Ex-Workday CTO Joe Korngiebel takes over as Eightfold CEO

Eightfold has appointed Joe Korngiebel, former chief technology officer (CTO) at Workday, as its chief executive officer (CEO), as co-founder Ashutosh Garg steps down after a decade of building the talent intelligence company.

In an interview with UNLEASH, Korngiebel outlined his priorities for the next phase of Eightfold’s growth, emphasising customer value, faster execution and responsible AI adoption. Garg will remain on the company’s board and transition to the role of chairman.

Korngiebel brings nearly 30 years of experience in enterprise HR software, having held leadership roles at PeopleSoft, Workday and Dayforce. His appointment marks his first CEO position.

A leadership transition focused on scaling

Korngiebel’s experience spans several stages of enterprise HR technology development. He joined Workday as an early employee in 2006 and served as its CTO from 2017 to 2020. Most recently, he spent six years as chief strategy, product and technology officer at Dayforce.

His experience includes helping Dayforce expand beyond payroll and workforce management into the global human capital management (HCM) market.

Speaking to UNLEASH, Korngiebel described the current AI-driven shift as more significant than previous technology transitions involving cloud computing and mobile platforms.

He sees an opportunity for Eightfold to expand its role in enterprise technology by helping organisations use intelligence to inform talent decisions, rather than relying exclusively on traditional systems of record.

Customer value takes priority in the growth strategy

Korngiebel’s immediate focus is to lead Eightfold’s next phase of growth and innovation while working closely with customers. He identified the pace of change across sales, implementation and product development as a key challenge for the business.

In his interview with UNLEASH, he highlighted several priorities for the company:

• Faster execution: Aligning teams across the business to respond to changing customer needs and market developments.

• Customer-led innovation: Listening to employees, customers and partners before deciding where to direct investment.

• Focused investment: Identifying the areas where Eightfold can deliver the greatest value instead of spreading resources across too many initiatives.

• AI adoption in HR: Addressing questions around who will manage and direct the growing use of AI agents in human resources.

Korngiebel said he intends to listen to employees, customers and partners before making major decisions. He described customer-driven innovation as central to determining where the company should concentrate its efforts.

Fairness, security and transparency in AI

For HR buyers evaluating AI platforms, Korngiebel identified fairness, security and transparency as essential considerations.

He told UNLEASH that bias must be considered from the outset of AI development, rather than treated as an additional safeguard after a product has been built.

He also raised concerns about the integration of separately acquired tools, highlighting the challenge of providing customers with a unified platform they can trust.

On transparency, Korngiebel said Eightfold’s approach includes keeping humans overseeing AI systems, rather than relying solely on human involvement at selected stages. He said he examined this approach during his due diligence before accepting the CEO role.

What HR buyers can expect next

Korngiebel’s appointment places an experienced enterprise HR technology executive at the head of Eightfold as organisations assess how AI can support talent management and workforce decisions.

Over the next six months, he told UNLEASH, the company intends to maintain its focus on keeping pace with technological change while upholding fairness, security and transparency.

For HR buyers, the key consideration will be whether Eightfold can translate its AI capabilities into measurable customer value while maintaining the safeguards required for enterprise adoption. Korngiebel’s leadership will be tested by how effectively the company balances rapid growth with focused execution and customer trust.