50 - Shake and Bake, Baby!

Back in June, I wrote that SmartRecruiters had declared “the end of the ATS” and was charging full speed into the AI-first era like Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights. Well, buckle up buckaroos, Ricky just got his Cal.

SAP is acquiring SmartRecruiters, and the duo is ready to “shake and bake” the talent tech world. "AI - first" is clearly where things are heading and top products always win. SmartRecruiters revenue may be lower than Greenhouse Software or iCIMS , but they've already done the hard work in optimizing the product. We don't know the terms of the deal, but i'm sure it's significantly less than paying more for something you need to put alot of R&D into. It just needed to be brought to scale. Watch for them to gain some traction against Workday and their unsellable recruiting module.

But Mike, you're just one person, who cares what you think? Well, I was prepared for that. Here's a recap of what some of the top voices in our space think about the deal:

Tim Sackett, SCP 🟦 - Tim cautions against mirroring what Oracle did with Taleo and notes it's a great move for SAP customers who are stuck "Frankensteining" their TA stack to work with SuccessFactors. He wonders if they will try and sell it as a different SKU and let SuccessFactors die on the vine in a decade. Side note: Tim has a great take on the Workday lawsuit that's logical and probably true. TLDR: Algorithm's aren't discriminating against age, people setting the parameters are. Read his take.

Madeline Laurano - "Best-of-breed vs. HCM is outdated: The real competition now is between legacy HCM suites and platforms built for talent intelligence, CRM, and engagement. Read her take.

George LaRocque - "This deal could be a tipping point in talent acquisition tech. The days of standalone point solutions are numbered. Enterprises want platforms that can flex, scale, and integrate deeply into their existing environments, while also staying agile enough to adapt as AI, compliance, and global hiring demands evolve.

"It also puts pressure on the rest of the market. More consolidation is coming—especially in the areas of automation, AI, and high-volume hiring. And more founders and CEOs will need to think like Rebecca: strategically, with product at the center." Read his take and interview with Rebecca Carr

Josh Bersin - "This underscores the importance of hiring in overall personnel management. If you aren't hiring the right people, you aren't managing the right people...If you don't hire the right people, everything falls apart."

Because of the ways businesses act today, hiring doesn't stand alone. It's more holistic throughout the entire HR team. We need to think about these systems as an integrated part of our hiring model. Listen to his take.

The Purple Acorn crew - They had Allyn Bailey on the show to talk about the acquisition.

"Overall, we are super excited. We saw the opportunity from the beginning of the year for a partner like SAP to pull us across the finish line. The whole team stays intact, and the roadmap stays intact. Check out the view from the inside in the full interview.

And of course, Matt Charney , who never holds his punches.

"SAP knows it can’t beat Workday or Oracle on loyalty. The switching costs are brutal, the procurement cycles even worse. But what it can do is sneak in the front door with a recruiting solution so good that even diehard Workday clients can’t say no."

"For real, though: this isn’t just a “fill the product gap” move. It’s SAP making a bet that AI-powered, experience-driven recruiting is going to be table stakes in the future of HCM – and they want to own that table." Read his full take.

It's clear the race is on, and their competitors are going to need to find a way around the "shake and bake." On to the rest of the news this week. Program note, I'm on vacation in the Outer Banks next week so they'll be no Wrap as I'll be chilaxing by the pool 😎

This week's Wrap highlights SAP and SmartRecruiters shakin' and bakin,' a group project that turned into a new employee engagement tool, corporate-tied childcare, and Trump ignoring Federal worker union protections.

Have a great weekend and next week!

Mike

📰 What’s New in HR Tech

I read the press releases so you don't have to

Employee engagement starts with...Love Island?

I don't like to make it a habit of ripping products, but I can't keep my thoughts to myself. Readers, look at the press release.

Here's the headline:

VLTD, a First-of-its-Kind Employee Engagement Platform, Launches for Business Leaders to Gamify Engagement and Create Belonging for Employees 365 Days a Year.

Oh gosh, thank you for giving me a way to create belonging for my employees for the full 365 days of the year. I want my employees to constantly be thinking of me in every waking moment. Also, the logo might look like a vault, so I'm thinking the name is pronounced Valuted?

Ok. What do you do?

"The VLTED app is designed to function independently from employer-provided email or messaging platforms and serves as a space where employees can participate in friendly challenges and conversations that are completely non-work-related. With quick and easy setup, managers can use ready-made templates to create private competitions and get the fun banter going immediately for teams.

Whether it's a daily prediction poll like "Who's going to win the College Basketball Championship?" and "What secrets will be revealed at the 'Love Island USA' Season 7 reunion?" or a spontaneous shout-out for a big win, VLTED fills workdays with moments of human connection

So you are going to get your teams more engaged by asking pandering questions like "how do you feel about the local sports team" or "Ally, I saw you were a fan of reality TV, what's your favorite TV show?" "YAAAASSSSSS....I've been watching Paradise Island, it is so, so, good... (this was taken directly from their product video).

Maybe this millennial/genX guy is out of touch, but this just seems like they are trying to recreate Slack. And "water cooler" talk happens at the watercooler because it is away from bosses, where you can speak freely and not have to pretend you care about what Taylor Swift is doing that week.

What could they charge for this?

VLTED offers significant value and ROI in the HR technology market, with pricing at approximately $25 per employee per year. Using a conservative estimate of a $20,000 cost to replace an employee, VLTED's value is proven with a business retaining one staff member per 750 employees. VLTED's estimated ROI is above industry norm.

I can see the employees lining up to say that they didn't talk enough Love Island in their exit interviews, but hey, if they are estimating $20,000 cost of losing an employee, what's $25. If you have 750 employees, that's only going to cost you $18,750 to save $20,000!

If I'm off base or wrong, tell me, but this feels like a combination of a mobile game trying to make the business case for more revenue, a grad school project gone too far, or both.

Anyways, here's the video and the press release.

💰 Funding and Acquisitions 🤝

• HR Path acquired PREDICTIVEHR to expand its global footprint and deepen its AI-driven workforce analytics and HR tech consulting capabilities. Read More

👆 Worth a Click

Work/Life news beyond product announcements

Childcare gets cut in GOP’s latest budget plan

The new Republican tax and budget proposal includes steep cuts to federal childcare support that could hit working parents and employers alike. While the bill boosts business tax incentives, it sidelines policies that help keep caregivers in the workforce. While it's nice that some corporations are stepping up to provide childcare options, I'm nervous about trying all my social services to a corporation. Would you accept less money for your position because your childcare is tied to your job? What if you leave? Also, with so many companies laying off workers, imagine losing your income and your childcare at the same time. Sigh. Read More

Trump targets union protections for Federal workers

The Trump regime is preparing sweeping changes that would strip union protections from tens of thousands of federal employees, according to The New York Times. The plan includes reviving and expanding "Schedule F," a classification that would make it easier to fire career civil servants and sidestep collective bargaining agreements. Critics say it’s a direct attack on labor rights and a step toward politicizing the federal workforce. Read More