Alexis A. Fink, PhD.

Senior Research Scientist, Former VP, People Analytics & Workforce Strategy, Meta

Center for Effective Organizations

Alexis Fink, PhD., is a seasoned technology executive and scholar. Her corporate career spans senior roles at Microsoft, Meta, Intel and BASF, most recently as VP of People Analytics and Workforce Strategy at Meta. She has spent her career leading through technical and organizational transformations. She’s recognized as a thought leader in Future of Work, People Analytics, AI activation, leadership and organizational change.

She is a prolific author, including a comprehensive book on People Analytics, Investing in People: Financial Impact of Human Resource Initiatives, and the definitive book on employee sensing, Employee Surveys and Sensing: Driving Organizational Culture and Performance.

Alexis is Past President of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). She is well-recognized for her impact on the field of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, having been elevated as a SIOP Fellow and awarded SIOP’s Distinguished Service Award in 2019. An industry thought leader, she leads the People Analytics Board at the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), has been an Affiliated Research Scientist USC’s Center for Effective Organizations (CEO) for many years, and was Chair of the IT Survey Group, an industry consortium dedicated to employee surveys. Alexis earned her PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Old Dominion University.

Recent Research

Podcast: Who has the Best People Analytics Team? And what does the Future hold for Alexis?

In this podcast episode, host Cole Napper interviews Alexis Fink, former leader at Meta, Microsoft, and Intel, about her “post-corporate season,” where she now runs the People Analytics Board for I4CP, collaborates with USC’s Center for Effective Organizations, writes, teaches, and helps organizations navigate AI and the future of work. She also discusses the upcoming SIOP Leading Edge Consortium, the evolution of people analytics beyond dashboards, and the importance of balancing I/O psychology with data science and business acumen to drive meaningful organizational value.

USC CEO Webinar: Driving Organizational Change with Data – in the Age of AI

Over the past quarter century, workforce/people analytics has become central to the work of HR. Yet good analytical work often fails to gain traction. And even though AI is poised to transform how analytics is conducted, it cannot solve the challenge of integrating data-based insights with effective organizational change. Integrating analytical practices with organization development and change practices can help each of these HR specialties be stronger, driving better overall outcomes for the organization, and make the best use of what AI has to offer.

Uncertain Times Call for Analytics

We are living through a tornado of change in organizations. When things change, our old practices often don’t work as well – or, we’re worried that they won’t work as well. So, we change them – often on pretty shaky evidence. But most of the time when we do this, we are looking at a symptom – not at the root cause. Like a Sisyphean game of whack-a-mole, that root cause keeps throwing up problems in new places.

The World of HR Is Changing Rapidly: I-O Psychology Can Help

This SIOP White Paper Series examines the workplace that is being transformed by advancements in AI, emerging technologies, and changing cultural landscapes, reshaping organizational operations and employee interactions. In response, human resources teams have become more sophisticated and influential, leveraging expertise and data to enhance organizational effectiveness and gain a competitive edge.

Analytics and Design for High Performance

In this webinar Drs Levenson and Fink review the evidence on the roles of technology and control systems in promoting performance, separate from employee engagement. They show how engagement can help enhance performance in some jobs while having little to no impact in other jobs.