Tech & Innovation Blog
NFTs: The Price of Bragging Rights
Innovation, Tech Trends, Machine Learning
If buying an NFT does not give you the right to reproduce and sell copies, what exactly do you own?
NFTs: The Price of Bragging Rights
Why would someone spend $2.5 million on a Link to a JPEG?
You might have already seen examples of NFTs like funny ape drawings or celebrity avatars used as an account holder’s picture on Twitter. So, who would buy a personalized digital token of a dancing bear in a tutu? Is it worth $2.5 million dollars? What value are you really getting?
First, a quick definition of an NFT:
Non-fungible token (NFT)
noun
Units of data that are stored on a blockchain. People can buy and sell NFTs; they can be associated with unique digital files such as photos, videos, and audio.
What is the difference between buying an oil painting at a gallery and buying a bunch of 2D digital pixels?
Here’s the definition of ownership.
If you purchase a painting from a gallery, you get to take it home and hang it up in the physical world we live in. You OWN the original painting. All others may have photos or even reproductions, but they will never have that one piece of unique physical canvas. For example, Picasso’s original artwork will always be Picasso. People cannot recreate the same exact painting.
NFT Buyers:
If you purchase an NFT, which could be anything from JPEG to a screenshot of a tweet, it does NOT make you the owner of the “art,” it only gives you the right to claim partial ownership. Buying an NFT does not give you the right to reproduce it and sell copies. Buyers showcase immutable public transactions on the blockchain to prove ownership. Read more: NFTs – what exactly do I own?
It’s worth pointing out that although the owner has the right to use the NFT EXCLUSIVELY, a copy of the digital art can literally ‘look’ as good as the original when people take screenshots to copy and paste the images. With a right-click to save, the copies of digital files are precisely the same as the original NFT. It comes down to the owner bragging about whether they own the original NFT.
NFT Creators:
For NFT creators, you have the right to reproduce, distribute copies, and display the work in public. However, the NFT royalties work differently. Creators earn royalties through subsequent sales in the secondary market. The transaction occurs without the need for any intermediaries. Remember, not every NFT generates royalties. Everything needs to be written on the smart contract; otherwise, the creator has no claim. Read more: What are NFT royalties?
Why do people go crazy over these?
Let’s break it down.
An NFT gives you a token of ownership on the blockchain. Rather than supporting an artist by donating to them on PayPal or BuyMeACoffee, you can support them by purchasing their NFTs in exchange for documenting your purchasing record on a public, visible ledger. A second benefit, buying an NFT may appeal to collectors who gain pleasure from owning rare, digital goods. A third benefit is that each NFT has a market value, and anyone can buy/sell NFTs. For starters, it is more accessible than investing in the housing market. New to NFTs? Here are some options to store them.
Risks in NFTs
But before you dive right in, consider the risks of buying and selling NFTs. If you want to purchase one to support an artist, ask if the value you derive from ownership aligns with what it means to own an NFT. There are business opportunists who create NFTs from written codes, disregarding the meaning of art creation. For example, the 10000 Lazy Lions NFTs with different combinations of eyes, clothing, and mane are made from randomly generated codes instead of careful craftsmanship from artists.
Another danger is the way we are using NFTs. Before the pandemic, everyone from organizations to influencers jumps on trends trying to chase the cash. For example, agents have produced NFT from past photographs and artwork of the famous deceased to “celebrate” their legacy using them in the NFT market.
Many are predicting this could be the next housing bubble. Has it started to crash? What do you think? Something to consider before purchasing that dancing bear in a tutu.
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We’re hiring! Learn more about what it’s like working for ADP here and our current openings.
Tech & Innovation Blog
My Career Journey: Learn and Grow Together at ADP
Voice of Our People, Career Insights, What We Do
“At ADP, the doors to learning are always open. We work and win as one. All it takes is one’s curiosity to learn.”
My Career Journey: Learn and Grow Together at ADP
Viplove S. is a Senior Architect responsible for Architecture, Standards, Governance, and Talent Management, supporting products for National Accounts Services clients in Hyderabad, India. To him, happiness means spending time with family, giving his best at work, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Outside of technology, Viplove enjoys exercising, singing, dancing, reading, and writing stories. He once walked the entire Manhattan Island length, around 18 miles!
Viplove enjoys running marathons during his free time.
Coming to ADP
Since I stepped into the Information Technology (IT) industry, ADP has been one organization I was always curious about. What appealed to me the most was ADP’s strong focus on people. After fifteen years of working with multiple service organizations, I decided to knock on the door I had walked by all these years. An opportunity to learn about a new industry and its leading products was too exciting for me to pass.
I joined ADP a little over two and a half years ago. As I look back at my enriching journey, two contributory factors stand out: People and Learning. Without People, there would not have been much learning. I have worked with many amazing people in my career, but here at ADP, every day gives me reasons to thank a fellow associate. Whether developers, testers, Site Reliability Engineers (SRE) members, managers, architects, or senior leaders, I am grateful for learning with them every day.
My Career Journey
I initially started as part of the Global Enterprise Technologies & Solutions (GETS) department, which supports IT operations for ADP. The teams I work with are responsible for developing and maintaining 50+ applications used by ADP associates and 100+ integrations among internal ADP systems and external vendors. It is easily one of the most complex systems I have ever worked with, and my job was to transform it digitally. I was fortunate to have people around me who were not only knowledgeable but also extremely helpful.
Two years ago, my team and I moved to the Global Product & Technology (GPT) business unit as part of the Product Development organization that supports large national accounts. For me, this move opened a world of opportunities. My manager helped me seize one of those opportunities. He challenged me to reach beyond my scope of work and help another team. Sometimes, saying “yes” is all it takes.
And it did. That “yes” triggered a domino effect for me. That door opened another, and I worked with multiple product teams across ADP. Because of that, I am proud that my journey has led me to become a Chief Architect for our GPT National Account Services team in India. In this role, I’m responsible for the architecture and quality of ADP’s top products in HR, Payroll, Time, and Talent for our largest clients.
Viplove and his family
Architect Mentorship Program
Another part of my new responsibilities is helping other associates grow. We recently kicked off an Architect Mentorship program for my business unit, the National Account Services Architect Academy (NASAA). As a part of this program, we shortlisted 11 talented associates who have demonstrated excellence in their projects and aspire to be architects. Each of the mentees is assigned a mentor who is currently in an architect role within the organization. The mentorship is multi-fold:
1) The mentees go through a hand-picked Udemy curriculum that covers the fundamentals of being an architect, the various technologies that support our products, and the soft skills essential for the architect role.
2) Mentee and mentor connect weekly. The mentor guides the mentee on their learning, shares real-world experiences, helps solve problems, provides feedback, and more.
3) The Academy meets monthly where a senior Architect Leader (from outside the business unit) shares their career journey with the mentees and how they solved large-scale business problems.
4) The program culminates with the mentees picking a real-world business problem, working on architectural artifacts to solve it, and presenting their work to senior leaders.
Mentees graduate from the Academy in a grand ceremony. After graduation, they are assigned architectural responsibilities within their projects as on-the-job training. The idea is to produce well-equipped architects through this program within one year. Having benefited hugely from my mentors and colleagues, I am excited and committed to the mentorship program’s success.
Designing for People
ADP has taken giant leaps in its transformation into a Technology company. One of the things that makes it possible is our commitment to people. Domains and technologies are out there for anyone to learn. But the 59,000+ ADPers helping 920K+ clients in more than 140 countries give our company the foundation to stand tall among its competitors. Our network is strong and built on core values, including “Each Person Counts” and “Integrity is Everything.”
Viplove (first on the right) and his team at ADP Hyderabad
Supporting & Learning Culture
At ADP, the doors to learning are always open. If you are curious, nothing can stop you. What makes ADP stand out from the other organizations I have worked with is our culture of “learning and growing together.” Despite being a multi-national company, we don’t have boundaries separating us.
Our excitement and cooperation are the same whether speaking to an associate in India, the U.S., or Europe. We work and win as one. If I need information or to learn something, I can reach out to anyone, whether I’ve worked with them before or not. All it takes is a quick ping on our collaboration platform. We are all connected! All it takes is one’s curiosity to learn.
I’m endlessly excited and curious about our vast HCM industry and all the exciting technologies we use as part of our products. Between that and my ever-helpful colleagues, I keep learning.
Learn more about working at Hyderabad and visit Who We Hire.
ADP Tech, Hyderabad, Integration Architecture, Mentorship, Career Growth
Tech & Innovation Blog
ADP Brazil Labs in Porto Alegre: Home to Global Innovation
Impact, Innovation, Brazil Labs
We look forward to South Summit Brazil 2023, where top speakers worldwide share their expertise and leaders look for business opportunities.
Porto Alegre: Home to ADP Brazil Labs
Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, is home to one of ADP’s Technology and Innovation labs in the South of Brazil. The city has an estimated population of 1,492,530 (about the population of West Virginia in the U.S.). Known for offering tourism and leisure time, Porto Alegre features several urban parks with green areas that attract those looking to enjoy nature and history.
In 2022, Porto Alegre celebrated its 250th birthday with enthusiasm and vitality. The city is constantly developing and becoming a hub for generating new technology-based businesses and attracting and retaining talent. Join our community to follow our events and what we are developing at the Labs.
May 2022 – South Summit Brazil
The first South Summit Brazil took place in Porto Alegre as the world continued to recover from the global pandemic. The global entrepreneurship and innovation event started in Spain ten years ago and is now an international conference.
South Summit in Madrid, Spain’19
The public and private sectors, academics, and other institutions collaborated to make it happen, all contributing to positioning Porto Alegre as a global innovation player. The numbers were awe-inspiring, with 20,000+ visitors representing more than 50 countries, 500 presenters, and 1,000 submissions to the startup competition.
We look forward to South Summit Brazil 2023, where top speakers worldwide share their expertise and leaders look for business opportunities. The summit will take place from March 29 to 31 next year. Learn more about the event here.
South Summit 2023 will take place in Brazil.
Introducing Instituto Caldeira
Instituto Caldeira, also known as the “Boiler Institute,” is a non-profit organization for creativity and communication. The hub provides an opportunity for people to network together to improve the new economy and innovative ecosystem of Porto Alegre and the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
It was founded by forty-two major companies in 2017 that refurbished the old industrial complex for innovation activities and the new economy. The complex still houses the boilers imported from Europe back when prominent businessman AJ Renner started it over 100 years ago!
With only a little over a year of operation, it has already hosted an impressive number of activities. The Boiler comprises more than 22K sqm of space, 42 corporate founders, 330 affiliated companies, 700 startups in the ecosystem, and 15 national and international associated hubs.
ADP Brazil Labs Offsite
In early June, Julio Hartmann, VP of ADP Brazil Labs, and his Senior Leadership Team (SLT) team met for a strategy meeting at Instituto Caldeira. It was an excellent opportunity for the team to get together in person after two years of working remotely. Everyone was impressed with Instituto Caldeira’s structure and the initiatives, looking forward to expanding collaboration in the future.
ADP Brazil Labs Offsite
Julio began the leadership offsite by discussing the content from the Global Product & Technology (GP&T) Leadership Summit. Julio proposed a transformational strategy for the Labs to connect better and leverage the external ecosystem. The plan included presentations from some development leaders about their groups, from Workforce Now (WFN), DataCloud, NextGen (core platforms and Centers of Excellence), and myCareerConnect, to ADP Ventures. There were also presentations about cross-organizational areas and initiatives, such as Product, UX, Agility, Innovation, and the Machine Learning CoE.
Thinking Forward
Data Science Guild
The Data Scientists from the Brazil Labs worked together in the Data Science Guild, an internal group created in 2018. They meet biweekly to discuss recent papers on machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). The meeting helped them share knowledge and work together more effectively, including Data Analysts and Data Engineers from various ADP product teams like Roll, DataCloud, myCareerConnect, WFN, and Marketplace.
Innovation Time
Innovation time was a moment for the leaders to think about how the companies stay relevant in the future, reinforcing the innovative culture throughout the labs. The leaders plan to accelerate new opportunities from various sources, including employee ideas, discoveries from client needs, and technological advances.
UX at Brazil Labs
ADP Brazil Labs Offsite
The leaders from ADP Brazil Labs met with the User Experience (UX) team to understand the balance between UX and other areas, including the development concept guided by Triads that gave our digital product development a more organized structure.
The team talked about how the area has been growing quickly in recent years and an overview of team size and the project distribution. The leaders and the team ensured the UX team had the resources for product decision-making.
It was exciting to see the Brazil team’s participation grow within our global UX equation. We grew approximately 150% in the number of projects we participated with even more planned for the future. For example, we launched a local talent strategy and workstreams initiative, aligning with the GPT talent vision and Objectives and key results (OKRs). The positive result has led us to work hard on structuring and supporting our strategies.
Learn more about working at Brazil Labs and visit Who We Hire.
Porto Alegre, Instituto Caldeira, Data Science, South Summit, South Summit Porto Alegre
Tech & Innovation Blog
GPT Associates Win Big at +Hackathona PUCRS in Brazil
Impact, Innovation, Award
“Be creative and trust your solution. Always believe in your idea, work, and team’s dedication.”
GPT Associates Win Big at +Hackathona PUCRS in Brazil
ADP’s Global Hackathon is an exciting time for all ADP associates to be a part of hands-on innovation, no matter where they are. Hackathons serve as a way for participants to dive deep into their creative spirits and innovate in a start-up, sprint-like atmosphere. Beyond ADP, numerous hackathons cover a wide gamut of subjects. Two GPT associates recently shined, coming in second place, at the +Hackathona PUCRS, a 24-hour hackathon in Brazil’s Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) University.
Manoella J., Associate Developer, and Waldyr S., Software Development Intern, partnered on an exciting top-of-mind topic for our products: accessibility. The theme of the event was creating a healthier and more accessible internet. The two focused on mental health and created a browser extension that identifies offensive words and replaces them with their definition, reframing context and reducing negative mental health impacts. We spoke with Manoella and Waldyr to learn more about their experiences participating in Hackathon.
Q: What encouraged you to sign up?
Manoella: I am a student who enjoys problem-solving at PUCRS, and I saw the event’s publicity. As someone who’s always looking for opportunities to innovate, I signed up!
Waldyr: My friends were interested in participating, and we got together to form a team. I hadn’t participated in a Hackathon before, so there was a lot of excitement (and anxiety!).
Q: What was the most difficult part? How did you overcome the challenges?
Manoella: The most challenging part was adapting the extension to change the word on external sites. To overcome this obstacle, we focused on researching bibliographies and collaborating with the IT community to find a possible solution.
Waldyr: Because it’s an extension, my team thought it would be easier, but we faced a few challenges. First, it wasn’t easy calling the API that identifies hate speech, and it was hard to know exactly which words we should replace. We also had to access the User Interface (UI) to send automatically for analysis, which took a large amount of time. We made sure to reach out for help from other developers, addressing the deeper issues. Some tools we used included AWS, Google Perspective API, Python, and JavaScript. My team was proud to develop a creative solution that doesn’t change the meaning of the sentences—but still makes sentences less negative for the users, creating a healthier web experience.
Manoella (third from the right) and Waldyr (second from the right) celebrate with their team.
Q: How did you feel when you heard that you won the challenge in second place?
Manoella: I was pleased and proud of our team. We worked hard for 24 hours to deliver a well-structured, efficient and viable project. It was great to get recognized for sure!
Waldyr: It was a surprise! Even though we believed in our solution, there are other teams that presented great ideas with great experiences as well. We’ve learned a lot connecting with everyone. On top of that, this was our first time participating in the Hackathon and our results exceeded my own expectations.
Q: How did ADP support your participation throughout the Hackathon?
Manoella: At ADP, I have daily contact with good development practices, code optimization, and code versioning—these helped maintain clean and well-presented code for our team. The Hackathon highlights the value of teamwork for me!
Waldyr: When I joined ADP, I learned about agile methodologies—we use them to organize and divide tasks. By understanding these methods at work, I brought what already knew to Hackathon. I’m grateful for all the support I’ve gotten along the way. Here we are, so glad to share our story with fellow associates!
Q: Participating in Hackathon can be intimidating. What advice do you have for future participants?
Manoella: Be creative and trust your solution. Creativity is essential to developing a solution that draws attention to your project. Always believe in your idea, work, and team’s dedication!
Waldyr: Everyone should try it at least once! It’s quite different from what I imagined, doing it with friends there for the same reason as you. We went to learn, have fun and meet new people—reaching second place was a bonus.
Congratulations again to Manoella and Waldyr!
Learn more about working at Brazil Labs and visit Who We Hire.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Remote Work Era: Three Challenges to Overcome
Impact, Voice of Our People, Future of Work
Time to grab on to the perfect opportunity to learn organizational skills, independence, and self-motivation!
Remote Work Era: Three Challenges to Overcome
By Amy H. Chiu, Tech Brand Content Developer
In May 2022, Airbnb’s career page received 800,000 visits since its remote work announcement. What’s the hype? When people say, ‘I work remotely,’ do you think of working from home in pajamas and not worrying about being stuck in traffic?
Remote working is more than that.
As we embrace hybrid and remote workspace, there are more conversations you and your team will be having, including challenges and solutions. As a full-time remote associate who works from a different time zone, I’ve learned methods to stay connected with my team.
My friends in tech often ask me what it’s like working remotely because some of them are considering switching their workstyle. My short answer is remote working is not for everyone.
The story began when I started working remotely as a freelancer a few years ago. Without going to the office, I engaged and experimented with various strategies to complete projects with accuracy and efficiency.
Challenge One – Communication
Are you afraid of missing the hallway conversation that could potentially build trust and work relationships among the team? As an extrovert, my solution is to speak up and share my updates during virtual happy hours and video calls. For example, I challenge myself to say more than “how are you” and answer more than “I’m good.” Having a real, human-to-human conversation during virtual happy hour has taught me to be more empathetic and understanding. I’d check in with my coworker from the other side of the country who caught the flu and adjust the calendar priorities accordingly.
I imagine reaching out can be a challenge for those more reserved in a new environment when they first start in a full-time remote position. This is when turning on video cameras can be helpful during online meetings. We recognize facial expressions during conversations that help us understand the tone of voice without saying too much, and smiling is always a plus!
Challenge Two – Time Management
Another challenge comes in time management, which is especially important for those who work with teams from different time zones. I recommend productivity and time tracking tools such as Toggl and DeskTime that allow you to log the time you spend on each project. The key is to build a schedule for yourself and stick to it. It’s easier to have a routine despite having scheduled meetings on the day or not.
Knowing when to start and pause working is the key for ambitious individuals. Since there’s no hard stop or visually seeing your coworkers packing up to leave at five in the afternoon, give yourself the reminder and permission to finish tasks during your working hours.
Challenge Three – Work Motivation
For those who enjoy the office atmosphere, I recommend joining coworking spaces such as WeWork and Galvanize. You could find a variety of office layouts and meeting spaces, using them to focus on your business. The community can also be an excellent opportunity to network and increase motivation at work.
I work from home and dedicate a space for work only. Having the habit motivates me and sets me in business mode every morning. According to a Social Psychological and Personality Science paper, the researchers asked subjects to change into formal and casual clothing before cognitive tests. They found wearing formal business clothing increases abstract thinking. On the days when I need an extra energy boost, I put on business clothing, even off-camera. The formal attire makes me focus better, and I tend to complete my tasks faster with accuracy.
Welcome to Remote Work
Remote working requires self-discipline, communication skills, and an open mind to collaborate. There will be challenges working with time zones and across teams when you are not sitting across from your coworker in the same office. However, the rewarding feeling of accomplishing projects remotely with the team makes the experience valuable. Please grab on to the perfect opportunity to learn organizational skills, independence, and self-motivation!
We are hiring!
Learn more about what it’s like working for ADP here and our current remote openings.
Tech & Innovation Blog
We are Proud to Design and Create a Workplace for Everyone
Impact, Innovation, Award
ADP will continue to strive to be the best place to work, creating a workplace for diverse talents.
We are Proud to Design and Create a Workplace for Everyone
At ADP, we’re constantly working to provide the best possible experience for our clients and associates. We’re proud to announce that we’ve been recognized with various awards! Whether providing outstanding service or creating a great place to work, we always strive to be the best.
iWIN – Business Resource Group
Women Impact Tech 100
When it comes to gender equity in the technology industry, ADP is leading by example. Our technologists are dedicated to developing inclusive products and services, providing a path forward for all our teams.
Women Impact Tech, an organization focused on improving opportunities for women in STEM, has named ADP one of the top 100 Women Impact Tech companies. The recognition criteria measure employee feedback on workplace culture for women, benefits, diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
We are excited to see that our work is reshaping the tech space.
“These top 100 companies are doing the right things that make a difference in women’s ability to have meaningful careers, offering a culture for women to thrive,” said Paula Ratliff, the President of Women Impact Tech.
The good news doesn’t end here! We have also earned recognition from Top 50 Employer by Woman Engineering Magazine, Top 50 Best Workplaces for Women in India, and the AnitaB.org 2021 Top Large Company for Women Technologists for the second consecutive year.
“As a leader, I want to create an environment of empowerment with a diversity of thought and perspectives,” said Laurie Liszewski, VP of Product Development at ADP.
Opportunities across ADP include participation in our Women’s Leadership Development Program, Grace Hopper Celebration with AnitaB.org, and our Business Resource Groups such as iWIN (International Women’s Inclusion Network).
“There’s a lot here to be excited about. We’re all working together, and we’re going to be stronger in the long run,” said Amber Abreu, Senior Manager of User Experience (UX) research at ADP.
We can’t wait to see what’s next!
Next Big Things in Tech
ADP DataCloud has been named on Fast Company’s first-ever list of the Next Big Things in Tech list, honoring the technology breakthroughs that promise to shape the future. We have earned this recognition for our powerful people analytics solution, ADP DataCloud, which leverages our vast workforce data to address the most significant challenges businesses face today, including employee retention, pay equity, diversity, equity, and inclusion shift economic policy. Read the press release here.
In addition to this award, ADP DataCloud has also earned a Stratus Award, the Top HR Product of the Year, and the Data Analytics Innovation of the Year.
We are proud of the product enhancements our teams developed:
- The new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Dashboard allow companies to see the makeup of their workforce and address underrepresentation.
- Organizational Benchmarks taps ADP’s workforce data to help companies decide how best to deploy workers.
- When paired with ADP DataCloud’s Pay Equity Storyboard, clients can generate a personalized planner and budget to help them close gaps and measure maturity against peers.
This award further validates our clients and prospects of what’s to come and why they need us. Congratulations to everyone who has been a part of the development!
ADP 2022 Built In Best Places to Work
We are the proudest of our valuable people and the culture here. Built In, a top industry source for tech candidates to research and review companies, has named ADP with seven awards, including 2022 Best Places to Work in LA and New York City, Best Large Companies to Work & Best Benefits in both cities.
“Now more than ever, we’re proud to offer an engaging workplace with a dynamic culture that empowers our associates to foster innovation and develop innovative ideas with limitless possibilities,” said Aaron S., Senior Vice President of Product Development at ADP. “We are thrilled to be recognized in New York City and will continue our relentless focus on growing our technology from the energy of our associates.”
“Our highly engaged associates know we’re committed to providing each person with opportunities to use their diverse expertise to develop great products and technology that help deliver amazing client experiences,” said Leonard K., Senior Vice President of Product Development. “Built In LA’s recognition is an honor and a direct reflection of the innovation and dedication of our associates.
Built In’s Best Places to Work program rates companies based on their compensation, benefits, and culture. This year’s list highlights those employers who have created a culture that supports employees in-office and virtually that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
Great Place to Work®
Great Place to Work® (GPTW), a global authority on workplace culture, named ADP Brazil Labs and ADP India one of the best companies to work for 2021. GPTW has a mission to build a better world by helping organizations become a great place to work for all.
Here are the award nominations.
ADP India
ADP India
- India’s Best Workplaces for Women 2021
- India’s Best Workplaces™ in IT & IT-BPM 2021
- India’s Best Companies to Work For 2021
- Commitment to Being a Great Place to Work
ADP Brazil Labs
ADP Brazil Labs
- One of the Best Companies in the Rio Grande do Sul.
- Women Impact Tech 2022 Honoree
The awards recognize ADP India and ADP Brazil Labs not only for their talented associates but also for an environment of technological culture and innovation applied in the workspace.
Our clients, associates, and tech recruiting teams remain focused on cultivating valuable relationships in the challenging times of pandemics. We will continue to strive to be the best place to work, creating a workplace for diverse talents.
Thank you, and Congratulations to all our associates who make ADP one of the best places to work!
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
Click here to search for your next move and visit Who We Hire.
Tech & Innovation Blog
How AI/ML are Driving Innovation and Opportunities at ADP
Innovation, Voice of Our People, Future of Work
The future of learning will involve more personalization and customization based on learning styles, competencies, and preferences.
How Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are Driving Innovation and Opportunities at ADP
Julio Hartmann joined ADP as a software development manager in 2004. Seventeen years later, he is now the Vice President/General Manager, head of ADP’s global software product development center and innovation lab in Porto Alegre, Brazil. His team works across the global product and technology portfolio, always looking for new opportunities. Julio leads product innovation and research, exploring growing technologies and evolving trends. He and his team aim to create the next generation of human capital management applications that drive learning and training in the workforce.
How it Started: Human Capital Management (HCM) Software
Steve Jobs said, “Things happen fairly slowly. These waves of technology, you can see them way before they happen, and you just have to choose wisely which ones you’re going to surf. It takes years.”
People tend to assume technology evolves linearly—growing at the same rate over time—but it develops exponentially instead. Some examples of exponential technologies include 5G networks, 3D printing, robotics, and blockchain. As the speed of technological innovation increases, it creates frustration in product development. People perceive a gap between expectations and performance, then quickly learn the products are not the problem. We inflate our expectations beyond what technology delivers. Despite uncertainties in the environment, the emerging tech follows an exponential growth and improves until it reaches a pivotal moment of breakthroughs.
For many, the pivot point may be challenging to foresee, and companies are caught unprepared. With market research observation, we know breakthroughs happen for a number of reasons. The moment is often tied to technology becoming cheap enough to reach mass consumption. In other words, a breakthrough occurs when a component becomes more viable with a combination of factors, creating the perfect environment to throw the innovation into disrupter status.
The phenomenon played out clearly in smartphone market. When the iPhone arrived, that changed everything. We live in a time when anything and everything is possible. Modern technologies drive the future and bring endless learning opportunities to the next generations. To prepare ADP for the next move in the industry, my team continues to develop, recognizing the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The Future of Learning: HCM Systems
Julio at the Beach
The future of learning will involve more personalization and customization based on learning styles, competencies, and preferences. In other words, artificial intelligence (AI) and adaptive learning are the future. These powerful technologies will affect both humans and machines in the coming years. Our goal at ADP is to develop a combination of tools that harness the power of AI and facilitate learning, ensuring companies and employees grow at a fast, steady pace.
The job market is shifting due to the broad impact of AI, automation, and robotics. There is a reduced demand for specific jobs, such as factory roles that can be automated. On the other hand, there is an increasing demand for particular jobs that belong in the future. According to the report by the Institute for the Future, 85% of the jobs in 2030 do not exist yet. It’s time for leaders to identify skills gaps based on current trends to prepare organizations and professionals.
In fact, we might be heading towards a disruptive breakthrough in artificial intelligence and data usage in human capital management (HCM). We are not far from a pivotal point, meaning we can expect many advancements with the power of AI and data information in HCM for the upcoming years.
As an industry leader, ADP looks forward to the future. My team supports innovation through our mantra — always designing for people. HCM solutions provide opportunities for companies and workers to grapple with the demands of a futuristic workplace. AI helps companies manage their workforce while anticipating changes and preparing their employees for upcoming challenges. Specifically, my team is working on technology that allows companies and employees to navigate a variety of scenarios. It combines traditional training and cutting-edge tools that connect people with mentors and experts in various communities.
We can’t talk about the future without understanding users’ needs. The good news is human capital management systems and training tools have become more predictive with ground-breaking developments in event-based systems, meaning they carry on as usual until they require inputs. For instance, a system can recognize users changing their addresses and further instigating necessary documents and paperwork. Another example is for the system to alert managers of a potential alarming pattern that shows an employee has not filled out a timecard.
AI’s Applications in Real Life
AI’s applications in real life are everywhere. Companies like Walmart hire a significant number of workers every month, experimenting with augmented reality (AR) and other technologies in new hire trainings. Wouldn’t it be more efficient for new employees to see the procedures before joining the company? The new hires at Walmart could see the supermarket’s organization in a virtual environment through a peer-to-peer reality before their first day at work.
Human resources (HR) managers may also benefit from using AI. From recruitment to employee experience and talent management, AI can automate routine HR tasks, deliver personalized experiences, and gain actionable insights from HR data. For example, AI may serve as a helpful tool to help track the workforce and notify managers that they need to hire more data scientists.
Another scenario is using AI as a user interface (UI) through natural language processing for seamless interactions between humans and technology, for example, using chatbots as the user interface. AI can be a powerful ally to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity among employees if leveraged carefully.
These are all opportunities and concepts that will change the future of jobs.
Challenges in AI Technology
Julio and his family
“With greater power comes with greater responsibilities.” There are risks with using the tools. At ADP, we have an ethical committee that looks at privacy issues and built-in biases. The technologies are developing quickly, which makes predicting outcomes challenging. Nevertheless, we always try our best to watch for violations and learn as we go. The teams at ADP are investing in a well-detailed approach to monitor how the machine learns and develops, ensuring all technologies evolve in the direction we expect.
Looking Forward: ADP’s Future
Technology development plays a huge role in ADP’s transformation into a technology company. There is more capital available than ever before, and the cost of building innovative products has become lower. In other words, we have more funding to experiment which leads to more breakthroughs. We are on the cusp of seeing more efficiencies on a massive scale through AL and ML.
The possibilities of using AR and VR during the company’s onboarding training are exciting! I can imagine applying AR and VR in digital workplaces for associates who work from home. The technologies bring efficiencies, save costs, and improve learning. Workers will have the ability to see the office and understand procedures even before joining the team in person. The implications are astronomical for national and global companies.
As we research more possibilities in tech, humans will benefit from using technologies in the workforce. The foundational trends include faster computing power, increasing data volume, low-cost communications for everyone and everywhere. These opportunities are life-changing, and we’ll see this come to fruition soon. I look forward to how the industry creates unique jobs in the workforce and breakthroughs. In the future, technologies at ADP will continue to help companies and workers adjust to changes, improving their job performances and making tasks easier.
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
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Tech & Innovation Blog
Brazil Lab’s Alberto Boa Vista, Principal Technology Architect, Wins ADP’s 2021 President CSR Award
Impact, Innovation, Award
Alberto’s Full Stack Social program focused on web development and behavioral skills, tackling the massive gap of the technology workforce by empowering socially vulnerable youngsters.
Brazil Lab’s Alberto Boa Vista, Principal Technology Architect, Wins ADP’s 2021 President CSR Award
Social responsibility is one of ADP’s core values and is integral to our brand. We recognize two associates each year by presenting the Corporate Social Responsibility Award, acknowledging associates whose commitment to social responsibility has a positive, measurable impact on the communities where we live and work.
President’s Corporate Social Responsibility Award
Bob Lockett, Chief Diversity & Talent Officer, presented the 2021 President’s Award to Alberto Boa Vista, Principal Technology Architect, GPT. “Alberto played a critical role in organizing a course called Full Stack Social, a 14-month theoretical and practical training program to help socially vulnerable children enter the labor market,” Bob said. “He continued to engage other volunteers and presented the project to ADP’s Brazil Lab. The goal of the project is to alleviate poverty by giving software development skills to young people that otherwise would probably never have access to it.”
Alberto (right) with ADP Associates at Award Ceremony
Alberto’s Full Stack Social program focused on web development and behavioral skills, tackling the massive gap of the technology workforce by empowering socially vulnerable youngsters. It is conducted by Marist Social Center (CESMAR), a philanthropic and nonprofit institution with more than 20 years of history dedicated to social responsibility. The center is strategically located in Porto Alegre, Brazil, one of the lowest Human Development Index regions.
Alberto playing the electric guitar
“I play a role in organizing the course’s curriculum, engaging other volunteers, and presenting the project to potential sponsors. I’ve been doing it for almost a year now, and I’m sure it’s just the beginning of this relationship,” Alberto said. “I also believe the market of digital products contribute to this generation’s social and commercial goals.” By volunteering his time and giving back, Alberto feels grateful for every opportunity he gets to share knowledge, collecting beautiful stories from people around him.
Alberto with his family
The recognition was accompanied by a donation, which went to CESMAR, a social center with professionals who focus on education and health. Alberto is confident their well-organized program will continue to transform many more lives. He views the award as a reaffirmation for many people who chose to dedicate their lives to social responsibility. “It’s not easy, and I know it builds on the long history of this institution,” he said. “Thank you, ADP. The donation will surely bring positive changes to the communities.”
Alberto also shared the solid internal communication and a network of contacts he received. “I had no words to describe how proud I am. I received tremendous support from ADP throughout the project. It is inspiring to see people embrace and spread the ideas,” Alberto said. “Every contact I spoke to contributed to actions with inclusion and diversity.”
Congratulations, Alberto!
Thank you for contributing and giving back.
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
Click here to search for your next move and visit Who We Hire.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Inside DataCloud: How ADP Shapes the Future of Work
Innovation, What We Do, Future of Work
ADP continues to play a crucial role in shaping the future of work, impacting people’s lives.
Inside DataCloud: How ADP Shapes the Future of Work
By Amin Venjara, General Manager, Data Solutions, ADP DataCloud
Over the past two decades, fields like marketing and finance have seen an explosion in data-driven decision-making. Data informs everything from measuring performance to the microtargeted ads we see in our social media feeds. Data and analytics have even reshaped the world of professional sports as a “Moneyball” approach to building and deploying teams are now deeply integrated into most management teams and coaching staff.
In a similar vein, a data-driven approach to HR and talent decisions, known as people analytics, has grown rapidly over the past decade. As one of the largest providers of human capital management offerings, ADP has the data assets to lead in the people analytics space. Last year, we processed 69M W2s and moved over $2.3T—that’s over 10% of US GDP. With over 920K clients, we pay more than 38M workers worldwide, and just in the US alone, we reach nearly 20% of the private US workforce.
This rich data foundation explains why our monthly National Employment Report is considered a key indicator for the state of the US economy. It is also why economists from the Federal Reserve and leading universities are using ADP data to create more real-time measures on the state of the workforce. In a 2019 speech, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell described the Fed’s partnership with ADP: “We began to collaborate with ADP to construct a measure of payroll employment from their data set, which covers about 20 percent of the nation’s private workforce…. We believe that the new measure may help us better understand job market conditions in real-time.”
Our Data Solutions business unit and the DataCloud product team aim to amplify ADP’s data value, creating a more meaningful work experience for all employees. As one example, organizations are always looking to find and keep their best talent. Similarly, workers are looking for opportunities that best leverage their strengths and create opportunities to grow and thrive.
Skills Graph extracts, aligns, and normalizes key information such as skills, job titles and levels, education, and qualifications from non-structured data and infers missing skills and qualifications from context. Skills Graph powers ADP’s Candidate Profile Relevancy tool to help score, assess, and predict candidates who are the best fit for a job opening. While the model is not an algorithm that tells someone which candidate to pick, it helps identify those who are not the right fit, speeding up the application review process. This way, recruiters and hiring managers can focus more time on the human side of recruiting, having deeper, better conversations with candidates.
We have also used our data and analytics capabilities to help organizations address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) questions. From the earliest days of our analytics journey, we have included metrics that help organizations quantify and baseline their DEI. We have previously won the HR industry’s top technology award with our Pay Equity Explorer, which helps organizations understand pay equity gaps based on gender and race. Over the past year, we have continued to grow our DEI toolset, adding a question-based DEI Dashboard that helps organizations create and maintain turn-key answers to question like “How diverse is your workforce?”, “Which areas of my organization are not diverse?” and “How diverse is my organization’s leadership distribution?” from their HCM systems.
And what’s more – our focus on DEI with our clients has driven real outcomes. We’ve seen over 50% of our DEI solution’s active users act and realize a positive impact on their DEI measures. Active clients have seen pay equity gaps decrease by an average of 25% or more than $700K per client, making this a real investment for our clients based on our insights to enable equal pay for equal work.
The power of our data also extends beyond the world of HR. It is a powerful, real-time signal on the state of consumer demand, demographics, and the broader economy. Using our anonymized and aggregated data, we can construct views of migration patterns at the county level. For example, we found that before the pandemic, less than 3% of San Francisco and New York high earners making $100K or more moved out of the cities during the 12 months that ended in January 2020. After the pandemic, that number leaped to 14%. Those high-wage employees moved to the surrounding suburbs with a manageable commute to job centers. Large retailers and state governments use this data to shape their demand forecasting and to optimize their organizational agility in this rapidly changing world.
By putting our clients first and applying one of the richest data sets in the world to some of the most pressing societal and business issues of our day, our teams make a real impact every day at work. The client-obsessed and data-savvy product managers, engineers, UX designers, and data scientists that fuel our teams are constantly pushing the boundaries of technology to solve problems for our clients. At ADP, we are always designing for people, and in DataCloud and the broader Data Solutions team, data is the beating heart of everything we do.
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
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Tech & Innovation Blog
GPT’s Jesse W. Won Built In’s Inaugural Tech Innovation Award
Lifion, Innovation, Award
Jesse joined ADP just over a year ago, and his work on the Engineering Reliability (EREL) team for Lifion had already created an impact. He shared insights on how ADP is pursuing new technologies to benefit the world around us.
GPT’s Jesse W. Won Built In’s Inaugural Tech Innovation Award
Jesse W., the Senior Director System Reliability Management, recently won Built In’s Inaugural Tech Innovation Award, honoring visionaries in tech space and making significant contributions to the world of tech.
Jesse helped created a Global Reliability Operating Model that gives developers clearer direction, more agency, and improved job satisfaction while allowing them to deliver more innovative codes to customers faster and with fewer mistakes. His contribution to ADP represents a new culture of ownership-driven outcomes rooted in document-driven engineering, self-service onboarding, and human-centered designing.
Jesse focused on his team, “I want to give credits to the teams we work with. Without them, we would not be able to execute this larger strategy.” He worked with engineering leaders from product-minded approaches to backend engineering, connecting technology capabilities to business goals. Together, they build faster and safer software.
What are some fun facts about you?
I am an innovation leader, a prop plane pilot-in-training, and a vintage Japanese watch collector.
Could you tell us about the Engineering Reliability (EREL) team?
The EREL team is a platform engineering group that builds tools and infrastructure with a vision to help enable an outstanding developer experience at Lifion. It offers capabilities for feature teams to manage their security and develop their cloud-native infrastructure. My team works with them to provide self-service incident and change management.
A vital part of this success is the Global Reliability Operating Model (GROM), a holistic approach to building complex software in the cloud. GROM has allowed software teams to work autonomously, pushing collaboration to the max and minimizing complexity within Lifion’s systems. EREL is constantly building upon its systems, focused on feedback to understand what tools and pipelines can evolve to improve the user experience.
What words would you use to describe engineers at work?
Simplify, Innovate and Grow. EREL actively measures its impact based on real data available to them within the systems. Utilizing real-time data makes this possible and provides a creative space for all engineers at work.
Jesse (right) with his family
What advice do you have for those with a focus on innovation?
Separate the ideation and inspiration from the execution allows your leadership and individual contributors to devote their full intellectual capacity towards solving problems in the most innovative way.
Don’t limit yourself to what you think is possible. Look out three, four, five, or even twenty steps ahead of what can be done right now, then figure out the north start you need and inspire your teams to meet the larger business goals.
Congratulations, Jesse and the EREL team!
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