How Titan is Transforming HR and TA Using AI and Automation

How do you scale a legacy brand while keeping your people at the center of transformation? For Titan — a household name in India for watches, jewelry, eyewear, and lifestyle products — this question isn’t just theoretical; it’s a business imperative. With an ambitious goal of doubling the revenue by 2027, Titan is expanding its global presence, bringing Tanishq to international markets such as the US, UK, and the Middle East. This expansion cements Titan’s position as a global lifestyle brand.

Swadesh Behera, Chief People Officer of Titan Company Limited, shared insights into how the company is revolutionizing People Function and talent acquisition (TA), highlighting Titan’s approach to building a scalable, tech-driven HR system while preserving the personal touch that defines the culture of people centricity.

Watch the full session here or continue reading the highlights.

Titan’s Growth Vision: From Legacy to Global Expansion

Titan has transformed from a watches brand into a global lifestyle brand, expanding into jewelry, eyewear, and fashion. Now, the company is setting its sights beyond domestic success, strengthening its international presence with Tanishq stores in key markets such as the US, UK, Singapore, and the Middle East.

“Our ambition is clear — we are aiming to double our revenue and this growth will be powered not just by business expansion but by how we invest in our people, technology, and processes,”  said Behera.

This expansion strengthens Titan’s global footprint, showcasing its commitment to sustainable growth and innovation beyond just business expansion — it demands an evolved approach to the way they acquire, develop, and retain employees. 

Using AI and Automation To Reshape Talent Acquisition 

To keep pace with its ambitious growth plans, Titan modernized TA with AI and automation, ensuring its hiring processes remain fast, data-driven, and adaptable.

“Consumer preferences changed significantly after COVID-19, and as a company, we had to adapt quickly,” said Behera. “High ambition necessitated us to relook at our talent priorities and bring in newer capabilities. And to support this hypergrowth, we needed technology to bring in the right talent with speed and agility.”

Using Phenom, Titan introduced several AI-powered strategies to streamline recruitment:

• Omnichannel Hiring: Just as Titan leveraged AI in retail with virtual jewelry try-ons, Titan applied similar AI-powered matchmaking in talent acquisition.

• Automation in Hiring Workflows: Titan integrated automated screening, interview scheduling, and onboarding systems, significantly reducing the manual workload for recruiters.

• Remote Hiring: AI-driven assessments enable Titan to hire remotely faster, broadening its talent pool and facilitating global expansion.

AI integration helped the company improve hiring efficiency and candidate experience, making way for a talent acquisition strategy that matched the company’s broader expansion goals.

Related: How Electrolux balances digitalization with personalization for hiring edge

Transforming the Employee Experience

As Titan optimized hiring, it also prioritized enhancing the employee experience, fostering career development, learning, and mentorships which are as seamless as the digital experiences they feel as consumers.

“We asked ourselves — if an employee expects a digital-first, frictionless experience when ordering food or booking a cab, why should their workplace feel outdated?” said Behera. “We learned a lot from how our consumers interact with technology. Just like a customer wants to compare products across stores, an employee should be able to explore career paths effortlessly within Titan,” Behera explained.

To bring this vision to life, Titan has recently launched the Bridge Marketplace, an internal talent platform designed to help employees explore gigs within the organization for cross-functional exposure. Titan is also exploring Phenom Talent Marketplace and Mentoring, to introduce the following capabilities:

1. AI-powered Career Pathways – Employees receive personalized career growth recommendations based on their skills, aspirations, and Titan’s evolving business needs

2. Skills-based Workforce Planning – Moving beyond traditional job descriptions, Titan is adopting a skills-first approach to hiring, performance management, and learning & development

3. Mentorship-driven Internal Mobility – Employees will gain hands-on experience through structured mentorship programs, internal gig opportunities, and cross-functional projects that expand their skill sets and career options

By providing multiple career possibilities, Titan is empowering employees to take ownership of their professional growth. The goal isn’t just to introduce new tools but to redefine how employees navigate career development — on their terms, with clarity and confidence.

“In today’s world, skills are more valuable than job titles,” Behera noted. “We are shifting from a system where we use skill as a currency for all our people practices. This will help us leverage AI to enhance employee experience.”

A Culture-First Approach to HR Tech Adoption

Titan believes that technology should complement human decision-making, not replace it. To maintain this balance, the company follows a culture-first approach to HR tech adoption, ensuring that digital tools align with its people-driven philosophy. For example:

• While working on rolling out their new Talent Marketplace, Titan is focusing on ensuring its employees are comfortable with mentorship programs and cross-functional learning initiatives.

• Recruiters still drive hiring decisions, but AI helps them identify strong candidates faster, reduce bias, and enhance decision-making.

• Employee feedback remains central to innovation. Titan’s MD and CPO engage in 80+ hours of direct listening to gather feedback from employees, and technology is leveraged to ensure that employees have transparency on the actions taken after their feedback.

By embedding AI into existing cultural frameworks, Titan ensures higher adoption rates and minimal disruption, allowing HR tech to enhance — not dictate — the employee experience. Beyond adoption, Titan is building a scalable framework that adapts to workforce needs and business goals through constant iteration. Titan tests, refines, and seamlessly integrates new tech rather than implementing it in isolation.

Related: Talent Management Strategy: 8 Best Practices for Success

Leadership Champions Innovation

Titan’s smooth HR tech adoption is a direct result of strong leadership buy-in. Unlike many organizations where the people function struggles to secure funding for transformation, Titan’s leadership prioritizes employee experience at the highest level. 

"Thankfully, at Titan, I never have to convince leadership about investing in the right HR technologies," Behera said. "Our Managing Director himself is the biggest champion of employee experience. In many cases, he pushes us to think about technology in every aspect of our people practices."

Titan’s leadership conducts regular business reviews where the people function, finance, and IT leaders jointly evaluate the ROI of People technology. This cross-functional collaboration accelerates decision-making, ensuring every investment contributes to both operational efficiency and employee engagement.

"When your CEO is actively involved in people function decisions, it changes everything," Behera explained. "It’s no longer about 'proving' the value of HR technology  —  it becomes an essential part of business strategy."

This leadership-backed approach allows Titan to make faster decisions on technology adoption while checking that every investment contributes to both efficiency and employee engagement.

Future-Proofing HR with Technology and Culture

Titan’s workforce transformation shows that AI alone isn’t enough — its success depends on seamlessly integrating technology with human-centric strategies. By aligning AI adoption with its culture, Titan ensures employees remain engaged, supported, and empowered to grow.

Rather than automating for efficiency’s sake, Titan plans on leveraging AI to enhance career mobility, mentorship, and skills-based learning, ensuring employees can explore opportunities with clarity. This personalized, people-first approach strengthens retention and fosters long-term workforce agility.

As AI reshapes HR, Titan’s journey serves as a blueprint for leaders looking to drive innovation while keeping people at the center. By integrating People technology in a way that enhances, not replaces, the human experience, Titan proves that the future of work is not just digital but deeply connected to growth, mentorship, and culture, making it both high-tech and high-touch.

Looking to future-proof your workforce like Titan? See how Phenom can help you scale hiring, development, and retention all from one place!  Schedule a demo today to see how it works!