Ralf Buechsenschuss

Org. Design, AI Transformation & People Analytics | Microsoft | Doctoral Candidate in Strategic HRM

Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

About

As an AI Workforce & Transformation Lead at Microsoft, I bring data and technology together to enable a data-driven culture, build a data-powered organization to get AI-ready and fuel the AI transformation. With over 15 years of experience in People Analytics, Digital HR and Org. Design, I have a passion for transforming organizations and empowering people with data-driven insights and solutions. As a guest lecturer at INSEAD, NYU, University of Mannheim and other institutions, I share my knowledge and expertise in People Analytics, Digital Transformation and Org. Design with the next generation of professionals, leaders and innovators.

Experience

  • Microsoft (3 yrs 6 mos)
    • AI Workforce & Transformation Lead
      Sep 2025 - Present · 10 mos

      -AI workforce (Human-AI collaboration, Human-Agent collaboration, personal productivity) -Scaling generative AI / Copilot and support adoption of generative AI across the organization -Virtualization of work & the workplace -Enriching employee experience and reinventing customer experience -Reshaping business processes and bringing AI into different functions (AI in Finance, AI in Marketing, AI in Sales, AI in Operations, etc.) -Bending the curve of innovation: operating models, innovation management, go-to-market -Organizational Design, Organizational Development, Change Management -Business development -Partner development -Strategic parnerships

    • Microsoft Startup Mentor - Human Resources, HR AI & People Analytics startups and ventures
      Jan 2025 - Present · 1 yr 6 mos

    • AI in HR Lead
      Jul 2024 - Present · 2 yrs

      Lead for AI in HR: -Reimaging employee experience from hire to retire across the whole employee life-cycle -Generative AI and Agentic AI use cases in Human Resources (AI in recruitment, AI in onboarding, AI in Talent, AI in compensation, AI in Workforce Analytics & Insights, AI for HR Business Partners, AI in HR Services) -Change management and measurement of the impact of AI -Skills-based organization (from skills inferencing to AI-powered learning experience) -Strategic Workforce Planning (supply/demand planning, skills and organizational design) -New ways of working (human-AI collaboration, digital labour, Human-agent collaboration) -Redesign of HR Operations: HR self-service agents, Service agents -HR Strategy -Skilling and re-skilling -People Analytics: From AI powered self-service to full scaling / democratization of people insights -Culture transformation / Growth mindset -Rethinking Talent Management with AI

  • Guest Lecturer - Org. Design, People Analytics & AI Transformation at INSEAD
    Jan 2019 - Present · 7 yrs 6 mos

    Guest lecturer in MBA and GEMBA classes (People Analytics and Org 2.0) in Singapore, San Francisco and Fontainebleau classes

  • Guest Lecturer - People Analytics at University of Mannheim
    Jul 2017 - Apr 2026 · 8 yrs 10 mos

    Guest lectures about people analytics

  • Case writer & Co-Author - Talent & skills simulation (Strategic Workforce Planning & Future of Work) at Harvard Business School
    Oct 2022 - Oct 2023 · 1 yr 1 mo

    Turning experience into knowledge for the next generation of HR and business leaders. (Co-Author of a talent and workforce simulation to create different scenarios and evaluate different trade-offs to buy/build strategic future capabilities)

  • Zurich Insurance Company Ltd (3 yrs 7 mos)
    • Global Head of Org. Design, People Analytics & Digitalization
      Jul 2021 - Dec 2022 · 1 yr 6 mos

      -People Analytics and Data Science -Strategic Workforce Planning & Future of Work -data-driven Org. Design & Organizational Development -Strategic Business partnering and planning -Employee experience and continuous employee listening -Digitalization of HR processes and creation of a digital HR data ecosystem -introduction of Artificial intelligence in HR function (Well-being analytics) -Change Management and Transformation -Career framework and job architecture (Job model) -Talent Management (Career Management, Career pathing, succession planning, leadership effectiveness) -Total Rewards (Skill-based pay and job evaluations)

    • Head of HR Projects, Processes & Operations (PMO) - Corp. Center & Global Functions
      Mar 2021 - Dec 2022 · 1 yr 10 mos

      Corporate Center and global functions: -Standardization of processes and services -measurement and efficiencies -reporting and analytics -Management of HR Services and SLA agreements -HR priorities, KPIs and monitoring -organizational effectiveness -Org. design

    • Global HR Business Partner (HR BP) - Group Technology & Operations - Group Chief Data Officer
      May 2022 - Nov 2022 · 7 mos