A platform shift is underway in enterprise HR technology. Most serious observers agree on that much. What they disagree on, sometimes sharply, is what it means, how fast it happens, and who wins.
Domain credibility with technical capability is true for individuals and organizations right now. It is also true that what we see moving forward as differentiation is the intersection of trust and backstopping liability. This is the key shift in the "tech enabled services" conversation - the business model of software is shifting/expanding again in this world where we aren't just selling software but outcomes. In the HR tech space the rubber meets the road in payroll/payment and the business model expands against that question.
I think, like so much in life and business, the answer isn’t in the extremes, but in the nuanced middle.
Yes, a critical part of the Workday C-Suite is betting on his future, the future, with a frontier model. Is this a death knell for Workday? No.
Is it concerning that someone brings that domain knowledge or perspective to a shop - the frontier model - focused on enterprise and B2B and seemingly on a path to building vertical solutions for everything? Yes.
Thanks for the shoutout and the fair critique George. I deliberately stopped at the substrate question without naming who wins it, because I'm biased and the answer is more valuable when readers reach it themselves. You reach the same conclusion my piece implies: domain operators in regulated infrastructure who can automate at scale. We launched www.datascalehr.com with the explicit goal of abstracting HCM and Payroll data (now rebranded as "context layer") to solve any number of practical/operational problems. AI coding now opens up even more ambitious opportunities down the road.
Domain credibility with technical capability is true for individuals and organizations right now. It is also true that what we see moving forward as differentiation is the intersection of trust and backstopping liability. This is the key shift in the "tech enabled services" conversation - the business model of software is shifting/expanding again in this world where we aren't just selling software but outcomes. In the HR tech space the rubber meets the road in payroll/payment and the business model expands against that question.
Thanks for adding this to the conversation. I’m 100% aligned with you on this.
Really enjoyed this analysis. TY
Thanks, Gerry!
Insightful George.
Reading such suggests there is much ado about nothing in the defection of one executive to a frontier model firm. It’s far more complex and demanding.
I think, like so much in life and business, the answer isn’t in the extremes, but in the nuanced middle.
Yes, a critical part of the Workday C-Suite is betting on his future, the future, with a frontier model. Is this a death knell for Workday? No.
Is it concerning that someone brings that domain knowledge or perspective to a shop - the frontier model - focused on enterprise and B2B and seemingly on a path to building vertical solutions for everything? Yes.
Thanks for the shoutout and the fair critique George. I deliberately stopped at the substrate question without naming who wins it, because I'm biased and the answer is more valuable when readers reach it themselves. You reach the same conclusion my piece implies: domain operators in regulated infrastructure who can automate at scale. We launched www.datascalehr.com with the explicit goal of abstracting HCM and Payroll data (now rebranded as "context layer") to solve any number of practical/operational problems. AI coding now opens up even more ambitious opportunities down the road.
I appreciate your insights. Thank you. I’ll reach out to learn more about datascalehr. I’ve heard very good things in my travels.