The signal in HR
technology,
from inside the work.
I'm Abhinay — fourteen years deep in HR and HR technology. Enterprise HR technology rollouts across seven countries. Large-scale HRMS at retail. Now writing the field notes I wish someone had written for me.
Six positions this work tries to defend.
HR tech fails upstream of the tech.
By the time implementation starts, the important decisions have already been made — or skipped.
The requirement you skip in month one becomes the crisis in month eleven.
Shortcuts in scoping don't save time. They relocate the cost to the worst possible moment.
Demos sell capability. The work needs fit.
Every vendor can demo the same module. None of them can demo your context.
The gap between promised and delivered is almost never a product gap.
Blaming the vendor is the comfortable story. The real cause is almost always upstream — in the thinking, the requirements, or the ownership.
The board buys outcomes, not modules.
If a business case survives finance review, it stopped describing features two drafts ago.
Every org has assumptions baked into its requirements. It takes someone outside to surface them.
The most expensive assumptions in HRMS selection are the ones nobody inside the org thought to question.
Recent writing.
You're Not Escaping the Old System's Problems. You're About to Rebuild Them.
Eventually the decision gets made: the system has to go. There is relief in the room, and a particular kind of optimism — the clean-slate feeling of a fresh start. That optimism is genuine, and it is also the most dangerous moment in the entire cycle, because it stops anyone asking the only question that matters: why did the last one fail?
"We've Invested Too Much to Walk Away Now" Is How a Bad System Stays.
At some point in the life of a struggling HR system, someone finally says it out loud: this is not working. And then, almost immediately, someone else says the sentence that ends the conversation: we have invested too much to walk away now. It is one of the most reasonable-sounding sentences in business, and one of the most expensive.
You Built a Business Case to Buy the System. Has Anyone Opened It Since?
Every HR system starts with a business case that is argued, defended, and, on approval, never opened again. Organizations spend enormous sums on HR systems and genuinely cannot tell you whether the investment paid off — not because it failed, but because no one ever went back to measure.
Where the work happened.
14 years across HR and HR technology — from business partnering and talent management to enterprise HRMS rollouts spanning 7 countries.
Aditya Birla and earlier organisations — HR operations and HRBP roles across BFSI and retail before the technology focus took hold.
HR Tech Leaders Circle.
A curated, members-only room for CHROs, founders, and HR tech practitioners. Honest peer conversations. Zero vendor noise.
Frameworks & guides.
Practitioner tools — built from the field, free to use. The documents I wish someone had handed me a decade ago.
Two tools for one expensive problem: choosing the wrong HR system. Free to start. Structured advisory when you need it. Early access open.
Most HRMS decisions are made on demos and vendor promises. We're building the alternative — a vendor directory, a structured diagnostic, and advisory that goes the full distance. Vendor-independent. Built from inside the work. Not open to everyone yet.
Get notified →