Dive Brief:
- The Adecco Group appointed Caroline Basyn chief digital and IT officer, the company said Thursday. Basyn will join the second-largest global HR services and digital staffing firm on Aug. 28 and will also serve on its executive committee.
- Basyn previously served as PepsiCo Europe’s chief strategy and transformation officer for just over two-and-a-half years.
- “Caroline is a seasoned international business and tech executive with over thirty years leadership experience in transformation and leveraging technology innovations. She is tasked with leading a strong combined digital and IT organization and driving growth through digital and AI,” Denis Machuel, CEO of The Adecco Group, said Thursday during a Q2 2023 earnings call.
Dive Insight:
As enterprises evaluate potential use cases for generative AI and weigh risks, applications to HR processes show promise.
Tools like ChatGPT can craft job posts, identify qualified candidates and streamline other labor-intensive aspects of the hiring and recruitment process, according to industry experts.
The Swiss-French company, which headquarters its North America operations in Atlanta, began laying the groundwork for swift adoption prior to the current wave of AI enthusiasm, Machuel said.
"We have built a highly experienced AI and data science team over the last two years," said Machuel. "The group is selectively developing its in-house AI-enabled digital products to support high-priority use cases integrating Adecco Group data, and we are working closely with leading vendors to understand and assess their road maps."
Adecco launched the digital and engineering solutions company Akkodis to help support its transformation in February 2022, after acquiring a majority stake in AKKA Technologies.
Machuel touted the success of Adecco Career Assistant, an AI-enabled chatbot that allows its recruiters to engage with thousands of candidates and suggest follow-ups based on what it learns from those interactions.
The company leveraged generative AI for a prototype that thus far has shown a 5% increase in completed conversations, a 10% rise in candidate applications and significantly improved productivity for the recruiter, according to Machuel.
Basyn comes from a company similarly eager to reap the benefits of the new technology. PepsiCo deployed AI tools to monitor and adjust the Cheetos production line in 2020 and introduced a machine learning digital academy the following year.
Earlier this year, the beverage and snack-food giant partnered with the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence to advance research, education, policy and best practices for responsible AI adoption.
