Succession Planning Tool

Part of the worlds-biggest-software-project initiative.

An AI-native, open-source succession planning platform that identifies high-potential employees and maps career paths without enterprise HCM lock-in.

The Succession Planning Tool helps HR leaders, HR business partners, and executives identify key positions, build successor benches, and assess role readiness across the workforce. It targets the underserved mid-market segment (200–2,000 employees) where enterprise HCM modules are over-engineered and overpriced, and SMB tools lack predictive depth. The entire existing succession planning market is proprietary SaaS — this project fills a genuine open-source white space.

Why Succession Planning Tool?

Enterprise HCM succession modules (SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle HCM, Workday) cost $8–$30 PEPM and require $100K–$2M+ implementations taking 6–18 months — out of reach for mid-market firms.
AI talent intelligence platforms like Eightfold AI charge $150K–$500K+/year and degrade in accuracy below 500 employees, leaving smaller organisations without credible AI-driven options.
SMB tools (Trakstar, emPerform) offer simple UX but ship shallow analytics and no predictive capability — managers get a 9-box grid and little else.
No open-source succession planning tool exists at any capability tier; the entire market is proprietary, with no self-hosted option for data-sovereign organisations.
Existing tools rely on manager-entered ratings that are biased and point-in-time, and only surface pre-nominated candidates — hidden high-potentials across the workforce stay invisible.

Key Features

Core Succession Planning

Position-based succession plans with designated key positions, ranked successors, and readiness tiers (Ready Now, 1–2 Years, 3–5 Years).
Configurable 9-box grid (performance-versus-potential matrix) with collaborative annotation for calibration sessions.
Talent pools by role family, leadership tier, business unit, or custom criteria with candidate management and notes.
Bench strength dashboard with position-level coverage heat map and single-point succession risk alerts.
Role-based access controls for CHRO, HRBP, manager, and executive views.

AI-Driven Successor Identification

Full-workforce successor scanning using skills adjacency matching against open ESCO and O*NET taxonomies, independent of any proprietary model.
Continuous readiness scoring driven by live HRIS signals (performance data, project participation, learning completions) rather than annual rating cycles.
Natural language succession queries (for example, "Who covers the CFO role if Sarah leaves?").
Bench strength scenario modeling: simulate simultaneous departure scenarios and compute resulting coverage impact.

Equity, Risk & Reporting

Configurable diversity and equity lens on succession pools with representation gap reporting across the pipeline.
Risk concentration dashboard highlighting positions with single successors or no bench coverage.
Auto-generated board-ready succession risk reports with heat map visualisations, exportable to PDF and PowerPoint.
GDPR Article 22-compliant workflows that keep human review as a documented step in any AI-driven decision.

Integrations & Deployment

REST API with initial connectors for Workday, BambooHR, and ADP for employee and performance data import.
HR Open Standards (HR-XML) data interchange support for portability.
Self-hosted deployment option for data-sovereign organisations alongside a managed cloud option.

AI-Native Advantage

Unlike incumbents that require manager-nominated candidates and annual calibration cycles, this tool scans the full employee base for hidden high-potentials using skills adjacency graphs built on open taxonomies (ESCO, O*NET) — sidestepping Eightfold's patented methods. Readiness becomes a continuously updated signal drawn from performance, learning, and project data rather than a once-a-year rating exercise. AI also enables bench-strength scenario modeling and natural language succession queries — capabilities that today's mid-market tools only deliver via expensive professional services, if at all.

Tech Stack & Deployment

Deployment modes: self-hosted (for data-sovereign organisations) and managed cloud.
Open standards: HR Open Standards (HR-XML) for data exchange; ESCO and O*NET for skills taxonomies; SHRM succession planning framework as a reference; ISO 30414 metrics export for human capital disclosure.
Integration approach: REST API with pluggable HRIS connectors (Workday, BambooHR, ADP initial targets); LMS integration for development plan execution.
Compliance posture: GDPR / CCPA aligned with documented lawful basis, Article 22 human-review steps, and a SOC 2 Type II target for cloud deployments.

Market Context

The global succession planning software market was $702M in 2024 and is projected to reach $1B by 2029 at ~7.2% CAGR (Apps Run the World), with broader talent-management-inclusive estimates ranging from $2.46B in 2024 to $4.25B by 2032 (Business Research Insights) and up to $8.6B by 2034 (DataIntelo). SAP leads with ~12.6% share, followed by Oracle, Workday, and UKG; Eightfold AI raised $220M Series E at a $2.1B valuation. Primary buyers are CHROs and Chief People Officers (succession strategy, board reporting), HR Business Partners (calibration and pool management), and L&D Directors (linking gaps to development).

Project Status

This project is in the research and specification phase.
Contributions, feedback, and domain expertise are welcome.

Contributing

We welcome contributions from developers, domain experts, and potential users. See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Important: All contributions must be your own original work or clearly attributed open-source material with a compatible licence. Copyright infringement and licence violations will not be tolerated and will result in immediate removal of the offending contribution. If you are unsure whether a piece of code, text, or other material is safe to contribute, open an issue and ask before submitting.

Licence

Licence to be determined. See discussion for context.