In this episode of Spilling the Tea on HR Tech,Stacey Harris and Cliff Stevenson discuss the implications of recent M&A activity including Deel’s acquisition of Safeguard Global's payroll team, which brings with it more than 1,000 payroll clients; BTS Group’s acquisition of Sounding Board, a coaching and leadership development platform; and Employ’s acquisition of Pillar, bringing AI-enabled interviewing insights to Employ’s applicant tracking portfolio. Stacey and Cliff also unpack the broader significance of the just-announced strategic partnership between hireEZ, an AI-enabled hiring platform, with Talroo, a provider of AI-driven job advertising for frontline workers and tradespeople.
The hosts further discuss ways in which AI is being implemented across HR platforms, bringing in examples such as PlanSource's use of AI for benefits administration, SalaryIQ’s ability to uncover competitive job-related insights, and Engagedly's new AI-enabled talent platform. They also cover findings from Payscales’ 2025 report for compensation trends and DEI investments.
Key points covered include:
↪️ M&A activity in the HR tech market was strong in 2024; Drake Star’s Q4 2024 report showed the highest levels of activity and deal values and projected a 9.4% growth for HR tech in 2025.
↪️ Data analysis, chatbots, help tools, AI agents are among the primary ways AI is being used in HR tech applications; careful human oversight is important in all cases. Using the tools in negative ways (such as monitoring employee conversations) results in employee distrust and renders the the tools ineffective.
↪️ Despite political backlash around DEI initiatives, Payscale's 2025 report shows only 11% of organizations plan to reduce DEI investments while 28% plan to increase them.
↪️ HR technology solutions that help companies target frontline workers and tradespeople are seeing increased investment. This is as-yet a largely untapped market and one that could be important in a time of economic uncertainty.
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Cliff Stevenson
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