HR Tech: Rippling Raises $450M, New Microsoft AI Features & Awardees Revealed

When it comes to the top human resource (HR) events from around the world, UNLEASH America is touted to be among the fastest growing—one where global HR leaders come to do business and discover inspirational stories that change the way organizations think about HR and innovation.

The 2025 edition of the UNLEASH conference and exhibition, which was held from May 6 to May 8, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A., featured participation from some of the biggest companies in the world.

This came in the form of sponsors, exhibitors, and attendees, as well as speakers from companies such as McDonald’s, Microsoft, Toshiba, Lenovo, GE Healthcare, The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Google, Yelp, SAP, Mastercard, and more.


In addition to serving as the #1 HR conference and expo where the future of work meets tech innovation, UNLEASH America 2025 also featured the HR Tech Awards 2025, powered by Lighthouse Research & Advisory and UNLEASH. The awards aim to recognize the best HR technology vendors and specialists.

The categories included Core HR/Workforce, Employee Experience, Talent Acquisition, Talent Analytics, Talent Development, Talent Management, and Total Rewards/Wellbeing.

Some of the winners included:
 

• Core HR/Workforce: One Model (Best Advance in Practical AI) and Paycor (Best Comprehensive Solution).

• Employee Experience: Culture Amp (Best Analytics, Measurement, and Business Impact Solution) and HiBob (Best Midsize Business-Focused Solution).

• Talent Acquisition: SmartRecruiters (Best Advance in Practical AI), Dayforce (Best Frontline-Focused Solution), and JazzHR by Employ (Best Small-Business Focused Solution).

• Talent Analytics: PeopleInsight by HireRoad (Best Analytics, Measurement, and Business Impact Solution) and Joveo (Talent Analytics, Best Talent Intelligence Solution).

• Talent Development: Atana (Best Innovative or Emerging Tech Solution) and Cornerstone (Talent Development, Best Talent Intelligence Solution).

• Talent Management: Betterworks (Best Comprehensive Solution) and Phenom (Best Talent Intelligence Solution).

• Total Rewards/Wellbeing: Wagestream (Best Frontline-Focused Solution) and Financial Finesse (Best Innovative or Emerging Tech Solution).

One prominent name missing from the list of awardees was Rippling, a company that’s popular in the HR management circuit.

However, that didn’t stop the company from announcing something new, big, and important about itself.

Rippling revealed it raised $450 million in a Series G funding round, which valued the company at $16.8 billion.

The move included investments from Elad Gil, Sands Capital, GIC, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Baillie Gifford, and Y Combinator, along with participation from existing investors. It also signed agreements to repurchase up to $200 million of equity from current and former employees. The company has also put out a call for job applicants across all roles.

The new investment is expected to help Rippling venture out into new markets, enhance existing products, and support the development of new products.

Rippling’s products help businesses “manage and automate every part of the employee lifecycle in a single platform, giving employees a centralized place to manage and make changes across their business systems,” as per co-founder and CEO of Rippling, Parker Conrad.

“Products that are built on top of a rich graph of data about the organization, employees, their devices, and apps aren’t just easier to manage. They are better as software products—with more intelligent workflows and approvals, better role-based policies and permissions, and more powerful analytics,” added Conrad.

Just over two years ago (March 2023), Rippling raised $500 million in its Series E funding round, which valued the company at $11.25 billion, following a $200 million raise in April 2024 (Series F), valuing it at $13.5 billion.


Today, one can’t talk about technology in any sector without artificial intelligence (AI) making its mark, and the HR industry is certainly no exception.

Recently, AI tech leader Microsoft introduced a series of new features added to Copilot—features that are designed to enhance human–agent collaboration.

This included the announcement of the general availability of People Skills, which was previously known as Skills in Viva. The new feature offers a powerful new data layer in Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365, and the Viva portfolio of apps and services.

People Skills enables businesses to learn about their employees and their skills. It also provides insights that help them boost their AI transformation while bringing employees personalized skill profiles and career growth tools.

Microsoft also introduced the new Skills agent, which “helps leaders and employees across the organization stay informed, agile, and ready to thrive.”

Employees can leverage the agent to explore and develop their own skills, learn how best to use Copilot, understand colleagues’ skillsets, and find experts in the organization, among other benefits. Leaders can inform and enforce strategic workforce planning decisions.

Microsoft further revealed the new Skills landscape report in Copilot Analytics, which consists of four report pages, including the Skills Introduction page for skill inference information, report customizations, organization progress, and more; the Top Skills page for commonly used skills and areas of specialization; the Deep Dive page for extended details on specific skills and other key insights; and the Hierarchy page (in Beta) for comparing skills and company skill taxonomy structure, and other key information.


Do you think Rippling’s new investments will help it capture a leading position in the HR industry, or do you think Microsoft’s GenAI-powered moves will redefine the HR tech sector altogether?

Let us know in the comments below!