In order to know where you’re going, you need to know where you are.

Before Workday designed any AI learning or adoption strategy for its workforce, execs first needed to understand where employees were at both as it related to their skills and sentiments and to identify their needs amid this workplace upheaval.

“It’s not just a technological transformation, it’s very much a human one,” said Chris Ernst, chief learning officer at Workday. “Even though we’re a technology company in Silicon Valley, when we began our upskilling journey on AI, we started with research, and we’ve learned a lot.”

The firm surveyed employees to better understand the barriers to AI adoption. What Workday discovered ended up informing the cornerstones of its AI adoption initiative: Everyday AI.

For more on how Workday communicated with its employees to create good AI habits, keep reading here.—AD

HR pros that join the profession after a career-switch often find that the skills learned in their past lives still provide value in their new field.

That’s certainly the case for Michelle Reaux, VP of culture, engagement, and talent development at Insight Enterprises. Reaux started her career as a mental health counselor before transitioning into training, and then business development. She’d first worked at Insight from 2006 to 2010, joining as part of a merger, before re-joining the company in 2014, leading organizational development and eventually adding responsibilities including leadership training, DEI, and talent development.

While she’s spent more than 20 years in the HR world, Reaux’s background as a counselor continues to come in handy.

For more insights from Reaux, including the biggest misconception people have about her job, keep reading here.—PM