Eightfold AI has appointed Joe Korngiebel as Chief Executive Officer, succeeding co-founder Ashutosh Garg, who becomes Chairman of the Board.
Korngiebel joins the HR software company after senior roles at Dayforce and Workday, bringing three decades of sector experience. At Dayforce, he was Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy, Product and Technology Officer. At Workday, he spent 14 years and served as Chief Technology Officer from 2016 to 2020.
The leadership change marks a handover at a company that has spent the past decade building its position in talent intelligence software for employers. Garg, who co-founded the business and led it for 10 years, will remain involved through the board.
Eightfold says new customers for its agentic products have quadrupled this year. Korngiebel will lead the business through its next stage as artificial intelligence tools take on more tasks inside large organisations.
Leadership change
Korngiebel has built his career in enterprise HR software, with experience spanning payroll, workforce management and human capital management systems. His appointment puts an executive with deep experience at established HR technology vendors at the top of a company focused on AI-based tools for hiring, workforce planning and talent development.
Before joining Dayforce, he was among Workday's early employees, joining in 2006. He later became Chief Technology Officer and held the role for four years.
In remarks released alongside the appointment, Korngiebel outlined his view of how AI will be adopted in workplace software.
"I have spent my career building the platforms that run HR for some of the world's largest organizations," said Joe Korngiebel, Chief Executive Officer of Eightfold. "Today, organizations need intelligence that acts on top of those platforms: understanding what their people can do, and helping them act on it as AI changes how work gets done. Eightfold is built for this moment, and I am honored to lead it."
Founder role
Garg is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer after leading Eightfold since its founding. He will remain with the company as Chairman of the Board.
His comments pointed to continuity in the transition and to the company's focus on product development and customers.
"Ten years ago, we set out to enable hiring based on potential. This team did that, and then some," said Ashutosh Garg, Chairman of the Board of Eightfold. "I couldn't be prouder of what we built together, or more excited to hand the baton to Joe. He pairs real product vision with a deep respect for customers, and he is exactly the leader for Eightfold's next decade of innovation. I'll stay close to the Eightfold team as chairman of the board."
The appointment comes as HR technology suppliers seek to define their role in the spread of AI across business software. Companies in the sector are increasingly pitching tools that sit alongside core HR systems and help employers identify skills, match workers to roles and make staffing decisions using machine learning models.
Eightfold has positioned itself around talent intelligence, a category focused on analysing employee and candidate data to support recruitment and workforce planning. Korngiebel's background in large-scale HR systems suggests the company is seeking leadership with experience across both core platforms and adjacent software layers.
That combination may matter as customers weigh how newer AI tools connect with existing systems from long-established HR software providers. Korngiebel's previous roles at Workday and Dayforce gave him experience with the operational systems many large employers already use.
For Eightfold, the transition also marks a shift from founder-led management to a Chief Executive Officer drawn from the wider HR software industry. Garg remains Chairman of the Board as the company enters its next phase.