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.
Your HRIS Evaluation Is Being Run by Your Vendors. Here's How to Take It Back.
The vendor who presents first shapes the questions. The vendor who presents best shapes the shortlist. By the time the scorecard gets filled in, it is measuring what the vendors chose to show — not what the organization needed to know.
"We need a leave management module" is not a requirement
Feature requests tell a vendor what to build. Real requirements tell them what problem needs solving. Most HR tech documents skip that step — and pay for it during UAT.
The Role Nobody Budgets For — But Every HR Tech Transformation Quietly Needs
Not because the tool was bad. Not because the vendor failed. But because there was no one truly owning the thinking behind the transformation.
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 →