In a recent episode of the HR business marketing podcast, A Better HR Business, Ben spoke with Reece Akhtar, CEO and Co-founder of Deeper Signals, on how their psychometric assessment platform is bridging gaps between people, roles, and organizational strategy.
As an organizational psychologist and data scientist, Reece specializes in leveraging behavioral science and technology to help organizations make smarter, data-driven talent decisions. With expertise in applied personality assessment and computational psychometrics, he has held academic positions at New York University (NYU) and University College London (UCL) and led product innovation at Hogan Assessment Systems and RHR International.
A recognized thought leader, Reece contributes to scientific journals, HBR, and Forbes, sharing insights on talent, technology, and the future of work. He also published The Future of Recruitment: Using the New Science of Talent Analytics to Get Your Hiring Right.
Deeper Signals doesn’t just focus on technical acumen. Instead, it’s pioneering the measurement and development of soft skills – qualities like communication, collaboration, and adaptability – that are becoming increasingly essential as AI takes on more routine tasks. As Reece puts it, “Our uniquely human aspects, like our ability to coordinate, invent, and communicate, are going to become more important.”
Reece explained that Deeper Signals was founded to address a persistent market gap: the existing assessments were either too scientific and cumbersome, used only at the top of organizations, or too light and lacking in scientific rigor. “How can we democratize self-awareness?” became their guiding question.
Their answer: scalable, scientifically validated assessments that are as intuitive and user-friendly as the everyday tech tools we use outside of work. The platform is intentionally designed for multiple stakeholders: HR leaders, hiring managers, team leaders, and employees themselves. “It’s not just about the HR user or the candidate,” Reece notes. “We want to make everyone’s lives better in the world of work.”
In a wide-ranging discussion, Reece and Ben talked about:
- How Deeper Signals is bridging the gap between scientific rigor and user-friendly design.
- Why Reece believes soft skills are the new superpower in the age of AI.
- The challenge of building tools that work for HR, employees, and managers.
- How Deeper Signals stands out in a space full of both serious and “fun” assessments.
- Product evolution: What guides their roadmap and what they’ve learned building for scale.
- Why education and thought leadership play a key role in their customer strategy.
- Expanding their assessment library, deepening AI capabilities, and tracking big shifts in HR tech.
- And much more!
Thanks, Reece!
Website: www.deepersignals.com
LinkedIn profile: www.linkedin.com/in/reeceakhtar
Reece Akhtar – Deeper Signals
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About The ‘A Better HR Business’ Podcast
In my HR marketing podcast, I talk with different HR consultants and HR tech companies from around the world to learn about what they do and how they keep their businesses healthy and moving in the right direction.
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