This issue of People First was sent on 30 June 2026. Product details reflect what was true at the time.
I hope you've had a great month.
At Talstack, we've been watching the World Cup, bringing HR and People leaders together for honest conversations, hosting a practical workshop on AI agents, and building new tools to make people management easier.
June has been a busy one here. Let's get into what's new!
Another Evening with our HR community in Lagos
Earlier this month, we hosted another edition of our Senior HR & People Leadership Mixer in Lagos. We welcomed HR and People leaders for an evening of shared experiences, honest conversations, and practical reflections.
Two themes stood out the most during the event: retaining great talent, and driving meaningful AI adoption in the workplace.
Leaders discussed how flexible work, clearer growth paths and stronger management can help companies retain great people when budgets are tight.
On AI, the room agreed that adoption works best when leaders lead by example and employees can see how the tools apply directly to their daily tasks.
We keep each mixer small and curated to make room for honest, practical conversations. You can apply to join the next edition below.
How HR Leaders Can Cut Weeks of Work Down to Days Using AI Agents
Are manual, repetitive tasks slowing you down?
In our latest webinar, "How HR Leaders Can Cut Weeks of Work Down to Days Using AI Agents", Ojotule Opaluwa Alagbe (VP of People and Culture at Zone) shared a practical introduction to building AI agents that can carry out complete HR workflows.
The session explored how HR teams can move beyond one-off prompts and create AI agents that execute tasks across an entire workflow. It also featured a live demonstration of a 60-day employee onboarding process, covering welcome emails, manager notifications, and automated check-ins triggered from a single prompt.
The full webinar is now available on YouTube.
HRIS Is Coming to Talstack
We are building Talstack HRIS as a single, trusted home for employee records, documents, and core people processes.
HR teams will be able to set up an employee once and keep their profile, reporting line, onboarding workflow, document access, and reporting connected in one place. It removes the hassle of juggling information across scattered spreadsheets, forms, and folders.
Talstack HRIS will serve as the foundation beneath our existing Goals, Feedback, Performance Reviews, and Learning tools, helping growing teams manage their people with greater clarity and confidence.
We will share more details soon.
Get Early Access to Talstack's Leave Management Module
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Our Leave Management (Time Off) tool is now ready for early access. This module will help employees request time off and track their leave, while giving managers and admins a much simpler way to approve or decline requests, manage leave policies, and monitor leave across their teams.
We are inviting 5 companies to be among the first to test the tool and share feedback before the wider release.
Layoffs Are Sometimes Necessary. Cruelty Never Is.
As companies push for greater efficiency and AI continues to reshape how teams are structured, restructuring is becoming a difficult reality for many businesses.
When workforce reductions become unavoidable, leaders need to look beyond just the bottom line. How leaders handle the process matters just as much.
In a new Medium article, I reflect on how leaders can approach layoffs with clarity, fairness, and human dignity. It is a reminder that while difficult decisions are sometimes required, cruelty never is.
For teams needing practical guidance on managing employee exits, Talstack's Human Resources Management for Early Stage Companies course includes a dedicated module on employee termination. It covers legal compliance, respectful communication, and proper support processes.
Thank you for being a vital part of the Talstack journey. As always, if you have any feedback or need support, our team is just a message away.
Warmly,
Seni Sulyman
Co-Founder and CEO, Talstack
