Top Takeaways From Outsmart Local NYC 2024: ‘Gain a Workforce AI Edge’
Read key takeaways from Outsmart Local NYC 2024, where HR leaders explored AI’s transformative impact on people analytics, workforce strategy, and more.
This year, Outsmart Local NYC returned to The William Vale in Brooklyn, bringing together HR leaders, people analytics practitioners, and innovators for a dynamic day of insights and collaboration. Attendees explored how people analytics and AI are revolutionizing the way organizations operate.
The event’s theme, “Gain a Workforce AI Edge,” highlighted the profound shifts HR leaders must navigate as AI reshapes the workforce and HR function—while becoming an increasingly critical component of workforce strategy. The sessions emphasized the urgent need for a data-driven HR upgrade to accelerate business performance. Throughout the day, participants shared actionable strategies for scaling analytics adoption with generative AI, uncovering the key drivers of analytics maturity, and driving measurable business impact.
Key themes from Outsmart Local NYC 2024
1. As AI rapidly reshapes the workforce, HR has a major role to play
AI is redefining roles, workflows, and organizational dynamics at an unprecedented pace. Its integration represents one of the largest HR-driven change management initiatives in decades. HR and people analytics teams are uniquely positioned to lead the adoption of AI across the organization, defining goals and delivering successful outcomes.
To succeed, organizations must combine people data with work data—like finance, customer service, and sales metrics. With access to comprehensive data-driven insights, leaders can answer critical workforce questions, understand how people impact business outcomes, use AI and automation to boost productivity, and continuously adapt and optimize their workforce in the AI era.
2. Innovation at the intersection of people analytics and AI
Discussions throughout the day underscored AI’s transformative role in democratizing access to data and driving actionable insights across organizations. Customers highlighted how Visier’s generative AI assistant, Vee, is enabling widespread data adoption, making insights more accessible and actionable. The importance of using AI to address real business challenges emerged as a central theme, with participants emphasizing practicality and relevance as key success factors.
3. Elevating people analytics to the C-suite
The AI era demands that people analytics be a strategic priority for the C-suite. Aligning analytics with pressing business challenges—such as navigating crises or identifying growth opportunities—is essential to building trust and credibility with senior leaders. By presenting actionable insights, benchmarking against peers, and tracking progress over time, analytics teams can ensure their work remains top-of-mind for executives. Consistently reporting on a few high-impact metrics reinforces people analytics as a vital tool for shaping strategy and driving systemic change.
Mainstage keynote highlights people analytics in the age of AI
Kathi Enderes and Stella Ioannidou of The Josh Bersin Company opened the day with groundbreaking new research on the connection between people analytics maturity and business success. Based on a 2024 research survey of more than 450 companies worldwide, their research revealed that organizations with advanced people analytics practices significantly outperform less mature counterparts across financial, business, talent, and innovation metrics.
Key findings showed that organizations excelling in people analytics achieve better outcomes by practicing ethical and transparent HR data management, fostering collaboration between people analytics teams and CHROs, and delivering tailored, strategic recommendations to business units.
As companies mature into systemic business analytics, their focus evolves from measuring HR efficiency to solving key business problems. Enderes and Ioannidou also highlighted the importance of fostering a business mindset among HR and analytics professionals, integrating data across silos, and leveraging generative AI-powered tools to drive impactful insights. Organizations embracing these strategies are redefining HR’s role and positioning people analytics as a core driver of business performance.
Download the full global industry report, “The Definitive Guide to People Analytics,” to read the findings and access the Systemic Business Analytics Maturity Model.
What’s now, what’s new, what’s next in Visier’s product
Visier’s Chief Product Officer, Keith Bigelow, took the stage to showcase current and upcoming capabilities designed to help organizations gain a Workforce AI Edge. Visier’s Chief Product Officer, Keith Bigelow, took the stage to showcase current and planned product capabilities designed to help organizations gain a Workforce AI Edge. He shared "what's now and what's next" for Visier People®, Visier People Extend, and Visier’s expanded AI portfolio. Bigelow emphasized how Visier’s best-in-class people analytics and Real-time People Data Platform empower HR leaders with AI-driven insights that drive strategic, impactful decision-making.
He outlined how Visier equips HR and people analytics teams to:
Answer critical workforce questions in real-time, delivering insights that influence key decisions directly in the flow of work.
Connect HR data to core business metrics—spanning sales, service, and finance—to uncover and demonstrate the workforce's direct impact on business outcomes.
Boost productivity and efficiency through the use of AI and automation, enabling teams to continuously adapt and optimize in an AI-driven economy.
The HR Trends Battle Royale
The HR Trends Battle Royale offered an exciting conclusion to the day, as attendees voted on the trends that should dominate HR agendas in 2025. The lively debate explored bold ideas such as building skills-based talent models, creating a boundaryless workforce, and linking DEI efforts to sustainability.
Winner: Get HR Using AI
The winning trend, “Get HR Using AI,” underscored the growing recognition of AI as a business enabler rather than just an HR tool. By leveraging AI, HR leaders can connect workforce insights to business outcomes, enhance their strategic impact, and position HR as a key driver of innovation in the evolving workplace.
Save the date for Outsmart 2025
Mark your calendars! Outsmart 2025 will be live in Austin, Texas, from April 15–17, 2025. Join more than 400 HR and people analytics leaders for an unforgettable experience, featuring renowned thought leaders, hands-on workshops, and networking opportunities with like-minded innovators. Save your spot today!
Explore more resources about the AI-driven workforce
The Workforce AI Edge is a set of AI-powered capabilities every leader needs to navigate an increasingly complex business environment. Learn more here.
Visier’s 2025 Workforce Trends Report is out now! Discover tools and strategies to lead your organization into an AI-enabled future. Read the report now.
Access the keynote research: Download The Definitive Guide to People Analytics to access findings from the keynote, as well as the Systemic Business Analytics Maturity Model. Get it for free.
How to scale your people decisions: Learn how real-time people analytics enable organizations to stay agile and thrive in the future of work. Get the guide.
