Phil Haynes

AI doesn’t deliver ROI on its own. Talent doesn’t either. The real returns happen when AI/ML and the right talent strategy move together. Companies seeing measurable ROI from AI aren’t chasing hype - they’re aligning technology with people, skills, and workflows. Here’s what’s actually working on the ground: 📌 Augment roles, don’t replace them AI that supports employees (decision support, automation, insights) consistently outperforms AI meant to replace teams. Productivity gains show up faster when humans stay in the loop. 📌 Upskill before you overhire Organizations that retrain existing teams to work with AI tools reduce hiring costs and accelerate adoption - because internal context beats external onboarding every time. 📌 Deploy AI where outcomes are measurable Customer support resolution time, sales conversion rates, demand forecasting accuracy - AI delivers ROI when tied to clear business metrics, not experiments without owners. 📌 Embed data literacy into everyday roles When managers and frontline teams understand data outputs, AI insights actually influence decisions instead of sitting unused in dashboards. 📌 Create cross-functional AI squads The strongest results come from pairing domain experts with data scientists and engineers - strategy, execution, and validation happen in real time. The takeaway is simple: AI success isn’t a tech problem - it’s an operating model decision. Companies that treat AI and talent as one integrated strategy don’t just save costs - they move faster, scale smarter, and build long-term competitive advantage. If you’re investing in AI but not seeing returns yet, it may be time to rethink how your talent strategy fits into the equation. Visit:nexcen.ai #aiml #talentstrategy #businessgrowth

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You're debating whether to use AI for recruiting while your competitors already hired your best candidate with it. 58% of TA leaders call AI a game-changer for hiring, but most teams are stuck in the "sounds awesome" phase without real implementation. Where does your team fall on the AI adoption spectrum? → AI-resistant: Skeptical of any automation → AI-curious: Experimenting with basic tools → AI-enabled: Using multiple AI solutions → AI-first: Building comprehensive strategies around AI In our latest blog, we spoke with recruiting leaders from Dinaaz Tawileh from Airbnb, Jeremy A. Lyons from RecOps Collective, and Michael Adair from Growth by Design Talent to uncover what it really takes to go from AI-resistant or curious to AI-first. Here's what they shared: 💎 A concrete 3-step roadmap for any TA team looking to begin their AI journey 💎 Reality checks on the top 4 AI concerns your team probably has right now 💎 How to measure and communicate the ROI of AI to executive leadership 💎 Why teams that wait to adopt AI will soon lose the talent race entirely "The end state where we are all looking to get to is talking to more humans, talking to more candidates" - Michael Adair, Managing partner at Growth by Design Talent Ready to move from 'AI-curious' to 'AI-first'? Read the full post: https://lnkd.in/e3afqijn

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

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🚨 50% tariff on copper starts August 1. That’s huge for electronics, EVs, and infrastructure companies. @Resilinc’s special report shows how to adapt.  #tariffs #agenticai #supplychain #riskmanagement

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