Executive Vice President & CHRO, Netapp
Search every verified Alessandra Yockelson interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. At NetApp Insight 2024, Alessandra Yockelson, Executive Vice President and CHRO at NetApp, discussed the company's approach to integrating AI into human resources and talent management. Yockelson stated that NetApp has created centers of excellence for data management and AI, and that the leadership team has encouraged employees to experiment with large language models within the company network. She described initiatives such as using algorithms to match employee skills to job opportunities and prepopulating salary planning tools with employee data to augment manager decision-making and reduce bias. Yockelson also addressed the impact of AI on the workforce, saying NetApp has partnered with an external organization to categorize jobs based on how they will be augmented or replaced by technology, with the goal of upgrading affected employees to more meaningful work. She expressed the view that technology can bring more equity to hiring by focusing on skills rather than resumes or college education. Yockelson advised employees to be clear about the skills they want to develop and to make human connections to advance their careers.
“Data is key — we created centers of excellence for data management and data cleansing, built a better federation for the data, and expanded the scope of use cases so you can actually answer business questions with it.”
“We partnered as a leadership team to really lean forward — we're going to have large language models within the network of the company and encourage our employees to experiment and get better at prompting.”
“Employees will be able to upload their 360 feedback data and have an LLM help them understand what the data is telling them and, more importantly, give nudges on development actions that have been most effective for that specific gap.”
“For managers when they do salary planning the tools are prepopulated based on the entire story of that employee — we are not going to lead based on AI models, but it augments the intelligence of the leader and also reduces bias in these decisions.”
“Skills are the new currency — we have over 12,000 employees and each may carry hundreds or thousands of skills, so with algorithms we can matchmake skills to jobs and nudge employees toward career opportunities they might not otherwise consider.”
“I believe technology will actually bring more equity — we focus on skills at the skill level, not at the resume or college level, which helps expose and reduce human biases in hiring.”
“As a talent you're going to have to be more clear about what skills you want to add to your future — decide which kinds of companies have those skills to develop you and the culture you want, and then make human connections to get ahead.”
“We created a center of excellence for AI and a center of excellence for process, and we initiated grassroots initiatives for employees to experiment — leadership needs to show vulnerability, start small and evolve.”
“We partnered with an external organization to look at the work we do and categorize jobs — which will be augmented, which can get substantial productivity gains, and which should be replaced — and then upgrade those people to do more meaningful work.”
Alessandra Yockelson, CHRO, NetApp talks with Rebecca Knight and Rob Strechay at NetApp Insight 2024
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