Oracle event: HR Leaders Dinner - Is AI really the future of decision-making?

Wendy Murphy
EMEA Director of Global Clients for Talent Solutions at LinkedIn

Biography:
Wendy, an EMEA Director of Global Clients for Talent Solutions at LinkedIn (the world’s largest professional network), joined LinkedIn 12+ years ago as an HR leader to enable the projected hyper-growth of the company within the EMEA Region. At that time, the region had approximately 300 employees, and as a member of the EMEA Leadership Team, she was a key player in its growth to the current 3000+ diverse workforce in this region. Wendy reported to the Global CHRO and was a member of the Global HR Leadership Team responsible for the attraction, hiring, development, engagement, and retention of their global workforce based in 31 countries around the world.

During her tenure at LinkedIn, Wendy has been a passionate advocate for Diversity, Inclusion, and belonging, as well as the importance of closing skills gaps both internally and externally to LinkedIn. To broaden her own skills, Wendy transitioned to LinkedIn’s Global Business Organisation in 2018, where she leads a team of Global Client Directors who help some of the largest brands in the world plan, hire, develop, and engage Talent.

Before joining LinkedIn, Wendy has 20 years of experience in roles such as CHRO for the Telco Digicel within the Caribbean & Central America markets, HRD at a start-up airline, and various HR roles at Dell Computers and Irish Telco Eircom.

She holds a bachelor's degree in European Business & Languages, a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resources, an Executive MBA from the IESE and a variety of diplomas including Project Management & Employment Law.

Mary Connaughton
FCIPD, Director – at CIPD Ireland

Biography:
Mary Connaughton is passionate about developing people and workplaces to be at their best. Mary leads the growth, development, and contribution of the people's profession in Ireland. She pushes forward the CIPD agenda around inclusion, ways of working, talent and technology, engaging in research, policy, and member engagement. She regularly features in the media and engages with policymakers on workplace developments. She has a wealth of HR experience, supporting individuals and companies on the strategic people agenda, HR practices and organisation development.

Previously, she headed up HR Development at employers' group Ibec, consulted widely across the public and private sectors, and held organisational development roles in the financial and consulting sectors.

Mary is on the Boards of the Public Appointments Service and the Retirement Planning Council and represents Ireland at the European Association of People Management.

Paula Kennedy Hogan
Head of HR Services at An Post

Biography:
Paula is an HR professional with over 25 years of HR experience in the public, semi-state and private sectors. She is currently the Head of HR Operations at An Post and the Programme Manager for HR Transformation. Previously, she held the role of Deputy HR Director at Trinity College Dublin and has also held many roles in financial services.

Paula has a passion for leading HR transformation projects and has a keen interest in HR Technology. As a life-long learner she is regularly upskilling and holds a BA in Management and an MSc in Operations and Technology Management.

Paula is also the Chairperson of the Higher Education Payroll Shared Service Programme Board.

Outside of work Paula enjoys spending time with her family, traveling and walking with her dogs in the countryside.

Paritosh Singh
HR and Talent Transformation Partner at IBM

Biography:
Paritosh (Pari) is a Partner at IBM Consulting, leading the HR Transformation and Employee Experience Practice for the UK and Ireland. He works with large UK and multinational organisations to address Workforce and HR challenges, advising on how technology can enable workforce initiatives and enhance employee experiences. He is particularly passionate about developing HR functions and workforces that are digital, agile, sustainable, and aligned with the #FutureOfWork.

Paritosh brings extensive cross-sector expertise, with a focus on Operating model design, People and Talent strategies, and Cloud and AI transformations. He is a regular speaker and presenter on IBM's Research on the Future of Work, AI, HR Reinvention, and Employee Experience.

Cormac Watters
Executive Vice President for Applications, Oracle Europe, Middle East, and Africa

Biography:
Cormac Watters is Executive Vice President of Applications for Oracle Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). He’s responsible for cloud strategy and growth of the Applications business across the region.

Cormac believes the power of cloud technology can transform everything around us, and that earning customers’ trust is key to helping them achieve and exceed their goals while unlocking value with technologies such as analytics, AI, and machine learning.

Prior to joining Oracle, Cormac was President and Head of International at Infor, where he led the company’s applications business across EMEA and Asia Pacific. Before that, he worked as Managing Director at SAP UK and Ireland and also served as the CIO of DCC Group.

Dan Balshaw
HR Transformation Director – Oracle

Biography:
Daniel Balshaw is a HR Transformation Director for the UK & Ireland at Oracle. He has over 20 years of experience working across HR and HR Technology and now works with a range of businesses embarking on HR transformations, sharing his lived experience and personal learnings.

Daniel has experience in HCM vendor selection, implementation, and solution design, all while applying a user-centric design approach. Prior to joining Oracle, Daniel worked at Sainsbury's Supermarkets, where he led the HR Technology Team.