A conversation between HR strategist Hein Knaapen and Daniela Seabrook, Chief HR Officer at Adecco Group
In an era when artificial intelligence is reshaping the workplace landscape, few leaders are better positioned to discuss the intersection of human capital and technology than Daniela Seabrook. As Chief HR Officer of Adecco Group, a global talent and technology company serving 180,000 people across multiple business units, Seabrook brings unique insights from her experience leading HR transformation at Phillips, Syngenta, and Straumann Group.
The Strategic Power of Human-Digital Workforce Integration
Adecco Group's strategic initiatives exemplify the future of workforce solutions. In March 2025, the company launched r.Potential, a new enterprise intelligence company backed by investments from both Adecco Group and Salesforce. r.Potential, led by CEO Greg Shewmaker (formerly Adecco's Senior Vice President of Global Operations and AI), entered into a strategic partnership with Salesforce to leverage Salesforce's core platform and Agentforce—the digital labour platform designed to augment teams with trusted autonomous AI agents (read Adecco Group’s press release).
"We have the strengths in human workforce. We really understand human workforces around the world," Seabrook explains.
"Salesforce brings this strength in terms of technology, particularly in the digital workforce. Combining this into a powerful integrated workforce of the future—this is what the partnership is about."
This strategic move positions Adecco Group not just as a staffing company, but as a comprehensive talent and technology organization encompassing traditional staffing (Adecco), career transition and leadership development (LHH), and technology consulting (Akkodis).
AI's Disruptive Reality and Competitive Advantage
Seabrook doesn't mince words about AI's impact: "AI will disrupt the labor market. It will disrupt our industry. It's disrupting our industry. It will disrupt how we work and collaborate. It will disrupt the workforce in the world. That's a fact."
However, she views this disruption as an opportunity rather than a threat. Organizations that embrace adaptability will emerge stronger, while AI will create new roles even as it eliminates others. The key lies in strategic implementation—investing AI resources where they can deliver the greatest business impact rather than simply automating routine tasks.
From a practical standpoint, AI is already transforming recruitment processes through enhanced job description creation, improved candidate matching, and streamlined selection processes. The technology can process vast amounts of data to deliver higher-quality matches between candidates and roles, while AI agents can handle much of the preliminary work, freeing human recruiters to focus on relationship building and strategic decision-making.
The Foundation Challenge: Building Infrastructure for Growth
Despite Adecco Group's global scale, Seabrook acknowledges a critical challenge many large organizations face: the need to consolidate and standardize foundational HR processes. The company's historically local approach, while a strength in client relationships, has created inconsistencies in HR practices across regions.
"We still have a lot of different approaches, different processes to the same HR practice,"
Seabrook notes. The organization is actively consolidating technology platforms and standardizing key processes like onboarding, job architecture, and performance management—essential groundwork for effectively leveraging AI and other advanced technologies.
The Overlooked Power of Frontline Leadership
Both speakers emphasized a frequently overlooked truth in organizational development: the disproportionate impact of frontline managers. With approximately 80% of employees reporting to first-line managers, investing in their capabilities delivers enormous returns.
"You would rather invest in the skills and competencies of your first-line managers than in many other programs because the payoff of a well-equipped frontline manager is enormous," Knaapen observes.
This insight resonates particularly strongly in service organizations like Adecco Group, where frontline leaders must inspire performance, drive sales results, and maintain client relationships while managing diverse teams.
Seabrook confirms this priority, noting that Adecco Group has approximately 7,000 people leaders—10% of their workforce—who have outsized influence on organizational performance. The company has developed specialized leadership programs for different segments, including specific approaches for their technology consultants who require different leadership skills for project-based work.
Cultural Strengths That Drive Performance
When asked to identify Adecco Group's core cultural strengths, Seabrook highlights two distinctive elements that differentiate the organization:
• People Orientation with Emotional Intelligence: "The care for the people, the collaboration, the willingness to help each other—the care, the empathy, the warmth. That is a core element because we really are a people business." This emotional culture creates powerful connections that drive engagement and performance.
• Purpose-Driven Mission: The company's purpose—"making the Future work for everyone"—resonates deeply with employees who see their work as fundamentally impactful. "It is about connecting people to work, impacting the life of millions of people every day," Seabrook explains. This purpose drives both recruitment and retention in an organization that serves as a bridge between talent and opportunity.
Industry Dynamics: Speed vs. Strategic Planning
Seabrook's transition from the life sciences industry to staffing revealed interesting cultural contrasts. Due to regulatory requirements and product development timelines, life sciences companies typically operate on longer business cycles, fostering cultures of deliberate planning and innovation.
The staffing industry operates differently, requiring immediate responsiveness to client needs and economic shifts. "We need to act immediately," Seabrook notes. "We can deliver results very quickly tomorrow. We need to deliver people to a client." This creates a culture of agility and short-term focus, though Seabrook acknowledges the need to balance rapid response with strategic long-term planning.
HR's Strategic Value Creation
The discussion culminated in a clear articulation of HR's role in driving organizational performance. Rather than being relegated to administrative functions, HR creates value by ensuring the right people with appropriate skills and mindsets are positioned to deliver business results.
"People are at the core of everything we do, and ensuring we have people with the right skills in the right places—that is where HR adds the most important value we can,"
Seabrook emphasizes creating environments where people feel empowered, motivated, and capable of growth while maintaining clear accountability for results.
The conversation also touched on the importance of preventing business leaders from abdicating their people management responsibilities to HR, ensuring that people leadership remains a core competency throughout the organization rather than being siloed within the HR function.
Looking Forward: The Integrated Workforce Future
As organizations navigate the intersection of human and digital workforces, leaders like Seabrook are pioneering approaches that leverage technology while maintaining the human connections that drive engagement and performance. The key lies not in choosing between human and digital capabilities, but in creating integrated solutions that amplify the strengths of both.
For HR leaders, this transformation requires building solid foundational processes, investing in frontline leadership capabilities, and maintaining cultures that value innovation and human connection. Organizations that master this balance will be well-positioned to thrive in an increasingly AI-augmented workplace.
This summary is based on the webinar conversation between Hein Knaapen and Daniela Seabrook, Chief HR Officer at Adecco Group. The full discussion covered additional topics, including supply chain thinking in talent management, cultural differences across industries, and specific AI applications in recruitment and employee services.
Listen to the full conversation for practical insights on linking talent to value creation and leading HR through exponential change.
For more insights on aligning talent with value creation, download our Talent to Value paper using the QR code at the end of the video.
