TecHR Interview with Dan Adika, CEO and Co-Founder of WalkMe

Tell us about your journey into enterprise technology? What inspired you to start WalkMe?

 Emerging technology – and its ability to transform the way we work and live – has been my passion for as long as I can remember, so it wasn’t a difficult decision to start my career as a software engineer at HP following my tenure with the Israel Defense Forces.

As an engineer – I realized that technology moves too fast for the skillset of the average worker – and that gap can be detrimental to innovation and progress for businesses. The WalkMe platform was built on the idea that employees will have to adopt new technology rapidly, be productive quickly and are the key facilitators of digital transformation.

The WalkMe Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) enables companies to realize the full value of their technology investments by driving digital adoption– it runs over enterprise software and gives end users on-screen prompts to automate and guide processes. We want digital experiences to be simple, seamless and efficient. WalkMe also gives businesses critical insight into engagement and usage for software – these analytics can greatly benefit HR teams that want to build a tech-first culture.

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How are enterprises reacting to the use of technology that enables, scales and optimizes HR business outcomes, according to you?

Digital transformation requires a shift in corporate culture and HR leaders play an important role in that process. Most workers expect that the convenience of the tech they use at home will carry over to work. They want it to be easy to manage HR processes – like benefits enrollment, training and performance reviews. 

Our enterprise customers want to make life easier for employees – they’ve been incredibly open to investing in HR tech. They are also looking for better workforce analytics and data – which is one of the major benefits of HCM tech. The companies that we work with are looking to drive adoption and usage of the platforms that they’re investing in – the best technology in the world is worthless if no one is using it. That’s where the WalkMe platform comes in.

How can businesses capitalize on HR Tech tools to foster a better working environment for employees?

 HR tech and software platforms alike are rapidly evolving to keep pace with the growing demands of the digital workforce and can reinvent how organizations engage with their employees. When a company adopts a software platform, like WalkMe’s DAP, businesses will uncover the many benefits of digital transformation. This ultimately leads to a happier and more productive workforce as a result of a simplified user experience.

Additionally, a big challenge for many businesses is staying relevant to the next generation of workers and creating a strong and attractive company culture. A rising Gen-Z and millennial workforce makes culture a critical differentiator – from development, employee engagement and productivity.

Creating a culture that engages and nurtures employees to perform at the highest levels requires technology. Regardless of industry type, HR tech platforms and SaaS platforms alike can help employers better reach out to employees, build meaningful relationships and improve training and learning.

Can you shed light on some of the most innovative ways in which WalkMe’s customers have used the platform to drive their business goals? (Please include customer case studies if possible)

 WalkMe works with 2000 customers – including 30% of the Fortune 500. A good example of how our tech works, is what we’ve done with LinkedIn.

Known as one of the world’s most forward-looking companies, LinkedIn made a significant investment in technology, including their HCM software and their homegrown sales insights software, to help its employees move faster and work smarter. However, their rapid growth meant that training, communication, and support for their employee technology was more important than ever. Based on increasing volume, LinkedIn partnered with WalkMe in 2016 to relieve overburdened trainers and support staff while saving the company money.

By enabling instant self-service support through WalkMe, LinkedIn is increasing employee productivity and keeping pace with both user needs and technology.

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What metrics and insights can HR professionals get from using WalkMe’s technology? In what areas would they be able to best demonstrate the business impact of the investment?

 Some of the data our customers find the most valuable are receiving employee insights on user session time and length on a particular platform and user flows within the application. These reports provide HR professionals with the important information they need to help understand how their employees engage with an application on a daily basis and how they can improve engagement with an existing solution to drive better results.

In your opinion, what are the top HR Tech Trends that will define 2020?

 In 2020, HR will continue its digital transformation journey.

We’ll continue to see how AI is molding the organizational landscape, especially as intelligent systems learn to adapt to users’ needs. Employees will no longer be required to learn new software and systems, as AI and automation learns more about our employees’ roles, behaviors and actions to personalize how we use HR and other business software.

Another trend we’ll see more of in 2020 is Robotic Process Automation (RPA). RPA is an emerging technology that’s set to transform business operations by automating mundane processes, which will help improve efficiencies that will lower labor costs and improve data quality.

What’s your favorite quote on employee engagement?

“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers,” by the well-known American Educator, Author and Businessman, Stephen R. Covey.

It should come as no surprise to business and HR leaders that happy employees make a positive difference when interacting with customers, and that an unhappy employee will not be motivated to work to their full potential. This quote also ties back to WalkMe’s mission – to make digital transformation for employees and customers simple, while increasing happiness and productivity.

Any parting thoughts you’d like to share with us?

Talent is our greatest asset – technology will never replace human capital. HR leaders need to think about how the workplace will evolve over the next decade, what skills employees will need and what it will take to keep workers happy and productive in the digital age.

All business leaders are challenged to take an employee-centric approach to digital transformation – HR plays an inextricable role in this.

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