Tools & Platforms
Why firms are merging HR and IT departments
Technology Reporter
Getty ImagesEven if you have never worked for a big company, you will probably have an idea what the HR and IT departments do.
Human resources (HR) deal with people, IT deal with the technology.
It might seem like an obvious management division, but some companies are merging the responsibility for those departments under one leader.
And a big part of that is to do with the introduction of AI.
Some 64% of senior IT decision makers at large companies expect their HR and IT functions to merge within five years, according to a survey by Nexthink, a firm that makes workplace software.
Tracey Franklin is the chief people and digital technology officer at biotech company Moderna, which has more than 5,000 employees.
“I am responsible for the entire HR function and the entire IT function,” she says.
“That’s both what you would think of as core IT for the company, as well as the digital technology required to do drug development, manufacturing and commercialisation.”
“Traditionally, HR departments would say, ‘we’re going to do workforce planning, so we’re going to count how many humans we need to get tasks done’. And then the IT team would take requests [for] the systems that we need,” she says.
In contrast, she thinks of her role as being an architect of how work is done.
“It’s [about] how work flows through the organisation, and what should be done with technology – whether that’s hardware or software or AI – and where you complement human skills around that.
MODernaModerna has a partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and has trained all employees in using it.
“We’re saying, ‘here are the tools to rewrite how work gets done,'” she explains. “Having employees learn how to learn, be masters of AI, and recreate their own workflows.”
Before taking on her current role in November 2024, Ms Franklin led HR at the company. She took some IT training for her new job, but she has two IT managers reporting to her.
“I don’t think the leader of this function has to be an expert in one area or the other, but what they have to do is set direction, provide vision, do capital allocation, remove obstacles, set culture, and do employee engagement,” she says.
Although the leadership structure has changed, the people within the HR and IT teams continue to do the work they are experts in. “I haven’t turned an HR person into an IT person or vice versa,” she says.
CovisianCovisian provides software and services for customer care. Most of the company’s 27,000 employees work in call centres, answering customer calls for Covisian’s clients.
The company merged its IT and HR teams in April 2023 under the leadership of Fabio Sattolo, chief people and technology officer. He was previously CTO.
“We’re talking about developing people on one side and developing IT on the other,” he says.
“If we bring these two together, we can have a common vision for how technology can have an impact on people and how people can adapt and evolve to leverage the new technology.”
One example is in the call centre, where AI will increasingly be used. People will still answer the calls and work out the customer’s problem, Mr Sattolo says, but they will then delegate the process for fixing it to AI.
“We are developing AI considering that a human agent will use it,” he says. “But you also need to develop the human agent to make sure that they are aware of how to use this technology.”
Previously, HR and IT departments might have butted heads over what HR wanted and what IT thought it could deliver.
Now, there is one decision-maker in charge. “The effectiveness and speed of developing things is much higher,” says Mr Sattolo.
If there are technical barriers, Mr Sattolo can often adapt the HR process as a workaround.
One success was an internal job postings tool, which gives call centre agents an opportunity to move into other roles in the company. The new tool, developed by the combined HR/IT organisation, doubled responses to job adverts.
“Making people speak the same language was the hardest part, because IT and HR people are really different,” Mr Sattolo says.
While HR people are good at listening, IT people aren’t always good at talking, he says. “I remember many meetings where I was asking the questions because they were not talking to each other.”
To help the HR and IT teams work together, he identified people who were not closely associated with either discipline to lead the multidisciplinary teams. “It’s like a judge who makes them negotiate to find the proper solution,” he says.
David D’Souza is director of profession at the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development.
He sounds a note of caution about the trend: “The skillsets of the two professions are complementary, and don’t have much overlap. Complex people issues require an understanding of organisational and situational factors, different to the specialist expertise required in IT.
“Greater collaboration between HR and IT makes sense, leaning into the strengths of each discipline, but merging the departments risks losing or diluting the specialist expertise organisations need to thrive.”
BunqBianca Zwart is chief strategy officer at online bank Bunq, where the IT and people team sit within the same bigger team.
She says it makes sense to have them together because both IT and HR are building systems that support the rest of the business.
Like many firms, Bunq is trying to work out how AI and humans will best work together.
They are betting that a good way to do that is to have IT and HR working closer together.
“In that sense, it’s like a natural merger.”
No one person is responsible for working out whether a task should be performed by a human or AI at Bunq.
The company aims to make its 700-plus people self-sufficient, building the automations and AI processes they need themselves.
Bunq is on track to automate 90% of its operations by the end of 2025, but has not made redundancies and continues to hire new employees.
“In any company, people need to understand that they need to work in a completely different way moving forward,” she says. “AI will be taking away the repetitive tasks so they can focus on the more complex problems.”
The agreement aims to support both nations in building a framework to regulate AI and space technologies, sectors that are playing an increasingly critical role in today’s economies and societies.
Somalia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have established a new collaboration framework aimed at strengthening cooperation in the regulation and development of artificial intelligence (AI) and space technologies. The agreement was formalised during discussions in Riyadh between Mustafa Yasin Sheikh, Director-General of Somalia’s National Communications Authority (NCA), and Haitham Alohaly, Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST), on the sidelines of the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR-25), according to a report by Space in Africa.
The talks focused on advancing regulatory frameworks, setting common standards and exploring joint opportunities in infrastructure for emerging technologies. The partnership seeks to create a cooperative system for overseeing the rapidly expanding AI and space sectors, particularly within developing economies.
As part of the agreement, Somalia and Saudi Arabia will work together on knowledge exchange, capacity building, and policy development to encourage innovation while ensuring responsible and ethical use of new technologies. A central goal is to design regulatory systems that both maximise societal benefits and address potential risks linked to AI and space projects. Officials also noted that the collaboration will examine opportunities for infrastructure sharing and broader digital cooperation, with the aim of driving faster technological progress in both nations.
London-based Nothing
closed $200 million in a Series C round at a $1.3 billion valuation. The
round was led by Tiger Global, with significant support from existing
shareholders GV, Highland Europe, EQT, Latitude, I2BF and Tapestry, alongside
new strategic backing from Nikhil Kamath and Qualcomm Ventures.
Nothing is a consumer
technology company building an AI-native platform where hardware and software
converge into a single, intelligent system. Starting with smartphones, audio
products, and smartwatches, and designed to extend across future form factors
like smart glasses, robotics, and EVs, Nothing leverages the smartphone’s
last-mile distribution and rich contextual signals to deliver deeply
personalised, context-aware experiences.
Underpinned by an
end-to-end value chain for speed, scale, and quality, the company pairs
award-winning design with a global manufacturing and supply network.
In four years, Nothing has
shipped millions of devices and crossed $1 billion in cumulative sales at the
start of 2025, growing 150 per cent in 2024. Its community-driven model and
go-to-market operations enable it to launch and support new hardware worldwide
within months, without the constraints typical of incumbents.
With this milestone, the
company is moving beyond a unique independent smartphone origin to building an
AI-native platform that unifies hardware and software into a single intelligent
system.
The next chapter focuses
on integrating AI across devices to reinvent how technology anticipates intent
and acts on users’ behalf. Alongside the Series C,
the company is preparing to launch a new community round, giving supporters
another opportunity to join Nothing’s journey.
Tools & Platforms
Google and California Community Colleges launch largest higher education AI partnership in the US, equipping millions of students with access to free training
In the largest higher education deal of its kind in the US, Google is investing in workforce development for the future, putting California’s community college students at the forefront of the AI-driven economy.
“This collaboration with Google is a monumental step forward for the California Community Colleges,” explains Don Daves-Rougeaux, Senior Advisor to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges on Workforce Development, Strategic Partnerships, and GenAI.
“Providing our students with access to world-class AI training and professional certificates ensures they have the skills necessary to thrive in high-growth industries and contribute to California’s economic prosperity. This partnership directly supports our Vision 2030 commitment to student success and workforce readiness. Additionally, offering access to AI tools with data protections and advanced functionality for free ensures that all learners have equitable access to the tools they need to leverage the skills they’re learning, and saves California’s community colleges millions of dollars in potential tool costs.”
All students, faculty, staff and classified professionals at the colleges will be able to access Gemini, Google’s generative AI tool, with data protections, to ensure they can safely use AI tools.
All students and faculty will also receive free access to Google Career Certificates, Google AI Essentials, and Prompting Essentials, providing practical training for in-demand jobs.
“Technology skills, especially in areas like artificial intelligence, are critical for the future workforce,” adds Bryan Lee, Vice President of Google for Education Go-to-Market. “We are thrilled to partner with the California Community Colleges, the nation’s largest higher education system, to bring valuable training and tools like Google Career Certificates, AI Essentials, and Gemini to millions of students. This collaboration underscores our commitment to creating economic opportunity for everyone.”
The ETIH Innovation Awards 2026
The EdTech Innovation Hub Awards celebrate excellence in global education technology, with a particular focus on workforce development, AI integration, and innovative learning solutions across all stages of education.
Now open for entries, the ETIH Innovation Awards 2026 recognize the companies, platforms, and individuals driving transformation in the sector, from AI-driven assessment tools and personalized learning systems, to upskilling solutions and digital platforms that connect learners with real-world outcomes.
Submissions are open to organizations across the UK, the Americas, and internationally. Entries should highlight measurable impact, whether in K–12 classrooms, higher education institutions, or lifelong learning settings.
Winners will be announced on 14 January 2026 as part of an online showcase featuring expert commentary on emerging trends and standout innovation. All winners and finalists will also be featured in our first print magazine, to be distributed at BETT 2026.
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