OutSail x Leapsome: a conversation on global HR, AI, and building from the talent side

Our co-CEO Jenny Podewils joined Brett Ungashick, founder of Outsail, for a conversation about how Leapsome approaches the HR platform market, where AI truly changes workflows, and what it means to build a global system from the talent side first.

What Jenny and Brett discussed:

• Why starting from talent instead of admin changes the shape of an HR platform
• How AI reorganizes HR around workflows, not feature modules
• What truly global product design requires (hint: a lot more than translation)
• Why AI vendor philosophy matters more than AI feature checklists

Read Brett's full writeup on the OutSail blog. Below, we're sharing the highlights.

Starting from talent, not transactions

Most HR platforms started from the admin layer: employee records, payroll, approvals. Leapsome took the opposite path. Performance, engagement, feedback, and learning came first. HRIS was built around them, not the other way around.

That's the reason organizations like Bumble and Notion chose Leapsome. They wanted a system where the employee experience drives the architecture.

AI should compress workflows, not add features

Jenny talked about thinking in "jobs to be done" when it comes to AI. The goal isn't adding AI to existing modules. It's removing the manual synthesis that slows managers down, like pulling engagement data, review history, and goals from three different places just to prepare for one conversation.

The strongest AI use cases in HR help people prepare better and surface patterns earlier. The human judgment at the end stays the same.

Global product design goes deeper than localization

Leapsome's European roots created a different starting point from US-born platforms. Workflows like performance management vary across regions and cultures. A system that feels intuitive in one country can feel unnatural in another.

The hard part isn't supporting multiple countries technically. It's designing workflows that feel locally right while operating consistently across a global organization.

Vendor philosophy is the new buying criterion

Most vendors can now demonstrate AI capabilities. The real questions sit underneath: How aggressively does a vendor automate sensitive workflows? Where do humans stay involved? How thoughtfully does the company handle employee data?

Jenny explained that those questions are worth asking before a demo, not after.