Transforming Work for the AI Era

Strategic advisory for reimagining work, workforce, and workplace—navigating what work is, who does it, and where it happens.

AI isn't just changing what work is—it's transforming who does it (humans + machines), how it's done, and where it happens. Organizations, vendors, and investors need trusted advisory to navigate this complexity.

Why Perspective Matters

Having sat in so many different seats—vendor, buyer, analyst, practitioner, consultant—gives me (and our advisors) the ability to ask broader, more comprehensive questions. We widen perspectives. We help spot the blind spots you may not see from inside your own role. We help you get to better solutions by asking the questions no one else is thinking to ask.

How We Help

Strategic advisory across three critical stakeholder groups

Buy-Side Advisory

For Organizations & HR Leaders

Your HR centers of excellence operate in silos, buying disparate technology without strategic unity. IT, Finance, and HR aren't aligned on transformation priorities.

We help you:

  • Build unified HR technology strategies across leadership and talent management: access, acquisition, learning & development, goals, performance, review, succession, mobility, workforce planning and management
  • Navigate AI adoption with clarity on what's hype vs. what drives real outcomes
  • Design talent access frameworks: Build, Borrow, Buy, and Bot strategies
  • Harmonize work, workforce, and workplace through skills-based architecture—and the role data and technology plays
  • Move from job-centric to marketplace-era operating models
  • Lead HR AI Innovation Bootcamps: 1-day design thinking and agile workshops putting AI at the center of HR solutions
Who we serve: CHROs, Talent Leaders, CIOs, Culture, Experience, Strategy, and Transformation Officers at enterprises ready for fundamental change, not incremental fixes.

Sell-Side Advisory

For HR Tech Vendors & Builders

You're building in isolation from market realities. Product roadmaps don't reflect what buyers actually need or what drives adoption. GTM strategy lacks practitioner insight.

We help you:

  • Define product strategy grounded in buyer pain points and market trends
  • Craft go-to-market positioning that resonates with decision-makers
  • Build partnership and ecosystem strategies
  • Translate competitive intelligence into actionable differentiation
  • Connect customer success to product innovation and revenue growth
Who we serve: Product leaders, founders, GTM executives at HR tech companies from Series A through IPO and beyond.

Capital-Side Advisory

For Investors & Backers

You're investing millions in HR tech without deep domain expertise in what buyers need or what truly differentiates solutions. Due diligence lacks practitioner perspective.

We help you:

  • Assess market fit, competitive positioning, and product viability
  • Understand buyer behavior: what drives purchase, adoption, renewal
  • Identify white space opportunities vs. crowded categories
  • Separate genuine market shifts from vendor buzzwords
  • Advise portfolio companies post-investment on product and GTM strategy
Who we serve: VCs, PE firms, strategic investors evaluating or supporting HR tech companies.

Our Story

AI Alchemists was founded on a simple belief: the future of work requires transformation, not just technology.

But transformation can feel overwhelming. Sometimes what organizations need isn't a massive overhaul—it's the ability to absorb change and evolve to not just survive, but thrive. To stay North Star focused while adapting with speed, scale, and intelligence.

After three intense years driving product strategy at Oracle—accelerating innovation cycles and unifying HCM suites at global scale—I returned to what has always energized me most: advisory, teaching, and helping leaders navigate complexity.

My career has been a series of intentional redirects toward big, complex, interesting problems worth solving. From software engineer to HR practitioner, from internal transformation leader at ADP to independent consultant to lead tech industry analyst at Deloitte (researching and advising both vendors AND buyers), to product strategy executive at Oracle—I've sat in every chair.

That rare perspective is what AI Alchemists brings to clients: I can ask broader, more comprehensive questions because I understand what vendors build, what buyers need, what analysts study, and what actually drives outcomes. I've studied it, led it, and advised on it from every angle.

AI Alchemists serves buyers, builders, boards, and backers who are ready to fundamentally rethink how work gets done in the AI era.

— Chris Havrilla
Founder & Chief Advisor/Analyst

Background & Credentials

Chris Havrilla

25+ years connecting people, technology, and business outcomes:

Oracle (2022-2025)

VP Product Strategy, HCM - Led global strategy for talent and workforce experience products including Oracle Grow and Oracle ME (both HR Executive Top Product of the Year winners)

Deloitte (2018-2022)

Research Leader, AI & HR Technology Strategy - Built and led tech industry analyst function; researched and advised both vendors AND buyers on AI-enabled workforce strategies

Havrilla LLC (2017-2018)

President - Led independent consulting practice advising on global HR transformation initiatives

ADP (2013-2017)

VP Global HR Strategy & Planning, Technology and Analytics - Led global HR transformation and enterprise-wide GDPR/BCR initiative

Education

BBA in Management Information Systems (AI track), University of Georgia

Recognition

Top 100 HR Tech Influencer
2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025
HR Executive & HR Tech Conference
Onalytica Top 25 Overall
Global Consultancies Influencer Report
Across all 10 CEO/C-Suite topics
Top 25 in AI
Onalytica Global Consultancies Report
Top 25 in Emerging Tech
Onalytica Global Consultancies Report
Top 25 in Future of Work
Onalytica Global Consultancies Report
Top 40 Influencers
Product Reach & Visibility
Literal Humans
Top 30 Women in HR Tech
peopleHum
Top 16 Hybrid Work Influencers
8X8
Who's Who in Future of Work
Onalytica

Speaking: Frequent keynote speaker at HR Tech Conference (Advisory Council), Unleash, Oracle CloudWorld, IBM Think, ADP Meeting of the Minds, Conference Board, HCI, SHRM, People Matters

Published: Forbes, Wall Street Journal, HR Executive, TechTarget, SHRM, extensive Deloitte research

Featured: Profiled as 'Talent Pioneer' by IBM Watson at Think 2019; Featured in Redirecting.work

Let's Talk

Whether you're navigating AI transformation, building the next generation of HR tech, or investing in the future of work—let's explore how AI Alchemists can help.

Chris Havrilla

Founder & Chief Advisor/Analyst

chris@aialchemists.co

WhatsApp/SMS: +1 678.357.3983

calendly.com/havrilla

Based in: Atlanta, GA
Serving: Global organizations, vendors, and investors

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