Once again, AI has been a prominent topic among the most-read stories from UNLEASH so far this year.

As HR leaders move on from learning to demonstrating value and impact, as well as grappling with early implementations of agentic AI, interest in the technology shaping the future of work has never been higher.

But another topic was particularly popular among our HR leader audience – diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

Given the geopolitical climate at the end of 2024 and growing criticism of DEI in the workplace, HR leaders have had touch decisions to make in this arena, and we have spoken to those determined to enshrine DEI in corporate values and recorded those employers that have stepped away from historic commitments.

There’s also interviews with HR leaders touching on successful approaches to candidate and employee experience, rooted in HR innovation, and why they have chosen to build – and now share – their proprietary HR systems.

As always, the UNLEASH Editorial team covered all these topics with exclusive interviews, analysis and news from some of the biggest and most innovative employers out there.

Check out the top 10 below:

1. Medtronic: ‘If we expect candidates to be excited about joining us, we need to give them an experience that feels exciting’

When Medtronic’s VP of Global TA, Mark Smith, sat down for an exclusive interview with UNLEASH ahead of his session at UNLEASH America this year, he highlighted that the US medical technology giant wasn’t that well-known – just four in 100 people know Medtronic, apparently.

That number may have risen among the HR community as this interview with UNLEASH was far and away the most-read article during the first six months of the year, and taking a look at Smith’s views goes some way to explaining why.

During this in-depth interview with UNLEASH, Smith broke down the organization’s innovate approach to talent acquisition. This includes putting leadership “front and center” to offer prospective talent “real insight into the leaders they’ll be working for”, as well as how it is using technology to personalize recruitment and candidate experiences at scale.

2. DEI: Which companies have rolled back their commitments?

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) was one of President Trump’s primary targets upon taking office for a second term last year and many questioned how this would impact some of the world’s largest organizations, which had previously maintained a staunch commitment to the cause.

As 2025 worn on, more and more companies began to roll back historic DEI programs and support initiatives – UNLEASH kept track of as many as possible across different global markets, including some of the largest employers in the world.

DEI commitments were altered, scaled down or abandoned altogether, as some of the world’s best-known brands sought to escape the ire of anti-DEI advocates – all while maintaining public support for their employees and federal policies alike.

3. Going ‘All In’ on AI: Inside EY’s $1.4 billion investment in the future of work

In September 2023, global consultancy EY announced it was investing $1.4 billion into the future of work over the next years, including the launch of its EY.ai platform to bring together all the organization’s AI innovation and development efforts under a single unified platform.

A year and a half after that announcement, UNLEASH sat down an in-depth interview with EY Global Managing Partner of Growth and Innovation, Raj Sharma, to get the inside track on how on the world’s biggest consultancy’s AI strategy and progress towards its objectives.

Sharma detailed how the organization approached itself as ‘Client Zero’, developed a wide-ranging upskilling program of its own – part of its approximate annual spend of $400 million on learning and development – and evolve its own leadership to “assess and refine the AI strategy thoughtfully”.

You can also read the second part of this exclusive interview, in which Sharma shares how HR leaders can invest and plan for a bright future with AI at the center of work.

4. Spotify CHRO Katarina Berg on why the company has launched a HR people analytics solution

When music streaming giant Spotify announced it was going to roll out its proprietary HR people analytics platform, Disco, to the wider market, the HR community sat up and listened.

UNLEASH sat down for an exclusive interview with then CPO, Katarina Berg, and Global Head of HR Insight & HRIS, Gary Munro, to find out more about Spotify’s single, trusted source for all people-related metrics for both HR and all its employees – all based on using playlists instead of traditional dashboards.

Munro explained that Disco was built because nothing available in the market at the time “matched our ambitions” to make data “more intuitive, accessible, and actionable.”

Bringing that vision to other HR leaders certainly seemed to resonate well among early-adoption registrants, Berg added, albeit tempered with a cool Swedish approach to “hold our thumbs and see how the sign-ups go.”

5. Five things HR needs to know from WEF’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report

The World Economic Forum’s biannual Future of Jobs report surveys 1,000 large employers about their predictions for the world of work over the next five years, as well as explores the strategies they have to employ to stay ahead of the macro-trends.

UNLEASH examined the 2025 edition of the report to highlight five key elements for HR leaders, covering some of the most pertinent topics – also represented in our most-read articles – such as AI, job creation and displacement, new skills, DEI, and economic and geopolitical turbulence.

As UNLEASH noted in its coverage, the data presents a “mixed picture” of the global labor market; there are lots of positives, but there are also definitely some areas of warning and advice for employers to take note of.

6. ‘DEI in 2025 cannot be about playing it safe’: 5 HR leaders share why DEI is here to stay

At the start of 2025 there was palpable concern over the future of DEI following a growing movement over the previous year to remove it from corporate and other working environments – a trend that continued well into this year (see above).

As the new year started, UNLEASH spoke to five HR leaders to find out why DEI initiatives continued to be a priority for their businesses and what was driving continued investment in this arena, despite increasing opposition.

Experts said that this ranged from going “back to basics” to redefining what DEI means, by shifting it from a desired objective to a “natural outcome of strong inclusion efforts.”

While some of the HR leaders we spoke to maintained that DEI was a fundamental part of “who we are and how we operate”, there was also recognition that this is not an easy path and required a change in mindset from business leaders to champion authentic inclusion.

7. Why Revolut built its own performance-first HR tech tool

Neobank Revolut has had a remarkable success story in the decade since its foundation, growing to $2 billion in revenue, more than 10,000 employees worldwide and 50 million customers across the world.

A fundamental part of its people success is its own HR technology, Revolut People, launched in 2020 to supercharge the fintech’s meritocratic culture and support its HR team and employees.

UNLEASH exclusively spoke with Revolut’s Head of People Product Andrei Oprisor and Revolut’s Head of HR for Europe Luke Turner to take a look under the hood of HR technology at the fintech, as well why selling the tool to the enterprise market is next on Revolut’s to-do list after making it externally available in 2023.

8. Land O’Lakes CHRO: Driving growth and enhancing talent experience through HR innovation

The fantastic thing about innovation is its variety.

For Julie Sexton, SVP & CHRO at Land O’ Lakes, it is about finding new ways to provide flexibility for its 9,000-strong workforce as a cornerstone of great employee experience.

In an exclusive interview ahead of her session at UNLEASH America 2025, Sexton sat down to discuss the organization’s aims of using HR innovation to drive growth, by fostering a talent experience that not only meets the needs of the business but also empowers employees across every department.

As Sexton says, the projects undertaken in this work – such as the introduction of its Flex Work policy and SkillBridge, a program that helps military service members transition from the armed forces to civilian work, has been “paramount first step in positioning HR as a more integrated thought partner within our business units.”

9. Gallup’s 2025 State of the Workforce Report: 4 things HR needs to know

The 2025 edition of Gallup’s State of the Workforce Report found that the global workplace is “not headed in the right direction” and that addressing the issues facing managers can present a “productivity boom opportunity”.

Surveying nearly a quarter of a million workers in 160 nations, the report focuses on “a pivotal moment in the global workplace” with engagement falling and AI rapidly changing the world of work.

UNLEASH highlighted four key factors from the report for HR leaders, covering global employee engagement to falling to levels last seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, managers experiencing a significant decrease in wellbeing particularly among older and female managers, disengaged European and stressed North American workers.

10. Rippling is suing Deel for alleged corporate espionage – what does this mean for the HR technology sector?

A strong contender for HR’s biggest story of the year in terms of sheer drama and intrigue; Rippling’s US lawsuit against HR tech competitor, Deel, alleging “corporate theft” and cultivating “a spy to systematically steal its competitor’s most sensitive business information and trade secrets”.

For its part, Deel has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and filed a civil lawsuit in response to dismiss the case.

“We have taken the high road in the past but enough is enough. We won’t tolerate this conduct any longer,” Deel stated in a blog post.

UNLEASH dug into what could be one of the biggest cases of its kind in the 21st century with the aid of lawyers, consultants and analysts to question the implications for the HR space.

As one legal expert told us, the case could set a precedent in the HR technology world, but as another HR expert stated: “nobody wins – especially not the customers”.

What topics will be top of mind for the second half of 2025? UNLEASH will have all the news, analysis and interviews that matter to the HR community.