, Alexis was Chair of the IT Survey Group, an industry consortium dedicated to employee surveys. She currently works at Facebook as their VP of People Analytics and Workforce Strategy.

Follow Alexis on:
Linkedin

Juan Luis Betancourt

CEO of Humantelligence

Juan Luis Betancourt

Juan Luis is the CEO of Humantelligence, a CaaS (Culture-as-a-Service) b2b enterprise software company that is transforming companies through measuring, managing, and hiring for culture. Put simply, the company’s platform gives employees access to powerful EQ insights so they can do their job better, be more engaged, and collaborate better.

Juan is recognized as a thought-leader, speaker, and business executive in the human capital management, HR software, recruiting, and culture space.

Follow Juan Luis on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @JuanLuisBetanc8

Neta Meidav

Co-Founder and CEO at Vault Platform

Neta Meidav

Neta co-founded Vault, a reporting platform that enables people to record, report, and resolve workplace misconduct incidents. The platform is powered by blockchain technology and helps organizations to protect themselves from the consequences of harassment, bullying, fraud, and corruption.

Follow Neta on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @NetaMeidav

Adrian Tan

Strategist, Future of Work at the Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP)

Adrian Tan

A former serial HR entrepreneur, Adrian is currently enabling organisations in Singapore to be ready for the Future of Work.

Creator of the Singapore HR Tech Market Map, he also writes extensively about work tech on his blog – adriantan.com.sg and produces a podcast, the Adrian Tan Show where he interviews guests on their enablement on the Future of Work.

Follow Adrian on:
Linkedin
Twitter : @adriantan18

Kristen Pressner

Head People & Culture at Roche Diagnostics

Kristen Pressner

Kristen is a global business leader and HR executive who is passionate about unleashing people’s potential and creating high-ROI organizational change. Besides that – and perhaps even more interestingly – Kristen is a great speaker. If you haven’t seen her popular and very honest TEDx talk on unconscious bias, we suggest you watch it right away.

Follow Kristen on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @KPressner

Marc Coleman

Founder & CEO of UNLEASH

Marc Coleman

Marc is the founder & CEO of UNLEASH. He is passionate about building global communities that imagine, create and power the new working world. Since 2008, he has created a number of successful HR brands and helped build and shape trusted HR communities worldwide.

UNLEASH is the world’s customer-first digital media platform, built to inspire, connect and enable business leaders, HR leaders and organizations worldwide to navigate the changing world of work.

Follow Marc on:
Linkedin
Twitter: @unleashmarc

Karen Azulai

Co-Founder of HRtechnation.com | Global Sourcing Expert

Karen Azulai

Karen is one of the leading voices in the international sourcing and HR Tech community. She keynotes at conferences around Europe and Asia, is passionate about the future of recruitment and work and wants to raise awareness about upcoming changes in the industry.

Among many other things, Karen founded the “VR in HR” Facebook group and she co-leads the Israeli HR Tech founder’s community.

Follow Karen on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @karenazulai

Tyrone Smith

Global Strategy & Workforce Analytics Leader 

Tyrone D. Smith

Tyrone Smith is a strategic leader in – among other things – human capital management, people analytics, workforce planning, and people operations. He builds high-performing teams and collaborates with business leaders and employees to identify, analyze, and solve complex business problems in line with short and long-term business goals.

Tyrone is an advisory board member at the Human Capital Institue.

Follow Tyrone on:
LinkedIn

Dr. Elizabeth Berryman

CEO and Founder of chnnl | Organisational Wellbeing Advocate

Elizabeth Berryman

Elizabeth is the founder and CEO of chnnl, a start-up with a mission to engage employees and monitor personal mental wellbeing and provide direct feedback enabling management to take action in real-time.

Liz is focused on solutions that help workplaces combat issues such as employee burnout, depression, anxiety, and suicide, and is an active researcher in this space. She is very passionate about supporting people’s mental wellbeing through digital tools.

Follow Elizabeth on:
LinkedIn

Alain Roumilhac

CEO of ManPowerGroup France

Alain Roumilhac

Alain Roumilhac is the CEO of ManPowerGroup France, a world leader in innovative workforce solutions. The company creates and delivers high-impact solutions that enable its clients to achieve their business goals and enhance their competitiveness.

Alain regularly shares his views on the latest developments in a rapidly changing – and digitalizing – world of work and the impact this has on society.

Follow Alain on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @AlainRoumilhac

Wendy Van Ierschot

Founder and CEO at VIE Capital

Wendy van Ierschot

Wendy is the Founder of VIE People, a consultancy firm for scaling companies that want to excel in people, culture, and teams. VIE teaches organizations how to combine the HR road for scale-ups with the use of HR technology and leadership development.

Wendy also is the Founder of Vie Tech Capital where they provide strategic seed capital for companies (with an HR Tech focus).

Follow Wendy on:
LinkedIn

Bill Boorman

Strategic advisor | Stand up comedian

Bill Boorman

Bill is driven by a passion to make recruiting better for everyone. He works with tech start-ups on product, market fit, and being investor-ready and has advised 9 companies through growth to exit. He has spoken at most of the leading recruiting or HR events across the globe, and regularly serves as emcee or host.

In 2010, Bill launched #tru, a series of unconference events that is not for profit and open source. There are around 100 #tru events hosted across the globe each year (Covid permitting) that provide the basis of all his research and networking.

Follow Bill on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @BillBoorman

Littal Shemer Haim

People Analytics Consultant | HR Data Strategist

Littal Shemer Haim

Littal helps managers to improve business performance by informed decisions about people. She offers HR leaders guidance in the journey towards a data-driven organization and conducts People Analytics and Organizational Research projects.

Littal sources innovation in the HR-tech ecosystem. She also writes and lectures about People, Data, Ethics, and the Future of Work.

It was Littal and her personal challenge for 2018 to salute 365 women in HR (tech) that inspired us to include at least as many women as men in our AIHR Top Global HR Tech Influencer list.

Follow Littal on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @Littalics

Mostafa Azzam

Digital HR & People Analytics Leader

Mostafa Azzam

Mostafa is widely recognized as a thought leader and globally respected authority on HR Analytics, Digital HR, Talent Management, and Strategic HR. He helps HR practitioners and organizations realize their full potential through leveraging Data-driven HR & Analytics to drive and sustain improved business performance and outcomes.

Mostafa is, among many other things, an International SHRM Facilitator and Consultant, an HCI Faculty Member and a Senior Instructor and an Associate Consultant for Informa in the GCC region.

Follow Mostafa on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @MostafaKAzzam

Kathleen Hogan

Chief People Officer and EVP at Microsoft

Kathleen Hogan

As Chief People Officer at Microsoft, Kathleen focuses on empowering Microsoft’s more than 150,000 global employees to achieve their company’s mission, and together with them, creating a culture that attracts and inspires the world’s most passionate talent. 

Kathleen is also on the board of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT).

Follow Kathleen on:
LinkedIn

Volker Jacobs

CEO and Founder of TI People

Volker Jacobs

Volker is a globally recognized leader in the human-centered future of work. He provides data-driven insights about business performance driven by a superior human experience of work (employee experience).

Volker’s company, TI People, crafts solutions from deep human resources expertise combined with a human-centered design approach and actionable data to make a meaningful impact for individuals and businesses. 

Follow Volker on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @VolkerJacobs

Alexia (Lexy) Martin

Principal, Research and Customer Value at Visier Inc.

Alexia Martin

Lexy is a long-time researcher currently focused on #PeopleAnalytics. She is passionate about proving the value proposition and ensuring adopting organizations are successful.

Her specialties include People Analytics, Workforce Analytics, Value analysis, and HR Tech. She did extended research on HR technology adoption and was the author of Sierra-Cedar’s HR Systems Survey.

I had to pleasure to talk with Lexy about getting more value out of People Analytics a few months ago. You can watch our conversation here.

Follow Lexy on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @lexymartin

Tom Haak

Director of the HR Trend Institute | Keynote Speaker

Tom Haak

Tom is the director of the HR Trend Institute, which he founded in 2014. He has extensive experience in HR Management in multinational companies. Tom has a keen interest in innovative HR and how organizations can benefit from trend shifts. 

His areas of expertise include HR strategy, recruitment, talent management, HR trends, and people analytics.

Follow Tom on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @tomwhaak

Joelle Emerson

Founder & CEO at Paradigm

Joelle Emerson

Before she founded Paradigm and long before the #metoo movement, Joelle was a women’s rights employment lawyer. She represented women in gender discrimination and sexual harassment litigation and advocated for policies – on all levels – to ensure equal pay and other workplace protections for women. 

It’s her legal experience that inspired Joelle to found Paradigm, a strategy firm that partners with leading tech startups and Fortune 500 companies to build stronger, more inclusive organizations.

Follow Joelle on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @joelle_emerson

Barry Flack

HR Talent Director | HR Tech Advisor | Keynote Speaker

Barry Flack

Barry is a seasoned Global HR Executive, leader, and strategist. He solves complex people-related business problems and has helped build successful people strategies for a hyper-growth start-up, launched a retail brand in the USA, and offshored work to India, to name a few.

Barry loves the opportunity that HR technology gives us to be better at what we do, but he also knows that investments need to be aligned to complex organizations to be sustainable. As such, he helps HR vendors translate this so that they can be successful.

Follow Barry on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @barryjflack

Meghan M. Biro

Founder of TalentCulture | HR Tech Evangelist

Meghan M. Biro

Meghan M. Biro is a globally recognized Talent Management and HR Tech brand strategist, analyst, digital catalyst, author, and speaker. She’s the Founder and CEO of TalentCulture and the Founder of the #WorkTrends Community.

Meghan is also a regular contributor at leading magazines, Forbes, Huffington Post, and Entrepreneur, to name a few. She regularly serves on advisory boards for leading HR and technology brands.

Follow Meghan on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @MeghanMBiro

Alan Walker 

Co-Founder of Udder & ChatTalent | #HRTech Consulting

Alan Walker

Alan is the co-founder of Udder, a company that helps talent technology vendors to grow their businesses and companies looking to buy talent technology to make better purchasing decisions. He has over 15 years of experience in Talent, Recruitment, and HR – mostly in leadership roles.

Alan has sat through nearly 300 different HR technology showcases and demos over the last 2 years which has given him an unparalleled awareness of the capabilities of HR technology. He also hosts The ChatTalent People Podcast.

Follow Alan on:
LinkedIn
Twitter : @AlWalker78

Kieran Snyder 

CEO of Textio

Kieran Snyder

Kieran is the Co-Founder and CEO of Textio, the inventor of augmented writing and a data-driven platform that supports companies in their recruitment process by predicting – and hence improving – the performance of their job listings. 

She is a long-time software product leader, an accomplished data writer, and a recovering academic with a PhD in Linguistics and Cognitive Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Follow Kieran on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @KieranSnyder

Daniel Chait 

CEO at Greenhouse

Daniel Chait

Daniel Chait is the CEO of Greenhouse, one of the fastest-growing enterprise Talent Acquisition Suites. He is on a mission to eliminate application bias while helping companies manage candidates during the application process.

Daniel has been a technology entrepreneur in New York for over 20 years. Before Greenhouse, he co-founded Lab49, a global firm providing technology consulting solutions for the world’s leading investment banks. He often replies to users via Twitter.

Follow Daniel on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @dhchait

Stacey Harris

Chief Research Officer & Managing Partner at Sapient Insights Group

Stacey Harris

Stacey has been a leading member of the HR practices and technology community since 2007. She has conducted groundbreaking research on High-Impact HR organizations, enterprise HR technologies, and key practices across the talent management spectrum. 

Stacey co-hosts the HR Tech Weekly Radio show and frequently speaks and/or facilitates HR events in the US. She currently works at Sapient Insights Group, a research and consulting firm focused on helping clients use data and insights to achieve organizational outcomes.

Follow Stacey on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @StaceyHarrisHR

Jason Averbook 

CEO and Co-Founder at Leapgen | Author

Jason Averbook

Jason has over 25 years of experience in the HR and tech industries and has collaborated with industry-leading companies in transforming their HR organizations into strategic partners.

With Leapgen, Jason drives the future of work in organizations all over the world and encourages HR leaders to build a better workforce experience based on empathy-driven design thinking principles.

Jason also wrote two books: HR from Now to Next and The Ultimate Guide to a Digital Workforce Experience.

Follow Jason on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @jasonaverbook

Trish McFarlane 

HR Technology Analyst | Consultant | Writer | Podcaster

Trish McFarlane

Trish is a seasoned HR executive focused on the alignment of strategic business objectives. She advises organizations on product strategy in order to bring HR professionals and technology vendors closer together. Trish has experience in technology selection and implementation since 2005.

She is the co-host of the most listened to HR industry podcast, the HR Happy Hour, and the creator of the HR Happy Hour WORK BREAK! daily vlog.

Follow Trish on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @TrishMcFarlane

Steve Boese

President and Co-Founder of H3 HR Advisors

Steve Boese

Steve Boese has over 20 years of experience implementing enterprise technologies for HR, Recruiting, Finance and Distribution. H3 HR Advisors is the parent company for the HR Happy Hour Show and Podcast as well as a full-service HCM advisory firm that provides thought leadership and support for HCM executives.

The HR Happy Hour Show is a podcast and web radio show hosted by Steve Boese and above mentioned Trish McFarlane that focuses on workplace topics and issues like talent management, HR tech, and more.

Follow Steve on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @SteveBoese

Stela Lupushor 

Chief Re-framer at Reframe.Work Inc.

Stela Lupushor

Stela does many amazing things. She leads Reframe.Work Inc. and consults on how to create inclusive workplaces through the use of technology, human-centered design, people analytics, and future-thinking.

Stela has founded amazing.community – a nonprofit extending the work horizon for women 45+. Their sweet spot is age+gender+technology and their solutions are focused on helping women prepare for the workplace of the future, and for organizations to create inclusive environments for them.

Stela also teaches Digital Workplace Design and Design Thinking at the NYU School of Professional Studies.

Follow Stela on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @slupusho

David Green 

People Analytics Leader

David Green

David is very active on LinkedIn. He’s always sharing relevant articles or content by field experts or himself. David is well-known in the industry and a respected writer, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR, and the future of work.

Follow David on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @david_green_uk

Stacy Chapman 

CEO and Co-Founder of SwoopTalent

Stacy Chapman

Stacy Chapman is the CEO and co-founder of SwoopTalent, an automated talent data management platform. She has been in HR tech for more than 25 years, in many, many different roles, including being a proud PeopleSoft alum.

Her long term obsession with data has morphed lately to include a more broad focus on bias, AI, and what redirects technology from a utopic to a dystopic outcome (and vice versa).

Follow Stacy on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @stacychapman

Tim Sackett

President of HRU Technical Resources  

Tim Sackett

Tim has more than 20 years of experience in recruiting and selection, mixed with some solid experience within the HR generalist world. He’s an HR Tech Analyst, Dad, and a Backup Point Guard on his over 40 people’s team. 

Tim’s specialties include Talent Acquisition, Employment Branding, Performance Management, and Succession Planning. He also has a daily newsletter called What’s Tim Talking about Today? (Go here if you’d like to subscribe.)

Follow Tim on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @TimSackett

Jeanne Achille 

CEO of the Devon Group | Program Chair, Women in HR Tech

Jeanne Achille

Jeanne has been the Founder and CEO of the Devon Group for 25 years now. The Devon Group is an independent tech (including HR tech) PR firm that has launched and represented numerous tech products worldwide.

As CEO of Devon, Jeanne has supported numerous successful exits from initial public offerings to strategic mergers and acquisitions. In addition to her role at Devon, Jeanne has chaired the Select HR Tech Conference and the Women in HR Tech Summit.

Follow Jeanne on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @jeanneachille

Josh Bersin 

Global Industry Analyst

Josh Bersin

Josh Bersin is an experienced veteran when it comes to HR and workplace technology. He was the founder of Bersin & Associates, which is now known as Bersin by Deloitte.

He spends his time studying the world of work, HR, and all aspects of workplace technology and he advises vendors and large corporations on their products, HR and leadership strategies, and workplace technology solutions.

Josh is also the Dean of the Josh Bersin Academy.

Follow Josh on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @Josh_Bersin

Jessica Miller-Merrell 

Founder of @Workology | HR and Workplace Speaker

Jessica Miller-Merrell

In 2005, Jessica founded a popular online HR and workplace resource called Workology. She is one of the most visible HR professionals on the internet today and she spends her time (among many other things):

  • Consulting & advising HR and recruiting technologies and startups with a focus on marketing & strategy
  • Training & consulting with HR and recruiting teams on digital and technology
  • Writing, speaking, and podcasting on human capital topics including but not limited to mobile, technology, employment branding & recruiting.

Follow Jessica on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @jmillermerrell

Bill Kutik 

HCM Analyst | Host at Firing Line with Bill Kutik

Bill Kutik is a leading independent expert on HR technology. He’s also the host of ‘Firing Line with Bill Kutik’ on YouTube, a broadcast-quality video series. He has written hundreds of columns for 27 years, organizes and moderates panels, and has built the world’s largest conference, HR Tech, from 1998 until 2013.

Follow Bill on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @billkutik


Sarah White-Brennan 

Founder & CEO Aspect43 | HRTech Analyst | Tech Strategist

Sarah Brennan

After nearly two decades in the HRTech, RecTech, and WorkTech space with roles at companies like Bersin & Cornerstone, working with more than 300 HR Tech vendors, and conducting research on nearly 100k practitioners – Sarah knew things needed to change if we really wanted to change how people work.

So she founded Aspect 43. At Aspect 43, they believe that the biggest influencers in HR technology should be the people that use it and the companies that build it. Aspect 43 is a totally reimagined look at what an analyst firm should look like for today’s market.

Follow Sarah on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @ImSoSarah

John Sumser 

Principal Analyst at HRExaminer

John Sumser

John is the principal analyst for HRExaminer, an independent analyst firm covering HR technology and the intersection of people, tech, and work. His work includes profound research into the ‘nooks and crannies’ of HR tech to identify and explain rapidly evolving trends.

The HRExaminer is John’s vehicle for understanding an explaining the inner workings of the industry. With three weekly podcasts, and written commentary, he covers emerging ideas, the state of the industry, and the executives who operate it. 

Follow John on:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @JohnSumser

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Neelie Verlinden

Neelie Verlinden is the host of the popular All About HR talk-show/podcast and co-founder of AIHR, the Academy to Innovate HR. She’s an expert on all things digital in HR and has written hundreds of articles on innovative HR practices. She's also an instructor on several popular HR certifications. Connect with Neelie via LinkedIn.

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