Payroll presents a unique paradox. It鈥檚 one of the business functions most suited to AI and automation because it鈥檚 highly structured, data-intensive, and compliance-driven. At the same time, it鈥檚 one of the most trust-sensitive functions in the enterprise because even small errors can have immediate consequences for employees’ financial well-being and confidence in their employer.

Payroll professionals often joke that nobody notices payroll when it goes right, and everyone notices when it goes wrong. Behind that observation is an important reality: every payroll run becomes a moment of trust between employer and employee. That trust has measurable consequences. According to new research* by 麻豆原创鈥檚 , 38% of employees worldwide have experienced a payroll error. These employees are significantly less likely to trust both their organization (13% lower trust) and their payroll function (17% lower trust). Trust declines even further with each additional payroll error experienced.

As National Payroll Week takes place across both the and the , we have an opportunity to recognize the payroll professionals who earn and maintain that trust every day, while reflecting on the transformation taking place across the payroll function itself.

As payroll teams navigate growing complexity, they’re being asked to do more with less while maintaining the accuracy, compliance, and reliability employees depend on. Employees increasingly expect faster, more flexible payroll experiences, including more frequent pay cycles and greater visibility into earnings and deductions, while tax laws, wage rules, leave requirements, and reporting obligations continue to evolve across countries, states, and local jurisdictions. At the same time, today’s workforce is more dynamic than ever, with employees changing roles, locations, schedules, and compensation arrangements in ways that can create downstream payroll impacts. Managing these changes manually is becoming increasingly difficult and raising the risk of errors, delays, and compliance gaps, positioning payroll not simply as an administrative process, but as strategic infrastructure supporting employee experience, compliance, finance, and business operations.

This combination of rising complexity and rising expectations is driving the next evolution of payroll: autonomous payroll.

Scaling trust in an era of complexity

Autonomous payroll is designed to help organizations navigate growing payroll complexity while maintaining accuracy, compliance, and confidence at scale. By combining AI, intelligent automation, integrated data, and real-time payroll monitoring, organizations can move beyond reactive payroll operations and proactively identify issues before they affect employees.

The goal isn’t to remove people from payroll, but to enable them to focus on higher-value activities by reducing manual effort and increasing visibility. Our global research suggests that employees do not see AI and human involvement as mutually exclusive. In fact, nearly half (49%) say they would trust AI in payroll more if they still had access to a human when AI fails. Additionally, 43% of employees say that the ability to request a human review of AI-generated outcomes would increase their trust in the use of AI in payroll. Trust is built not only through accuracy and efficiency, but also through the confidence that employees can escalate concerns, seek clarification, and access human support when needed.

Emerging capabilities such as AI-powered payroll agents and continuous payroll are helping organizations move from processing payroll to actively managing it. These capabilities can assess payroll readiness, detect anomalies, validate changes, and monitor workforce events across HR, payroll, and time data. By identifying how changes in roles, locations, schedules, compensation, or leave may affect payroll outcomes, organizations can anticipate impacts and resolve exceptions before they become costly errors. The result is improved reliability, stronger compliance, and greater trust across the workforce.

The shift is significant. Rather than finding errors at the end of a payroll cycle, organizations can increasingly investigate and resolve them throughout the cycle. But technology alone isn’t enough. As payroll becomes more autonomous, organizations must ensure intelligent systems operate with appropriate oversight, transparency, and accountability.

Automation requires accountability

As AI becomes more embedded in payroll operations, the conversation shifts from adoption to accountability. Trust becomes paramount, raising important questions about where AI can operate autonomously, where human review adds value, and where human accountability must remain visible.

Our global research shows that employee comfort with AI varies by payroll task. Employees are most comfortable with AI supporting calculation-heavy activities such as payroll calculations and anomaly detection, while they prefer human involvement for tasks requiring judgment, investigation, or employee interaction. Final decisions on payroll disputes remain the area where employees most strongly prefer a human. These findings reinforce an important point: the goal is not to replace human expertise, but to apply AI where it adds the most value while preserving human oversight where trust and judgment matter most.

The most successful applications of AI in payroll won’t simply automate tasks. They’ll strengthen trust by improving consistency, reliability, transparency, and the overall payroll experience employees depend on.

In other words, the future of payroll isn’t human or AI. It’s human expertise amplified by AI.

Building the foundation for Autonomous HCM

The implications of autonomous payroll extend well beyond payroll operations.

At 麻豆原创, we believe autonomous payroll is a key enabler of Autonomous HCM. Trusted AI experiences depend on trusted data, connected processes, and embedded intelligence, and payroll plays a critical role in making that vision possible.

Every hiring decision, compensation adjustment, promotion, workforce change, or organizational initiative ultimately affects payroll. As a result, payroll remains one of the most trusted and comprehensive sources of workforce data across the enterprise.

Realizing the full potential of autonomous payroll requires a unified foundation across HR, payroll, and time data. When organizations establish a single source of truth, they can reduce complexity, improve payroll accuracy, strengthen compliance, and enable AI to deliver more meaningful insights and recommendations.

This foundation is essential because AI cannot solve payroll challenges if it鈥檚 simply layered on top of fragmented systems and disconnected processes. Instead, organizations need connected data and integrated workflows that allow intelligence to operate across the entire workforce lifecycle.

When payroll, HR, and time data come together on that foundation, organizations can create more intelligent workforce experiences, make better decisions, and increase organizational agility.

Looking ahead

National Payroll Week is an opportunity to celebrate the professionals who keep one of the most important business functions running every day. It’s also an opportunity to recognize how dramatically that function is evolving.

For decades, payroll was viewed primarily as an administrative necessity. Today, it is increasingly recognized as a strategic capability that influences employee experience, compliance, operational resilience, and organizational trust.

The organizations that lead in the years ahead won’t simply process payroll more efficiently. They’ll create payroll operations that are more intelligent, more connected, and better positioned to support both employees and the business.

As payroll continues its evolution from a transactional function to a strategic business capability, the opportunity is not simply to automate existing processes. It’s to build payroll operations that can scale trust, resilience, and confidence in an increasingly complex world.

Because when payroll works, it does more than deliver pay. It helps build confidence in the organization behind it.

Discover how helps organizations simplify payroll, reduce complexity, and accelerate their journey to autonomous payroll.

*Data from a global survey of 1,576 full-time employees in July 2026.

We believe this recognition reflects our ongoing commitment to helping organizations navigate an increasingly complex world of work through innovation, global scale, and AI that helps connect workforce decisions to business outcomes. 

A new era of HCM 

Organizations today face unprecedented workforce challenges.

Skills requirements are evolving rapidly. Workforces are becoming increasingly distributed. Business priorities shift faster than traditional planning cycles can accommodate. At the same time, leaders are being asked to make workforce decisions with greater speed, precision, and confidence. As these pressures increase, the role of HR and HCM technology is fundamentally changing.

Organizations no longer need systems that simply record workforce data or automate HR processes. They need connected, intelligent systems that can help anticipate workforce needs, surface recommendations, remove friction from everyday work, and help people make better decisions. This is why we announced our vision for Autonomous HCM at 麻豆原创 Sapphire in May.

As part of 麻豆原创’s broader vision for the Autonomous Enterprise, Autonomous HCM brings together trusted workforce and business data, embedded intelligence, AI, and HR processes to help organizations respond more effectively to changing workforce needs. The goal is not simply to automate more tasks. It’s to help organizations understand what’s happening, determine what to do next, and execute with greater speed and confidence. Achieving this requires trusted workforce and business data working together to provide the context needed for better decisions and better outcomes. 

Bringing Autonomous HCM to life

Over the past year, 麻豆原创 has continued to invest in capabilities designed to help organizations move more seamlessly from workforce insight to workforce action. From new Joule and AI agents to and , these capabilities help connect workforce intelligence, decision-making, and execution across HR processes. Our acquisition of SmartRecruiters extends this approach to talent acquisition, helping connect hiring decisions to workforce planning, skills intelligence, and the broader employee lifecycle. Next month at at 麻豆原创 Connect, we’ll share new innovations and customer stories that further demonstrate how 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors can help organizations automate work, adapt more quickly to change, and drive better workforce outcomes, ultimately moving towards Autonomous HCM.

Creating measurable impact

Organizations around the world are already working towards this reality.

has embedded AI capabilities within 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions to support employee development, goal setting, recruiting, and career conversations. By giving employees and managers access to AI-assisted tools and insights, Timken is simplifying HR processes, improving employee development conversations, and enabling more informed workforce decisions.

is demonstrating how AI can help organizations move from workforce insight to workforce action. With 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions, the company has streamlined recruiting processes across more than a dozen industries, reducing recruitment duration by 75% and improving hiring efficiency fourfold. AI-generated job descriptions, competency-based interview questions, and workforce insights are helping create a more efficient, consistent, and skills-based approach to talent management.

These examples demonstrate an important shift. AI is no longer limited to providing information. It’s helping employees, managers, and HR teams make better decisions and take action more quickly and effectively.

Looking ahead

We are grateful to our customers whose continued trust and innovation make this recognition possible.

As we look ahead, our focus remains on helping organizations connect workforce insight with action, enabling leaders to make better decisions, respond more quickly to change, and create better outcomes for employees and the business. about our position in the 2026 Gartner庐 Magic Quadrant™ for HCM Suites for 1,000+ Employee Enterprises.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for HCM Suites for 1,000+ Employee Enterprises, By , , , , , , 31 August 2026 
Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner鈥檚 business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. 
Gartner and Magic Quadrant are trademarks of Gartner, Inc., and/or its affiliates. 

As a result,听people听analytics is evolving from a reporting function into a strategic capability. By connecting workforce, skills, talent, and business data, organizations can gain a deeper understanding of their workforce and anticipate future talent needs.听听

This听evolution is helping lay the foundation for听Autonomous HCM,听where connected data and AI-powered intelligence help organizations make more informed workforce decisions.听

People analytics: a cornerstone of Autonomous HCM 

The future of HR isn’t simply about automating processes. It’s about providing leaders with the workforce intelligence needed to align talent strategies with business priorities. Industry research, including the , points to growing demand for solutions that bring together people analytics, workforce planning, performance data, and AI-powered insights. Together, these capabilities can help organizations move from reactive decision-making to a more proactive and strategic approach to workforce management. For HR leaders, that means spending less time gathering and reconciling information and more time focusing on actions that improve workforce performance, organizational agility, and business results. 

Connecting workforce insights to business outcomes 

At 麻豆原创, our vision for Autonomous HCM starts with connecting workforce and business data to create a shared understanding of people, skills, and organizational priorities.听Through听, organizations can bring together workforce, skills, talent, operational, and business data to gain a more complete view of their workforce,听identify听emerging opportunities and risks,听anticipate听future talent needs, and make decisions with greater context.听听

This outcomes-based approach helps organizations answer critical questions like:听What capabilities exist across the workforce today, and where are critical gaps听emerging?听What skills will be needed to support future business goals?听How can talent be aligned more effectively to strategic priorities? Where are emerging workforce and retention risks? What actions can help improve workforce and business performance?听

From workforce intelligence to workforce action 

麻豆原创 is transforming its own approach to people analytics through People Intelligence. By bringing workforce and business information together, leaders can move beyond static reporting and better understand workforce trends, skills needs, and organizational priorities.  

Traditionally, acting on workforce insights has often been a manual and fragmented process. HR teams听identify听an issue, such as a skills gap or retention risk, and then coordinate across recruiting, learning, workforce planning, and business leaders to听determine听and execute the听appropriate response. While analytics can help surface the problem, turning insight into action frequently requires significant time, effort, and cross-functional collaboration.听

The听next evolution is connecting intelligence directly to action.听As AI becomes more deeply embedded in workforce processes, organizations can move beyond听identifying听a workforce challenge to听exploring听potential responses and acting on approved decisions. For example, workforce intelligence could听identify听an emerging skills gap, help leaders evaluate different ways听to address it, and connect those decisions to actions across hiring, learning, internal mobility, or workforce听planning.听

Over听time, AI agents will help accelerate this shift听by connecting workforce intelligence with the actions needed to address it, helping organizations move more seamlessly from insight and decision to听execution.听

The path forward for Autonomous HCM 

People analytics helps organizations understand what is happening. Workforce intelligence helps them decide what to do next. Autonomous HCM helps them act by connecting insights, decisions, and execution. 

The future of workforce management is not just about understanding workforce dynamics, but about helping organizations respond with greater speed, confidence, and precision. By connecting听people听analytics, workforce intelligence, and AI-powered execution, Autonomous HCM enables organizations to move听beyond insight to action, creating a more adaptive, resilient, and business-aligned workforce.听

Learn more 

Explore the  to learn more about the trends shaping the future of workforce intelligence, planning, and decision-making, and why 麻豆原创 was recognized as a Leader. 

NTT DATA is a $30+ billion global leader in AI, digital business and technology services, serving 75% of the Fortune Global 100.

The 麻豆原创 solutions will help NTT DATA replace multiple legacy HR systems with one unified platform for people data and processes, strengthening decision-making, employee experience and workforce planning. 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions will serve as the system of record for people and talent data, working alongside NTT DATA’s existing employee service platform and specialist workforce planning tools. 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud will connect this data with insights across other business functions.

鈥淭he initiative reflects NTT DATA’s view of talent as a strategic differentiator and AI as a capability that should be embedded across enterprise organizations,鈥� said Stijn Nauwelaerts, Chief People Officer, NTT DATA, Inc. 鈥淯ltimately, this is about creating an environment where our people feel empowered to do their best work, wherever they are in the world.鈥�

The deployment builds on a strategic partnership between 麻豆原创 and NTT DATA spanning more than 36 years, during which NTT DATA has collaborated as an 麻豆原创 platinum partner, global service partner and global reseller for 麻豆原创. In 2025, NTT DATA adopted 麻豆原创 Cloud ERP Private solutions to modernize its core systems.

麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions will now be deployed internally at NTT DATA over a 12-month period, with the company applying its own 麻豆原创 expertise to design and roll out the platform. This will create a single, authoritative source of HR data and processes, laying the foundation for faster, more consistent HR services across the organization. Leading its own implementation will also strengthen NTT DATA’s ability to guide clients through AI-driven HR transformation, with firsthand experience of the solutions it delivers.

鈥淣TT DATA is demonstrating how AI and cloud technology can redefine the employee experience,鈥� said Thomas Saueressig, Chief Customer Officer and Member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE. 鈥淲ith a unified, intelligent HR platform, the company will unlock new levels of productivity and scale a people strategy that supports a connected workforce worldwide.鈥�

Visit the . Get 麻豆原创 news via  and .

Media Contacts:
Lawrie Benfield,听lawrie.benfield@sap.com,听+44 7776 515259, GMT
Sonya Domanski,听sonya.domanski@sap.com, +44 734 546 5928, GMT
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of 麻豆原创鈥檚 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2026 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

Operating within a complex landscape that spans all aspects of ERP, including HR with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM, 麻豆原创’s People Analytics team faced growing demand for HR data and insights鈥攆rom HR, as well as Sales, Finance, and Operations. What started as a challenge soon became an opportunity for a more governed, self-service approach.

Centralized dashboards hit their ceiling

For years, 麻豆原创’s People Analytics function operated from a centralized model focused on the consumption layer: building, maintaining, and optimizing dashboards tailored to specific business requirements. The MyTeam Dashboard鈥攁 360-degree view of workforce data available to every people manager at 麻豆原创, covering upcoming birthdays, salary, and performance information鈥攂ecame the company’s single most used report. That success was a testament to how much the business valued easy access and visibility into key HR data.

But it also revealed the limits of the model. As demand grew, the analytics team found itself permanently on the defensive, saying 鈥渘o鈥� far more than 鈥測es,鈥� managing backlogs of individual KPI additions, and negotiating timelines for incremental changes. Furthermore, data management, maintenance, and governance proved to be a challenge. The centralized dashboard approach could not scale to meet the breadth of data needs across an organization of 麻豆原创’s size and complexity.

The solution: using data products with People Intelligence in 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud

麻豆原创 IT made a strategic decision to shift the center of gravity in its analytics architecture, moving to govern and open up the data layer beneath the consumption layer. At the heart of this change is the data product, a managed asset that ingests data from systems, transforms it, and exposes it in a governed, reusable form so downstream analytics can rely on consistent, trusted building blocks.

Data products fall into two categories: primary data products, which are sourced directly from transactional systems, such as a job structure data product from 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM, and derived data products, which combine these primaries to answer broader questions. An example of this is a total employee and external workforce data product that fuses multiple sources into a single, harmonized view.

This is where in 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud became transformative for 麻豆原创鈥檚 People Analytics team. Rather than building all foundational HR data products from scratch, People Intelligence delivers a catalog of pre-built, 麻豆原创-tested data products and derived insights directly on top of 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM. Workforce composition insights alone include , encoding hundreds of joins, tested and documented by 麻豆原创 product teams, which is complexity that even AI-assisted modeling tools cannot yet reliably replicate without extensive testing and governance work.

麻豆原创 IT’s approach is deliberate: adopt 麻豆原创-delivered data products out of the box, build differentiating derived products on top, and free IT capacity for what actually differentiates and optimizes 麻豆原创’s HR processes.

Data sensitivity is also top of mind for the 麻豆原创 team. With People Intelligence, the same data product is made available in multiple “flavors”鈥攁 full PII (personally identifiable information) view and a mini view with common company-visible information鈥攈elping to ensure the right data reaches the right consumer in the right format. This is especially useful with regards to Works Council鈥檚 sensitivity requirements of PII data. This data governance can help humans and agents work with the data in a compliant way.

鈥淭here is a meaningful difference between data you can trust and data sourced informally,鈥� Oliver Huth, head of Platform, Corporate Functions, & Analytics at 麻豆原创, states. 鈥淏uilding that trust at scale is what the shift to data products鈥攑owered by People Intelligence in 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud鈥攊s making possible for our teams at 麻豆原创.鈥�

What鈥檚 changed and what鈥檚 coming

The outcome for both IT and the business is clear. 麻豆原创 IT populated its internal data product catalog rapidly, reaching the critical mass needed for broad adoption. HR data that was previously locked behind dashboard requests now powers use cases across functions. For 麻豆原创鈥檚 business teams, the outcome is faster time to insight. Pre-built intelligent content in People Intelligence serves as an 80% starting point for business conversations, replacing blank-sheet requirement gathering with focused discussions. Leaders and managers can also access personalized KPI views through MyMetrics, choosing a KPI, seeing an overview and AI summary, and jumping to the dashboard if additional information is needed. Users can also turn to Joule to ask questions in natural language and get replies with visualized charts. This pre-built, self-service approach has significantly reduced the volume of HR data inquiries and dashboard requests

麻豆原创鈥檚 next steps for People Intelligence include recreating the MyTeam Dashboard by composing it from the readily available data products.

In addition, 麻豆原创 IT is very excited to adopt AI agents that can operate directly on top of governed data products, querying a variety of data including employee, salary, and skills. As Huth notes, “Investing in a data product strategy is the essential first step. It is what enables governed data access and produces AI-ready models as a result.” 麻豆原创’s standard development teams are currently building Joule Assistants and Joule Agents, including a People Intelligence Assistant to be released in November 2026

Learning from 麻豆原创鈥檚 experience

For HR and people analytics teams facing growing data demand, fragmented access, and the pressure to deliver more with less, 麻豆原创 IT’s experience offers a clear road map: adopt People Intelligence in 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud, use 麻豆原创-delivered data products out of the box, invest now in a governed data product architecture, and treat intelligent content as a starting point. This can improve analytics delivery today and is the infrastructure that will make AI agents trustworthy tomorrow.

.

Fewer opportunities for early talent 

The job marketplace has contracted significantly for those with less than five years of professional experience. Research published by 麻豆原创 shows that openings in the 10 most common entry-level job titles declined by 35% in just one year, from 2024 to 2025.*

Budget constraints, hiring freezes, and uncertainty around the ROI of early talent as AI increasingly takes on routine and manual tasks are among the reasons cited by HR leaders today.  

Applications skyrocket  

AI is also having a major impact on the recruitment process. With such limited opportunities available, more than half of early talent candidates use AI to help them land a job鈥攁 process that now takes eight months on average and involves more than 300 job applications.*

HR is feeling the pressure managing the candidate pipeline, with听the number of applicants per early talent job opening doubling since 2021.听A听high volume of candidates听are听submitting听AI-generated r茅sum茅s and applications, and it鈥檚 becoming much harder to detect high-fidelity signals around skills, fit, and potential.听

It鈥檚听a painful听scenario for everyone involved. Fragile and unsustainable. And the听implications听will be听profound for enterprises that听don鈥檛听act quickly.听听

HR leaders voice concerns  

Playing out the current听trajectory听to its natural conclusion, what happens when all the听fresh talent eventually dries up? Already,听HR leaders听are alarmed by this risk.听鈥淯ltimately, if we stop investing in early talent, we will wind up eliminating our talent pipeline,鈥� one听global head of early talent听programs at a high-tech organization听told researchers.*

A senior HR director at a high-tech organization commented: 鈥淚f we continue down this path and don鈥檛 provide a way for early talent to get started, it鈥檚 going to lead to massive skill shortages in the future.鈥� 

Widespread reductions in early talent hiring will lead to skills gaps that听will听prove expensive to remedy. Organizations will struggle to build company capabilities,听retain听knowledge, and develop future leaders.听听

But by far the most common concern from leaders was around not seeing early talent as AI-native. If the AI capabilities of this cohort are overlooked, companies may miss out on a key opportunity to scale AI innovation and adoption across the business.  

What鈥檚 the answer?  

Today,听there鈥檚听an opportunity for HR leaders to be more intentional听and strategic, to reimagine听their approach听to early talent from the ground up. With the right early talent strategy, organizations can gain a competitive advantage.

Here are three steps to consider. 

Step 1: Rethink entry-level roles 

Traditionally, junior employees have mainly been given routine, repetitive tasks. Combined with frustratingly slow career progression, the result is eroding morale and commitment.  

This听approach must evolve.听The nature of work is changing rapidly,听and early talent no longer need to take on those routine tasks. These employees need the opportunity to develop at speed and to be supported in performing听work that听meaningfully addresses听business challenges.听听

HR has the chance to reshape entry-level positions,听to provide support, guidance, and tools to enable听junior staff听to contribute听in听more听impactful听ways. This may involve them听working听with proper guidance听to support听more critical听projects, interacting with customers,听and听even听owning some tasks end to end.听

This approach not only enables early talent to contribute more positively to the business at an earlier stage, but when combined with clear goals, regular feedback loops, and occasional coaching, it also fosters greater engagement and commitment. 

Step 2: Support your strategy with technology 

Hiring and developing early talent have become more complex鈥攆rom deciphering AI-generated applications, to redesigning roles and meeting their aspirations in a fast-changing business context. And with the nature of early talent work shifting, leaders need tools to help understand the new capabilities that will predict long-term success and demonstrate the value of early talent initiatives.  

Here鈥檚 where technology can help. During the hiring process,听technology听can help听employers听see beyond the听noise of听AI听applications听and rediscover the听meaningful听signals听they听need to create candidate shortlists and strengthen hiring decisions. Meanwhile, technology can also help to maintain engagement with other high-potential听candidates听who applied鈥攆or when the next opportunities arise.听听

Once early talent begin work, today鈥檚 technology can help you track their participation in early talent programs and progression towards their goals. It also helps facilitate individualized learning opportunities and demonstrate the ROI of your early talent investments. For research-based recommendations on the role of technology in early talent selection and development, check out this . 

Step 3: Reframe the business case for early talent 

As the nature of early talent work is changing alongside the technology used to support them, HR leaders agree that the old business case for early talent investments needs to be reimagined. Many organizations are focused on mitigating critical skill gaps and engaging in large-scale AI transformations. While early talent lack experience, they are eager to engage in continuous learning and understand how to work effectively alongside AI. 

Research also reveals that鈥攁s they work alongside modern tools and technologies鈥攅arly talent can contribute to high-value, meaningful work much faster than in the past.  

A modern early talent business case is one that involves focusing on faster time to meaningful work, reducing critical skill gaps, and leveraging the AI-native capabilities of today鈥檚 entry-level workers.  

Build your early talent strategy 

Will HR leaders watch on as a generation of AI-savvy talent remains underused, or act now and build the skills pipelines necessary for a future-ready workforce? 

Get further insights on this topic by reading our report, 鈥�.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;痴颈蝉颈迟&苍产蝉辫;辞耻谤&苍产蝉辫; to stay tuned for when phase two of this research gets published later this year. 

Dr. Autumn D. Krauss is chief scientist at 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

*, 麻豆原创, 2026. 

This recognition reflects 麻豆原创鈥檚 broader vision for AI-driven, skills-based workforce orchestration, where hiring is no longer a standalone process but part of a continuous, intelligent system connecting people, skills, and business outcomes. With innovations across 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions and the addition of SmartRecruiters to the portfolio in September 2025, 麻豆原创 is enabling organizations to move beyond transactional recruiting toward agentic, autonomous talent strategies that continuously adapt to change.

SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors: AI at the center of hiring

combines a modern, AI鈥憂ative recruiting platform with 麻豆原创鈥檚 core HCM to help create a more connected and intelligent hiring experience at global scale. Hiring becomes part of an integrated flow of workforce decisions鈥攍inked directly to skills, planning, mobility, and long-term business strategy.

With embedded AI across the hiring lifecycle, organizations can:

• Deliver intuitive, consumer鈥慻rade candidate experiences at scale, from first interaction through new hire onboarding.
• Empower recruiters and hiring managers with AI鈥慹nabled insights and automation directly within daily workflows.
• Strengthen hiring decisions by connecting recruiting data to skills, roles, and workforce plans.
• Scale globally with confidence, balancing centralized governance with local market flexibility.

SmartRecruiters鈥� AI hiring companion, Winston, works alongside to help automate repetitive tasks, surface top candidates, and explain recommendations transparently, which allows recruiters to focus on higher鈥憊alue decision鈥憁aking while moving faster and with greater confidence.

New capabilities, including agentic interviewing and real鈥憈ime candidate engagement, are helping organizations accelerate hiring while improving candidate experience at scale. For example, early adopters of AI鈥慸riven screening have seen up to a in time鈥憈o鈥慸ecision, demonstrating how AI can streamline evaluation without sacrificing quality.

At the same time, innovations like agentic CRM are helping organizations activate existing talent pools鈥攕urfacing, ranking, and re鈥慹ngaging candidates automatically鈥攖urning recruiting from a reactive process into a continuous, dynamic pipeline.

From recruiting to Autonomous HCM

SmartRecruiters plays a key role in 麻豆原创鈥檚 broader shift toward Autonomous HCM鈥攚here AI-driven agents can continuously orchestrate workforce decisions across hiring, planning, development, and mobility.

Rather than treating hiring as an isolated function, 麻豆原创 is embedding AI across 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions to create a unified, skills-based system of action. Workforce planning, learning, and talent acquisition are directly connected, enabling organizations to align skills with business and financial priorities in real time.

At , this vision came to life through innovations that increase agility and responsiveness. Intelligent agents can identify skill gaps, recommend hiring or redeployment strategies, and take action鈥攖urning talent management into a dynamic, continuously optimized system.

Within this model, hiring becomes one of several coordinated levers in an adaptive workforce strategy, ensuring every decision is guided by real-time data, skills intelligence, and evolving business needs.

Customer impact: AI鈥慸riven hiring in action

Organizations across industries are already seeing the impact of AI鈥慸riven, connected hiring.

Retailer selected SmartRecruiters to improve the candidate experience and reduce drop-off in a high-volume hiring environment. Today, the company processes 50,000 applications each month, reducing the application processing time from 28 days to just four and cutting time-to-fill from 56 days to just 20鈥攄emonstrating how speed and experience directly improve hiring outcomes.

Global real estate services firm implemented SmartRecruiters to increase visibility into recruitment activity and create a more consistent experience across its EMEA business. As a result, Colliers achieved a direct hiring rate above 80%, reduced agency reliance to roughly 7% of hires, and improved first鈥憏ear retention by 25%, showing how connected hiring can lower costs while strengthening long鈥憈erm talent outcomes.

and discover how AI鈥慸riven, connected hiring can help turn talent acquisition into a true strategic advantage.

About the Fosway 9-Grid™
Fosway Group is Europe鈥檚 #1 HR industry analyst. The Fosway 9-Grid™ provides a unique assessment of the principal talent supply options available to organizations in EMEA. The analysis is based on extensive independent research and insights from Fosway鈥檚 Corporate Research Network of over 250 organizations, including BP, HSBC, PwC, Sanofi, Shell, and Vodafone. Visit the Fosway website at www.fosway.com for more information on Fosway Group鈥檚 research and services.

As one of the听industry鈥檚 most trusted independent听peer review听platforms,听TrustRadius听is known for its rigorous verification process and commitment to unbiased, customer鈥憀ed insights. These听awards are based听on real听user experiences,听making听them听especially meaningful.

This recognition reinforces a clear message: organizations are turning to听麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions not just to manage HR but to modernize it. As companies move towards more autonomous, AI-driven ways of working, they need HCM solutions that bring together data, insights, and action.听That鈥檚听exactly what the 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors portfolio can deliver.

Momentum across the portfolio

This year鈥檚听results highlight strong and growing momentum.

麻豆原创 SuccessFactors听increased from听12听Top Rated awards听in 2025听to 19听in 2026, reflecting听deeper customer satisfaction across听the HCM landscape.

Recognized categories include:

• HR Management
• Workforce Analytics
• Talent Management
• Compensation Management
• Workforce Management
• Applicant Tracking
• Talent Intelligence
• Corporate Learning Management
• Payroll
• International Payroll
• Pay Equity
• Recruiting Automation
• Employee Performance Management
• HR Compliance
• HR Service Delivery
• Employee Onboarding
• Succession Planning
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

This breadth reflects the strength of 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions as a unified suite鈥攃onnecting people, processes, and data across the workforce. 麻豆原创听SuccessFactors听solutions can provide听the foundation to turn those connections into real-time insight and action.

What听our听customers are听saying

Across听thousands听of听verified听reviews,听customers听consistently听point to one thing: impact.听From operational efficiency to better decision-making and improved employee experiences, 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions are helping organizations move faster and work smarter.

• 鈥淲ith 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM AI, we get helpful, actionable insights to make the best decisions. For instance, the insights we gain help us streamline HR operations, especially when it comes to managing our payroll.鈥� 鈥斕�

• 鈥溌槎乖� SuccessFactors is our core platform and supports our finance and HR processes. We use every module for recruiting, compensation, and learning. It supports our HR transformation and lays the foundation for our data.鈥� 鈥斕�

• 鈥溌槎乖� SuccessFactors HCM stands out among other human capital management solutions due to its comprehensive suite of听cloud鈥慴ased听tools, strong global compliance capabilities, and seamless integration with other 麻豆原创 systems.鈥� 鈥斕�

• 鈥淔or enhancing employee experience, AI offers personalized recommendations for their learning and development, which increases their productivity and engagement.鈥� 鈥斕�

• 鈥溌槎乖� SuccessFactors HCM is considered a 鈥榖est of breed鈥� for a reason. The fact that it does allow for听in鈥慸epth听customization, and its ability to be tailored not only to individual business needs, but also it allows for best practice听follow鈥憉p听while ensuring organizations remain compliant with several legal requirements.鈥� 鈥斕�

• 鈥淲别听濒别惫别谤补驳别听听(ECP)听for our payroll engine and for our payroll calculations.听Having ECP makes everyone’s life easier鈥� the payroll control center will simulate the payroll before you run the actual payroll. That gives you a lot of analytics and KPIs to analyze results or potential issues well in advance.鈥� 鈥斕�

• “In our organization, we mainly use Joule in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors to automate and complete tasks through natural conversation, which听eliminates听manual steps. [It] plays听a big role in eliminating the constant back and forth and guesswork involved in finding accurate information, as well as completing routine tasks, for example, workforce insights, budget and planning, document retrieval, etc. Additionally, it makes navigating [麻豆原创听SuccessFactors] seamless.鈥� 鈥斕�

Looking听ahead

We鈥檙e听incredibly grateful to the customers that shared their experiences on听TrustRadius听with insights that continue to guide our innovation.

Building on听the听introduction of听Autonomous HCM at 麻豆原创 Sapphire,听our focus is clear: helping HR听move beyond managing听processes to听orchestrating work. By听bringing听together AI, data, and workflows, 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions enable organizations to听operate听with greater speed, clarity, and confidence, so they can not only adapt to change but actively shape what comes next.

Learn more about the impact customers are seeing with听.

Lara Albert is chief marketing officer for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

鈥淟ast year, we were in the process of planning the optimization of our talent discovery tech stack and then something happened,鈥� Eric Goldstein, global head of Talent Discovery for 麻豆原创, said. 鈥淲e acquired SmartRecruiters in September, so we had to pivot in an agile way.鈥�

SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors enables enterprises to manage the entire hiring lifecycle, from sourcing to onboarding, with AI-enabled recruiting capabilities that can result in faster time-to-hire, improved candidate experiences, and deeper analytics for workforce planning.

For 麻豆原创, this means adding much-needed rigor and precision to its global talent acquisition operations. This will not only elevate the quality of hires but also the candidate experience, which Goldstein identified as the 鈥渂iggest game changer.鈥�

Building a more intelligent hiring process

SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors helps optimize processes, increasing transparency and personalization. This means improved experiences and processes for candidates, hiring managers, and recruiters. 鈥淲e have been through a time where we focused solely on the recruiter experience. Then it was fashionable to focus only on the candidates. Now we really see that with SmartRecruiters, it really is an enhanced experience for all stakeholders that are involved in the recruiting process,鈥� Ilka Sagner-David, global head of Talent Discovery Solutions and Innovations at 麻豆原创, said.

Candidate perspective

Seventy percent of candidates that apply for jobs are mindful to take their valuable time to do so, Goldstein shared, reiterating that it is important for companies to match that commitment when shaping and delivering the candidate experience. With SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors as the foundation, it becomes possible for every pre-qualified applicant to interview, receive personalized and constructive feedback post-interview, and maintain 24×7 interaction with agentic AI built into SmartRecruiters.

鈥淚n our opinion, only responding with polite, automated rejection notes is not enough. [Candidates] need to be provided with some constructive, actionable feedback鈥攁nd that鈥檚 what we [at 麻豆原创] are going to be able to do,鈥� Goldstein said.

Hiring manager perspective

SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors can give hiring managers a more precise and consistent way to identify strong candidates, helping to reduce time-to-hire while improving hiring quality. AI-prompted interview questions focused on skills can support more relevant and structured conversations while greater transparency across interview panelists can create better alignment throughout the evaluation process. In addition, AI-supported feedback collection can make it easier for interviewers at 麻豆原创 to capture timely, consistent insights, enabling its hiring teams to make more informed decisions with greater confidence. 

Recruiter perspective

Recruiters are often bogged down by manual tasks, such as outreach, prospect identification, and candidate screening, making it nearly impossible for them to step into the role of a trusted advisor. With SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors, recruiters can experience automated internal and external prospect identification, personalized outreach and prioritization of candidates, and, therefore, the ability to focus on higher value-add advisory and relationship management.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to allow the recruiters to focus on relationship management with candidates and hiring managers, really challenging the feedback of how well the interview panel measures skills proficiency,鈥� Goldstein said.

Bringing AI into the candidate journey

A key to the successful delivery of these benefits is SmartRecruiters Winston for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors, an AI-driven, candidate-facing agentic experience. At 麻豆原创 Sapphire Orlando, Karl Baert, global head of People Solutions for 麻豆原创, demonstrated how Winston can facilitate the application experience for candidates.

In the demo, he acted as a candidate applying for an open position at 麻豆原创, showing how through a natural language conversation with Winston, he completed his application by uploading his CV and verifying some personal details with Winston. 鈥淎ll that information is very, very quickly brought together so with just a few questions my application is done,鈥� Baert said, adding that 鈥渢here鈥檚 also a few checks happening along the way because we want to make sure the data we are collecting is the right quality.鈥�

Winston also collects feedback from the applicant. 鈥淢easuring the quality of your agent and what鈥檚 happening with it is important. It鈥檚 something that really needs to be actively monitored just to ensure that the information provided by the agent is accurate,鈥� Baert said.

鈥淭he implementation of SmartRecruiters is the foundation for infusing AI into our processes,鈥� Sagner-David said. But, she added, 鈥渨e shouldn鈥檛 just plan to transfer everything tomorrow, but ensure we鈥檙e liberating AI when it makes sense.鈥�

The next step

Currently, SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors is being implemented into 麻豆原创鈥檚 HR systems for two phases of user acceptance testing, with the global go-live expected in September.

麻豆原创 bringing SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors to life across its own organization is more than a technology rollout, it鈥檚 a glimpse into the future of hiring at scale: more intelligent, more human, and more connected. By combining AI, better experiences, and real-word enterprise rigor, 麻豆原创 is not only transforming how it hires but also helping to define what modern hiring can look like for companies everywhere.

Now, the countdown is on. By June 7, all 27 EU member states are expected to adopt the directive into national law, marking what many HR leaders are calling 鈥淒ay One鈥� of a new era in workplace transparency.  

But while the deadline is fast-approaching, many organizations are still far from operationally ready. Even though employers will be required to share pay information with both employees and candidates during the recruiting process, current practices suggest a significant gap. For example, across Europe, salary disclosure in job postings remains inconsistent and often limited, according to .

For HR leaders, the challenge is no longer understanding the directive鈥攊t鈥檚 executing on it with confidence.

The barrier to execution 

For many organizations, the challenge often starts with the state of their HR and compensation data. In multinational organizations, compensation data often spans multiple systems, payroll providers, spreadsheets, and local processes. Job classifications vary across countries, salary bands are not consistently defined, and workforce data remains siloed across regions. 

As a result, many organizations struggle to produce consistent pay comparisons, define standardized salary ranges, explain compensation decisions clearly, and generate accurate reporting across multiple countries.听

Without a connected and reliable workforce data foundation, pay transparency becomes difficult to operationalize at scale. 

Building a foundation for continuous transparency听听

The organizations making the most progress are focusing first on data consistency, workforce visibility, and connected HR processes. 

This is where technology is becoming critical. AI can help organizations move beyond manual reporting by identifying pay anomalies, surfacing unexplained pay variance, and accelerating workforce equity analysis across large, complex data sets. 

With pay transparency insights (generally available on June 5),  a capability within the  package in , organizations can unify compensation and workforce data across systems while applying AI-assisted analysis to help identify inconsistencies, support explainable pay decisions, and improve reporting readiness. 

Instead of relying on fragmented systems and disconnected reporting processes, organizations can move toward a more consistent and scalable approach to transparency. 

Three areas HR teams need to execute now 

With the right data foundation in place, organizations are better positioned to address the directive鈥檚 three major operational requirements. 

1. Enabling employee pay transparency 

Under the directive, employees have the right to request information about average pay levels by gender for comparable work. For many organizations, this听immediately exposes data consistency issues. Comparable roles may be classified differently across countries or听business units, while compensation data听often lives in disconnected systems that were never designed to work together.听

听helps organizations provide employees with pay transparency statements through听听while supporting more consistent comparisons across worker groups.听These statements can give clear insight into the employee鈥檚 annual pay and the average pay of the same worker听category听broken down by gender.听听

2. Preparing for candidate pay transparency 

The directive also requires employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings or before interviews and prohibits asking candidates about salary history. While this may sound straightforward, many organizations are discovering they lack standardized pay ranges, consistent job architecture, or alignment between recruiting and compensation systems. 

 allows organizations to display salary ranges directly within job postings and support more transparent hiring experiences. AI-driven recommendations can also help organizations establish more consistent pay ranges aligned to internal equity, external benchmarks, and evolving workforce needs. 

3. Meeting gender pay gap reporting obligations 

Mandatory gender pay gap reporting represents one of the directive鈥檚 most operationally demanding requirements. Annual reporting obligations begin in 2027 based on 2026 workforce data, meaning organizations need to prepare now.  

For many HR teams, the challenge is turning complex, multi-country workforce data into accurate and defensible reporting. With听, organizations can use AI-assisted analysis to听identify听potential drivers behind pay gaps, surface workforce equity insights more quickly, and support more proactive decision-making听before reporting deadlines arrive.听听

What HR should do now 

The EU Pay Transparency Directive is not just introducing a new compliance requirement. It鈥檚 accelerating a broader shift toward continuous transparency in how organizations manage compensation, hiring, and workforce equity. 

The organizations best prepared for this shift are taking action now to: 

• Unify workforce and compensation data听
• Standardize job and pay structures听
• Improve reporting readiness听
• Build more consistent, explainable compensation processes across the business

As transparency expectations continue to grow among employees, candidates, regulators, and business leaders, pay equity can no longer operate as a periodic reporting exercise. It is becoming an ongoing operational capability. 

Watch the  to learn how to move from policy to execution and prepare your organization for EU Pay Transparency requirements at scale.  

Maryann Abbajay is chief revenue officer for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

The conversation has moved beyond what AI can do into how it should be applied, placing HR at the center of decisions that will shape people, culture, and business outcomes for years to come.

While we have often talked about the 鈥渇uture of work,鈥� the simple fact is that future is already here. The question is whether organizations are ready to operate differently.

AI requires a fundamental rethinking of how work gets done, grounded in the data, systems, and processes that run today鈥檚 organizations. And getting it right starts with one clear principle: humans must remain firmly at the center鈥攏ot as operators of process, but as leaders of judgement, strategy, and change.

What Autonomous HCM means for HR leaders

At 麻豆原创, this is the foundation of our vision for the Autonomous Enterprise, announced at in Orlando, where AI assistants can run core HR processes end-to-end, so people are empowered to focus on their most meaningful work while staying firmly in control of outcomes.

brings together agentic AI, HR applications, and real business context鈥攇rounded in deep process expertise and enterprise-grade governance鈥攖o help organizations anticipate workforce needs and respond with greater precision as business priorities change.

With the new HCM innovations announced at 麻豆原创 Sapphire, we are building on the existing breadth and depth of 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors with new AI-native functionality that amplifies how HR can help shape the business and elevate what employees are capable of.

Automate work with Joule Assistants

The first shift is automation; not as task replacement, but as a new way of working. A new generation of , delivered through Joule as 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI engagement layer, bring this to life by orchestrating agents to execute work end-to-end and support decisions in real-time.

These assistants are not just automating tasks; they are guided by employees to reduce manual effort and support a growing range of HR scenarios:

• Payroll becomes proactive, not reactive: The coordinates multiple to prepare payroll runs, identify issues early, and guide administrators to faster resolution, shifting payroll from reactive process to proactive execution. Working alongside the Core HR Assistant and , it helps organizations manage employee data, track time and attendance, and pay employees with greater accuracy and less manual work.
• Talent acquisition flows more seamlessly end-to-end: The helps keep hiring moving from intelligent matching to interview coordination, providing real-time guidance to recruiters and hiring managers. Once a candidate accepts, the takes over to support a smooth transition for new employees. These new Joule Assistants connect talent acquisition processes between and the broader 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM suite.
• HR services become faster and more intuitive: The helps administrators resolve common HR questions instantly, directing employees to the right next step and reducing service center volume while improving the overall employee experience.

Reimagine the workforce with AI-driven planning

As AI becomes part of how work gets done, organizations must rethink workforce planning as a continuous leadership discipline, not a periodic exercise. Today, 62% of C鈥憇uite executives say they are dissatisfied with how well people data connects to business performance, according to , making it harder to turn strategy into action. The new workforce planning capability within 麻豆原创 Enterprise Planning supports a shift toward strategic work redesign, inclusive of both agents and people, by helping leaders link workforce decisions directly to HR, business, and financial needs.

This workforce planning capability connects data from , , and 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors, creating a unified foundation for workforce decision鈥憁aking across employees and contingent labor. Together, this moves workforce planning beyond static models. Leaders gain clear scenario insight and the ability to combine human judgment with AI to align workforce and investment decisions.

At a more granular level, constant change means business and HR leaders are often dealing with organizational changes. The new AI鈥慹nabled organizational modeling for replaces slow, disconnected modeling approaches with an integrated experience that supports scenario planning and impact analysis, enabling leaders to evaluate organizational choices with greater accuracy and alignment. With this approach, leaders can quickly explore alternative organizational structures and understand implications before changes are implemented. Whether adjusting roles, teams, or reporting lines, organizational modeling becomes a practical leadership tool, supporting thoughtful change while maintaining data integrity and minimizing disruption. The result is a clearer, more proactive approach that helps organizations make smarter workforce decisions in a constantly evolving business landscape.

Elevate people through continuous upskilling

When it comes to skills, the rise of generative AI has once again accelerated the pace of change. New jobs are emerging, new skills are required, and processes that have worked for decades are being completely reimagined.  The new Workforce Upskilling Assistant delivers personalized, AI-driven learning directly where work happens, in collaboration tools, mobile, desktop and 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors鈥攈elping organizations keep skills aligned with where the business is headed. By orchestrating multiple Joule Agents, it supports content creation and generation, adaptive micro-learning, and reinforcement, enabling leaders and managers to identify critical skill gaps and accelerate upskilling, particularly in fast-moving areas such as AI.

By delivering learning in the tools and channels employees already use, the Workforce Upskilling Assistant turns workforce and business data into timely, bite鈥憇ized learning moments. Rather than relying on scheduled courses or standalone systems, HR learning teams can quickly convert existing content to deliver learning to the right person at the right time.

A new standard for human-centered Autonomous HCM

麻豆原创鈥檚 Autonomous Enterprise vision sets a new standard for how HR leads in an AI-driven world, one where AI assistants and agents take on the work of coordination, so people can focus on leading and shaping outcomes. As AI becomes embedded into how work runs, HR is uniquely positioned to guide what matters most, moving from coordinating processes to guiding decisions, building resilient teams, strengthening trust, and ensuring the workforce is ready for what鈥檚 ahead.

That is the promise of an Autonomous HCM platform: human expertise elevated by AI, delivering meaningful impact for both people and the business.

Learn more about how 麻豆原创 is delivering Autonomous HCM by catching the replay of the HCM Innovation .

Dan Beck is general manager and chief product officer for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

In his kickoff keynote at 麻豆原创 Sapphire Orlando, Florida, Klein and other 麻豆原创 Board members detailed how 麻豆原创 plans to bring agentic AI to the world’s most critical business workflows so that humans and AI can meet the accelerating demands of global business profitably, strategically, and safely.

鈥淭oday I鈥檓 super proud to launch our new 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform, which forms the basis for our vision of the future of business: the Autonomous Enterprise, where agents run the business and you can focus on what truly matters,鈥� Klein said.

Enterprise AI is at an inflection point, Klein told his 30,000-strong in-person and virtual keynote audience, and 麻豆原创 is in a unique position to deliver what customers need to turn their businesses into autonomous enterprises.

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The business AI imperative

Across industries, organizations are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, yet many still struggle to translate that investment into meaningful business value. At 麻豆原创 Sapphire, the message was clear: This isn鈥檛 a technology problem; it鈥檚 a context and execution problem.

While 80% accuracy may be sufficient for consumer AI applications, Klein said, 鈥淓ighty percent is just not good enough when you run the world鈥檚 most business-critical businesses. They [LLMs] should not guess; they should deliver accurate, compliant, and secure outcomes.鈥� 

Klein acknowledged that while adoption of AI has become near-universal, tangible business value remains elusive. Citing a recent Stanford AI survey, he noted that almost every company is now using AI, but seeing only limited return.

The reason, he argued, lies in a structural gap. Above the waterline of enterprise AI, LLMs continue to improve at tasks trained on publicly available data, while below it lies what enterprises truly need: AI that understands mission-critical business data, end-to-end processes, and operates within security, compliance, and governance frameworks.

ERP as the foundation for business AI

麻豆原创鈥檚 answer to this challenge begins with what Klein described as 鈥渢he brain of every company: its ERP system.鈥� For over 50 years, 麻豆原创 has had solutions with incredibly deep process and data domain know-how alongside the governance requirements, compliance controls, and company-specific configurations that define how businesses actually run.

Now, as part of the company鈥檚 new vision, 麻豆原创 plans to infuse this institutional knowledge into AI agents, enabling them to navigate thousands of business processes, select from more than 7 million data fields, and verify identity and access authorizations before returning any output.

鈥淲e鈥檙e bringing together LLMs with 50 years of business know-how stored in our ERP. But to do this, we had to do nothing less than completely reinvent our company,鈥� he told the audience. 鈥淭oday we are very excited to show you the new 麻豆原创 and our vision for the Autonomous Enterprise.鈥�

麻豆原创 Business AI Platform

To bring this vision to life, 麻豆原创 executives on stage announced a series of important innovations, beginning with the launch of the new 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform, a unified architecture bringing together 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform, 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud, and AI Foundation under a single roof.

鈥淭he heart of this new platform is the rich context layer,鈥� said Klein. 鈥淗ere, we infuse the deep ERP business domain know-how into the AI agents. Through our knowledge graphs, our AI agents have now a compass, a map, to find the right process and data in your ERP universe. And to provide the agents even more context, we are also introducing our new 麻豆原创 Domain Models. They have been trained on 麻豆原创’s code to even better understand the business logic of your company.鈥�

But, he said, 麻豆原创 is going further: 鈥淏ecause you run your business not only with 麻豆原创 solutions, our AI agents have to also understand non-麻豆原创 data. That’s why we included our 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud in the context layer to build a single semantical data layer across 麻豆原创 and non-麻豆原创. No more silos, no spaghetti data sprawl鈥攂ecause no AI agent can compensate for a broken data model.鈥�

Echoing Klein, 麻豆原创 CTO Philipp Herzig, who presented the platform in detail, said it has been designed to close the agent adoption gap in the enterprise by delivering outcome, speed, enterprise-readiness, and context. 鈥淚t’s the place where you build, contextualize, reason, and govern AI,鈥� he said.

Herzig explained that the platform is structured around three layers: the context layer which Klein referenced, the build layer, and the governance layer. 鈥淎gents are only as powerful as the context they operate on,鈥� he said. 鈥淟acking context is the number one reason why enterprise AI projects fail to deliver value.鈥�

Within the build layer of the new platform, the new Joule Studio is designed to understand a company鈥檚 business challenges and enables the building of new AI agents quickly and easily.

The third tier is the governance layer, anchored by the new 麻豆原创 AI Agent Hub built on 麻豆原创 LeanIX. This provides a single command center to discover, manage, and govern all AI agents鈥斅槎乖� and non-麻豆原创. It will be generally available in Q3 and included in 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform at no additional charge.

Underscoring the changing AI marketplace, Herzig was joined on stage by KPMG Global Head of Advisory Rob Fisher, who told the audience: 鈥淲hat I鈥檓 hearing from clients is a clear shift; they鈥檙e moving from AI pilots to embedding integrated AI and agents into how work gets done. Where we see leaders really separating from the pack is in the execution and the organizational adaptability.鈥�

麻豆原创 Autonomous Suite

Building on the platform, 麻豆原创 Executive Board Member Muhammad Alam, 麻豆原创 Product & Engineering, announced the transformation of 麻豆原创鈥檚 SaaS application portfolio into the 麻豆原创 Autonomous Suite, described as the most significant evolution of 麻豆原创鈥檚 applications business in the company鈥檚 history.

The suite spans five domains: Autonomous Finance, Autonomous Spend, Autonomous Supply Chain Management, Autonomous HCM, and Autonomous CX, with more than 200 agents and over 50 assistants available in the coming months. Each assistant is mapped to core business roles and carries defined KPIs tracked through 麻豆原创 AI Agent Hub.

鈥溌槎乖� Autonomous Suite brings together the depth of our process expertise, semantically rich data, and built-in governance and compliance,鈥� said Alam. 鈥淭hese agents are designed with outcomes as a core objective. Each assistant has a defined set of ROI KPIs that you can expect it to deliver.鈥� 

鈥淯nderpinning the autonomous suite are out-of-the-box agents鈥攈undreds of agents cutting across all core business processes,鈥� he shared. 鈥淭hese agents come together into what we call assistants, or Joule Assistants. We’ve mapped these assistants to roles across the core processes of an organization, because we know that the first step 
in realizing value from AI is to empower your people to do more, do it better, or do things that just weren’t possible to be done before.鈥�

Turning to Joule itself, Muhammad said 麻豆原创 is fundamentally reimagining how users will interact with 麻豆原创 applications in the future.

鈥淲e call this Joule spaces and along with the familiar Joule conversations experience and Joule Studio 2.0, it is now part of what we call Joule Work,鈥� he explained.

鈥淛oule Work represents a massive step forward in super-charging the capabilities of Joule as we know it today,鈥� Alam said. 鈥淲ith Joule Work, we’re bringing a claw-based agentic harness to Joule along with computer and file access, better support for open standards such as MCP and A2A, access to a more complete knowledge base, and, of course, amazing visualizations on the fly.鈥�

Industry AI: H&M and Sector-Specific Transformation

During the keynote, 麻豆原创 Chief Operating Officer Sebastian Steinhaeuser introduced the Industry AI initiative, delivering AI-powered solutions built on decades of sector-specific expertise across 26 industries. In life sciences, he highlighted how 麻豆原创 customer Takeda is achieving up to 10% productivity gains, up to 25% reduction in revenue loss from stock-outs, and up to five percent reduction in safety stock through Autonomous Regulated Manufacturing.

He was also joined on stage by H&M Group CDIO Ellen Svanstr枚m, who discussed how the fashion retailer is embedding AI across its value chain. Built on RISE with 麻豆原创, 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud, 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud, and 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions, H&M has developed a Store Intelligence Agent that processes real-time signals to generate actionable recommendations for store managers. Svanstrom also demonstrated the AI-powered InStore Concierge, a customer-facing agent that bridges digital and physical retail through personalized outfit recommendations and real-time availability.

RISE with 麻豆原创 and 麻豆原创 GROW: Path to the Autonomous Enterprise

Returning to the keynote stage, Klein emphasized that technology adoption alone does not create business value. Simply plugging AI agents into your system landscape will drive zero value, he said. 鈥淢oving to the Autonomous Enterprise requires serious change management. Adoption of AI goes hand-in-hand with business process change and end user enablement.鈥�

To support customers on this journey, 麻豆原创 announced a comprehensive reset of its RISE with 麻豆原创 and 麻豆原创 GROW offerings. RISE with 麻豆原创 customers will receive contractual commitment to activate three Joule Assistants within the first year, with the Max Success Plan extending adoption across the full enterprise.  

麻豆原创 GROW customers will receive more than 20 AI assistants from day one, with an AI-enabled toolchain designed to support go-live in weeks. New partnerships with Palantir and Accenture will support the most complex migration scenarios.

Closing: The Autonomous Enterprise

Klein closed the keynote by asking Joule to summarize the key takeaways and noting that 麻豆原创 is evolving from being a software company to becoming a business AI company.

鈥淲e showed how to turn the promise of business AI into reality with 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform, which provides the data processes and governance AI need to deliver accurate and secure outcomes at scale; we introduced the 麻豆原创 Autonomous Suite, where applications reason, decide, and act for you; and we showed how to manage change management with RISE with 麻豆原创. Together with customers and partners, we showed how 麻豆原创 is helping companies realize the vision of the Autonomous Enterprise.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檝e been reinventing how businesses run for over 50 years, and now by infusing 麻豆原创鈥檚 ERP brain into the new 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform, we鈥檙e solving one of the biggest challenges businesses are facing today: how to turn AI into business value,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the end of long negotiations, supply chain disruptions, financial blind spots, and the beginning of better: Welcome to the Autonomous Enterprise.鈥�

The company introduces a unified 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform, deepening partnerships with Anthropic, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Palantir

ORLANDO听鈥� At 麻豆原创 Sapphire in 2026, (NYSE: 麻豆原创) introduced the to help enhance the world’s most critical business workflows, so that humans and AI work together to meet the accelerating demands of global business profitably, strategically and safely.

鈥淔or the mission-critical processes of our customers, ‘almost right’ just isn鈥檛 good enough,鈥� said Christian Klein, CEO of 麻豆原创 SE. 鈥淏y uniting 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform with 麻豆原创 Autonomous Suite, we anchor AI agents in the business processes, data and governance so they can deliver accurate, compliant and secure outcomes, unlocking new sources of revenue and meaningful cost savings.鈥�

The Autonomous Enterprise includes a unified AI platform for building, contextualizing and governing agents, an autonomous suite that executes core business operations and a new user experience that redefines how people work with enterprise software.

Introducing 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform

麻豆原创 Business AI Platform is a new foundation for building and deploying enterprise AI grounded in real business context. 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform now unifies 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform, 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud and 麻豆原创 Business AI into a single, governed environment.

At its core is the 麻豆原创 Knowledge Graph solution, which gives AI agents a structured map of business entities, processes and relationships across a customer’s 麻豆原创 landscape. Joule Studio is 麻豆原创’s AI-first solution for building enterprise agents, applications and agentic workflows. Developers can build using the no-code, pro-code and AI frameworks of their choice on 麻豆原创-managed infrastructure that is secure, scalable and optimized for enterprise AI.

Deploying 麻豆原创 Autonomous Suite Across Every Business Function and Industry

Building on this foundation, 麻豆原创 also introduced 麻豆原创 Autonomous Suite, which enables 麻豆原创’s existing business applications with AI agents capable of running processes from start-to-finish.

The suite will deploy more than 50 domain-specific Joule Assistants across finance, supply chain, procurement, human capital management and customer experience. These assistants will automate end-to-end processes by orchestrating a subset of over 200 specialized agents to execute precise tasks. For example, the new Autonomous Close Assistant can compress the financial close process from weeks to days by automating journal entries, reconciliation and error resolution across the entire process.

麻豆原创 also launched Industry AI, expanding its deep industry portfolio through seven autonomous solutions that will enable start-to-finish industry processes and embed sector-specific process logic, data models and regulatory requirements. At 麻豆原创 Sapphire, 麻豆原创 showcased its work with European energy giant RWE to leverage Industry AI, helping reduce unplanned downtime across its offshore wind turbines. With 麻豆原创’s Autonomous Asset Management scenario, AI agents are designed to analyze data from thousands of past incidents, identify the likely root cause and generate pre-filled work orders with the right tools and proven fixes from other sites.

Designing the Autonomous User Experience

The company also revealed Joule Work, redefining how users engage with 麻豆原创 software. Instead of navigating individual applications and entering data across several screens, users will now interact primarily with Joule. By describing a desired business outcome, Joule will orchestrate the right combination of workflows, data and agents to get it done.

Joule Work goes beyond conversation, proactively surfacing relevant insights and automating routine tasks behind the scenes so work moves forward even when humans aren’t actively steering it. It will be available on desktop, mobile and voice across 麻豆原创 and non-麻豆原创 systems.

Accelerating the Customer Journey Toward Autonomy with 鈧�100 Million Infusion

麻豆原创 evolved its customer and partner programs to help accelerate the organization’s journey to the Autonomous Enterprise. To catalyze adoption, the company has launched a 鈧�100 million fund for 麻豆原创 partners to help customers deploy 麻豆原创-built AI assistants and agents. The fund is also available to partners that extend or build new partner agents on the new 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform using Joule Studio.

麻豆原创 has enhanced its RISE with 麻豆原创 and 麻豆原创 GROW offerings to accelerate AI adoption. Both include access to the Joule Assistants portfolio; RISE with 麻豆原创 customers will have three assistants activated within their first year, while 麻豆原创 GROW customers receive full portfolio access at onboarding. 麻豆原创 S/4HANA on-premises and 麻豆原创 ERP Central Component (麻豆原创 ECC) customers are not excluded: those that commit to transitioning the majority of their current landscape to 麻豆原创 Cloud ERP gain access to select AI scenarios, bridging the gap between their current landscape and their cloud destination

麻豆原创 also introduced new agent-led transformation tooling that can reduce ERP migration efforts by more than 35 percent, driving faster and more predictable projects by automating system analysis, code remediation, configuration and testing at scale.

Lastly, 麻豆原创 announced a full slate of strategic partnerships across each category:

• Platform and suite partnerships include Anthropic, with Claude among the foundation models 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI platform will leverage to power Joule agents across HR, procurement and supply chain; Amazon Web Services, bringing zero-copy data integration between 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud and Amazon Athena; Google Cloud and Microsoft, enabling bidirectional agent-to-agent interoperability between Joule and external agent frameworks; Mistral AI and Cohere, delivering sovereign model options on 麻豆原创’s cloud infrastructure; , providing visual AI workflow orchestration inside Joule Studio; NVIDIA, whose OpenShell provides the trusted secure runtime for Joule Studio; and , bringing AI agents into 麻豆原创 Service Cloud to handle customer interactions with full access to business data and service processes.
• Implementation partnerships include Palantir and Accenture, partnering on complex data migration scenarios, and for AI-powered cloud ERP migrations.

.

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As鈥痑 global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 麻豆原创 (NYSE: 麻豆原创)鈥痵tands at the鈥痭exus鈥痮f business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted 麻豆原创鈥痶o bring out their best by uniting business-critical鈥痮perations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit鈥�.

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Across many enterprises, HR, time, and payroll systems have evolved through years of growth, acquisitions, and regional customization. The result is a patchwork of disconnected tools, duplicated data, and manual handoffs that quietly slow decision-making and increase operational risk. These systems may still 鈥渨ork,鈥� but they carry a hidden cost on productivity, accuracy, and confidence, as expectations on HR continue to rise and AI becomes central to how work gets done.

Fragmentation is the hidden bottleneck behind 鈥渟low鈥� decisions

The impact of fragmentation isn鈥檛 always visible, but it shows up clearly in how decisions get made.

When decisions stall, leaders often point to approvals, governance, or external constraints. In reality, much of the friction happens earlier, when teams reconcile data across systems before decisions can even begin.

According to the research, organizations with unified HR foundations gained faster access to trusted workforce information, generating insights 60% faster and creating new position listings 53% faster. Rather than adding tools, these organizations removed friction by eliminating manual validation, shadow spreadsheets, and repeated checks to confirm data accuracy.

As organizations look to AI to accelerate workforce planning, surface risks, and guide decisions, this foundation becomes even more critical. AI is only as effective as the data it can access and trust. In disconnected environments, AI inherits the same inconsistencies, delays, and gaps, limiting its ability to generate reliable insights and recommendations.

Consider a simple workforce planning decision like headcount approval. In a fragmented environment, HR pulls data from one system, finance validates it in another, and managers reconcile discrepancies in spreadsheets. What should take hours stretches into days鈥攏ot because the decision is complex, but because the data is.

With real-time, consistent workforce information, leaders can act faster and with greater confidence in their decisions. More importantly, unified data allows AI to move beyond reactive reporting to deliver proactive, decision-ready intelligence.

Most payroll errors aren鈥檛 human鈥攖hey鈥檙e structural

Disconnected systems don鈥檛 just slow work; they also increase errors.

When employee data, time records, and payroll information live in different places, every handoff becomes an opportunity for mistakes. Manual reconciliation and corrective actions become routine, especially during high-pressure cycles like payroll close.

Organizations with unified platforms see a clear shift. Payroll error rates drop by 64% and payroll cycles are completed 44% faster by eliminating data gaps and automating validation across connected processes.

This is where AI begins to shift from reactive to preventative. With unified data, AI can identify anomalies before payroll runs, flag potential compliance risks, and continuously learn from patterns across the organization. Instead of fixing errors after the fact, HR and payroll teams can prevent them altogether.

That structural shift changes the nature of work for HR and payroll teams. Payroll teams saw a 21% productivity increase, while HR teams improved productivity by 14%, as time previously spent tracking down discrepancies, correcting entries, and responding to escalations was redirected toward oversight, compliance, and continuous improvement.

Fragmentation quietly erodes trust and limits AI adoption

When systems are fragmented, trust erodes quietly. Employees lose confidence when pay errors occur or self-service tools don鈥檛 reflect their reality. Managers hesitate to act when dashboards conflict. HR teams become intermediaries between systems rather than strategic partners to the business.

Integrated HR, time, and payroll systems reverse this dynamic. Employees gain easier access to self-service tools, with 28% more employees able to directly access HR and time entry platforms. Managers benefit from real-time visibility into approvals and team data. And HR teams regain credibility as the source of accurate, timely workforce information.

Over time, this trust compounds. When people trust the system, they use it. Increased usage improves data quality, and better data strengthens decision-making.

This foundation becomes even more important as organizations scale AI across HR. Employees and managers are far more likely to rely on AI-driven recommendations鈥攚hether for career growth, scheduling, or compensation鈥攚hen they trust the underlying data. Without that trust, even the most advanced AI capabilities remain underutilized.

Fragmentation doesn鈥檛 just slow execution鈥攊t narrows what leaders believe is possible, forcing decisions to be shaped by system constraints rather than business needs.

The cost of standing still

The cost of fragmentation isn鈥檛 just operational; it鈥檚 financial, and it compounds over time.

Across organizations studied, the average annual quantified benefit totaled US$649,400 per 1,000 employees supported, driven by productivity gains, reduced errors, faster cycles, and better business decisions. Over three years,organizations achieved a 284% return on investment, with a payback period of approximately 15 months.

Beyond these quantified gains, there is a growing competitive gap. Organizations operating on unified platforms are not only more efficient, but they are also better positioned to embed AI across the entire employee lifecycle, from hiring and onboarding to development and workforce planning. Those still operating with disconnected systems risk falling behind鈥攏ot just operationally, but strategically.

The real risk isn鈥檛 innovation

Innovation draws attention because it鈥檚 new, visible, and often disruptive. Fragmentation, by contrast, builds quietly in the background until it starts to limit how the organization operates. But as organizations ask HR to deliver more鈥攂etter insights, faster planning, stronger compliance, and improved employee experiences鈥攖he limits of disconnected systems become harder to ignore.

Modern HR outcomes don鈥檛 come from layering new tools on top of outdated foundations. They come from reducing complexity, unifying data, and creating consistency across the most essential people processes. This is where platforms like 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors are evolving鈥攏ot just to unify core HR, time, and payroll, but to embed AI directly into the flow of work. By combining a trusted data foundation with AI-driven insights and automation, organizations can move from reactive operations to predictive, insight-led workforce management.

The question isn鈥檛 whether organizations can afford to modernize HR. It鈥檚 whether they can afford to limit the impact of AI by building on fragmented foundations.

AI doesn鈥檛 transform HR on its own; it amplifies what鈥檚 already there. And without a unified, trusted core, even the most advanced AI will struggle to deliver on its promise.

Learn how leading organizations are reducing fragmentation and building a strong foundation for AI by unifying core HR, time, and payroll with .

*

Lara Albert is chief marketing officer for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

With the听听1H鈥�2026 release,听we鈥檙e听deepening those connections across the HR lifecycle. This release focuses on听four听core priorities:听connected,听suite-wide听AI; unified experiences that adapt to how organizations work;听processes designed for clarity, accuracy, and compliance; and stronger foundations for skills and long-term growth.听Together, these innovations help organizations听anticipate听needs earlier, reduce friction in daily work, and move forward with greater confidence.听

Connected AI that works across HCM

AI in HR delivers the greatest impact when it works continuously across the entire workforce lifecycle鈥攏ot as isolated features, but as connected capabilities that share context and insight.

The 1H鈥�2026 release expands听suite-wide听agentic AI听across 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions, helping听employees听get clearer answers, act sooner, and keep听work moving听across roles and responsibilities.听A connected network of听听now supports areas such as recruiting, workforce administration, payroll, learning, performance, and talent development鈥攚orking together behind the scenes to help听anticipate听next steps and surface relevant guidance.

This release also introduces a growing听workforce knowledge network, bringing trusted external expertise and research directly into the flow of work through Joule.听Teams can now access expert-backed global employment guidance and听research-driven听insights without leaving their workflows鈥攕upporting听faster, more听confident decisions.

To听further听support learning in the flow of work,听intelligent Q&A in听听now helps employees find information more easily. AI听can deliver instant,听context-aware听responses drawn directly from an organization鈥檚 learning content,听along with relevant links and resources,听so employees can get answers quickly without searching through courses or documentation.听

Unified experiences that adapt to how work gets done听

As HR听tasks听become more embedded in听day-to-day work, experiences need to feel intuitive, connected, and responsive听wherever work happens. In the 1H 2026 release,听麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions continue to unify experiences across the suite, giving employees, managers, and HR teams what they need听in听the moment.听

• Connected recruiting and onboarding:听Native integration between听 solutions, , and听听can bring AI-enabled听recruiting, core HR, and onboarding together into a single, continuous experience, helping hiring teams move faster while听maintaining听consistency from candidate through new hire.听

• Tailored experiences,听built faster:听The new听extensibility wizard听can provide guided, step-by-step support for creating custom extensions on听听(麻豆原创 BTP) directly within听麻豆原创听SuccessFactors solutions, making it easier to adapt experiences to unique business needs while preserving governance.听
• Simpler, clearer employee moments:听A redesigned, configurable 401(k) experience听in听听for U.S.听employees helps simplify enrollment and management by clearly explaining employer contributions and guiding deferrals and beneficiary setup, helping employees make informed decisions with confidence.听

Processes designed for clarity, accuracy, and compliance听

In the 1H鈥�2026 release, 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors introduces new capabilities that help organizations bring greater clarity and rigor to pay practices.

With听pay听transparency insights听in the , organizations can analyze compensation patterns and potential pay gaps, supporting transparent, data-driven pay practices in-line with evolving regulatory expectations,听including in the EU.听

Skills governance听for sustainable growth听

Preparing for听what鈥檚听next requires trusted, consistent skills data that organizations can rely on across HR, talent, and workforce planning.

In the 1H鈥�2026 release,听we are听strengthening听the听听with enhanced听skills governance, providing a centralized interface to help manage skills, apply governance standards, and ensure alignment across 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions and partner applications. This helps organizations improve听skills听data quality, maintain consistency at scale, and make more confident,听skills-based听decisions.听

A connected foundation for the future 

This听release听reinforces听麻豆原创鈥檚 continued focus on an intelligent, connected HCM听foundation鈥攐ne designed to evolve with your organization and support confident decisions at every stage of work. By bringing together data, AI, and experiences across the HR lifecycle, these听enhancements help organizations reduce friction today while听laying听the groundwork for听tomorrow.

To explore what鈥檚 included in this release, check out the or watch the overview .

Bianka Woelke is group vice president and head of Application Product Management for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

But new research from 麻豆原创 and Wakefield* suggests a different reality is emerging. AI isn鈥檛 making early talent irrelevant. Instead, it鈥檚 accelerating how quickly they become productive, reshaping the earliest stages of work, and raising expectations far earlier in the employee lifecycle.

According to the findings, 88% of CHROs say AI is making early-career talent role-ready faster. This acceleration raises the stakes on both sides. While organizations benefit from faster productivity and earlier impact, early鈥慶areer employees are entering roles with heightened expectations and fewer traditional learning buffers鈥攆orcing leaders to rethink how success is defined and supported from day one.

AI as an accelerator of readiness

Entry-level roles have long relied on repetitive, lower-stakes tasks that helped new employees learn how work gets done. Today, AI automates much of that foundational execution.

This shift is increasingly common: 79% of surveyed CHROs report that their early-career talent receives enterprise AI tools within their first month on the job. Additionally, 87% expect new hires to be comfortable with AI on day one or learn the tools immediately after joining.

With AI absorbing traditional tasks, early-career talent is stepping into meaningful work sooner鈥攁nd CHROs are already seeing the impact, with 56% reporting improved confidence and 55% citing increased productivity among those using AI.

This acceleration reflects themes we first explored in the 2025 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Future of Work Predictions , where we examined how AI might reshape entry鈥憀evel roles. As foundational tasks continue to be absorbed by AI, the question becomes not whether early鈥慶areer roles will exist, but how organizations can redesign them to build capability in new ways.

When productivity accelerates, expectations follow

As early talent ramps faster, the expectations placed on them are rising just as quickly. Several structural factors are contributing to this shift: organizations are hiring fewer early-career talent, and those who do join are expected to take on more complex work earlier in their tenure. Our upcoming research from our makes this clear, as one research participant summarized, 鈥淓ntry level roles used to be focused on mundane tasks鈥攚hat should they do now? They bring an incredibly unique perspective; we want to hire early talent to challenge our norms and help us find better ways of working.鈥�

But with AI removing the mundane work, it may also remove many of the gradual, hands-on learning moments that once helped new hires build experience over time.

With these rising expectations, it鈥檚 easy to see how the cognitive load of entry level roles could increase substantially. CHROs report heightened performance pressure and increased mental effort as new hires try to keep pace with AI-accelerated work. Some researchers refer to this dynamic as 鈥�,鈥� the cognitive strain that comes from managing rapid, AI-driven workflow.

Together, these shifts create several risks for both employees and organizations:

• Shadow AI use rises: 56%of CHROs say early-career talent turns to unsanctioned AI tools when formal guidance is unclear. This behavior may reflect entry-level hires trying to keep pace rather than intentionally breaking policy.
• Inconsistent enablement creates talent risk: 44% of CHROs say uneven access to AI tools increases attrition risk, especially for early talent who may feel unable to live up to new performance expectations without tools to automate routine tasks.
• Foundational skills may erode: Even as AI boosts productivity, 38%of leaders worry early-career talent are not building long-term skills like communication, critical thinking, judgment, and collaboration. That concern is echoed in qualitative feedback from HR leaders as well. As one noted, 鈥淲e鈥檝e observed gaps in professionalism in business settings for entry鈥憀evel talent, from collaboration and stakeholder management [to] ownership and accountability.鈥�

Rethinking the first step into work

As traditional early鈥慶areer learning pathways narrow, organizations must now redesign how those learning moments happen. Our research points to several areas where HR leaders can intentionally strengthen the early-career ramp:

1. Build foundational skill development intentionally.

As repetitive tasks disappear, organizations have the opportunity to deliberately create new ways for early talent to build communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and decision-making skills. This can include structured, project-based experiences, clearer decision-making frameworks, and more frequent coaching that focuses on judgement and prioritization, not just task completion.

2. Design entry-level roles around higher-value work.

Early-career employees are capable of contributing more strategically when roles are designed with the right balance of scope and support. Redesigning entry鈥憀evel positions to include clear ownership鈥攕upported by explicit expectations, mentoring, and well鈥慸efined guidance for decisions and escalation鈥攈elps early鈥慶areer talent build confidence while managing risk.

3. Establish AI governance from day one.

Without clear guidance, early talent may struggle to understand how to use AI responsibly. Introducing AI expectations during onboarding, reinforcing role-specific best practices, and normalizing manager-led conversations about AI use can reduce shadow AI and build trust in new technologies early on.

4. Ensure equitable AI access across teams and managers.

As expectations rise, uneven access to AI tools can quietly increase workload pressure and stress for early-career employees. Providing consistent access, training, and enablement helps ensure new hires are equipped to meet accelerated demands without increasing burnout or attrition.

The bottom line

AI isn鈥檛 eliminating early-career talent from the workforce; it鈥檚 reshaping the path they take to become effective and increasing the value of the work they contribute. While entry-level roles may be fewer, expectations for impact are higher, placing greater importance on pairing AI fluency with strong human skills. For new graduates, developing both will not only help them land a job but also enable them to contribute quickly and build lasting capabilities.

When early鈥慶areer talent becomes productive sooner, companies can move faster, innovate earlier, and operate more efficiently, but only if that speed is matched with structure, coaching, and intentional development. Organizations that navigate this transition successfully will ensure early talent doesn鈥檛 just ramp up faster, but also builds the judgment, collaboration, and critical鈥憈hinking skills that AI can鈥檛 replace.

To stay on top of more upcoming research on the impact of AI on entry-level roles, visit our .

Lara Albert is chief marketing officer for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

*The 麻豆原创 AI Talent Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 100 US CHROs (or CPO equivalent) at organizations with a minimum annual revenue of $500m where employees are using AI-enabled tools in their day-to-day responsibilities, between February 19th and March 2nd, 2026, using an email invitation and an online survey.

鈥淲hen we give, we gain鈥� is this year鈥檚 , and in the workplace, giving can take many forms: mentoring, advocacy, visibility, resources, and transparency.

For organizations, pay transparency is one of the most tangible ways to 鈥済ive鈥� in service of gender equality. When employees better understand their compensation, historically underrepresented groups gain clarity and fairness. And when organizations commit to equitable practices, the benefits ripple across the business鈥攆rom greater trust and engagement to stronger talent outcomes and overall performance.

Transparency starts with accountability

Many organizations are still early听in听their pay transparency journey.听At 麻豆原创,听this has been a听multi-year听effort听grounded in data, accountability, and action.听Each year, we conduct global internal pay equity analyses听comparing听employees in comparable roles, levels, and听geographies听to ensure compensation is fair, market-aligned, and internally听consistent. When outliers are听identified, centrally funded adjustments bring听pay听in-line.

This reflects 麻豆原创鈥檚 fair pay philosophy: equitable compensation that is transparent and free from bias, forming the foundation for performance-based differentiation.

Technology is central to this approach. 麻豆原创 operationalizes fair pay through听听and听, embedding听pay analysis, job architecture, and range guidance, so managers can consistently apply structured, explainable decisions during hiring and annual cycles.

Today,听over 99% of 麻豆原创 employees worldwide have transparency into their pay听range through听a compensation assistant听tool built on (麻豆原创 BTP). This tool听integrates 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors data to display salary ranges across career levels, which听can replace听guesswork with confidence and can give employees clear insight into their value, career progression, and how pay decisions are made.

From compliance to strategic intelligence: the EU Pay Transparency Directive

The shift from voluntary transparency to regulatory mandate is already underway. For European Union member states, the EU Pay Transparency Directive is driving change by requiring salary range disclosures in advance of the first interview, employee access to pay information, and gender pay gap reporting, with corrective action mandated when unexplained gaps exceed 5%. As implementation timelines approach, HR, legal, and finance teams across the EU are racing to operationalize new transparency requirements, making pay governance a board-level issue for many organizations.

鈥淥ne of the most meaningful shifts introduced by the EU Pay Transparency Directive is giving employees clearer tools to understand their own compensation. With capabilities like individual pay transparency reports generated through 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Employee Central, employees now have a self-service way to see how their pay compares within their role and organization. That level of visibility is a major step forward for pay equity because it brings clarity to something that historically has been difficult for employees to question or address.鈥�

Anita Lettink, Future of Work and Pay Expert

Compliance is just the starting point. Organizations that embed transparency into everyday HR processes ensure pay decisions are consistent, equitable, and aligned with skills, performance, and business priorities. 麻豆原创 is already preparing customers for this shift, with tools designed to help meet these new requirements confidently.

With EU Pay Transparency Insights, a new capability within the , organizations can:

• Identify structural pay gaps and outliers before they become systemic issues.
• Connect compensation data to job architecture, skills, and performance to inform decisions and governance.
• Generate directive-aligned, ready-to-use reports without heavy manual effort.
• Turn transparency into action, guiding adjustments, equitable promotions, and workforce planning at scale.

These insights complement established fair pay practices鈥攕uch as structured job architecture, peer-based analysis, and centrally funded adjustments鈥攅nabling customers to implement transparent, equitable pay practices while meeting regulatory requirements.

Giving to gain: the leadership opportunity

This International Women鈥檚 Day, transparency should be treated as a strategic priority, not a compliance task. Clear, consistent pay practices help employees understand their value and help leaders make smarter, data-driven workforce decisions.

Pay transparency is accelerating, and organizations that act now will be the ones that lead. Don鈥檛 miss our upcoming webinar, EU Pay Transparency: Turning Fair and Equitable Pay into Your Strategic Advantage, where Future of Work and Pay expert Anita Lettink will break down the latest regulatory expectations and share best practices for building fair, equitable, and motivating compensation structures. .

Maryann Abbajay is chief revenue officer for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

Today, we鈥檙e announcing that is now integrated with , working to deliver a unified experience, connected data, and integration with AI companion and to embed intelligent assistance directly into hiring workflows to help teams move faster, make better decisions, and deliver better candidate experiences. This integration, following 麻豆原创鈥檚 acquisition of SmartRecruiters in September 2025, establishes the foundation for a fully connected talent architecture, where hiring decisions, skills intelligence, and workforce planning can operate as one system.

Advancing intelligent hiring with SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors

The solution can deliver a consistent, end-to-end hiring experience designed to meet the scale, speed, and intelligence requirements of modern organizations. By combining intuitive workflows with embedded AI, recruiters can eliminate repetitive administrative tasks and focus on higher value interactions, while candidates move through a streamlined, personalized journey from first touch to offer.

The integration with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM builds on these capabilities by connecting hiring processes to the full employee lifecycle and the broader business, helping to ensure that every hiring decision is grounded in real-time data and organizational context. Designed for scale, SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors helps set the foundation for a complete intelligence layer across hiring and HR, with people, job, and organizational data flowing seamlessly between 麻豆原创 and SmartRecruiters.

Organizations can gain a more predictable hiring process with streamlined workflows, consistent tools, and shared real-time data across each hiring stage. They can expect:

• Single login: one entry point into 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors and SmartRecruiters for recruiters, hiring managers, and approvers
• Unified navigation: a seamless experience across 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors and SmartRecruiters to help reduce complexity and speed up adoption
• Aligned data: synchronized people, job, and organizational data that flows between systems, helping to ensure accuracy and consistency end to end

In practice, core organizational data like job families, cost centers, and locations can flow automatically from 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors into SmartRecruiters, helping to eliminate manual entry and inconsistencies. New roles open with these attributes already applied, and user management is just as smooth: recruiters, hiring managers, and approvers created in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors appear in SmartRecruiters with the right permissions, helping to reduce errors and keep approval flows and reporting clean. As integration deepens, hiring becomes fully connected to core HR and workforce systems, creating a unified, trusted foundation for talent decisions across the enterprise.

With the enhanced benefits of SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors, simple and flexible integration paths are now available for customers currently using the 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Recruiting solution. 麻豆原创 will continue to honor all contracts, and customers will not be required to migrate.

Integration that activates enterprise鈥�ready AI

With 麻豆原创鈥檚 continued investment, SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors is evolving quickly, bringing AI-driven innovation to every part of the hiring experience. High-volume hiring can become high-quality hiring through AI-assisted workflows, including intuitive applications, automated scheduling, intelligent matching, and streamlined interview feedback.

Beginning in 2026, Winston and 麻豆原创鈥檚 generative AI solution will work together as connected agents. Additionally, new protections such as fraud detection, enhanced consent management, and applicant data transferability will help embed trust in the hiring cycle, strengthening both system integrity and candidate confidence.

From talent acquisition to talent readiness

As organizations look beyond filling roles to building future-proof capabilities, intelligent hiring becomes just one part of a broader talent strategy. The power of integration delivered by SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors extends beyond hiring, creating a connected, AI-enabled talent experience across the entire 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM suite and, ultimately, . This is how organizations become skills-ready: hiring decisions tied to outcomes, and employees supported with clear paths to grow and contribute.

See SmartRecruiters for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors in action:听Catch the听听of our March 5 webinar – 鈥淭he Future of Intelligent Hiring鈥� – to explore how 麻豆原创 is redefining hiring, talent orchestration, and long-term workforce strategy.

Lara Albert is chief marketing officer, 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.
Rebecca Carr is CEO of SmartRecruiters, an 麻豆原创 company.

To date, many employers have approached pay equity at their own pace, but a new era is beginning, one that will redefine pay practices and workplace culture for organizations across the European Union (EU). Set to take effect across EU Member States in 2026, the (EU Directive 2023/970) strengthens the principle of 鈥渆qual pay for equal work or work of equal value鈥� as enshrined in EU law, requiring employers to adopt transparent pay practices and close gender pay gaps or face potential legal and financial consequences.

can provide a single source of truth for the critical data-driven insights needed to help organizations meet EU pay transparency requirements. Today, 麻豆原创 is announcing new capabilities that can make it even easier for organizations to meet their requirements across EU countries.

Launching in 1H 2026, EU Pay Transparency Insights is a new capability within the , an intelligent, AI-powered application that can deliver ready-to-use, actionable insights to help leaders make more informed decisions. EU Pay Transparency Insights enables organizations to analyze compensation, identify outliers, and address pay gaps, helping them meet reporting requirements while unlocking the workforce and business performance benefits of achieving true pay equity.

Three requirements every employer must meet鈥攁nd how 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM supports them

The EU Pay Transparency Directive represents one of the most sweeping changes to workplace compensation in decades. To meet its requirements, organizations will need to reassess their current HR data management capabilities and processes and begin planning now. As countries move toward putting the directive into law by June 2026, some obligations may already apply, with others set to take effect as soon as national laws are enacted. And because pay gap reporting deadlines vary by organization size鈥攕tarting in 2027 for employers with 150 or more employees and based on 2026 workforce data鈥攐rganizations must act now to be ready.听

麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM is uniquely positioned to support organizations in addressing the three key requirements outlined in the directive鈥攇ender pay gap reporting, employee pay transparency, and candidate pay transparency鈥攚ith several capabilities already available today and advanced analytics for gender pay gap reporting delivered through EU Pay Transparency Insights in 1H 2026.

1. Gender pay gap reporting

Once national laws are in place, employers will be required to disclose their gender pay gaps on a predefined schedule, and any gap of 5% or more must be explained or mitigated with a joint pay assessment. With EU Pay Transparency Insights within , organizations will be able to access rich workforce insights to analyze compensation and identify drivers behind pay gaps, giving them the information they need to generate actionable reports with a complete view of workforce equity in a single place.

2. Employee pay transparency

In accordance with the directive, employees have the right to request information on average pay levels by gender for comparable roles. By leveraging the powerful document generation capabilities in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM, employers can provide employees with a self-service experience to display individual pay transparency statements directly from the People Profile in . These statements can give clear insight into the employee鈥檚 annual pay and the average pay of the same worker category broken down by gender.

3. Candidate pay transparency

Employers will be required to disclose pay ranges in job advertisements or before interviews. They will also be prohibited from asking applicants about salary history. 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions help enhance pay transparency by enabling employers to display pay ranges directly within job postings published through 麻豆原创鈥檚 recruiting solutions, including 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Recruiting and .

In addition to these 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors capabilities, 麻豆原创 continues to work with our vast partner ecosystem to support pay parity and pay transparency efforts.

An opportunity to lead with accountability

The EU Pay Transparency Directive sets a new baseline for accountability in how organizations manage and disclose pay. By preparing early and partnering with 麻豆原创, organizations can deliver transparent compensation insights, empowering employees with a clear view of their total rewards and career journey and supporting HR professionals in making consistent and measurable decisions with confidence. With continuous innovation and trusted localized expertise, 麻豆原创 helps organizations stay on top of changes and build a sustainable, employee-centered approach to pay equity across the EU.

Learn more about how 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM can help your organization stay compliant with the EU Pay Transparency Directive in the

Dan Beck is general manager and chief product officer for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

The IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Talent Intelligence evaluates vendors using the IDC MarketScape model, which incorporates quantitative and qualitative factors to assess vendors’ current capabilities and future road maps for delivering value to customers seeking talent intelligence. According to the report, 麻豆原创 was recognized for strengths in 鈥渦nified and integrated skills framework, embedded AI and analytics, and an open data ecosystem.鈥�

Chasing innovation: powering the skills-based enterprise

At 麻豆原创, we have made consistent and strategic investments in skills, talent intelligence, and AI-driven workforce planning.

The talent intelligence hub is a unified skills framework embedded across the entire . It empowers HR with an AI-driven, consistent skills foundation to help optimize talent processes, enrich personalized employee learning experiences, and accelerate skills development鈥攅nabling organizations to build an agile, future-ready workforce.

Building on this foundation, skills and intelligence capabilities can be leveraged across multiple product areas. helps transform career growth, internal mobility, and success into a single, AI-powered, skills-based solution, helping to give leaders clear visibility into workforce capabilities while guiding employees to personalized opportunities, so you can build, retain, and deploy the talent your strategy needs to win. (generally available in 1H 2026) can enable optimized shift planning in manufacturing and production by helping to ensure the right people with the right skills are in the right place at the right time to help prevent the costly impacts of understaffing or overstaffing.  And the can bring together people, skills, and business data, from 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions and beyond, into actionable insights that help leaders make more informed people and business decisions.

We are also accelerating innovation with new Joule Agents to help automate repetitive tasks, guide employees with real-time, context-aware support, and enable accuracy across core HR processes, so that HR can focus on strategic people initiatives. The Performance and Goals Agent, now generally available, and the upcoming Career and Talent Development and People Intelligence Agents (both planned for 1H 2026) will deliver AI capabilities to help manage performance reviews, compensation planning, skills distribution, retention, personalized development, and succession. And with 麻豆原创鈥檚 acquisition of SmartRecruiters, we are strengthening our talent acquisition capabilities to deliver an even more unified, intelligence-driven hiring experience.

These innovations help organizations close skills gaps and empower employees with meaningful, data-driven growth opportunities, helping them thrive in an ever-changing workplace.

Customer insights: real outcomes from skills transformation

Our customers say it best when it comes to the impact of our skills-based innovations.

• , a global business and technology partner, is building a skills engine to support the employee lifecycle. 鈥淪kills are at the core of our company, as they support both clients and employees. Our promise to 鈥榞et the future you want鈥� means thinking about future client needs and employee skills and career development. 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM is key in our skills-first approach to our people experience transformation,鈥� Jihane Baciocchini, vice president and head of Talent Acquisition, Capgemini, said.
• , one of the world鈥檚 leading pump and water solutions companies, is utilizing the talent intelligence hub functionality of 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions to create a single source of skills information, enabling it to connect people and business needs in new ways. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a consensus that what got us here won鈥檛 get us there: we need new skills and capabilities. And that鈥檚 where the talent intelligence hub in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions comes in. It鈥檚 helping us build one skills foundation that feeds into critical decisions on talent鈥攁nd transform skills into something we live and breathe every day,鈥� Mads Kidmose, head of HR Technology and Data Foundation, Grundfos Holding A/S, said.

What鈥檚 next

This is a critical moment for HR leaders, as talent intelligence platforms are transforming how organizations hire, develop, and retain their workforce. Looking ahead to 2026, our focus remains on expanding skills-based capabilities and delivering AI solutions that can empower every organization to grow with confidence and thrive.

Read  report.

Lara Albert is chief marketing officer for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

is a next-generation HR help desk and ticketing system, purpose-built for HR. It helps organizations break through those barriers by connecting AI, trusted data, and intuitive experiences to help transform HR service delivery from reactive support to proactive, human-centered impact.

From HR help desk to human impact

麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management gives HR teams a unified HR service delivery platform to help manage service requests, automate workflows, and deliver consistent, guided interactions that can build trust and compliance. By moving beyond a reactive “ticketing” mindset, HR can anticipate employee needs, operating with speed, transparency, and insight, which enables the entire organization to work more efficiently.

Unlike IT-centric tools that treat employees as tickets, 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management brings together context, compliance, and connection鈥攅nabling HR to create experiences that feel personal, intelligent, and effortless.

AI for HR: delivering context-driven automation

Automation is only as effective as the context behind it. Unlike standalone AI add-ons, Joule, 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI copilot, can make every interaction faster, smarter, and more human. Employees can ask questions in everyday language and receive contextual answers grounded in verified HR data and policies.

HR teams benefit from AI-generated case summaries, pre-built templates, personalized e-mail drafts, intelligent case recommendations, and intelligent ticket deflection to help reduce manual effort and speed resolution. With agentic AI, the system continuously learns from every interaction, automatically surfacing insights, suggesting next best actions, and driving service accuracy. HR teams don鈥檛 just automate tasks; they deliver smarter, compliant, and more personalized support all within a single, secure HR system.

Connected data that powers intelligent decisions

Unlike many platforms that rely on integrations or duplicated data to connect with HR systems, the 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors portfolio is connected by design. Deeply integrated with , 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management can connect every transaction, service case, and policy into a single source of truth for HR. Combined with and , this foundation can turn data into actionable intelligence: surfacing trends, predicting service demand, and improving quality with each interaction. Pre-configured HR scenarios accelerate implementation and reduce time-to-value by providing best-practice case and form definitions that can be tailored to unique organizational processes. Standard integration flows enable HR teams to update employee data directly from within the case, making it easier to get up and running quickly without starting from scratch.

Experience that feels effortless

A great HR service experience isn鈥檛 just fast鈥攊t feels easy. serves as the digital front door for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management, 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Employee Central, and Joule.

Employees can find answers, submit requests, and collaborate in the flow of work:

• Submit requests and find answers through guided experiences.
• Initiate AI-powered knowledge searches to reduce overall case volume.
• Extend workflows quickly with seamless integration with .

Customer impact in action

Across industries, 麻豆原创 customers are replacing fragmented, IT-led tools with a purpose-built HR service platform, creating measurable gains in employee satisfaction and HR efficiency.

• 鈥淏y moving to next-generation service requests with [麻豆原创 SuccessFactors] Enterprise Service Management, we鈥檝e streamlined complex processes like 401(k) transfers and dramatically improved speed, compliance, and employee confidence.鈥�  鈥� 麻豆原创 customer, Technology
• 鈥淓mployees start in [麻豆原创 SuccessFactors] Work Zone with Joule, search knowledge first, and only create a case when needed. That reduces case volume and service rep workload.鈥� 鈥� 麻豆原创 customer, Consumer Goods
• 鈥淲e鈥檙e designing for consistency鈥攗sing targeted forms aligned to service categories. Data duplication is minimized while the People Profile serves as the single source of truth.鈥� 鈥� 麻豆原创 customer, Manufacturing
• 鈥淥ur front door is multi-channel鈥攅-mail, phone, and Teams chat鈥攁ll anchored in the HR knowledge base with smart routing to the right teams.鈥� 鈥� 麻豆原创 customer, Aviation
• 鈥淥ne feature that truly stood out for us was the timeline. Finding information in our old system used to be a challenge, but with [麻豆原创 SuccessFactors] Enterprise Service Management, the timeline view has been a game changer. It gives our teams instant visibility into every interaction and drives new levels of efficiency and clarity. 鈥� 麻豆原创 customer, Banking
• 鈥淭he guided steps for HR service representatives have transformed how our team works. Instead of navigating complex processes, they now follow clear, intuitive paths that ensure every case is handled consistently and efficiently. It鈥檚 like having an intelligent assistant built right into the workflow.鈥� 鈥� 麻豆原创 customer, Telecommunications
• 鈥淭he [麻豆原创 SuccessFactors] Employee Central data mashup within case management has been an absolute game changer. Having real-time employee data visible directly in each case means no more switching between systems. Our HR team can make faster, more informed decisions with complete context at their fingertips.鈥� 鈥� 麻豆原创 customer, Manufacturing

From service efficiency to experience intelligence

By uniting AI, data, and experience within the 麻豆原创 ecosystem, 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions can turn HR service delivery into a .

Organizations can achieve:

• Faster resolution for service issues
• Personalized experiences at scale for every employee
• Actionable insights that improve both HR efficiency and employee engagement

In a world where agility and trust define competitive advantage, HR is no longer a back-office function鈥攊t鈥檚 a driver of workforce productivity, organizational resilience, and enterprise-wide success.

Ready to see it in action?听,听gives you 30 days of hands-on access to explore the solution at no cost. Start with the use cases most relevant to your team and experience firsthand how 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management grows alongside your needs.

Lara Albert is chief marketing officer for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

This distinction reflects the voice of customers that consistently highlight the value, innovation, and measurable results delivered by 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions. Solutions that qualify for the Buyer鈥檚 Choice award are based on verified reviews received between January 1 and October 17, 2025.

鈥溌槎乖� SuccessFactors continues to set the bar for helping organizations build stronger, more connected workforces,” said Allyson Havener, CMO, TrustRadius. “Winning the 2026 TrustRadius Buyer鈥檚 Choice award reflects the trust customers have in 麻豆原创 to empower people, foster growth, and create meaningful employee experiences. It鈥檚 a well-deserved recognition for a platform that truly puts people at the heart of business success.”

What our customers are saying

On TrustRadius, 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors customers consistently highlight the ability to simplify HR processes, empower employees, and deliver meaningful impact.

• 鈥溌槎乖� SuccessFactors HCM stands out among other human capital management solutions due to its comprehensive suite of cloud-based tools, strong global compliance capabilities, and seamless integration with other 麻豆原创 systems. Compared to competitors, it offers a more unified experience across core HR, talent management, and workforce analytics, which is essential for organizations looking to scale and adapt quickly.鈥� 鈥�
• 鈥淲ith the aid of AI, we have been able to streamline our operations using 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM. Therefore, AI has been so helpful when it comes to improving the management of our workforce when using 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM.鈥� 鈥�
• 鈥淭he greatest benefit of 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM is how it seamlessly integrates across all areas of HR, and even sales/supply chain/finance. That integration across the different areas of the business creates efficiencies that other providers do not offer. I have also been thoroughly impressed by the People Intelligence capabilities that have been offered. The sophisticated reporting fills the need for visualization software like tableau/looker.鈥� 鈥�

麻豆原创 SuccessFactors: powering modern people strategies

麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions bring together every element of a modern people strategy, from core HR and payroll to talent acquisition, talent management, people analytics, and more. With embedded across 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions and (麻豆原创 BTP) enabling flexible extensions and integrations, customers can tailor their solutions to meet their unique needs.

To help our customers stay ahead in a rapidly evolving work landscape, we continuously invest in the 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors portfolio, using market insights to deliver the tools and innovations they need to succeed. Last month at Success Connect at 麻豆原创 Connect in Las Vegas, we unveiled the latest advancements designed to optimize operations, deliver actionable workforce insights, and elevate the employee experience. In September, 麻豆原创 acquired SmartRecruiters to help enhance our talent acquisition capabilities, empowering our customers to attract, engage, and hire the right people faster and more intelligently.

Looking ahead, our focus remains on helping our customers harness the power of AI, data, and experience to build more agile, resilient, and people-centric organizations. As workforce expectations continue to evolve, we鈥檙e committed to delivering innovations that not only meet the needs of today but anticipate tomorrow鈥檚 opportunities鈥攅nabling customers to future-proof their people strategies and unlock the full potential of their workforce.

Learn more about and read more For more information about these recognitions, visit the .

Lara Albert is chief marketing officer for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

Bekaert aspires to become a people- and data-driven company. This requires a thorough strategic and cultural transformation, in which artificial intelligence plays a crucial role. To get started, the company set priorities, leveraging the already available in its existing HR solutions such as 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions. By focusing on a few embedded AI use cases and creating a stand-alone AI tool on top of that, it started exploring and seeing the AI benefits.

“AI is a means to achieve our goals, a logical extension of our HR strategy,” says Jorn Waterschoot, global head of HR Technology at Bekaert. 鈥淎I’s growing capabilities, cost-effectiveness, and versatility are transforming businesses by enhancing user experiences, enabling experimentation, and encouraging adoption. At Bekaert, these strengths are leveraged in HR while carefully managing hidden costs and focusing on end-to-end implementation to maximize AI鈥檚 potential. At Bekaert, the goal is to make AI feel like a candy store: once employees experience its versatility, they are encouraged to explore it further.鈥�

First use case: the AI Master Data Assistant

Together with its long-standing partner and , Bekaert worked along a human-centered approach to innovation to identify opportunities and use cases. One of these identified use cases was a stand-alone AI tool that Bekaert used for HR data improvement. This tool was not integrated in the existing software landscape and required of users to extract and import data. 

To improve this laborious process, Flexso helped design and build a custom AI solution, called AI Master Data Assistant, with the help of 麻豆原创 AI Core in 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform. This new solution has been fully integrated with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions, using 麻豆原创 Integration Suite. Currently, the solution uses a specific AI model from generative AI hub in 麻豆原创 AI Core. However, the flexibility with various models offered through the generative AI hub capability would allow the partner to use another AI model for this solution in the future.

Who benefits from AI in HR at Bekaert?

The AI Master Data Assistant allows the Bekaert HR teams to enhance data quality by automatically identifying, correcting, and preventing errors in employee records. The assistant can detect inconsistencies, duplicates, and missing information, ensuring that all data is accurate, complete, and up-to-date. In practice, it means that users can enter natural language prompts to get proposals for improvement. Via chat-like conversations, they can standardize formats, correct errors, and validate entries in real time.

For innovation projects, Bekaert usually rolls out new solutions gradually first through a number of role-specific use cases, then deploy them indiscriminately across the organization. For the new AI Master Data Assistant, the HR business partners and HR admin roles benefitted first.

Flexibility for the future

As part of the global 麻豆原创 AppHaus Network, Flexso always strives for a human-centered and sustainable co-innovation approach with its customers. It is about bringing innovation into the hands of people. David Pierre, AI practice lead at Flexso explains: 鈥淭he AI world is developing so fast. So, the principle in our solution is that we are AI model agnostic. Today, we are using model GPT to support our use case. But if we have a better model in the future, then we can also switch to other models as they are all supported by 麻豆原创 BTP.鈥�

Imke Vierjahn is 麻豆原创 AppHaus communications lead.

The impact of getting people analytics right is undeniable. According to , organizations that prioritize insights models and performance processes rooted in people data are more likely to see meaningful gains across the board: 98% continuously realize stronger employee satisfaction, 90% experience a boost in workforce performance toward strategic goals, and 87% see improved employee retention.  

Yet for many organizations, the challenge isn鈥檛 recognizing the value of people data鈥攊t鈥檚 unlocking it. Data lives in silos, systems don鈥檛 connect, and insights that could drive strategy often stay buried in spreadsheets or dashboards. And let鈥檚 face it鈥攖he power of AI rests on data. Without harmonized data in one place, organizations can鈥檛 fully tap into AI鈥檚 potential to deliver proactive insights, predictive intelligence, and personalized recommendations that drive better business decisions.  

That鈥檚 why 麻豆原创 announced , now generally available, earlier this year. Built on , People Intelligence is an AI-driven application that can bring together people, skills, and business data鈥攆rom 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions and beyond鈥攊nto actionable insights that help leaders make more informed people and business decisions.  

At Success Connect at 麻豆原创 Connect earlier this month, we announced in People Intelligence for recruiting, learning, succession, career development planning, and performance and goals management鈥攈elping to make it even easier for organizations to translate workforce data into measurable impact. 

Turning data into decisions 

People Intelligence combines unified data from across the enterprise with AI-driven predictions to help forecast workforce needs, anticipate labor costs and risks, and strengthen workforce planning. And with , 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI copilot, HR teams can instantly get contextual, actionable answers to critical business questions such as:  

• What鈥檚 the total count of our workforce?  
• Are employees being compensated equitably across similar roles and demographics? 
• What are the key skills gaps within my workforce, and what teams are most affected?  
• What鈥檚 the most effective way to acquire high-demand skills?  

Too often, workforce data exists in isolation from finance, supply chain, and operational metrics, which makes it nearly impossible to see how people decisions impact business results. People Intelligence can change that. By linking workforce insights to core business data in 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud, leaders can understand how talent strategies affect productivity, compliance, profitability, and agility, and they can act in real time. 

Building a future-ready workforce 

The future of work will be defined by rapid change: accelerating AI adoption, shifting skills requirements, and evolving employee expectations. Organizations that are hamstrung by siloed data or manual analysis will always be a step behind. 

People Intelligence helps provide the foundation and insights to move forward with confidence. By harnessing people data with the same rigor as financial or customer data, organizations gain clarity on how skills, roles, and costs are evolving鈥攁nd the foresight to stay ahead of what鈥檚 next. 

to learn how data-driven insights can fuel your workforce strategy.  

Lara Albert is chief marketing officer at 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

With artificial intelligence and digital technologies massively transforming today鈥檚 workplace, a crucial question comes to the fore: how can companies maintain focus on the human aspect? Personal contact is indispensable, particularly when it comes to support on people matters. That鈥檚 why 麻豆原创 is deliberately pursuing a balanced approach to providing HR support to its employees: modern technologies and AI provide efficient and smart solutions, but personal consulting remains essential to offering employees worldwide the best possible support.

“The world of work around us is changing at breathtaking speed,” says Dr. Christian Schmeichel, global head of People & Culture Services at 麻豆原创. “Currently, we have four generations in our workforce, and naturally this changes the requirements and expectations for HR. The P&C Lounge is designed to address complex questions and issues raised by employees that are better resolved through personal conversations than through the HR ticketing system.”

Comprehensive HR support approach based on multi-tier model

麻豆原创 pursues a differentiated approach to employee support, which Schmeichel describes as a “multi-tier model.” Employees can find general HR information comprehensively covered on 麻豆原创鈥檚 internal portal, while standard requests鈥攕uch as vacation requests, payroll statements, or certificates鈥攁re efficiently handled through self-services and the company鈥檚 Shared Service Center. The new P&C Lounge complements these offerings as a new service channel that provides the option for individual conversations when needed. This strategically brings the human factor back to the foreground: “From my perspective, this more personalized consulting approach for complex issues on a company-wide basis was missing. This is the blank spot that we are now strategically filling in our HR service portfolio,” Schmeichel says.

Previously, personal HR consulting was primarily available to managers through business partners or advisors. With the P&C Lounge, all employees now have access to individual consulting for more complex questions, from personal team issues to challenging payroll questions to career development.

The process is straightforward: employees can schedule appointments through a booking tool and are matched with the expert most appropriate for their query. The system displays which HR specialist will conduct the meeting and in which languages they provide consultation. “Whenever possible, the conversation takes place in the local language; otherwise in English,” Schmeichel explains. For payroll questions, a payroll expert is automatically assigned; for career topics, a corresponding specialist. Intelligent matching will occur with AI support.

“The HR employees who serve as experts in the P&C Lounge have been thoroughly familiarized with the new approach beforehand,” Schmeichel says. Personal affinity is also important: employees must have genuine interest in this type of work and are specifically prepared for the expected topics.

Optimization in HR through AI

Surprisingly, it was the increasing use of AI that paved the way for this new format. “This works because we have developed a very smart resource allocation concept, combined with modern technology that ensures the right expert is selected for each topic,” Schmeichel explains.

However, AI will do more than just help find the right expertise for each inquiry; it increasingly supports routine tasks in HR, creating more time to invest in personal care and dialogue. The use of Joule, 麻豆原创’s AI copilot, provides employees with a central point of contact and helps enable significantly faster and more intuitive navigation through the diverse digital HR services, relieving the burden on both employees and HR teams in daily operations.

Precisely because technologies like Joule increasingly resolve standard inquiries efficiently, personal conversation in complex situations gains additional importance. Schmeichel also emphasizes this development: “In the past, there were already pilot projects designed to enable this direct contact with the HR department. But only now do we have the technical capabilities for smart resource allocation and the corresponding capacity through the strategic further development of our HR business model.”

People centricity as integral pillar of our people agenda

The rollout of the P&C Lounge began in late 2024 with pilot projects in Italy and Japan. “We deliberately chose two culturally very different countries to see how the offering would be adapted in each,” Schmeichel explains. “While in Italy practically all appointments were booked immediately, Japan’s response was initially reserved for the first two weeks. But then the offering was well-received.”

Following the recent rollout in Germany and the United States, the P&C Lounge is now available to all 110,000 麻豆原创 employees in over 70 countries. 麻豆原创 adapts the offering to local conditions. For example, in the United States, due to vast geographical distances, there will be a stronger virtual component, while in other regions primarily in-person meetings are offered.

With the P&C Lounge, 麻豆原创 positions itself as a pioneer for an HR strategy that places people at the center in the AI age. “In the current transformation- and technology-driven changes to the world of work, we at 麻豆原创 can position ourselves as an attractive employer鈥攚ith the human component being put at the center,” Schmeichel explains.

Customer interest is significant: “We currently see great interest in customer conversations to learn more about how 麻豆原创 deliberately emphasizes and supports the human factor in times of artificial intelligence.”

The P&C Lounge is a perfect example of this approach of meaningfully combining technology and human interaction. “Our ambition with the P&C Lounge is to set new standards for what is possible in global HR support,” Schmeichel concludes. “It’s about the optimal combination of people-centricity and modern technology in a new world of work.”

Before diving into the heart of the keynote, Steinhaeuser invited 麻豆原创 solution area CMOs to deliver lightning-fast recaps of news from the various 麻豆原创 Connect event tracks. In just under two minutes each, they covered finance, procurement, supply chain, HR, and customer experience. From autonomous accounting and next-gen procurement to AI-driven talent acquisition and smarter customer loyalty, the message was clear: across every business function.

The real challenge: connecting priorities

As Steinhaeuser pointed out, 鈥淭he reality is each business area has its own unique priorities and, of course, all-important urgent matters.鈥� The real challenge is not just launching new features; it鈥檚 aligning processes, data, and teams to conquer uncertainty and achieve true customer focus. 鈥淪imply putting an [AI] agent on top of a broken process will solve nothing,鈥� he said.

The flywheel: AI, data, and apps in motion at 麻豆原创

So, how does it all work together? Enter the 鈥渇lywheel鈥� model: the dynamic cycle of AI, data, and applications that drives synergy across the enterprise. This is not just a theoretical approach. Steinhaeuser showed how 鈥溌槎乖� runs 麻豆原创鈥� using the flywheel model.

First, he said, 麻豆原创 uses 鈥渞ole-based AI assistants, powered by specialized agents, [to] support team members across all areas of 麻豆原创.鈥�

Next comes data. Earlier this year, 麻豆原创 became 鈥渃ustomer zero鈥� for (麻豆原创 BDC), connecting all enterprise data in a single layer to generate faster and better insights across financial, workforce, and sales planning. 鈥淲e’re excited to go live with the first set of intelligent apps, starting with People Intelligence,鈥� he added.

Finally, the app layer: 麻豆原创 has moved from 麻豆原创 ERP Central Component (麻豆原创 ECC) to and , through RISE with 麻豆原创. 鈥淭he 麻豆原创 Business Suite is where data is created and where AI delivers impact,鈥� Steinhaeuser said.

But processes continuously evolve with AI, he said, noting that business transformation management, powered by solutions like and , helps 麻豆原创 and its customers continually improve processes and architecture, with AI embedded everywhere. The company also uses to ensure employees stay informed and engaged at every step.

鈥淒riving 麻豆原创’s own transformation, I understand the challenges you face,鈥� Steinhaeuser said. 鈥淚 am convinced leveraging the flywheel of AI, data, and apps across the entire 麻豆原创 Business Suite is how we win together.鈥�

Embedded AI: tangible value, secure, and seamless

Brenda Bown, chief marketing officer of Business AI at 麻豆原创, took the stage to highlight how business AI is showing up in day-to-day work. 鈥淚’ve heard three consistent themes in conversations [with customers]: first, you want AI that can provide tangible value; second, that is secure and properly governed; and third, that works seamlessly across your teams and business. We’re here to deliver just that,鈥� she said.

Joule is now embedded in use cases in trusted 麻豆原创 applications and is making work faster and easier across the enterprise. 鈥淏y the end of this year, we will have more than 400 of these AI use cases,鈥� Bown said. Joule Agents automate tasks across departments, and the new agent builder in (generally available in December) helps customers extend, build, or customize their own agents. 麻豆原创 LeanIX AI Agent Hub and agent mining capabilities in 麻豆原创 Signavio provide governance and transparency for AI agents.

Bown noted that customers like Matur Fompack are using Joule in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors to hire faster and improve career development. 鈥淭he results are phenomenal: a 48 percent reduction in HR process execution time and 40 percent faster employee development and career planning, and, most importantly, a better employee and candidate experience,鈥� she said.

For processes that require multi-step workflows and nuanced decisions, 麻豆原创 introduced a new generation of role-based AI assistants. 鈥淭hey know your role in the organization, because they are role and context aware,鈥� Bown said. These assistants tap into the right agents for the job, removing any guesswork and helping humans unlock new levels of insight and productivity.

She also showcased how agents collaborate across departments, automate workflows, and even extend 麻豆原创鈥檚 business logic to autonomous devices like robots. Early pilots with partners like NEURA Robotics are already showing Joule Agents planning and executing real work in the real world.

Data and intelligent applications: unified and actionable

Data is only valuable when it is actionable. Irfan Khan, president and chief product officer for 麻豆原创 Data and Analytics, highlighted 麻豆原创 BDC, which unifies enterprise data and powers intelligent applications. 鈥溌槎乖� BDC offers the most powerful foundation for connecting your existing data, building next-generation applications, and the ability to foster and deploy reliable AI,鈥� he said. And the new 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud Connect solution enables secure, bi-directional data sharing with partners like Databricks and Google Cloud.

Intelligent applications bridge the gap between people and AI. They support smarter decisions and collaboration. 鈥淭hese applications learn from your data and include business simulations to support every business leader with smarter decisions,鈥� Khan explained. 鈥淚f we don’t have a reliable data foundation built around trust, having reliable and resilient data, it becomes very debatable whether or not AI will succeed.鈥�

From insight to action: transformation in practice

How do organizations turn strategy into action? Michael Ameling, president of 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform (麻豆原创 BTP), demonstrated how 麻豆原创 Business Suite helps drive innovation by uniting core applications, data, and AI, all powered by 麻豆原创 BTP and Business Transformation Management solutions. 鈥淟et’s say you want to understand and improve a business process,鈥� he said. 鈥溌槎乖� Signavio lets you dive deep and understand every detail, and can suggest concrete actions. Then, use those insights to improve the process in 麻豆原创 Build by automating processes and building your own agents.鈥�

He demonstrated how 麻豆原创 BTP and the Business Transformation Management portfolio can help organizations connect systems, gain visibility, and automate processes. Tools including 麻豆原创 Signavio, 麻豆原创 Build, and 麻豆原创 Integration Suite are helping customers like Blue Diamond Growers streamline operations and accelerate transformation.

Services and support: accelerating innovation and realizing value

麻豆原创鈥檚 Anja Schneider, SVP and global head of Premium Engagement and Advisory, wrapped up this segment of the keynote by focusing on how the company鈥檚 services and support teams help customers realize the full value of their 麻豆原创 investments.

鈥淲e鈥檙e with you every step, like a personal trainer,鈥� she said, highlighting how 麻豆原创鈥檚 suite methodology, integrated tools like WalkMe and 麻豆原创 Cloud ALM, and expert guidance help customers realize the full value of their 麻豆原创 investments. She pointed to IBM鈥檚 transformation project as proof: working with 麻豆原创 MaxAttention teams and a clean core approach, upgrades went smoothly with low incidents for more than 150,000 users across 175 geographies.

Customer perspective: Southern California Edison鈥檚 journey

Real-world impact matters. Southern California Edison (SCE) SVP and CIO Todd Inlander shared how the utility company鈥檚 transformation journey with 麻豆原创 is helping modernize its foundational systems and optimize back-office processes. Facing unprecedented demand and environmental challenges, the company is leveraging 麻豆原创 solutions, including 麻豆原创 Business AI capabilities, to transform its operations.

鈥淲e need to adhere to our mission: to deploy safe, reliable, affordable power,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can’t do that by doing things the way we’ve always done. We have to incorporate 麻豆原创. We’re using it to transform the way we work in our environment. We need to leverage AI because we don’t have enough humans to do all the work. We have to scale.鈥�

As SCE deploys 麻豆原创 Business Suite over the next year, it鈥檚 focusing on keeping a clean core and reducing customizations. 鈥淲hen we implemented ECC 15 years ago, about 66 percent of our enhancements were never used. We’re learning from that experience,鈥� Inlander said. He went on to note that SCE will use the 麻豆原创 deployment time to continue to transform its back-office operations. 鈥淲e’ll be integrating Joule and other AI solutions because doing things the way we’ve always done them and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity.鈥�

Steinhaeuser closed the keynote with a look to the future: 鈥淲e鈥檝e made great progress across all lines of business to deliver a unique experience for you鈥攚ith AI becoming your personal assistant, powered by data that defies boundaries and applications that take insight to action. The cross-capabilities you just saw now make the flywheel spin.鈥�

The future is here, and is powered by the synergy of AI, data, and applications. Every business can turn innovation into impact.

gives organizations the tools to lead with confidence. Part of the , 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors brings together global core HR, AI-driven insights, and a unified skills foundation to connect people and processes, close skills gaps, simplify compliance, and build a workforce ready for what鈥檚 next.

With the second half 2025 (2H 2025) product release, we鈥檙e excited to introduce hundreds of new features and enhancements in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors, many enabled by AI. Together, these innovations help HR teams, business leaders, and employees work smarter, move faster, and stay future-ready.

Drive better people and business decisions

Data about people, skills, performance, and business outcomes exists everywhere, but without a clear view, it鈥檚 difficult to act. , now generally available, is designed to help organizations make better workforce decisions by unifying 麻豆原创 and third-party data. Through intuitive dashboards, AI-assisted insights powered by Joule, and hundreds of HR metrics, leaders can now move from insights to action with unprecedented speed.

With pre-built use cases spanning critical areas like skills, compensation, recruiting, learning, performance, and succession, People Intelligence makes it easier to uncover trends, identify opportunities, and take action. By bringing together clean, centralized HR data and powerful AI, it equips HR and business leaders with the intelligence they need to drive meaningful workforce transformation.

Build a future-ready workforce

To stay competitive, organizations must continuously evolve alongside their people. This release introduces new innovations that align skills, performance, and development with future business needs.

We are excited that the in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors is now available. This agent empowers managers to lead consistent, high-impact performance conversations by analyzing employee data, such as performance goals, activities and achievements, and continuous feedback, to create tailored conversation prompts for each employee. Using Joule, managers receive AI-guided insights like goal progress summaries, key accomplishments, growth focus areas, and development recommendations. Users can ask follow-up questions to dive deeper into any of these areas. 

Additionally, business rules integration in performance management support consistent and transparent performance reviews by automating feedback prompts and actions based on predefined conditions, such as dynamically exposing a comment field only when a rating condition is met.

Succession planning is also getting a boost with skills-based successor recommendations in , which analyzes skills, proficiency levels, and internal work experiences captured in employee growth portfolios to recommend potential successors who might have been overlooked using traditional metrics. And with the new person-based model for talent management, organizations can drive smarter talent decisions, faster reskilling, and greater workforce agility by unifying learning and talent data in a person-based view that follows employees across changing roles, teams, and assignments. 

Enable agile and compliant HR 

As regulations evolve and business needs shift, HR must stay both agile and compliant. This release introduces new capabilities to help teams adapt quickly while ensuring accuracy and trust.

The new solution,available to early adopters in January 2026, supports optimized shift planning in manufacturing and other production industries by aligning workforce skills and staffing levels with operational demand. Geofencing in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Time Tracking helps prevent fraud and ensure compliance by defining work site locations and ranges to govern where employees can clock in and out. 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Employee Central simplifies U.S. leave management by connecting with FMLA service providers to automate leave deductions and improve tracking accuracy.

Across the suite, our updated home page delivers a more intuitive and personalized experience for users with streamlined navigation, targeted communications, and real-time insights across desktop and mobile.

Extend applications to easily adapt

As workforce expectations and business priorities evolve, flexibility is key. This release delivers new capabilities to help seamlessly connect and optimize HR processes, maximizing investments while supporting the changing needs of people and the organization.

is now enhanced by Joule and generative AI to deliver faster access to information, improved self-service, and more informed decision-making. Joule streamlines tasks with role-based self-service, workflow automation, and real-time insights, while generative AI simplifies feedback, coaching, and goal updates with context-aware insights. Employees can also quickly find company-specific knowledge through Joule for accurate, relevant information when they need it.

Lead the future of HR

With the 2H 2025 release, 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM helps HR leaders navigate complexity with ease. By uniting global HR, AI-driven insights, and a unified skills foundation, organizations can make smarter decisions, develop future-ready talent, and stay agile in a rapidly changing world.

To learn about our latest innovations and enhancements, check out the or . 听

Bianka Woelke is group vice president and head of Application Product Management for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

Against the backdrop of the event theme鈥�”Connect Everything, Achieve Anything: Agents, Data, and the Business Suite鈥濃�攖hey set out 麻豆原创鈥檚 vision for how 麻豆原创 Business Suite, which combines AI, data, and applications, can transform enterprises and deliver unprecedented business value to customers despite global macroeconomic uncertainties. 

Unique times

鈥淲e are living in very unique times,鈥� Alam said at the start of the keynote. 鈥淯nique in terms of the unpredictability we face from a geopolitical and macroeconomic perspective,鈥痑nd also unique in terms of the advancement in AI and the potential that carries for all of us.鈥�  

He added, 鈥淓ven the most significant challenges can be responded to, navigated, and鈥攚hen approached the right way鈥攖urned into opportunities. And that鈥檚 exactly where 麻豆原创 comes in. Because the best way to face uncertainty is with confidence that you can see what鈥檚 happening across your business and your network.鈥� 

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The CFO perspective 

His comments were echoed by CFO and Executive Board Member Dominik Asam in an onstage discussion with economist and Berkeley professor Ulrike Malmendier, during which they likened the role of the CFO in navigating today鈥檚 business uncertainties to that of co-piloting a modern jet. 

鈥淎I is the next supercycle and has what it takes to create an effective cockpit for the CFO, including recommendations about real actionable options all the way to autopilot for less critical tasks,鈥� Asam said. He also warned that standing on the sidelines of technological progress is 鈥渁 sure recipe for falling behind in competition.鈥�  

鈥淎s in prior tech supercycles, the entire competitive playing field is being completely reshuffled,鈥� he said.

New products

Building on this theme, Alam noted that while uncertainty is real and isn鈥檛 going away, it can be successfully navigated and turned into opportunities. To help customers achieve this, he announced several new and enhanced 麻豆原创 products. 

Among them, 麻豆原创 Supply Chain Orchestration is an AI-native application that uses a network knowledge graph to analyze real-time signals across a company鈥檚 multi-tier supply chain to detect risks and issues, such as extreme weather or tariffs. It then helps customers minimize disruptions by assessing the impact of these risks and suggesting alternatives to help minimize disruptions.   鈥淭hink of it like a GPS in your car which selects an alternative route to avoid traffic or tolls,鈥� Alam explained. In addition, he announced a major update to the 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions for source-to-pay suite, positioning 麻豆原创 Ariba as the most modern platform in the industry and the only truly AI-native source-to-pay solution鈥攁ll built on 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform.

The human-AI partnership opportunity 

Turning to uncertainties over the future of work itself, 麻豆原创 Chief People Officer and Executive Board Member Gina Vargiu-Breuer, who is leading 麻豆原创鈥檚 own workforce transformation, was joined on stage by Ian Beacraft, founder and chief futurist of Signal and Cipher. 

鈥淎t 麻豆原创, we know firsthand that AI is everywhere, shattering norms and transforming the workforce,鈥� Vargiu-Breuer said. 鈥淎nd we as 麻豆原创 are boldly steering this shift, as requirements for our workforce are simply changing really fast.鈥�  

Vargiu-Breuer emphasized that a successful business AI strategy also depends on leveraging AI alongside human expertise and fostering what she described as 鈥渁 collaborative human + AI approach, rather than just automation.鈥�  鈥淏y integrating AI’s capabilities with human creativity, empathy, and judgment, we move beyond simple automation into real human-AI power couples,鈥� she said. 鈥淯ltimately, the future will favor those who embrace orchestration, delegation, and creative problem-solving.鈥�

Role-based AI assistants

Echoing this human-centric approach, Alam noted, 鈥淓veryone is talking about agents鈥攂illions of agents鈥攁nd agents taking over everything. We want to talk about people, the roles they play, and the tried-and-tested organizational constructs in place today that are running complex businesses across industries.鈥� 

Reflecting this, he said 麻豆原创 is making Joule deeply aware of the workstyle of the person it partners with, their role, and the business process context in which they operate. 鈥淭oday, we are introducing AI assistants, including a receivables assistant for your accounts receivable colleagues, a controlling assistant for your controlling colleagues, a demand Planning assistant for your demand planning colleagues, and an AI assistant for every role.鈥�   Each assistant has agents and AI tools at their disposal to help make the person it partners with smarter and more efficient, Alam explained.

Taking the receivables assistant as an example, he said it can handle collections and dispute resolution today and will soon also be able to help with fraud detection, invoice processing, and payment scheduling. 鈥淥ver time, we will continue to make this assistant even smarter by adding more agents and capabilities鈥攁ll designed to make the person in this role more effective.鈥�

Deep research and new intelligent applications

鈥淲hile efficiency and automation carry potential for great value for the organization, AI鈥檚 greatest strength is in unlocking insights and recommendations based on its ability to do deep research across vast amounts of internal and external data, which is hard for people to do,鈥� said Alam. To address this challenge, 麻豆原创 is introducing deep research in Joule, a capability that can research and analyze complex problems and deliver findings quickly and efficiently. 

Following additional announcements, including an expanded set of 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud Intelligent Applications and an enterprise wide, multi-stakeholder engagement orchestration solution in 麻豆原创 Engagement Cloud, Alam closed out the keynote by reminding his audience: 鈥淭o create exponential value and to reach the global maxima for your enterprise, the whole matters.  And that鈥檚 what we are focused on: providing you with best-in-class applications, seamlessly and natively integrated across the breadth of finance, spend, supply chain, HCM, and customer experience.鈥� 

麻豆原创 Business Suite delivers unprecedented value

The unmatched value of 麻豆原创 Business Suite is that it brings together the power of best-in-class applications with a semantically rich harmonized data layer to power high-value AI in a singular seamless experience. It helps you manage uncertainty, evolve your workforce, and break down silos to create amazing customer value.

According to new research from 麻豆原创, employees using AI are saving 75 minutes a day 鈥� time that鈥檚 being reinvested into innovation, connection, and impact. 

But with economic volatility, shifting regulations, and a global skills crunch, organizations face a critical challenge: how to connect their people and their business in ways that drive agility, resilience, and growth. This isn鈥檛 just a moment of change; it鈥檚 a moment of unprecedented possibilities.

Unlocking new possibilities with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors

is powering that transformation with trusted intelligence, operational strength, and innovations that turn disruption into advantage.听With over 10,000 customers worldwide, we are privileged to work with the world鈥檚 leading brands and help them guide their people and their organizations through change.听

The 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM suite is a robust offering that connects all the pieces for an organization鈥檚 people strategy 鈥� from core HR and payroll, to talent acquisition and talent management, to people analytics, and beyond. 麻豆原创 Business AI is infused across our HCM suite, and 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform (麻豆原创 BTP) enables our customers to expand and extend to meet their needs.听

We are constantly investing in our solutions based on market signals, ensuring our customers have the tools they need to stay at the forefront of innovation. 

Today at Success Connect at 麻豆原创 Connect in Las Vegas, designed to elevate the employee experience, optimize operations, and deliver actionable workforce insights. 

Elevating the employee experience  

New Joule Agents  

Agentic AI is redefining the employee experience and transforming the way work gets done by automating routine tasks, accelerating decision-making, and unlocking new levels of productivity. Joule, 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI copilot, is embedded into enterprise-wide applications to deliver real-time intelligence and automation through a simple conversational interface.  

Joule currently supports 80 percent of the most-used tasks in 麻豆原创 systems, and we are continuously expanding its capabilities. Joule is available in 11 languages, and next month the first HR-focused Joule Agent 鈥� the Performance and Goals Agent 鈥� will be generally available, with many more to follow. This agent is designed to empower managers to lead high-impact performance conversations by providing tailored insights, goal progress updates, and personalized talking points.

We鈥檒l continue to release new agents that will continue to work behind the scenes to make managers, employees, and HR teams more efficient. Today, we announced the next four听agents, available in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors in the first half of 2026:听

• The Career and Talent Development Agent, which automates succession planning and helps managers identify and develop future leaders
• The HR Service Agent, which serves as a direct point of contact for employees and reduces the amount of time HR staff spend answering routine questions
• The Payroll Agent, which helps employees better understand their pay by combining paycheck details with time data, enabling intelligent 鈥渆xplain pay鈥� scenarios such as highlighting unexpected overtime and suggesting follow-up actions
• The People Intelligence Agent, which connects the People Intelligence Insight application in 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud with Joule and 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors, allowing managers and HR teams to ask questions in their own words and receive intuitive, accessible workforce analytics

Introducing the workforce knowledge network

Building on these new capabilities, we are also introducing a workforce knowledge network, a first-of-its-kind integration that brings third-party content from industry experts directly into Joule, delivering enhanced insights for employees.鈥� This is a major step forward in enabling agent-to-agent interaction in order to deliver the most relevant information in one seamless experience.

Content from leading HCM industry experts from G-P (Globalization Partners) and The Josh Bersin Company will flow directly into Joule. These integrations allow Joule to ingest third-party content and interact with various agents so employees can receive guidance that is grounded in real-world insights and trusted research.

For example, HR leaders can access G-P Gia, an HR agent developed by G-P, directly within Joule, providing access to expert global employment guidance. Additionally, they can ask Joule, 鈥淲hat are best practices for hiring engineers in a high-cost location?鈥� and Joule can respond with research-backed insights and recommendations provided by Galileo, a trained AI agent developed by The Josh Bersin Company, with over 6,000 users across more than 800 companies.

鈥淛oule offers a revolutionary technology to speed and simplify the lives of every business person,鈥� said Josh Bersin, CEO of The Josh Bersin Company. 鈥淲e are very excited to connect Galileo, a leading AI agent for HR, to all 麻豆原创 users and give them deep insights into all their human capital decisions.鈥� 

Optimizing Operations

Innovations in Core HR

Operational strength is the backbone of every great employee experience; it enables scale, consistency, and confidence, especially in times of change. That is why we continue to invest deeply in core HR.

With localization support across 104 countries and usage in 179, remains the industry鈥檚 most trusted foundation for global HR operations. And today we have announced that it鈥檚 getting even stronger:

• New
  Early adopter January 2026
  This new solution enables shift planners and supervisors in manufacturing and production to create smarter schedules aligned with real-time business demand and required skills, reducing administrative burden, helping to prevent costly overstaffing and understaffing, and maintaining compliance.
• New enhanced time-off capabilities in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Employee Central
  Generally available next month
  This enhancement allows our customers to meet country-specific and complex leave regulations in markets including but not limited to Australia, Germany, and the U.S., helping them stay compliant while simplifying processes for managers and employees.
• 
  Generally available now
  Announced earlier this year, our new HR service delivery solution extends the power of core HR by automating workflows, streamlining service requests, and freeing HR teams to focus on high-value, strategic work.

Delivering best-in-class insights

People Intelligence

Operational excellence lays the groundwork, but true transformation happens when data becomes insight. That is where comes in. in People Intelligence announced at 麻豆原创 Sapphire in 2025 are now generally available. People Intelligence transforms people, skills, and business data into actionable, AI-driven insights that help HR and leaders make better, more strategic decisions for the business and its people.鈥�

At Success Connect, we unveiled additional prebuilt insights for recruiting, learning, succession, career development planning, and performance and goals management. People Intelligence continues to expand, with more prebuilt insights for rewards and recognition, benefits, time management, and onboarding planned for May 2026. 

SmartRecruiters

麻豆原创 is also advancing the way organizations attract, recruit, and hire top talent. Last month, we acquired SmartRecruiters to build the future of AI-driven talent acquisition. At Success Connect, we showcased how this move strengthens our vision. By combining the scale of 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors, the power of 麻豆原创 Business AI, and the expertise of SmartRecruiters, we鈥檙e delivering an intelligent, end-to-end global hiring solution that simplifies recruiting and ensures every hire is aligned to business and workforce goals.

Where innovation meets impact 

Innovation in HR has entered a new era that is defined by connection. By uniting people, processes, and intelligence, organizations can move beyond incremental change to unlock unprecedented possibilities for impact, agility, and growth. With continuous advancements in AI, a trusted global foundation, and intelligence-driven insights, 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors is helping organizations meet today鈥檚 challenges head-on and shape the future of work with confidence.

To catch our Success Connect keynote replay and learn more about the latest innovations in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors, .

Dan Beck is general manager and chief product officer for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

麻豆原创 reimagines enterprise AI with role-based assistants in
Joule that coordinate agents across lines of business

LAS VEGAS 鈥� At its inaugural 麻豆原创 Connect event, (NYSE: 麻豆原创) showcases how the integration of AI, data and applications creates unparalleled business value.

These breakthroughs 鈥� including a new network of role-based assistants in Joule that partner with humans to elevate performance, an expanding data ecosystem that drives deeper insights and supply chain software that anticipates disruptions 鈥� once again revolutionize how business gets done.听

“To thrive when volatility is the new normal, businesses need more than a patchwork of disparate best-of-breed applications,” said Muhammad Alam, member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE, 麻豆原创 Product & Engineering. “Our announcements today demonstrate the power of 麻豆原创 Business Suite, where AI, data and applications come together in an experience to propel smarter decisions, faster execution and scalable transformation.”

AI that Partners with People

麻豆原创 unveils Joule鈥檚 next stage as the AI force at the center of 麻豆原创 Business Suite鈥檚 value creation. Drawing on the applications and data from across 麻豆原创 Business Suite, 麻豆原创 is introducing a new generation of role-aware assistants in Joule. Each assistant is designed to partner with a human being in their specific business role. Assistants in Joule tap into the right agents for the job, configuring, orchestrating and managing them so humans can focus on unlocking new levels of insight and productivity.

Supporting the assistants in Joule is a , designed to help execute complex workflows within a specific function. For instance, a People Manager Assistant coordinates a team of specialized agents — including the new People Intelligence Agent, which helps spot and resolve issues like compensation anomalies — to support managers as they drive performance. A new Financial Planning Assistant will be aided by a group of expert agents — including the new Cash Management Agent, which optimizes cash flow and improves interest yields — to help finance professionals drive efficiencies. This new roster of role-aware AI assistants not only partner with people to elevate performance in their lines of business but also work together across business functions to solve complex enterprise-wide problems.

Data that Defies Boundaries

Data fuels AI鈥檚 transformative power but it鈥檚 often siloed in different systems. At 麻豆原创 Connect, we are removing those barriers with 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud Connect. 麻豆原创 BDC Connect securely links 麻豆原创 BDC with partner platforms to enable a bidirectional flow of business-ready data products across organizational and technological boundaries.

With zero-copy sharing, data stays securely in 麻豆原创 systems yet remains instantly accessible in customers鈥� existing data platforms, preserving business context without costly copies. The result: fewer silos, simpler pipelines, no duplication — just trusted data products where and when they鈥檙e needed.

麻豆原创 also announced that Databricks and Google Cloud are the first partners enabled for 麻豆原创 BDC Connect, with more to follow. As announced in February 2025, 麻豆原创 Databricks remains a data service within 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud, and 麻豆原创 BDC Connect extends its benefits across an open data ecosystem. These partnerships give customers faster access to data products for analytics and AI, helping teams move from raw data to real-time business outcomes with greater speed and simplicity.

Applications that Turn Data into Action

At the heart of 麻豆原创鈥檚 unique value proposition are enterprise applications where data is created and AI-driven insights are experienced. 麻豆原创 Supply Chain Orchestration is a new AI-native solution that combines the power of Joule with a live knowledge graph to detect real-time risks several suppliers deep and orchestrate a coordinated response, helping customers cut costs and keep supply chains moving. 麻豆原创 Engagement Cloud, a new customer experience solution, uses business-critical context to personalize interactions across customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. And our next-generation 麻豆原创 Ariba procurement suite stands out as an AI-native solution, bringing intelligence to every stage of spend management, from sourcing through supplier engagement.

Altogether, these 麻豆原创 Business Suite innovations mark the beginning of a new era powered by self-reinforcing AI, data and applications that drive intelligence, speed and resilience.

Visit the . Get 麻豆原创 news via  and .

About 麻豆原创

As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 麻豆原创 (NYSE:麻豆原创) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted 麻豆原创 to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit鈥�.

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