Headcount Experts | how to build a headcount tool with ai

Should you build your headcount process with Claude or buy headcount planning software? In Episode 23 of the Headcount Experts Podcast, Eric Guidice of headcount365 and Chris Mannion of Meander HQ break down the non-negotiables of an AI-built headcount process: the assumptions log, the golden roster, change management, data security, and the breakages that make an AI model 80% right and 100% risky. Chris shares a real spreadsheet built entirely with Claude for Excel, errors included, so you can see exactly where AI-built headcount forecasting goes wrong. 0:00 Introduction 1:03 Meander HQ and the Talent Academy teach teams how to build headcount with AI 9:25 Using Claude to build a headcount process from scratch 15:42 Requirement 1: The assumptions log 21:15 Requirement 2: Deduplication and cleaning the data 26:52 Requirement 3: Managing finance, business, and talent-led changes 34:45 Requirement 4: Data security, PII, and prompt injection 40:09 Requirement 5: Where AI models break 45:21 Who should build with AI and who should buy software 46:47 The coolest things teams are building with AI today 54:27 Live demo: a headcount model built entirely with Claude 57:10 Critical thinking, the most underrated skill in the age of AI