Lisa Sullivan

We had the privilege of hosting Quentin Clark — our board member and Managing Director at General Catalyst — during our recent leadership offsite at Eightfold’s headquarters in Santa Clara. Every moment of this session was filled with profound insights — the kind that make you pause and rethink assumptions. I tried to capture a few, though I’ll admit that taking notes while being genuinely awestruck is not easy! What are the three ills to ward off as companies grow: 1. Companies can get complacent. Current success can hinder future success. A very counterintuitive point: If you exceed the expectation and beat the plan, still be curious. “It still betrays!”.  2. Lowering the hiring bar. B-players hire C-players.  3. Not protecting the brand. What makes Eightfold such a hot prospect?  1. Eightfold was the first one to figure out how to apply ML for solving enterprise business problems - 9 years ago. A huge head start and a moat.  2. Eightfold is building a System of Agents in a world still stuck with Systems of Record. Traditional enterprise software makes you work — you have to pedal. Agentic AI flips that model: the system works for you. It’s a driverless engine, like Waymo.  3. AI used to be an unproven tech a few yrs ago, almost like selling snake oil. Today the AI tailwind is very real and Eightfold is in a position to build on the success rapidly. With so much money invested in AI, will there be a good ROI?  AI is bigger than the Mobile revolution, the Internet, and even the Mainframe era. It surpasses Integrated Circuits in its reach. Think about it — everyone today carries at least five IC-powered devices: a smartphone, a smartwatch, a health ring, earbuds, and often a laptop or tablet. AI will be an even more integral part of our personal and work lives. It took databases seven years to achieve a 10X leap in performance. Large Language Models did it in just three quarters. The acceleration curve of AI isn’t evolutionary — it’s exponential.   What about humans in an Agentic-AI world? Far from diminishing the value of people, Agentic AI raises it. As agents take on the repetitive, administrative, and mechanical tasks, humans are freed to focus on what only they can do — creating, problem-solving, and innovating. In this world, the regard for talent actually increases, because the leverage of each person is amplified. 

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“Go big or go home.” I couldn’t agree more, Kunal Sethi! Kunal and I had a fantastic conversation at Workday Rising about what it takes to transform the way we work with AI. His team at Medtronic has 200 agentic AI use cases in motion, and they’ve set an ambitious goal to have 80% of their HR processes AI-enabled in the next three years. Here are three learnings from Medtronic’s journey: 🌟 Look for the interconnectivity. Instead of implementing one-off solutions, think about how AI can connect entire processes. For example, Kunal talked about how an AI agent can support the entire performance management cycle: nudging employees to set their goals, pulling in data such as accomplishments and feedback, and alerting managers when it’s time to review. The real power isn’t about improving one small step, but transforming the journey. 🌟 Build east-west relationships. Bring stakeholders from across the enterprise together to share your vision for AI. Using tangible examples, demonstrate the value AI can deliver for each function, and show how that value can either be reinvested in things they weren’t able to do or given back to the business. 🌟 Keep humans in the loop. Create a clear vision for how humans and agents will work side-by-side, communicate often about what you’re trying to accomplish, and articulate the opportunity for agents to elevate the entire talent life cycle. It’s always inspiring to hear from our customers about how they’re innovating with technology to drive performance and create a great experience for their people. Thank you, Kunal! #WDAYRising

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On this International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the new LinkedIn + Disability:IN research highlights a pattern we cannot ignore. - Only 3% of employees with disabilities who stay at their company move into a higher-seniority role. - Just 8.4% experience any internal job change at all. - And people with disabilities are 4x more likely to progress by switching employers rather than being promoted internally. As both a people manager and a mother of three neurodivergent young adults it's clear to me. This isn’t a talent issue — it’s a workplace design issue. It’s also a cost issue: - The majority of disability accommodations cost employers nothing, and the median one-time cost is $300. - Meanwhile, replacing an employee costs 50–200% of salary — adding up to $1 trillion in turnover costs every year in the US alone. Inclusive workplaces don’t just support people and inclusion isn't just a 'nice thing to do' . Inclusion saves money and unlocks advancement pathways that should never depend on leaving. Thanks to Disability:IN for the fascinating and insightful resource. https://lnkd.in/eMtEqGs6 Jill Houghton Reid Jewett Smith, Ph.D. Taylor Hahn Leslie Wilson

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Korn Ferry has partnered with Payscale to make our global compensation data more accessible to clients by integrating it directly into Payscale’s platform. Learn more here 👉 https://krnfy.bz/4759vam

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When pay conversations go wrong, it’s rarely about the numbers. It’s about the message. In our latest Comp and Coffee episode, I sat down with Chief People Officer Lexi Clarke, Head of Total Rewards Lauren Hein, and People Leader Lauren Cole to talk about how to make pay conversations meaningful, consistent, and human. Here are a few takeaways that stood out:  ☕️ Trust is built or broken in every pay conversation. Even the most thoughtful compensation strategy will fall flat if communication breaks down.    ☕️ Managers need more than data. They need language and confidence to have honest discussions about pay. Clear frameworks like “know, say, and do” help everyone stay aligned.    ☕️ Start conversations early. Don’t wait until calibration week to talk about performance or expectations.    ☕️ Lead with empathy. Pay is personal. It represents someone’s livelihood, their goals, and their sense of being valued. As we head into compensation season, I hope this episode reminds you that strong pay communication builds trust and connection. It doesn’t cost anything other than care and intention.  Listen to the episode here: https://bit.ly/4hGrVkR

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Great insights from Robert Half’s Josh Warborg on ARC Seattle, breaking down the key findings from our 2026 Salary Guide, now in its 75th year of tracking pay and workplace trends. “It’s still very much an employee’s market,” Josh noted, and understanding total compensation will be key heading into 2026. #RobertHalf #2026SalaryGuide

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The contingent workforce industry is at an inflection point and the inflection is caused by rapid adoption of AI based Freelance Management systems transforming how companies think about both their contingent and total talent strategies. Staffing Industry Analysts just released their 2025 FMS Global Landscape Report, and the data tells a story about fundamental industry transformation, not just technology adoption. For decades, managing contractors meant navigating fragmented systems, compliance headaches, and limited visibility into spend and performance. Organizations paid the price in time, risk, and missed opportunities. Freelancers dealt with payment delays and administrative friction that got in the way of doing great work. Freelancer Management Systems are fundamentally changing this equation. The value creation is profound: Risk mitigation at scale: Companies are moving from reactive compliance management to proactive risk mitigation across multiple jurisdictions. The cost of getting this wrong has never been higher. Data becomes intelligence: Real-time visibility into contractor spend, performance, and workforce composition is enabling strategic decisions that were simply impossible before. CFOs and procurement teams finally have the data they need. Speed creates advantage: What used to take weeks (sourcing, onboarding, contracting, payments) now happens in days or hours. In fast-moving markets, this operational speed translates directly to competitive advantage. Integration multiplies value: When FMS platforms connect seamlessly with existing HR, finance, and procurement systems, organizations multiply the value of their entire tech stack rather than adding another disconnected tool. What the SIA research makes clear: the organizations winning with contingent talent aren’t simply using better software. They’re fundamentally rethinking their approach to workforce agility, unlocking talent pools they couldn’t access before, and building operational capabilities that become genuine competitive advantages. The spreadsheet era of contractor management isn’t just outdated. It’s leaving measurable value on the table: slower time to hire, elevated compliance risk, limited workforce intelligence, and constrained access to specialized talent. The question isn’t whether to adopt FMS technology. It’s how quickly your organization can capture the value it creates. In the link in the comments or just DM me to get the SIA’s YunoJuno showcase report to understand what leading organizations look for when evaluating an FMS and how YunoJuno supports modern contingent workforce strategies. ‍ #ContingentWorkforce #FreelanceManagement #FutureOfWork #Procurement YunoJuno

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I truly believe innovation depends on all voices being heard. As leaders, we often talk about psychological safety, but what does that really mean? This article from Harvard Business Review clears up common myths. It’s not about comfort or avoiding hard conversations. It’s about creating space for candor with care so teams can learn, grow, and perform at their best. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s a good reminder that well-being at work isn’t just about benefits or time off—it’s also about how safe people feel to speak up. Worth the read 👇 https://lnkd.in/emx3zgAV

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