Highlights:

  • UKG claimed it utilizes Google’s large language models to develop conversational and unified search AI products.
  • As a result of its close relationship with Google Cloud since 2016, UKG found it simple to choose the firm as its AI partner.

Ultimate Kronos Group Inc., a provider of human capital management (HCM) software, announced integrating Google Cloud’s generative AI to enhance the company’s ways of making business decisions.

UKG is the creator of a cloud-based human capital management software platform offering payroll, workforce planning, learning and onboarding, talent management, workforce management, and analytics features.

UKG claimed it is utilizing Google’s large language models to develop conversational AI and unified search AI applications. The company believes that by combining Google’s LLMs with the confidential data on its platform, it will be able to create conversational interactions within its HCM platform, add business insights to employee requests, and give people managers a better understanding of how their decisions affect employee engagement.

Hugo Sarrazin, Chief Product and Technology Officer at UKG, described generative AI as a “tremendously powerful” tool that has the ability to improve decision-making and boost productivity among managers and staff.

Since the partnership is still in its early stages, UKG didn’t reveal any specific new generative AI-based features in the platform. But Sarrazin reported that its HCM solutions will now have more conversational interactions. According to him, generative AI will also empower people managers with a greater comprehension of how business decisions can affect employee engagement and augment employee demands with more pertinent business insights.

“We are focused on bringing together operations and culture to help organizations unlock the full potential of both their people and their businesses. Generative AI is poised to be a generational breakthrough,” Sarrazin added.

The collaboration is also a significant cutomer win for Google Cloud, which in the early stages of the generative AI race, had to settle for second fiddle to its main rivals, OpenAI LP and Microsoft Corp.

Because of the technology’s singular capacity to produce fresh content based on straightforward word inputs, chatbots that can hold conversations, compose emails, produce code, and create artwork have become a hot topic. The operation of traditional AI, which can simply analyze and categorize data, differs from this.

Numerous businesses have sought to connect with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which was the early pioneer in generative AI. UKG thinks that Google’s generative AI and large language models made available through the Vertex AI platform have the potential to be just as effective.

Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud Chief Executive, said, “Our partnership to bring generative AI to more businesses will help build great, technology-forward workplaces and ensure that teams have access to the leading technology they want to engage with every day.”

As a result of its close relationship with Google Cloud since 2016, UKG found it simple to choose the firm as its AI partner. It uses Google’s security services as well as the infrastructure and data platforms from Google Cloud to power its whole HCM suite.

Although no specifics have been made public to date, according to Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc., the news is crucial because customers desire generative AI capabilities and want a mechanism to identify the “leaders” and the “followers” in a particular field.

“Followers will say they have been doing AI for a long time, but they won’t offer any specific dates for generative AI. Whereas the leaders partner with cloud providers that have LLM capabilities and deliver. So the leaders are on the public cloud already. That’s important because generative AI needs to live in the cloud,” added Mueller.

To make it simpler for Google’s current clients to learn more about its solutions, UKG’s HCM platform is now accessible through the Google Cloud Marketplace.