Episode #24
Perficient runs HR at two speeds on purpose
Heather Oxley, CHRO at Perficient, joins Jeet Mukherjee on The WorkOps Podcast to explain how a 7,000 person IT services company is rebuilding its People function around AI without pretending everything can move at the same pace. She opens with the work study she ran on arrival, which found that 60% of HR's workload was inquiry, and shows how that single number set her first priority. From there the conversation moves through Perficient's two speed operating model, the AI academy whose capstone requires a real client or internal outcome, and the decision to break 40 semi autonomous units into global practices so hiring draws from the largest pool instead of the smallest. Heather is direct about what does not work, including concentrating AI accountability in one person and treating course completion as proof of skill. HR leaders, People Ops practitioners and anyone building an AI operating plan for the function will find a practical sequence here: measure, separate fast from slow, prove the skill, fix the structure, then buy for speed. Chapters 00:00 Cold open 00:54 Welcome Heather Oxley of Perficient 01:12 From IT consulting to the CHRO seat at Perficient 03:18 Why the CHRO job keeps expanding 05:11 Where HR ends and IT begins 07:06 Spreading AI accountability across the HR leadership team 09:41 The academy, the capstone, and applied AI skill 12:16 Go fast on the obvious, slow on the complex 13:02 60% of HR workload was inquiry 15:26 Build versus buy on hiring and skills 19:29 Global practices and matching supply to demand 23:01 HR in three years, agent supported and proactive 26:20 Pilots, passengers, and leaning into the hard Takeaways - A work study at Perficient found that 60% of HR's workload was inquiry, questions already answered somewhere in the policy library, which made an inquiry agent the obvious first place to move fast. - Perficient runs at two speeds by design: fast where the ROI is clear and the blocker is data hygiene, slower where cross silo handoffs offer a real chance to redesign the employee experience. - Course completion does not count as capability at Perficient, because the AI academy only certifies people once they finish a capstone applied to a real client or internal situation and assessed on the outcome. - Rather than appointing an AI transformation lead, Heather gives every function head accountability for AI in their area, on the logic that concentrating ownership in one person slows the whole organization down. - Consolidating roughly 40 autonomous units into global practices widened the hiring funnel from the smallest pod to the largest, and a bought skills platform, kept current by feeds from learning and daily work, powers the supply to demand match. Connect with the Guest Heather Oxley LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatheroxley/ Company Website: https://www.perficient.com Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Kinfolk, the AI service desk built for HR. See more at kinfolkhq.com
