Artificial intelligence in HR

Let’s talk about transformation

Stéphane Courgeon, journalist: « Hello, today we are in Paris, just a few steps away from Place de l’Etoile. Welcome to an enhanced company. The Human Resources consultancy firm Lorenz & Hamilton launched a solution on the market in 2019 which is revolutionizing the executive recruitment process. It is based on artificial intelligence which analyzes the digital trace left on-line by candidates. To put it another way, consultants used to need weeks to shortlist various profiles, and now algorithms can do the job in just a few seconds.

Six years of research were necessary to perfect Cérébra artificial intelligence, which was developed by a subsidiary of group, LittleBigJob, in partnership with a renowned Canadian laboratory. But how and why have Lorenz & Hamilton undertaken this technological shift? I am about to put this very question to Ludovic Bourg, the group’s Chairman and Founder. »

At Lorenz & Hamilton’s offices

SC: « Hello Ludovic! »

Ludovic Bourg: « Hello Stéphane! ».

SC: « Thank you for welcoming us into your offices at Lorenz & Hamilton. Just to begin, could you give a few words about your company’s business? ».

LB: « Lorenz & Hamilton is a Human Resources consultancy firm with two main lines of business:

• An executive department: we deal with specialized brands for market segments and provide head-hunting, outplacement, change management and coaching.
• And we also have a data and information system department, mainly targeting Human Resources ».

And what about business transformation?

SC: « When you come from a traditional sector, how can you call upon artificial intelligence for development? ».

LB: « As from the beginning of the 2010s, we began to observe data emergence. There is a wealth of it, everywhere, particularly the emergence of social media networks, particularly business ones, and this data becomes plentiful, fast and interesting, and we see how we can use it, collect it and analyze it. Will using it enable us to change something in the way we operate, at the stage of looking for candidates or of advising personnel and Management? So there you have it, data emergence is what interests us most ».

SC: « How are you selling Cérébra today? ».

LB: « Cérébra is sold mainly on-line, it is a platform. We have two types of customer: corporates and consultancies. You take out a subscription and then it is very simple, a child could do it: you share a job profile, you tell Cérébra: « here is the profile I am looking for », you enter the job profile, then you click on a button, and Cérébra immediately presents you with the 20 people you should reach out to to be able to make progress on the position and your assignment  ».

SC: « At the end of the day, what impact has this had on your consultants? »

LB: « Overall, our consultants manage their time. This means that they allocate time to identifying candidates, to assessing them and to helping them. As they go from a few weeks to a few seconds for the identification stage, they have a lot more time for working closely with candidates and the company managers we are advising.
The issue with the wealth of knowledge is the issue of too much information! And you need tools to help you deal with too much information. So, using what we are doing with our data algorithms also means giving consultants new leads for candidates! To illustrate, a human brain now can’t process this because the mass of information is too big  ».

And for the future?

SC: « Is the business model that we are talking about, and which has evolved, finished with today? Has it been defined? Or is it leading to another development to come in the future? »

LB: « I don’t know if any manager could say that his business model has stopped. I think that our business model... we have arrived at a point where we have something formalized and balanced. It will have to continue to evolve, if only because AI and the work we are carrying out on information from here and data from there means that we are discovering new topics. We have worked on sourcing phases and we are working on predictive success phases for a hire. If we manage to predict the probability of success in a job, that will also change the way we source ».

SC: « You have received the support from Crédit Mutuel Equity as well as its subsidiary Crédit Mutuel Innovation. What should one expect from a partner when one is making a technological shift like the one you have made? ».

LB:

• « Sharing a vision: you have to share the vision concerning the change in business, and this is a business that was traditionally based on firmly established processes. In fact, this vision leads to a long-term transformation of its lines of business, particularly because of the use of technology ».
• « And you have to be daring: because it has to be said that investing in our holding and investing by way of Crédit Mutuel Innovation in our LittleBigJob subsidiary, really is a courageous act for an investment fund ».

Any advice?

SC: « I might have one more question: what advice would you give to a manager wanting to start using new technology like you have done? »

LB: « I would sum up my advice in one phrase: being in the right place at the right time. You have to increase your knowledge with different lines of research, look around to see what is happening in other areas of research, and in other scientific areas, and adapt it to your own business, and that’s where you will discover major innovations. Overall, being in the right place at the right time is the best way to lead innovating actions ».

SC: « Thank you very much Ludovic ».

LB: « Thank YOU Stéphane ».