A CEO can tell you exactly how much revenue their top product generated last quarter. But ask them how fast their workforce can respond to change or adopt new tools like AI, and you’ll often get vague answers or silence.
Rasmus Holst, CEO of Zensai, wants to change that. On The Disruption Is Now, Holst joins host Greg Matusky along with Randy Cruz, Director of Talent and Organizational Development — Learning Design at Penske, to lay out a radically different approach to employee engagement and performance management: Strava for work. Inspired by fitness tracking apps, Holst argues for a system that continuously tracks learning, engagement, and productivity to create a real-time human success score.
Instead of obsessing over attrition rates and compliance checkboxes or treating people as “resources,” AI learning platforms can improve the way companies support and grow their teams. For marketers and communicators struggling to get teams to embrace AI and change workflows, Holst’s method may offer a missing piece.
Watch now:
Key takeaways
Stop calling people resources and start treating them like customers
Holst doesn’t mince words: labeling people as “resources” is outdated. Zensai flips the script by treating employees the way companies treat customers, with the goal of success, not extraction.
Instead of reactive HR processes, Holst’s platform proactively supports employee growth and engagement. It checks in weekly with staff, suggests skill paths using AI, and helps managers understand when someone might be struggling. This approach gives HR teams tools to support real outcomes, not just tick boxes.
Strava for work shows how ‘fit’ your workforce really is
Fitness tracking apps like Strava log how much an athlete trains and estimate how fast they can run a race. Zensai applies that thinking to business.
It tracks how employees learn, engage, and perform, and shows leaders how quickly teams can execute key tasks. Instead of waiting for annual engagement surveys or focusing on attrition, CEOs can now monitor workforce fitness in real time. And just like a low sleep score signals fatigue, a dip in a company’s “human success score” can be a signal to act.
AI builds personalized learning without the corporate slog
Forget long, boring training modules. Holst’s platform uses AI to generate bite-sized, on-demand learning content tailored to each employee’s needs, whether that’s mastering AI tools or refreshing company policy.
It can suggest micro-courses based on an employee’s goals and serve them at the right time, making learning part of the workday. This system helps employees grow faster, while ensuring skills stay aligned with company needs.
Performance reviews are dead. Continuous feedback is in.
Annual reviews miss too much. Holst’s platform continuously gathers data on learning, engagement, and task completion, turning it into actionable insights for managers and employees alike.
AI assembles this information for timely and constructive performance conversations. This method helps spot issues before they escalate and ensures that top performers are recognized and supported.
CEOs aren’t budgeting for AI’s real impact
Holst points out a blind spot in how executives plan for AI. Many talk a big game about AI’s potential but haven’t adjusted their budgets to reflect it.
Most 2025 plans look like 2024’s, with little thought to how AI might change headcounts, marketing outcomes, or customer engagement.
Holst challenges leaders to be specific: What outcomes do you want from AI? What will you spend to get there? Without clarity, investments in AI will lack impact, and resistance to change will remain strong.
Key Moments in the Conversation
- Why Holst wants to rebrand HR as “human success” (1:33)
- What Strava for work means for employee engagement (2:50)
- AI’s role in personalized learning and performance reviews (4:09)
- The challenge of change management in AI adoption (7:49)
- How Penske tracks workforce engagement in real time (10:18)
- Why human beings must remain central to AI-driven businesses (11:56)
- Holst explains how continuous data creates a human success score (13:26)
- What happens when high-performing employees aren’t engaged (14:50)
- Why CEOs struggle to budget realistically for AI’s outcomes (20:42)
