The contingent workforce has become too important to manage as a collection of isolated transactions. Organizations are balancing fluctuating demand, specialized skills, constrained budgets, supplier relationships, compliance requirements, and growing expectations around workforce flexibility. As a result, contingent workforce leaders are increasingly being asked to do more than fill openings. They are being asked to orchestrate talent, technology, suppliers, and business requirements around broader workforce outcomes.
That shift was a central theme during a recent Future of Work Exchange (FOWX) Podcast, featuring Cristin Monnich, Head of Services for Worksuite. Monnich highlighted a fundamental change in how organizations should think about external talent: not simply as labor to procure when internal capacity falls short, but as a strategic source of skills, relationships, flexibility, and competitive advantage.
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The healthcare workforce is undergoing a fundamental transformation. What was once largely a staffing and fulfillment challenge has become a broader question of workforce orchestration. Health systems must balance limited clinical talent, complex credentialing requirements, fluctuating demand, financial pressure, and the need to provide an experience that attracts and retains skilled professionals. During a recent Future of Work Exchange (FOWX) Podcast, David Durbin, President of Trio Workforce Solutions, said that as those challenges intensify, organizations are looking for ways to gain greater visibility into their talent and make better decisions about how work gets done.
Durbin describes this evolution through the idea of orchestration. Health systems may already have significant investments in workforce management, scheduling, talent acquisition, and other technologies, but those systems do not always provide a unified view. The result can be fragmented information and limited visibility into the choices available to leaders when a workforce need emerges. A more orchestrated approach begins with the talent an organization already has. If clinicians within a health system have additional capacity, an internal resource pool or agency can potentially provide an alternative to immediately seeking external workers. And if internal resources cannot meet the need, the organization can then expand its search to external talent and staffing partners. The objective is to make those options visible and allow leaders to determine the most appropriate solution based on the situation.
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Healthcare has always been one of the most essential parts of the workforce, but the way health systems manage talent is changing rapidly. For years, workforce management often centered on a straightforward objective: fill an open position. Today, that approach is no longer sufficient. Health systems are increasingly focused on understanding the workforce they have, identifying where additional talent is needed, and determining how to deploy people at the right time and cost. During a recent Future of Work Exchange (FOWX) Podcast, David Durbin, President of Trio Workforce Solutions, spoke about the state of the healthcare workforce, the ever-present challenge of “friction,” the impact of AI on talent acquisition, and more.
One word captures the current state of healthcare workforce management: friction. Durbin said that friction exists throughout the ecosystem, from clinicians seeking opportunities and health systems attempting to fill critical roles to agencies supporting healthcare talent.
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Last week’s Future of Work Exchange feature piece on the “state of” EOR solutions sparked another thought: if we’re talking about services within the talent solutions landscape, what has changed and what needs to change?
The major difference between the HR tech, talent acquisition, and extended workforce solutions realm and every other industry (like IT, finance, etc.) is that “services” within these sectors doesn’t just translate into “consulting” or a human in a room hundreds of miles away supplying some type of vague “advice” on an inconsistent basis.
Workforce solutions that offer professional- and enterprise-grade services are foundational, value-add, and multi-modal offerings that traverse the wide spectrum of operations required to effectively find, engage, and manage talent while operationalizing skills alignment.
Actually, that word, alignment, translates into something that makes this industry so special. Think of the biggest stories happening today in the business climate and the one element that rises above the rest.
I’m talking about artificial intelligence, of course. And what comes along with the AI conversation is the worry over displacement and the cold architecture of the largest tech boom in decades.
“For twenty years, workforce programs have been rearview-mirror operations…quarterly reviews explaining what already happened. The convergence of AI and the industry’s massive transactional datasets flips that model: fill risk, rate drift, compliance exposure, and skills gaps can now be surfaced before they materialize, turning services from a reporting function into a forecasting one,” says Dustin Burgess, Head of Customer Experience at Magnit. “The dividing line in this market over the next five years won’t be who has AI, because everyone will, it’s who has the data depth and the services muscle to act on what it predicts.”
For an industry that focuses so much on, well, people, the AI conversation is both riveting and a little confusing. Today’s workforce solutions arena is relied upon to help businesses orchestrate talent strategies while optimizing the acquisition and management of talent. AI’s place in the talent technology ecosystem isn’t to replace the human element that has become the source of value, insights, and expansive, strategic power…it’s to enhance the connective tissue that services already provide.
“In many global industries, workforce success depends on genuine integration, not just a menu of siloed platforms and solutions. At Airswift, we are pushing the market to bring together RPO, MSP, SOW and direct sourcing in a way that reflects how work actually gets done: projects with shifting timelines, regulatory demands, mobilization needs, and talent requirements that rarely fit neatly into one model. By unifying these approaches into a single, skills‑centric framework, we help organizations see their workforce more clearly, respond to change more quickly, and deploy talent with the consistency complex projects demand,” says Jenny Amalfi, President of Americas, Airswift. “Services, essentially, become the X‑factor in making these models work in practice. It’s a practical, connected way of managing talent…and it’s reshaping how companies build and sustain their workforces.”
The contemporary Managed Service Provider (MSP) offering has become a formidable source of workforce management prowess that traverses beyond the normal boundaries of “outsourcing” in a way that sees these solutions shed their “traditional” tag (owed to decades of excellence…even in pre-tech days). Today’s MSPs operate as strategic workforce orchestrators by blending data, intelligence, services, and technology (including, yep…AI!) into a unified engine that supports how work actually gets done. They’re no longer defined by transactional program management; they’re defined by their ability to integrate platforms, optimize talent channels, drive skills alignment, and serve as the connective tissue between business strategy and workforce execution.
In a similar vein, as MSPs have become orchestration hubs for the extended workforce, RPO has become the orchestration layer for permanent talent by connecting intelligence, technology and delivery into a unified capability that supports how organizations actually grow. Today’s RPO-led programs (yes, service-driven!) function as embedded talent engines by integrating market intelligence, skills data, technology platforms, and advisory support to help organizations compete in increasingly volatile labor markets.
In an era when staffing and the greater labor market keep shifting, that level of services becomes that much more critical, doesn’t it?
‘Technology is becoming a commodity; orchestration is becoming the differentiator. The market is moving beyond buying ATS, CRM, VMS or AI tools in isolation,” says Orli Becker, Managing Director, Contingent Workforce Solutions, AMS. “Clients increasingly require a service partner that can integrate these technologies, apply AI responsibly, provide workforce intelligence and deliver measurable business outcomes across permanent, contingent and internal talent. AMS positions itself as that orchestration partner.”
As talent technology platforms mature (especially ATS, CRM, VMS, digital staffing, AI engines, etc.), the differentiator is no longer the software itself, but the service wrapper that surrounds it. Technology delivers capability; services ensure those capabilities become outcomes. The most effective workforce platforms pair automation, intelligence and workflow design with advisory support, configuration expertise, adoption guidance, and continuous optimization. Without that service layer, even the most advanced tools risk becoming underutilized features rather than business‑shaping assets.
“Technology delivers capabilities — but services are what ignite those capabilities into outcomes that actually move the needle. The best technology companies don’t just hand over software; they roll up their sleeves and help customers unlock every ounce of value. That service layer is the spark that turns a technology investment into undeniable, business‑shaping impact,” says Rebecca Valladares, Head of Operations at Opptly.
The extended workforce has evolved far beyond its traditional role as a flexible labor pool used to address temporary staffing shortages. Today, contingent workers, freelancers, consultants, project teams, and specialized service providers represent a strategic component of enterprise talent strategy. As organizations confront ongoing skills shortages, economic uncertainty, and accelerating technological change, external talent has become an essential source of business agility.
At the center of this transformation is direct sourcing.
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No matter where a business leader stands regarding the artificial intelligence revolution, one thing remains abundantly clear: the concept of AI nativity is one every executive should prepare for…or already preparing for.
During our annual Future of Work Exchange Live executive roundtable event in June, the biggest shifts within my definition of “the Future of Work” revolved around a specific “layer” that sat between 2025’s core Future of Work elements (like leadership agility, the dynamic asset of evolving talent, etc.) and today’s fundamental attributes (total talent, skills centricity, etc.).
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The metrics that defined talent acquisition for many years, such as speed to hire, cost per hire, and the ability to fill open requisitions, remain important but lack the insight for today’s workforce complexity. Organizations now have access to full-time employees, contingent workers, independent contractors, project specialists, alumni, retirees, interns, and AI-powered digital workers. The challenge is no longer simply filling jobs. It is determining the best way to complete work.
During a recent Future of Work Exchange (FOWX) webcast, “The New Rules of Talent Strategy,” hosted by Christopher Dwyer, Managing Director of FOWX, an expert panel of talent and workforce leaders explored how talent orchestration and next-generation talent acquisition are redefining workforce planning. Panelists included Lori Hock, CEO of Opptly; Kelly Couto, VP of Enterprise Solutions at Atrium; Kevin Leete, MSP Solutions Executive at Allegis Global Solutions; Robin Sanders, Chief Revenue Officer at TalentProcure; Archer Smith, SVP and Head of Strategic Partnerships at AMS; and Vanessa Miller, Global Director of Product Strategy at Allegis Global Solutions.
The group discussed how the shift in talent acquisition is driving a fundamental evolution in talent strategy. Modern organizations are moving beyond transactional recruiting toward talent orchestration, a more comprehensive approach that aligns workforce planning, technology, business objectives, and skills intelligence to identify the right resources for every business need.
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For years, artificial intelligence has been discussed as the next transformative technology for talent acquisition and workforce management. Today, that conversation has shifted. AI is no longer viewed as an experimental capability or a futuristic concept. Organizations are increasingly treating it as a strategic business enabler that enhances decision-making, improves operational efficiency, and creates better experiences for candidates, hiring managers, and recruiters alike.
The challenge facing organizations is no longer whether to adopt AI. It is how to deploy it responsibly while ensuring measurable business outcomes.
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Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping the future of human resources, enabling organizations to move beyond process automation and toward more intelligent, data-driven talent strategies. As workforce demands grow more complex, AI has become an essential tool for helping HR leaders improve recruitment, optimize talent management, and make faster, more informed decisions across the employee lifecycle. By combining AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics, HR teams can streamline routine tasks, personalize workforce experiences, and drive stronger talent outcomes from candidate engagement through employee retention.
The adoption and utilization of AI technologies are proving transformational for HR professionals and their industry. According to Sameer Maskey, founder and CEO for Fusemachines, and adjunct associate professor at Columbia University, in a Forbes article, “Clearly, AI is primed to disrupt the HR industry as we know it. In fact, with AI, HR teams are poised to serve as a critical and strategic ‘talent insights engine’ of an organization,” he says.
“However, this advancement requires HR professionals to do more than just embrace the technology to unlock automation-powered efficiencies and data-driven decisions. It requires them to identify novel applications of AI, such as a virtual recruiter, or employ simulated AI-augmented work settings for recruitment that will increase the efficiency of the HR team even further. Doing this will take candidate and employee engagement to a whole new level,” Maskey adds.
While HR is reaping the benefits of AI for such automated tasks such as payroll and benefits administration (essential responsibilities of HR) there are even greater strategic opportunities to truly revolutionize core talent acquisition and talent management areas.
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