 Welcome back, everyone. We are in day two of theCUBE's live coverage of UI Path Forward 6 here in Sin City. I'm your host, Rebecca Knight. I'm your host and analyst, Dave Vellante. We are having really fascinating conversations and we're going to get to all of it, but one of the biggest issues we're going to be talking about is labor. And we've got two experts here. We have Amy Boak. She is the Chief People Officer at Kelly Services. Welcome, Amy. And Bridget McGinnis Day, the Chief People Officer at UI Path. Welcome to both of you. Thanks for having us. So, we're in a labor shortage. We know this. There is a skills gap, the talent gap. We're having an aging workforce. There's so many workforce challenges. I have a few statistics. A new report from Corn Fairy finds that by 2030, there'll be an 8.5 trillion in annual revenue loss due to the talent shortage. Another report from Accenture, nearly half of executives say they see generative AI tools playing multiple rules in their hiring process, including onboarding and training programs for new hires. So, Bridget, I want to start with you. This is the context of the problem, but automation and AI might be part of the solution. So, just riff on that for a little bit. Yeah, sure. So, I definitely think it has to be part of the solution. I think that the other things that have been working in the past are the traditional ways of finding talent, hiring talent, retaining talent aren't really working, right? We see that people have choice and they want what they need for their own careers, right? So, I would say one of the things around hiring or attracting people, I would just definitely say from an automation perspective, this type of work is what people want. If they want to come to a company that they know that the company wants to make sure that they think about removing the mundane work and work on the more value-added work, that's where they want to go. And they want to be with cutting-edge technology that really is the hottest thing in the market right now. Automation and AI, and that's what UiPath has to offer. So, I think that's one of the things companies need to think about is what product and what inspiration do they have to really attract your retain? The other thing I would say, if you look internally for us as an organization, is that we need to be role models in the HR space for automation. We have to drink our own champagne, I think they say, right? A better, yeah. A dog food guy, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, we're in Sin City, we don't have champagne. So, I think it's also about thinking about not only how can we transform an HR automation and HR space, but think about just the entire Canada experience, all the way from sourcing all the way to onboarding and what we're doing is leveraging our automation AI platform to do that. And it really has transformed the experience and we can do things like all the interview sketch scheduling, the onboarding, all the prompts all the way through and it's personalized and they feel that someone's there connecting with them all via automation, but also too, thinking about resume sourcing. All that has to be moved away and really allows the recruiters to have 40% more time to really think about building relationships, finding talent in new places, and to your point, this labor shortage, we have to do it a different way. So, they've got 40% more time here in our own team and it's actually reduced their overall time to other things for 30%. And I'm pretty proud to say this year we looked it up. We have a 95% offer acceptance rate at UiPath. That's a pretty big deal in terms of how we're driving it. So, again, your question was there's a lot of issues coming at us and we have to come at it in a very different way and why not free up the work you're doing that's not going to find a talent and bring them in and actually attract them. I cover future of work and I talk to a lot of job seekers over the course of my reporting. And they find it to be a pain point, the AI sourcing of resumes, they find that they're being filtered out. And there's also been questions about are you filtering out maybe the non-traditional candidates who might not have the resume, maybe a stay-at-home parent who's coming back into the workforce or an underrepresented, someone from an underrepresented group, how do you think about AI and making sure that while you're using these technologies, there is still a human in the loop because HR is about humans. So much of what I heard Bridget say and I think what's core to Kelly is it isn't about the sourcing activity itself. That's where the human is reviewing those candidates and really thinking about the profile that's needed. And one of the things I'm most proud about and where I think Bridget was going with her answer is that idea that the candidate and the employee see the purpose of what they're doing. And what Kelly's known for is the equity barrier breaking. And so all of those candidates are exactly who we're looking for and trying to help, so them transform their lives by the meaning of work. And so I would say we can do all of what Bridget's doing plus she's just talking about getting somebody to start. We have all of this automation opportunity in our ongoing everyday transactions, whether that's compensation, moves, benefit administration, there's so much to be done that allows people to work into their full potential. So I reject the idea that candidates might just not realize that, but most of us aren't using AI to help with the screening. And would you agree with that? We do a bit sourcing as well on the sourcing side on the screening side. Another thing that just happened this past week, my daughter's a sophomore at university looking for an internship next year and I was helping her on the weekend and she applied for a job and then asked her, would you say yes to having AI as part of your sourcing and selection? Wow. And I thought, huh, what is the answer, right? So I said, what do you think? She's the 19 year old in the space, right? I said, what do you think? And she said no. And so she wants a human in the loop and then it gives the candidate the option which I thought was pretty fascinating. Really, okay, so it wasn't just a little survey to see what people were thinking. It was actually took action. She applied for a job and she got a call already and she's already had her first interview with it in less than a week. Oh, congratulations, congrats. I know, right? So I was like, right in action. I don't want to tell my kids, say no. But I wonder if your question, I wonder if your question is part of the challenges that we're not caring for candidates through their recruiting process in such a way that AI could resolve it, right? Because candidates are applying to jobs and then the recruiter goes dark and they don't know and so much of what gets solved through AI is that warm connection of thanks for applying, we'll get back to you within whatever the window of time is. There's a nudge from the technology to the recruiter, respond or there's a check-in. So I believe part of what can get solved is the leverage of technology. Yeah, yeah. So what are some learnings in terms of how you actually operationalize AI and automation into these processes? Because they are, at least from the job seekers' perspective, cumbersome, clunky, hard, and it's emotional. You're looking for a job, you're looking for something that is your livelihood, you're stressed out. You want to go first? I'll try it first. I think the first thing for me is that we keep people at the center, right? So when we're talking to the recruiters and we're talking about changing the process, we're doing it with them. Not to them, not for them, we're doing it with them. And then the second thing, so flipping the lenses, we have to treat every candidate as a prospective customer. Whatever our product is, whatever our company is, whoever's applying to UiPath, the UiPath recruiter has to think about them as a future UiPath client or customer. And when you flip that lens to know that they could not only work for us, but actually talk about our brand. And I think that's where we miss is that. So that would be my two responses. I think the other thing too, you mentioned it, thinking about the overall talent acquisition team, think about how they do their job. And to your point, those nudges are keeping a candidate warm, making sure there's a response. You might get four to 500 applications for one job. And think about the process to go through that and you want to get back to every single person and give them that respect. And then so there is a huge asset in terms of what you were saying to make sure that nothing gets dropped across the board. And I think that's what we worry about most is anyone who would fall through the cracks, especially in a hot talent market or a tight talent market. Because that's the brand right there. COVID created this really bizarre supply and demand and balance unemployment went through the roof for a while and now there's no unemployment. We have this, we have this seesaw economy. You had quiet quitting. That seems to have- Well, the great resignation. You can't forget about that. The great resignation, let's put that in there. You've got, you know, strikes. Supposedly there's going to be a little, you know, tension tomorrow, I guess, or Thursday is tomorrow. Yeah. Tomorrow, yeah. We'll see. It's not really a strike. It's more a picketing. So it's okay. Hollywood saying no AI or we want some guardrails around how we're using AI. So where do you think this all goes? It seems like, well, your daughter saying no. On the other hand, a lot of employees are like, yes, bring on the AI. Get rid of these mundane tasks for me. Let me go do some more interesting things. And ultimately I'm an optimist in that regard. I think, you know, you and I have talked about this. It may be some near term, you know, friction. How do you guys think about the future of automation as it relates to employees embracing it? Do you want to go first? Sure. Thank you for that. I think it's back to the overall empowerment. So when we think about it from a UI path perspective, it really is about changing the roles, upskilling, being able to offer more opportunities. If any, we saw this earlier this morning here at our forward 60 event that with the increase in AI and automation, the jobs actually have increased. It's the shape of what they are and which jobs and how are those things changing. And that's what we need to get in front of. How do we look at the skills? And employees want their employer to do that for them. They're looking to them to ask for that help to say, what do I need to do next? And what technology do I need to have to understand? So for me, I think it's about having the skills, continue to talk about innovating, moving forward with automation, and it's going to really transform that mundane work. People feel they want to add much more value. The next generations are not going to put up with it. And I think that every generation can learn from it and use it, especially with some of the things we saw today that makes it so easy that you don't need to be technical. And that's one of the things we do is, from a citizen developer's perspective, it helps with the change management process. Our employees are learning how to do it themselves and then they're empowered to really change their own role and be part of it. So we have 30% of our age organization has already gone through citizen development. We've had just two hackathons in the last couple months to really have it be part of our overall automation strategy. I know you're doing it as well. Yeah, my journey's a little bit behind the UiPath journey, but on that same track of being clear to understand what's our service delivery model, how are we supporting, where does that work get done? And then once you get clear that this is work that should be touchless, direct access, the manager employee needs to do this because what we offer as a product to the business is being in a position to help consult, navigate workforce planning challenges. And we can't do that if we're mired in transactions and in manual work. And so the journey I've taken my team on is asking them to get grumpy about the work they're doing in editing because that's the only way to bring about the change. It's just say like, I need you to get grumpy with me. Complete more. Complete. Seriously. I'm serious about how mundane this is and how it's not worthy of you. Exactly, I'm like, I know all of us are working below our full potential. Let's lean into this. Let's look at process mapping. So taking some of the tools that you learn in like lean manufacturing and others which helps you look at a process map, like how many touches, how many approvals? Like, okay, now where do we have human interaction that we don't need it? And so my team, while not all certified to the level that Bridget's team is, they're fully engaged in embracing the opportunity. And we believe there is just this untapped potential within the function of HR or people in such a way that we can really be cutting edge, delivering value to the business and helping our businesses just absolutely succeed. And I think at the macro, when you listen to folks like Eric Brynjalsson, we survived the steam engine, we survived outsourcing and the world is flat and when you read his books, we'll survive this as well. But at the micro, it can be scary sometimes. And I get the Hollywood writer's concern. And so he's actually got some prescriptions. He really didn't go into it today, but it kind of comes back to education and creativity and mentoring and some of the things that we talked about earlier, Rebecca, is potentially losing that mentoring with remote work. I mean, that's a challenge. But AI can maybe help, as you're saying. Least responsiveness, the touch points, that's appreciated by individuals. So I don't know if there's a question in there. This is kind of rippin' with you guys. I've got two chief people officers on the stage with me and worked for diversity. This is still a problem that has dogged many industries, but especially technology. How are you thinking about bringing more women and underrepresented groups into this high-paying, high-profile field that really is changing the future of our lives and can AI and automation help that? So I've got a, there's a simple, the answer's yes, they can. The first thing you have to do is look at the barriers to entry. Start with credentialing. Where do you have degree requirements that you don't need degree requirements? Where can you look at other ways to assess capability that allows you to bridge those? The second thing we need to do is we need to be in our schools and we need to be offering the mentoring and the programs which lots of companies, UI Path, CalUnit, are doing to help ensure that young people see their potential and see the opportunity and are connected and excited about the opportunities. And so I think there's many ways, but I think barrier-breaking, credentialing and other requirements, and then showing, you know, showing what's possible by the modeling. Yeah, I think everything you said as well, Amy, there's another thing, I think, to the possibilities of what we can think about of all the data we have. You can imagine between our two companies that we, as an HR perspective, all that people data, linking it to financial data, linking it to predictive pieces, we have a lot of information, and I think that the art of the possible really is around. If you think about it, you could look up all the things you just said, you know, representation, promotion, exits, development, all the pieces that look at it, and we would actually get more insight to say, hey, you're actually not paying attention to certain parts of your population. Or, because when you're a leader, you can't, it's really hard sometimes to see all the detail on the equity or looking at promotion rates or looking at progression rates. You can't see it all with just the tools you have, and we have the ability to pull those things out and check it, and not at the mass level. That's what you always hear people talk about, oh, we looked at it at the top with a big, huge data set, well, peel it back. I want to know where the targeted issues are, and that's what's going to allow us to do that. And then you can actually build strong succession, not have a gap in leadership, and make sure you've got diverse candidates' leads. And then your recruiters, like I said, 40% more time to focus on building relationships with diverse candidates because it's going to be harder to take them, if they're in a good company and a good situation with a career path, it's hard to poach them out, and so you've got to come harder with something else as you go forward. So that's where I would say, we've got to build that out from a future perspective as well. One of citizen dev will affect diversity as well. I've talked to a lot of women who were originally coders in college, in computer science, and they said, you know, they tapped out because it was just a man's world, and you know, it's like, yeah, this big bro thing. And so, it's true. I've talked to dozens on theCUBE, and they're like, yeah. We've heard it. Yeah, I'm sure you have, right? So, but if you put tools in folks' hands that can actually make an impact, and there's more of them, maybe that will affect diversity in a positive way. I don't know. It takes down the curtain in terms of that access points and individuals, I was on a panel yesterday, and the IT lead referred to people like me as end users. And I said, yeah, I'm an end user, but I'm also human in a person. And I know my process. And so, taking down the curtain and allowing that interaction and that experience in such a way that you're going to get a better product through citizen developers, you're just going to. Nothing, even worse, user. That's not a human in a loop right now. There's no here. There's no. We're not people. You don't forget that. I think the other thing it provides is I found that transparency is a really good way for open people's eyes. I don't think bias comes from all the negative places. Sometimes you don't see it, and there's an education process to go through that. And if you have transparency and say, look at all of the hires you've made in the last six months. Here are the slated candidates. Here's the selections. Here's what your team looks like. Here's what your success and performance looks like. And is it diverse or not? And what are the differences with teams that are? Having those conversations with some facts, I think you have much more transparency and the behavior changes like that. Because they can see it, and oh my gosh, I didn't realize, oh my, and let me ask different questions about my candidate slate and how do I go through it, and really what are the requirements up front? Don't change them all the way through the process, right? So there's, I think there's opportunity just to be more transparent and have some facts behind it, and it's really hard to, you know, not want to change. Because that knowledge is power, and when it's a black box and you don't have access to that information, it's a really good call. Well Amy and Bridget, thank you so much for coming on theCUBE, a really, really fun conversation. Thank you very much. Thank you for having us, thank you very much. I'm Rebecca Knight for Dave Vellante. Stay tuned for more of theCUBE's coverage. You're watching theCUBE, the leader in live tech coverage.