AI and Digital Disruption are no longer buzz words but being adopted at a rapid pace. Business leaders and HR teams can no longer afford to ignore them. While some see this change as a great opportunity to improve employee experience, reduce costs and be more strategic in their implementation others are belatedly realizing they need to engage and understand the usage of AI-based start-ups a little better. However, there are several practical issues facing most HR teams around engaging with startups. The Human Capital Digital Innovation Hub ( a six-month program where corporate sponsors a given HR startup for the purpose of learning and experimentation) is a risk-free and timesaving way to do this.
The first hurdle for a corporate is to get access to good quality startups. There is no organized way for an HR team to reach out to AI based HR startups and most importantly distinguish the good from the bad. Participating in the Human Capital Digital Hub allows you to discuss and have the right startup delivered to you. Learning is facilitated and program management did — this saves the HR team a great deal of time and effort. Finally, having the startup based at an accelerator ( as opposed to bringing it in-house) reduces the risk of things going wrong.
Participating in the Innovation Hub allows the entire corporate team to get exposure about the impact of digitization, AI and emerging technology such as Blockchain. It allows HR teams to understand key issues such as upskilling of the organization and agile working needed for the future along with the compliance issues in this new world of data. Learning also happens through the cohort of other participating organizations and it can be reassuring to have conversations about the journey that others are on. There is no pressure to buy or use these solutions and it is a great way for an HR team to ‘test out’ them out. Getting exposed to the accelerator ecosystem is also a great way for corporates to broaden their understanding of ‘innovation’. The network of VC’s, mentors, other start-ups that the accelerator has exposed HR teams to a different way of thinking and working.
HR Services firms are seeing this route as a quicker way to build up their portfolio and understand where the market is headed. Many use this opportunity of showcasing their sponsored startup to clients as a means to educate them and build up their own brand as ‘innovators’.
The London based HR Tech Partnership runs a Human Capital Digital Innovation Hub to facilitate learning and adoption by corporates of agile start-ups around Talent and Workplace productivity. It runs a six-month program that helps corporate in experimenting with the right HR startup, facilitates learning deliverables and ensures successful program completion. The team and most of its stakeholders have senior corporate experience and a good understanding of large organization realities.
It also has a People Tech investment venture which funds early-stage startups incorporating AI and leading-edge technology. visit: http://www.hrtechpartnership.com
