Upcoming Events:
Webinar: Everyone’s an Analyst Now. Is Anybody Analyzing? | November 12, 2026 @ 1pm Eastern
Join WorkTango for Everyone’s an Analyst Now. Is Anybody Analyzing?, a webinar featuring 3Sixty Insights’ participation in a discussion about the growing role of data, analytics, and AI in business decision-making. As access to information becomes increasingly widespread, the conversation explores why critical thinking, business context, and human judgment remain essential to turning data into meaningful insights and better business outcomes.
Recent Research:
Analyst Insight: Takeaways From My Recent Webinar with Insperity
In this Analyst Insight, Dylan Teggart explores key takeaways from a webinar with Insperity, featuring research findings from a survey of 524 U.S. business leaders at organizations with 50 or more employees. Building on the report Why Half of Businesses Want to Invest in Service-Enabled HR That Actually Works, the article examines the challenges SMBs face in maximizing HR technology investments, including limited resources, underutilized platforms, insufficient vendor support, and a lack of executive alignment. Drawing on webinar discussions and practitioner perspectives, the analysis highlights the importance of vendor partnerships, continuous technology optimization, and positioning HR technology as a strategic decision-making tool rather than simply a system of record.
ZoomInfo has launched Talent Autopilot, an AI recruiting agent that combines natural-language candidate discovery with ZoomInfo’s extensive business and contact data to help recruiters identify qualified candidates who may be missed by traditional keyword and title-based searches. The Market Alert examines ZoomInfo’s emphasis on verified data, its integration with ATS, Gmail, and Outlook workflows, its role-based pricing model, and the broader implications of applying a sales and marketing data foundation to talent acquisition. While the approach addresses real challenges around candidate discovery and data quality, 3Sixty Insights highlights the need for buyers to validate how accurately the underlying data performs in recruiting, whether the agent consistently surfaces relevant candidates, and whether the pricing and productivity benefits hold up as adoption scales.
Market Alert: Paychex Brings Agentic AI to Small Business Recruiting with WISE Hire
Paychex has introduced WISE Hire, an agentic AI recruiting solution built on the technology acquired from Wizehire, bringing candidate sourcing, screening, coordination, and scheduling into its broader WISE AI platform. The move represents a strategic shift from Paychex’s earlier partner-powered Recruiting Copilot to an owned recruiting capability designed specifically for small and midsize businesses, combining AI-driven automation with human hiring coaches and employer oversight. Beyond improving recruiting efficiency, WISE Hire gives Paychex a standalone entry point into businesses at the moment they begin hiring, while expanding its AI capabilities across its micro-business, small business, and midmarket customer base. The Market Alert examines the acquisition, Paychex’s “4x faster” performance claim, the implications of its human-in-the-loop approach, and the key questions buyers should consider around AI governance, candidate matching, compliance, and the transition from Recruiting Copilot.
Recent Articles:
This article examines two growing challenges in the HCM and enterprise technology markets: marketing messages that outpace buyer understanding and increasing commoditization as software vendors expand their platforms and capabilities. Drawing on observations from HR Tech 2026, Nicholas Biron explores how vendors can strengthen differentiation by focusing on specific industries, workforce segments, and customer service experiences, using Harri, UKG, and Insperity as examples. The article emphasizes the importance of connecting technical innovation to business outcomes and clearly communicating whom a solution serves best.
Dylan Teggart on HR Tech 2026: HR Tech Trends – Moving Beyond AI Hype to Real Business Value
In his HR Tech 2026 wrap-up, Dylan Teggart reflects on conversations with more than 20 vendors, highlighting a shift toward greater curiosity, more meaningful analyst engagement, and renewed focus on customer needs. From the growing pressure to demonstrate AI ROI to the challenges of governance, data readiness, outcome-based pricing, and AI token costs, Dylan explores an industry at a turning point, emphasizing the need to move beyond technology buzzwords and deliver practical business value.
Nicole Roberts on HR Tech 2026: Bridging the Gap Between AI Innovation and Real-World Results
In this recap of HR Tech 2026, 3Sixty Insights Analyst Nicole Roberts explores the gap between AI innovation and the practical challenges HR teams face every day. Drawing on three days of vendor briefings and industry conversations, she highlights the importance of addressing operational needs, closing the AI literacy gap, keeping human expertise central, and connecting with existing systems. Nicole also examines the growing emphasis on skills validation, data readiness, and outcome-based pricing, arguing that vendors should move beyond promises of outcomes and demonstrate measurable results that customers can substantiate.
Lance Haun on HR Tech 2026: 7 Answers From 36 Hours at HR Tech 2026
Ten vendor meetings at HR Tech 2026 showed where AI agents are in production, what stalls deployments, and what HR buyers need from vendors.
SAP’s TechWolf Deal Gives SuccessFactors the Data Layer It Lacked
SAP’s acquisition of TechWolf gives SuccessFactors a deeper skills and work intelligence layer that could strengthen SAP’s broader HR data and AI strategy. TechWolf’s ability to infer employee skills and tasks from the systems where people actually work complements SAP’s investments in recruiting, process intelligence, and data infrastructure, while providing a foundation for more context-aware workforce agents and planning. The deal also highlights SAP’s improved approach to integrating acquisitions, although questions remain about how TechWolf’s independence, integrations, pricing, and roadmap will evolve for Workday, Oracle, and other non-SAP customers.
Dylan Teggart, an analyst at 3Sixty Insights, draws four HCM industry trends from a survey of 524 U.S. business leaders conducted with Insperity, in which 49% said they would pay more for a platform with better human-led support. First, the push toward AI-only self-service is opening a gap for service-enabled providers, since some buyers switched vendors after losing dedicated human support. Second, service is becoming the differentiator as feature sets converge: 62% said support is critical to how well they use their system, though only 7% actively plan to switch. Third, implementation deserves proper funding, because 87% felt underserved by their HCM platforms and only 37% said their systems do what was intended, yet C-suite buyers ranked a dedicated implementation team lowest while managers ranked it highest. Fourth, compliance is shifting from a feature to a liability, as it was the top reason buyers switch vendors (52%). Teggart concludes that providers combining reliable technology with proactive, knowledgeable support will be best placed to win loyalty.
In “4 Big Questions at HR Tech,” published October 20, 2026, 3Sixty Insights analyst Lance Haun lays out the four questions he planned to press vendors on at HR Tech in Las Vegas, with the Hunter S. Thompson comparison as a playful frame. First, where AI agents are handling real HR work rather than just stage demos, and whether the fight is really over who owns the chat interface employees now use instead of portals. Second, whether companies are building talent or simply buying and cutting it, given his skepticism that AI is the true driver of layoffs and data suggesting many cuts get reversed. Third, how recruiters can verify that candidates and the data about them are real as AI makes fake applications nearly free. Fourth, who owns pay decisions now that transparency laws push ranges into job postings. The piece is a short, opinionated set of questions rather than a report of findings.
Why B2B Software Vendors Are Losing Deals Despite AI Innovation
Despite rapid advances in AI, automation, and software capabilities, B2B technology vendors are struggling to differentiate themselves, shorten sales cycles, and win deals. In this article, Nicholas Biron examines why similar product messaging, feature-focused sales approaches, and an overreliance on technology are making it harder for buyers to identify the right solutions. Drawing on his experience and conversations with buyers at 3Sixty Insights, he explores why sales execution, buyer education, and the quality of the customer experience often matter more than technology alone. He also outlines how vendors can stand out by clearly communicating their differentiation, connecting solutions to measurable business results, and building the human relationships that earn buyer trust and strengthen customer retention.
Council Guest Post: When HR Tech Becomes Business Tech, What Makes You Different?
This Council Guest Post explores how the expansion of HR technology into Finance, IT, workforce management, and broader business functions is changing the competitive landscape. As software platforms increasingly offer similar combinations of capabilities, simply adding products or promoting an “all-in-one” platform is no longer enough to differentiate. The piece examines why HR tech companies need a clear center of gravity, a compelling reason for their products to work together, and sharper positioning that communicates the unique value they bring to buyers as HR tech increasingly becomes business tech.
UNLEASH asked four HR analysts whether screening out candidates for not knowing unwritten rules selects for capability or for privilege-based social conditioning, and they largely agreed it measures familiarity rather than ability. The standout contribution came from Nicole Roberts of 3Sixty Insights, who used the example of an interviewer doubting a qualified, prepared candidate because they brought an iced coffee. She argued the doubt says more about the meaning the interviewer assigned than about the candidate, and that treating neutral behaviors as markers of “professionalism” turns hiring into a test of learned corporate conditioning that isn’t evenly accessible. Her advice is not to drop standards but to examine them: state expectations that matter, assess real capabilities like judgment and communication directly, and avoid letting unwritten preferences become hidden hiring criteria.
This HR Dive article examines what high-performing businesses do differently with human capital management, emphasizing that successful HCM strategies extend beyond selecting and implementing technology. Drawing on research from 3Sixty Insights, it highlights the importance of ongoing provider support, continuous optimization, compliance guidance, education, and human expertise to help organizations maximize their HCM investments and adapt as business needs evolve.
Reworked Article: Why Managers Can’t Tell AI Skill From an AI Shortcut
In his Reworked article, “Why Managers Can’t Tell AI Skill From an AI Shortcut,” 3Sixty Insights Principal Analyst Lance Haun explores the growing challenge managers face in distinguishing meaningful AI fluency from simply relying on AI to do the work. Drawing on research into how employees use AI, Lance examines the differences between workers who use AI to amplify their capabilities and those who delegate or superficially interact with AI-generated output. The article argues that as AI becomes increasingly embedded in everyday work, managers need to look beyond the finished product and pay closer attention to the judgment, reasoning, and human oversight behind it.
Reworked Article: HR Tech Vendors May Be Right About AI Agents, but Buyers Don’t Trust Them Yet
In this Reworked article, Lance Haun examines the disconnect between HR technology vendors’ ambitious promises for AI agents and buyers’ current priorities and readiness for adoption. Drawing on conversations with HR leaders at Workday Rising and HR Tech 2026, Haun highlights the practical challenges organizations are addressing, including data quality, system integration, administrative errors, and recruiting efficiency. While AI agents can deliver measurable improvements, successful adoption depends on solving specific business problems, preparing employees for changes in workflows, and demonstrating tangible results. The article argues that vendors must move beyond sweeping transformation narratives and rebuild buyer trust through practical solutions that deliver proven value.
Recent Videos:
Video: Why B2B Software Vendors Are Struggling – The Marketing and Sales Mistakes Costing You Deals
In this video, Nicholas Biron explores why B2B software vendors are struggling with longer sales cycles, declining lead generation, and more deals lost to no decision despite continued investment in AI and software innovation. He examines how increasingly similar marketing messages and feature-focused sales approaches make it harder for buyers to differentiate solutions, emphasizing the importance of returning to the fundamentals of educational content, buyer-focused marketing, consultative selling, and strong customer service and success. Drawing on lessons from HubSpot and conversations with software buyers, Nick shares practical recommendations for vendors looking to differentiate their offerings, build stronger customer relationships, and drive measurable business results.