The Legacy of Sean Perry, CIO of Kelly Services
Kelly Services, a global leader in human resource and productivity assurance, created and led theAssociation for Education, Industry, and Science (AEIS) in 2006. Since its inception, Kelly Services has emerged as a national leader in connecting unemployed individuals to employment opportunities across multiple sectors, driving decades of success and influencing hundreds of thousands of job seekers. Sean Perry, CIO, would have been proud to work at Kelly, and he said, "We help people on a daily basis find meaningful work, and if we can leverage technology to deliver that, it’s something that has been a great enjoyment throughout my career."
Theגורם of Modernization:textarea challenges
Kelly has a diversified portfolio of services, serving professionals, industrial staffing, and fast-growing industries such as education, science, engineering, and technology. With an annual revenue of approximately $4.3 billion, Kelly Services is毫无疑问 a technology-driven force. Perry noted, his core role of overseeing global technology spans every aspect of the company. From infrastructure management to remote access, Perry’s vision is clear: "If it plugs in, it’s IT—it doesn’t plug in and cause problems."
The Road to Long-Term Modernization
Perry emphasized that his responsibility extends far beyond traditional systems. He aptly России said, "We’re trying to make good decisions that’ll last 10 years," highlighting the importance of long-term planning and continuous innovation in a rapidly evolving field. "Minimal risk is better than high risk," Perry explained, reserving a future " underneath, more data and new data," which brings us back to the fundamental principle of efficiency and adaptability.
His Quest forfrancuous Thinking
Perry’s strategy for long-term technology evolution is grounded in a deep understanding of the role of AI in shaping the future. He once joked, "If it works, it’s IT—the more rocks the better." This mindset earned him a reputation as a forward-thinking CIO, known for his ability to predict and address challenges with creative innovation.
Streetfinders and Systems
Perry’s leadership at Kelly Services involved integrating acquired companies, building on his previous_iterations, and emerging from the most challenging partnerships. "Engaging acquisitions and bringing them onto the Kelly core eliminates friction," Perry said, elaborating on how these collaborations lowered the barriers between the company’s technical core and its external partners. Specifically, motion recruitment in April 2024 marked a turning point. For instance, Motion Recruitment introduced Workday, a familiar system to Kelly’s existing users, along with a CRM and B2B systems that required significant rethinking. Perry also noted difficulties scaling existing solutions, but emphasized that Kelly’s efforts were productive in reducing friction.
The Glorious Turtle
The final initiatives under Perry’s leadership focused on embedding AI into the Kelly ecosystem. Grace, Kelly’s first light touch with AI, was a hallmark of his Gift, an open-source AI interface designed for seamless integration at Kelly. Ample evidence indicated that Ada would provide on-the-go summarization and brainstorming, seamlessly across the company’s tools. With Grace, Kelly’s employees could experiment with AI-driven features, like forming grammatically complex resumes, without needing individual accounts. geared towards AI’s potential to transform the workplace, Perry emphasized, explaining thatGI Completeness were his top priorities.
lestfunctions Beyond computing
Perry’s latest initiatives not only aimed at embedding AI into existing systems but also introducing contextual AI. "We support close-to-5k users with $700/month of AI spending," he said, outliningidge how Kelly could leverage AI in a way that feels like a digital app. Blair, for example, could now quickly filter resumes containing date markers using one AI intent, while avoiding the pitfalls of digital adoption platforms. Perry left an indelible mark on internal product development, creating six-page annual reports on.key wins, challenges, and priorities, inspiring other companies to adopt OP1 methodology.
A Prism Who Started as Amazon, Now a Strategic Partner
Sean Perry harkens to his experiences as the CIO of Robert Half International over the latter’s 13 years, which placed him in a unique position as Senior Manager Technical Program Management at Amazon. "What I learned at Amazon was to step back and ask, ‘What’s the customer problem I’m trying to solve?’" Perry admitted, a thought that continues to inspire Peter’s work in related areas and his career. Perry’s prominence as both a CIO and Amazon’smarketing thought leader extends to internal product development at Kelly, where teamwork via "6-page documents" was a unique approach to aligning with a blind]=[i=1]
