In this special episode of Cloud Wars Live from Workday Rising 2026, Bob Evans speaks with Rupesh Ahluwalia, Vice President of HR Information Systems at Concentrix, about how artificial intelligence and enterprise technology are transforming human resources. With more than 430,000 employees across over 80 countries, Concentrix is reimagining how HR supports its global workforce while expanding its technology-driven business. Ahluwalia discusses the company’s decade-long relationship with Workday, the growing importance of workforce adaptability, and why meaningful AI transformation must go beyond automation to deliver more intuitive, people-centered employee experiences.
Workday Powers HR Transformation
The Big Themes
- HR Becomes a Strategic Driver: At Concentrix, HR is far more than a traditional back-office function. With more than 430,000 employees across over 80 countries, the company recognizes that its people are its greatest asset. Ahluwalia explains that HR has consistently held a prominent role in organizational decision-making, particularly as Concentrix has expanded through mergers and acquisitions. Rather than separating HR from technological innovation, the company actively integrates its approximately 3,000 HR professionals into technology adoption and business transformation.
- Adaptability Becomes the Essential Skill: Hiring more than 200,000 people annually creates significant workforce planning challenges, especially as emerging technologies introduce roles and skills that barely existed a year earlier. Ahluwalia highlights an unusual recruitment dilemma: How does a company interview candidates for positions when the necessary expertise does not yet exist internally? His answer emphasizes adaptability over mastery of any particular programming language or technical function.
- AI Transformation Must Go Beyond Automation: For Ahluwalia, the greatest opportunity presented by AI is not simply making existing workflows faster. While automating manual tasks and improving efficiency remain valuable, he argues that organizations must question whether certain processes need to exist at all. Concentrix is exploring how AI can fundamentally redesign work rather than merely optimize established procedures. This distinction becomes particularly important at scale, where approximately 50,000 managers still perform activities such as employee performance reviews. Instead of focusing exclusively on simplifying those tasks, Ahluwalia challenges his team to envision a future in which technology completes some activities on employees’ behalf.
Big Quote: “We are not looking at saying, okay, can we automate this workflow and reduce 5% of the headcount? We are looking at can we automate that workflow, which reduces the friction in the process and people use the systems better.”
Learn More About Concentrix and Workday:
Check out this information on Workday AI and learn more about Concentrix.
