Human capital management software provider Ultimate Kronos Group Inc. said today it’s tapping into Google Cloud’s generative artificial intelligence offerings to transform the decision-making process for business leaders.

UKG sells a cloud-based human capital management software platform that offers payroll, talent management, learning and onboarding, workforce management, workforce planning and analytics capabilities.

The company explained that it’s using Google’s large language models to create applications for unified search AI and conversational AI. It reckons that by combining Google’s LLMs with the proprietary data within its platform, it can develop conversational interactions within its HCM platform, augment employee requests with business insights and support people managers with greater understanding of how their decisions impact employee engagement.

UKG Chief Product and Technology Officer Hugo Sarrazin said generative AI is a “tremendously powerful” technology that has the potential to help business leaders and employees make smarter decisions and become more productive.

It’s still early days in the partnership, so UKG didn’t announce any specific new generative AI-powered capabilities in its platform. But Sarrazin told SiliconANGLE that users can expect to see more conversational interactions with its HCM solutions. Generative AI will also help to augment employee requests with more relevant business insights, and support people managers with a deeper understanding of how business decisions can impact employee engagement, he explained.

“We are focused on bringing together operations and culture to help organizations unlock the full potential of both their people and their businesses,” Sarrazin added. “Generative AI is poised to be a generational breakthrough.”

The partnership is an important customer win for Google Cloud too, as the company has had to make do with playing second fiddle to its chief rivals OpenAI LP and Microsoft Corp. in the early days of the generative AI race.

The technology has become a flashpoint because of its unique ability to generate new content based on simple text inputs, resulting in chatbots that can hold conversations, draft emails, generate code and create artwork. This differs from how traditional AI works, which can only analyze and categorize data.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT was the early trail-blazer in generative AI and there has been no end of companies looking to integrate with that offering. However, UKG believes that Google’s generative AI and large language models, offered through the Vertex AI platform, can be every bit as powerful.

“Our partnership to bring generative AI to more businesses will help build great, technology-forward workplaces and ensure that teams have access to the leading technology they want to engage with every day,” said Google Cloud Chief Executive Thomas Kurian.

For UKG, selecting Google Cloud as its AI partner was an easy choice, as it has benefited from a close collaboration with the company since 2016. Its entire HCM suite runs on Google Cloud’s infrastructure and data platforms, and it also makes use of Google’s security offerings.

Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. said that while no specifics have been announced thus far, the announcement is important because buyers want generative AI capabilities and need a way to understand who the “leaders” and the “followers” are.

“Followers will say they have been doing AI for a long time, but they won’t offer any specific dates for generative AI,” Mueller said. “Whereas the leaders partner with cloud providers that have LLM capabilities and deliver. So the leaders are on the public cloud already. That’s important because generative AI needs to live in the cloud.”

As of today, UKG’s HCM platform is also now available in the Google Cloud Marketplace, making it easier for Google’s existing customers to explore its products.

Image: Shafay/Adobe Stock