Integrate or Die: a work technology podcast

Evan Sinar, Ph.D. – The impact of AI on organizational research

Evan Sinar, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist at Amazon discusses how development of generative AI solutions is affecting psychological and organizational research.  Evan led applied research teams at DDI and BetterUp before joining Amazon and works on the forefront of research focused on employee performance and development.  He shares how AI is reshaping research methods but also calls out its limitations and risks.  Some things we cover: * How the ability to analyze qualitative data is transforming organizational research • The largely untapped research knowledge available from mining legacy text sources * Why we should talk about time utilization instead of time savings when discussing the value of AI We also hear Steve describe his career as a series of ostentatious sounding but vaguely meaningless job titles.

Fred Oswald, Ph.D. – AI, psychometrics and education

Steve and Alexis talk with Fred Oswald, Professor at the University of California Irvine School of Education about the impact of AI on the assessment and education of students and employees.  This episode dives deep into some nerdy industrial-organizational concepts so be forewarned!   Some things we cover: * Whether psychometric principles apply to the evaluation of AI/ML algorithms * How use of AI is changing the focus of higher education * The role of social sciences in an increasingly digitalized world This is also the first episode that features not just one, but two past presidents of the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology.

Eric Sydell, Ph.D. – Ethical, legal and secure AI practices

Steve and Alexis talk with Eric Sydell, founder & CEO of Vero AI about responsible use of AI solutions. Eric built some of the first large scale applications using AI machine learning to support recruiting as a founding member of Modern Hire, a company subsequently acquired by HireVue. He is now building solutions to ensure compliant use of AI applications across a range of areas.  Some things we cover: • The mismatch between what leaders say about responsible AI and what they often do • The tendency for many companies to monitor AI bias without monitoring AI accuracy • How venture capital investment strategies negatively influence how AI solutions are built We also learn how Alexis got a PhD from Harvard without ever attending a single class.

Tyler Weeks, Ph.D. – Applying AI in the Hospitality Industry

Steve and Alexis talk with Tyler Weeks, VP of People Technology, Research & Analytics at Marriott International about using AI to support frontline employees in the hospitality industry.  A physicist by training, Tyler brings a high sophisticated but reality-based approach toward the use of AI technology within organizations. Some things we cover: * Why AI LLMs that use natural language interfaces should not be designed to give the illusion of actually being human * How use of AI is limited and often derailed by the complex and imperfect nature of organizational policies and processes * Why the next big wave of AI innovation may focus on using AI for understanding instead of automation We also hear Tyler explain why he thinks of Alexis as a doula for workforce analytics professionals.

Jerome Gouvernel – Using AI for HR data integration

Steve and Alexis talk with Jerome Gouvernel, co-founder of datascalehr about the value AI provides for integrating highly complex, global HR datasets. Jerome’s work is primarily focused on payroll data management, which as we learn is one of the most important, most sensitive, and most complicated areas of HR data. Some things we cover: • Why HR data is fragmented and far more complex than people realize • How AI enables companies to align and harmonize imperfect data • The critical difference between predictive AI vs generative AI We also hear Alexis describe data integration as the place where the “magic happens”.