Host Leah Cottham talks with William Tincup, Editor, Analyst, and Advisor at WRKdefined, about what really happens when global remote teams try to buy and adopt HR tech. William brings 25 years of experience as an outsider to the HR world, which gives him a sharp eye for the gap between a dazzling demo and software people actually use.

The conversation covers why practitioners need to ask if a tool solves a real problem before they get sold on it, and why adoption is only a midway step toward getting people to love business critical software. William explains why payroll and compliance have no room for error with distributed teams, how to triple your implementation timeline for a realistic launch, and what he looks for in acquisitions long after the deal closes. He also shares practical advice for HR and TA leaders evaluating vendors, from viewing live software to talking with customers who are just like you.

Key topics covered:

[00:00] Intro

[00:49] Calling out the BS in HR tech

[03:17] Why outsiders question the establishment

[04:41] Where marketing and HR overlap

[07:16] How Covid sped up remote work

[09:02] The gap between demos and adoption

[11:36] Building products from customer feedback

[14:17] Why every software change disrupts users

[17:58] Adoption isn’t the goal, love is

[18:20] Triple your implementation timelines

[23:52] Why payroll has zero margin for error

[30:04] What makes companies worth buying

[33:57] Startups are bands that clash

[36:31] Spotting customer concentration risk

[39:09] How to evaluate vendors before scaling

[47:53] Actionable AI and the future of work

[51:46] Getting comfortable with failure

Listen now to learn how to choose HR tech that survives contact with reality.