My 5 Key Takeaways from UNLEASH 2025

My 5 Key Takeaways from UNLEASH 2025

Last week, I had the pleasure of spending a few days in beautiful Paris for UNLEASH 2025 — and what a blast it was.

First off: hats off to Marc Coleman and his team. They really delivered. The conference was absolutely worth the trip, and it was fantastic catching up with Marc after so many years.

When it comes to the current state of HR Tech (or WorkTech) in fall 2025, here’s what stood out to me:

1. Last year, agentic AI was mostly hype. Lots of talk, not much to see. This year, that’s changing — I saw plenty of demos showing agentic AI actually at work. Sure, most were still showcases rather than live customer implementations, but adoption is clearly on the horizon. I’m convinced we’ll see real, tangible cases by next year. (And if you’re already working on something in that space — let’s talk! I’m always on the lookout for real-world stories for SAATKORN.)
2. Of course, all this ties directly to the ongoing — and much-needed — transformation at the HR leadership level. HR executives need a much deeper understanding of technology. In my view, it’s the right mix of tech and mindset that will decide whether your HR strategy succeeds or fails.
3. Another highlight: the international HR startup scene is booming. I had great conversations with founders and teams from France, the UK, Israel, Iceland, Spain, Germany, and the US. So stay tuned — there’ll be lots of exciting interviews coming soon here on SAATKORN.
4. A few keynotes also caught my attention, predicting that HR and IT will increasingly merge in the future. That’s a fascinating idea, especially considering how differently these two worlds still operate today. It reminded me of my recent podcast episode with Christopher D’Arcy from E.ON — worth a listen if you haven’t tuned in yet.
5. And finally, it was just refreshing to step outside the sometimes frustrating German HR Tech bubble. UNLEASH proved there’s still a lot of business to be done — as long as you take a truly international view. That’s exactly why you’ll be seeing (and hearing) more English content from SAATKORN in the weeks ahead.

A huge thank-you to Georgios Markakis for the invitation to the Venero dinner on Monday night, and to Thomas Otter, Audrey Hamden, and Niclas Englert for Tuesday’s dinner. Both evenings were full of inspiring conversations, great food, and even better company.