When PwC surveyed 4,702 CEOs from more than 100 countries in late 2023, several topics relating to HR tech topped the chief executive agenda for this year. Acquiring exponential thinking, retooling technology’s ROI, applying productivity multipliers and balancing stakeholder demands were some of the most important priorities for C-suite leaders in 2024.

What does this look like in action in an HR tech-powered environment? Rebecca Carr, acting CEO and chief product officer of talent acquisition software firm SmartRecruiters, spoke with Human Resource Executive about leadership at her organization. Carr leads a global enterprise with a workforce of around 500 employees spread across Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region. Here’s how her organizational stewardship approach unfolds, with advice on how CHROs can benefit from her unique C-suite experience.

Find exponential thinkers

Leading a global team across different time zones and cultures presents unique challenges to organizational leaders. Carr stresses the importance of hiring strong, autonomous leaders who can adapt to regional nuances while aligning with the company’s strategic direction. Carr emphasizes the importance of regional expertise and market-specific approaches.

“Each of those [managers] can have conversations about the challenges they are all having right now, which are different across theaters,” she says. This localized approach allows SmartRecruiters to deliver tailored solutions while maintaining a unified product vision.

Carr says executives should support a workforce that understands a unified business mission around solving the same problem. “My hiring philosophy is to hire really strong, country-level managers,” she notes. “They might have grown up in sales or R&D, but they have a curiosity and a will to learn about the functions that support them.”

This philosophy extends to the organizational structure of SmartRecruiters, promoting autonomy and ownership, especially as talent-related tech expectations and globalization ramp up. “We have a mission at SmartRecruiters, which is to humanize hiring in the age of automation and we know AI is here,” says Carr. “We know automation is required. It’s table stakes.”

Retooling technology ROI

Many organizations are leveraging AI and automation to streamline administrative processes and enhance the hiring experience, but outcomes can vary. There will be disruptors, says Carr. These will be HR tech vendors that deliver innovation in easily digestible and relatable ways that organizations can adopt to build efficiency.

A goal of improving efficiency by 50% can start by moving the needle by 20%, then to 30%, then 40%, says Carr, who says this is possible for CHROs at companies of all sizes. “That’s severe efficiency that I’m sure [all business leaders] are looking for right now—every company is.”

Carr says the benefits of technology are endless when you can meet people where they are. “But it requires that HR tech really show up in the API conversation,” she adds. This might not be a priority for human resources, but it should be, says Carr. This is because public APIs offer integration, allowing HR systems to easily connect with existing systems and external applications and create a unified platform.

Because API integration automates data transfers—which reduces manual work and frees up time for more strategic tasks, such as onboarding, payroll and benefits administration—this hidden feature of tech reaps significant time savings for HR teams.

Carr says all CHROs should include an inquiry on every RFP asking vendors to declare what percentage of their platform is exposed to a public API. “If they answer anything less than 50%, you need to challenge them on their product strategy,” she advises. “It is a requirement. It is the only way you’re going to survive rolling out that tech at the end of the day.”

AI and people multiply productivity

One of the key themes Carr emphasizes is the balance between leveraging AI and maintaining a human touch in the hiring process. SmartRecruiters aims to “humanize” hiring in the age of automation, ensuring that technology enhances rather than detracts from the personal aspects of recruitment, she explains.

“Hiring is a very personal thing,” Carr says. “You spend so many hours of your life doing your job. The experience of selecting your next job and candidate cannot be cold. It needs to be connected.”

By automating administrative tasks, SmartRecruiters allows recruiters to focus on building meaningful relationships with candidates, ensuring a more personalized and engaging hiring experience.

“The HR technology [industry] needs to do a lot of work to break down the walls of tech and extend it to where these end users are,” says Carr. This will maximize the impact of AI and automation, delivering it in forms that employees, hiring managers and candidates want to use.

Balancing stakeholder needs, reaping the benefits

HR leaders should engage proactively with their vendors, ask tough questions about technology capabilities and be willing to take bold steps forward, says Carr. When it comes to digital shifts, Carr sees incrementalism—getting a little bit better by doing a little bit more—as a roadblock. She prefers bold steps forward rather than a “mash-up” of tech trying to solve problems in a piecemeal fashion. “Too many technology vendors in the HR tech space are a product of incrementalism,” says Carr.

“There’s beauty in stepping back and saying, ‘Is there something that just solves the problem, without 15 different things?’” She admits it could feel painful to make big moves but says now the market is right for bold maneuvers. “I can’t stand to get a little bit better anymore!” says Carr.

“Start with your vendors, your existing vendors,” she advises. “Ask them to show you a roadmap, ask them to show you a strategy, ask them to show you a vision. They should have a perspective on the future, and if they don’t, that should be a bit of a red flag.”

Carr emphasizes that vendors are eager to solve big problems and innovate with their clients. She says CHROs should consider brainstorming with vendors to generate ideas on how to invest in tech for the future. “Customer conversations are energizers” for HR tech companies, says Carr.

“Vendors love people that want to share, that want to be at the table, that want to be bold with them,” she says. “Give us a big problem to solve because if you are partnered with a good vendor, they will come, and that will be a pretty big move for you and your company.”