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Up Next @ Work: Daily Summaries Delivered
by WRKdefined
When every day feels like a new adventure, Up Next @ Work delivers the insight and intelligence you need to succeed. Join HR influencers, Jeanne Achille and Katie Achille of The Devon Group, who believe better communications are vital for making sense of what’s happening around you. Listen in as Jeanne and Katie chat with the thought leaders, practitioners, and providers sitting at the intersection of people, processes, and technology to discover what’s Up Next @ Work.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 2 days ago29 min
Up Next @ Work, Episode 34 with Lance Haun, Founder of Beacon Turn
You might not realize that you’ve been a follower of Lance Haun for years. Founder of Beacon Turn, he’s a researcher, writer, and advisor to B2B companies focused on work tech and leadership. A featured contributor to Reworked, he’s considered one of the leading market insights pundits in how work gets done. Jeanne persuaded Lance to join her on the latest episode of Up Next @ Work to discuss the industry, life as a girl dad, and what’s next on his horizon. According to Lance, good work starts with the right question, not the perfect answer. Our perfect podcast is presented here for your listening pleasure. We unpack Lance’s career path, which includes his stint as an HR leader The life-changing impact of being able to offer someone a job Of course, we discuss AI and whether the world of work is truly ready for it Connect with Lance on LinkedIn and subscribe to his Substack.
- 2 weeks ago29 min
Up Next @ Work, Episode 33 with Elaine Orler, Chief Strategy and Product Officer, Match2
Elaine Orler has been designing and implementing global Talent Acquisition and Recruiting solutions as a practitioner and a consultant for more than 25 years. Her hands-on approach has enabled multi-national organizations to transform and optimize complex recruiting strategies and processes through contemporary technology-driven talent acquisition practices. In this episode of Up Next @ Work, Jeanne Achille and Elaine discuss the evolution of talent acquisition technology and how those products come to life. As one of the founders of Talent Board and the Candidate Experience Awards – as well as an entrepreneur and founder of Talent Function – Elaine has more street cred in the recruiting space than others aspire to. Listen in as they discuss: The success (and timing) of the CandEs and why they were embraced by top-tier employers. The role of AI and the guardrails needed to protect corporate data. The importance of ascertaining both soft skills and hard skills, and how parallel soft skills can result in a candidate match. Raising a young family while starting a business with a major shoutout to her supportive spouse. Connect with Elaine on LinkedIn to follow along with the Match2 journey.
- Jun 26, 202635 min
Up Next @ Work, Episode 32 with Opal Wagnac, Global Head of Market Positioning & Strategy
What do electrical engineering and HR technology have in common? More than you might realize! As we kick off the next season of Up Next @ Work, Jeanne Achille chats with Opal Wagnac, the global head of market positioning and strategy at Darwinbox. No doubt Opal is already familiar to many listeners, as her previous roles include SVP at iSolved and VP at UKG. Opal brings fresh solutions to old problems and has her eye on the new challenges brewing over a very near horizon. You’ll enjoy Opal’s thought leadership as much as we enjoyed speaking with her, and yes, AI is mentioned. Connect with Opal on LinkedIn.
- Jun 16, 202635 min
Up Next @ WorkTech! When AI Systems, Startups, and Public Policies Collide
In this "high velocity" edition of Up Next @ WorkTech, Kate Achille from The Devon Group and George LaRocque of WorkTech break down the critical intersection of legal friction, evolving corporate staffing strategies, multi-million-dollar government tech overhauls, and the sweeping shifts rewriting the rules of HR management. Episode highlights include: The IBM lawsuit: Age discrimination meets automated rejection People as product: The fractionalization debate at NY Tech Week Monopolizing federal HR tech: Oracle's massive OPM contract win The Department of Education's wage accountability crackdown (hear Kate misread Title IV as Title IX, oops) How to stand out when applying for a job at Anthropic
- May 19, 202642 min
Up Next @ WorkTech: Reading the Room on AI During Grad Season
Welcome to another packed episode of Up Next @ WorkTech, the crossover podcast featuring George LaRocque and Kate Achille. In this edition, George and Kate break down the rapidly shifting intersections of AI and the technological developments redefining the modern workplace. The Gen Z Dilemma: The hosts dissect a recent viral commencement speech where graduates booed a corporate narrative praising AI and billionaires. Forced Tech Adaptations: AI is reshaping academia. Princeton University has phased out its 133-year-old unproctored honor code to combat AI cheating, while a massive Instructure Canvas outage recently derailed finals week at Rutgers and other schools. The Benefits Scale-Back: Major employers like Zoom and Deloitte are cutting 401(k) matches and parental leave. Kate and George consider how leveraging the current employer market power to slash benefits risks cultural backlash when the talent market swings back. The Solopreneur Illusion: Reviewing the new Workday, Anthropic, and LISC accelerator, Kate and George argue that giving 15 solopreneurs just $10,000 and limited Claude AI credits is more of a corporate goodwill exercise than a structural business accelerator. Big Tech Infiltrates HCM: Intuit is making an aggressive move into the SMB payroll and HCM space with QuickBooks Workforce, posing a direct threat to legacy players like ADP and Paylocity. Meanwhile, AWS is entering high-volume recruiting with an agentic platform, though George warns they may underestimate the complex 12-to-18-month enterprise sales cycle. M&A and Funding Wins: Following key acquisitions by Greenhouse and Ashby, asynchronous Voice AI is overcoming historical candidate pushback to become a core recruiting interface. Finally, the hosts celebrate Kashable’s $60 million Series C round as a massive win for employee financial wellness.
- May 4, 202642 min
Up Next @ WorkTech! Returns to Take a Look Beyond the AI Smokescreen
Kate Achille and George LaRocque are back after taking time off for travel and industry events, ready to dissect the complex, often contradictory state of the modern workplace. This latest episode of Up Next @ Work Tech dives into April's "layoff season," considering the different strategies companies are taking; the rise of token maxing and AI leaderboards; the potential impact of recent changes at DOL; and an exclusive breakdown of the Q1 WorkTech funding and M&A report. Episode highlights include: Recent observations at industry events The "AI of it all" amid more tech layoffs George's "Market Squeeze" model Considerations for the balance of the year
- Mar 19, 202631 min
Up Next @ WorkTech! Lawsuits, Layoffs, and the AI Panic Button
In the latest episode of Up Next @ WorkTech, Katie Achille and George LaRocque navigate another packed week of industry turbulence, from Workday's ongoing age-discrimination lawsuit to Senator Hassan's public rebuke of data-broker practices reaching HR Tech. Episode highlights include: Meta's recent acquisition spree, followed by rumors of major layoffs New research from Brookings forecasts profound AI disruption, with a recommendation of how to adjust the path forward The potential for 30 percent unemployment for new grads entering the job market What corporate jargon really signifies, according to a study out of Cornell One of the biggest TA tech funding rounds in recent memory - Series B secured by the folks at Juicebox
- Feb 28, 202645 min
Up Next @ WorkTech! Reverse Recruiting, Security Risks, and the Rise of "AI Native" Everything
In the latest episode of Up Next @ WorkTech, Katie Achille and George LaRocque dive into the latest updates impacting the world of work, from companies like Accenture tying promotions to AI usage and Burger King's voice agent Patty tracking upsells and friendliness scores to the security risks of OpenClaw and the soon-to-be omnipresence of the AI native everything. Episode highlights include: AI‑driven performance management enters the chat, or in some industries, the headset. Agentic security risks escalate with the introduction and rapid adoption of OpenClaw. Reverse recruiting surges, revealing predatory practices in a down market. HR tech funding continues to accelerate with new capital flowing into a variety of solutions and regions.
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About Up Next @ Work
When every day feels like a new adventure, Up Next @ Work delivers the insight and intelligence you need to succeed. Join HR influencers, Jeanne Achille and Katie Achille of The Devon Group, who believe better communications are vital for making sense of what’s happening around you. Listen in as Jeanne and Katie chat with the thought leaders, practitioners, and providers sitting at the intersection of people, processes, and technology to discover what’s Up Next @ Work.
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