The HR-IT Merger: Moderna's Bold Move

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Ever wonder what happens when a biotech innovator throws out the traditional organizational playbook? Moderna has made waves by merging their IT and HR departments into a unified "Digital People Organization" — a move that's both fascinating and potentially transformative.

This isn't just administrative reshuffling. It's a strategic response to AI becoming the connective tissue throughout Moderna's operations. From drug discovery to employee onboarding, artificial intelligence permeates their business, blurring traditional boundaries between technology and human capital management. Their extensive partnership with OpenAI has enabled them to deploy advanced systems across scientific innovation and back-office processes alike.

What makes this experiment particularly intriguing is the leadership behind it. Tracy Franklin, Moderna's Chief People and Digital Technology Officer, brings a rare combination of traditional HR expertise and deep technical acumen. This unique profile enables her to bridge cultural and operational differences that might sink similar efforts elsewhere. Coupled with Moderna's mature AI integration and adaptable culture, they've created the perfect conditions for this bold organizational redesign.

Should your company follow suit? Proceed with caution. Moderna's approach works because of their specific context — exceptional AI maturity, the right leadership talent, and a culture built for rapid technological adoption. For most organizations, the value lies not in structural mergers but in fostering meaningful collaboration between IT and HR functions. Success comes not from blindly copying others but from understanding your unique organizational needs and implementing solutions that truly address them.

Join us next week for a special conversation about the power of communication with our guest expert. Have you experienced major organizational restructuring in your workplace? We'd love to hear your stories and insights!

Music by arnaud136 from Pixabay

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, welcome back.
Today I'm looking into afascinating and, frankly, quite
unusual move by a company that'sbeen in the spotlight for
innovation Moderna.
They've recently made headlinesby merging their IT and HR
functions, creating a newdigital people organization
under leadership of their chiefhuman resources officer.
It's bold and many would saywhy?

(00:20):
Why are they doing it?
What does it mean?
And is there something otherbusinesses, particularly those
that are growing, should evenconsider?
So let's unpack the why behindModerna's decision to bring IT
and HR together.
This isn't just a simpleorganizational shuffle.
It's a deep strategic play,heavily influenced by the
pervasive use of artificialintelligence.
From what I'm seeing, ai isn'tjust a side project at Moderna.

(00:43):
It's deeply embedded acrosstheir entire strategic roadmap,
from groundbreaking drugdiscovery right through to their
digital marketing efforts.
In fact, a conversation aboutChatGPT apparently acted as a
key catalyst.
Their CEO, stéphane Bancel,identified the increasing
entanglement of AI in virtuallyevery workplace function and an
organizational design.
He saw a profound opportunityto completely reimagine how

(01:07):
Moderna's technology and itspeople would interface.
They've partnered extensivelywith OpenAI, deploying advanced
AI systems not just forscientific innovation, but
significantly for back-officeefficiency.
We're talking about automationof processes like candidate
screening, internal ticketingfor employees and even parts of
new employee onboarding.
In an environment like this,where AI genuinely acts as a

(01:29):
connective tissue betweensystems and people, the decision
to unify HR and IT, I believe,makes a lot of sense.
For them, it's about building adigital-first approach to human
capital, ensuring technologydirectly facilitates and
enhances the entire employeeexperience.
But Moderna isn't just taking aleap of faith.
Their confidence in this mergeris rooted in several unique

(01:50):
strengths, particularly theirleadership capabilities and
organizational maturity.
Firstly, moderna has aremarkable culture of deep AI
integration and rapidtechnological adoption.
This isn't a company justdabbling in AI.
It's fundamental to how theyoperate.
This means they are inherentlymore adaptable to significant
organizational shifts like this.
Their leadership is fostered inan environment where they're

(02:13):
not afraid to experiment andredefine traditional structures
to maximize technologicalleverage.
But a critical and perhaps themost defining factor in their
competence lies with theindividual leading this charge,
tracy Franklin, their ChiefPeople and Digital Technology
Officer.
Tracy's not your typical CHRO.
Her background includesextensive traditional HR
expertise, but crucially, shealso possesses a strong and deep

(02:34):
grasp of the company's broaderdigital transformation
initiatives and its involving AIstrategy.
She's uniquely positioned, witha technical acumen to lead IT
and the people-centricunderstanding to lead HR.
This rare combination ofcapabilities and a single
executive means Moderna has theright leadership in place to
drive such a complex integration.
This merger, therefore, isbuilt on a unique overlap of

(02:56):
strong leadership capability, ahigh degree of organizational
maturity in embracing AI andexisting executive talent
perfectly suited to tackle thisambitious vision.
It's about bringing the who HRand the how IT and AI into a
single cohesive strategy drivenfrom the top.
So what are the potentialoutcomes for Moderna with this
move?
Well, if successful, we couldsee a truly seamless and highly

(03:20):
productive employee experiencewhere technology intuitively
supports every aspect ofeveryone's work lives.
This integration of digitaltools directly into HR workflows
can lead to significantoperational efficiencies.
It could also fundamentallyredefine the HR and IT functions
, transforming them fromtraditional support departments
into truly strategic partnersand driving the core business.

(03:40):
This level of alignment allowsfor faster, more data-informed
organizational design,constantly evaluating which
tasks are best handled by humansand which by the core business.
This level of alignment allowsfor faster, more data-informed
organizational design,constantly evaluating which
tasks are best handled by humansand which by AI.
Ultimately, this could furthersolidify Moderna's competitive
advantage in attracting andretaining top talent In an
increasingly AI-driven world.
A company that thoughtfullyintegrates technology and people

(04:00):
at a foundational level offersa compelling proposition for the
future workforce.
So should other companies followsuit?
Well, the critical question,especially for any leader of a
growing business should yourcompany rush to merge HR and IT?
Look, based on this case, I'dsay treat carefully.
Only do it if you're confidentit will solve a specific,

(04:21):
identifiable problem with yourorganization and, crucially,
only if you have the rightleadership and organizational
context.
Moderna's decision, whileinnovative, is deeply
situational.
It followed some internalrestructuring and leadership
changes and it's built on afoundation of enterprise-wide AI
integration.
That is truly exceptional.
For many businesses, ai adoptionis still quite immature and

(04:44):
often siloed, and the kind ofdeep, pervasive integration
Moderna has is far from the norm.
Consider these challengesMerging IT and HR brings
together two departments withvastly different cultures,
compliance requirements andbefore with metrics.
The risks of conflictingmindsets or one function
overshadowing the other aresignificant, particularly if you

(05:04):
don't have a unique leader likeTracy Franklin with her deep
expertise in both domains.
We've also seen cautionarytales of organizations rehiring
human staff after over-relyingon AI for customer service,
highlighting that empathy andnuance, especially in HR, are
inherently human traits.
Organizations rehiring humanstaff after over-relying on AI
for customer service,highlighting that empathy and
nuance, especially in HR, areinherently human traits that AI
cannot fully replicate.
Instead of a full structuralmerger, many companies,

(05:25):
particularly in the tech space,have found success with
alternate models of fosteringcollaboration.
Think about Spotify's famoussquads and tribes models, where
autonomous autonomouscross-functional teams are
empowered to deliver.
While not a direct merger ofdepartments, it's another
example of an innovativeorganizational design aimed at
breaking down silos andincreasing agility.
The core lesson is that,whether through a radical merger

(05:47):
like Moderna's, or a flexiblecross-functional team model like
Spotify's, the goal is alwaysto improve how work gets done
and how people collaborate.
However, it's important to notethat many organizations that
tried to blindly emulate theSpotify model ended up
struggling significantly.
They often lacked Spotify'sunique underlying culture, their
specific leadership approach orthe maturity and agile

(06:08):
practices that made the modelwork for Spotify.
Copying a successful modelwithout understanding the unique
elements and context that madeit work for the original company
is a recipe for frustration andinefficiency.
From my perspective, the focusfor most organizations should be
on fostering deep collaborationand partnership between IT and
HR, rather than a fullstructural merger.

(06:28):
As IT leaders, our rolecontinues to evolve into a
strategic, cross-functional one.
We need to work closely withour HR leaders to ensure
technology enables their peoplestrategically effectively and
that AI-driven decisions aretransparent, ethical and
human-centered.
For growing businesses, theimmediate value often lies in
optimizing existing technologyinvestments, streamlining

(06:49):
current processes and ensuringtechnology spend is clearly
aligned with business goals.
This gives you the competenceand clarity to make smart,
tangible improvements that willdrive growth, without
necessarily needing to redefineyour entire organizational
structure.
Moderna's HRIT Fusion is afascinating experiment,
reflecting their specificcapabilities, the depth of their

(07:10):
AI integration and theirwillingness to truly experiment.
But for most, the future liesnot in merging these departments
but in aligning themstrategically, building strong
collaborative relationships withshared goals and ensuring the
right balance between human andmachine capabilities.
Moderna's Digital Peopleorganization is a great example
of how a company is redefiningwork in the age of AI, and it's

(07:31):
certainly food for thought.
But remember, the goal isn'tjust to mimic what companies do.
It's to understand theunderlying problems they're
solving, assess your own uniquecontext and then apply solutions
that truly make sense for yourbusiness to achieve sustainable
growth.
Thanks for tuning in.
In next week's episode, I havea very special guest talking
about the power of communication.