AI-driven HR startup snapped up as companies fight to retain employees

IT helpdesk-turned-workflow software company ServiceNow is to acquire Hitch Works, which produces software to help organizations better use their employees' existing skills.

Hitch Works focuses on "AI‑powered skills insights", which will be added to ServiceNow's Now Platform to help customers with talent gaps by tying employee learning and development to workforce planning.

ServiceNow said the purchase is designed to help companies under immense pressure to attract, train, and retain an effective workforce.

In a prepared statement, Gretchen Alarcon, vice president and general manager of HR Service Delivery at ServiceNow, said: "Skills management has historically been siloed, with numerous point solutions and fragmented processes that don't work together. With Hitch, ServiceNow will streamline skills intelligence on a single platform to help business leaders match employees with meaningful work."

Hitch was founded in 2017 and is led by CEO Heather Jerrehian. "AI‑powered skills intelligence is the foundation for the future of work," she said.

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ServiceNow said it would build Hitch's capabilities into its Now Platform, beginning with its Employee Workflow solutions, where Hitch's technology aimed at boosting employee engagement and productivity across the enterprise is a natural extension. ServiceNow said it would expand Hitch's features across its portfolio for customer service, IT, and developers.

In May, ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott, who led SAP through a multi-billion-dollar acquisition spree while CEO of the German vendor, said ServiceNow was not considering acquisitions.

"Most companies that have to grow through acquisitions [is] because they ran out of ideas," he said.

"We have so much organic innovation in front of us. If I look at any other company that we could acquire, it would be dilutive, either to the revenue story, or the profitability story. So why would you buy a big company unless it was something sort of extraordinary in terms of what it could do to change the game?" he told The Register.

ServiceNow said it hopes to close the Hitch Works acquisition in the second quarter of 2022. ®