Curious how NTT Data’s HR team screens 2.8 million CVs a year? Data engineers in action, reveals CPO Stijn Nauwelaerts

When you picture a cutting-edge HR team, you might imagine seasoned recruiters, learning specialists, and perhaps a few culture champions. But at NTT Data, the beating heart of global people strategy now includes a new kind of talent: data engineers. During his recent visit to Mumbai, Stijn Nauwelaerts, Chief People Officer of NTT Data, revealed how these digital experts are redefining HR and why their presence signals a seismic shift in how companies find, retain, and empower the best talent.

Nauwelaerts ' India trip was more than a routine stop. For him, India is not just a talent pool—it’s the engine room of innovation, diversity, and people-powered growth for the $30-billion global technology giant. In a candid conversation, he shared how the fusion of data engineering, Indian ingenuity, and a human-centred approach to mergers and acquisitions is powering NTT Data’s transformation into a future-ready organisation.

When asked about the biggest changes in his own team, Nauwelaerts does not hesitate: “I did not have data engineers in my HR team in my former role. Now I have them, and I want to invest further.”

It is a quietly radical shift. HR at NTT Data now employs data engineers who mine the company’s vast systems for insights on everything from candidate experience to attrition trends. “We are hiring 37,000 people a year across the globe, almost 6,000 just in India,” Nauwelaerts notes. “We receive 2.8 million CVs annually. How do you ensure the entire flow delivers the best candidate experience? How do you screen in, rather than screen out?”

His data engineers are helping answer those questions, tracking everything from ‘pre-joining churn’ (candidates who drop out after accepting an offer, but before joining) to attrition in the first year. “We are leveraging data to tell a compelling story to business leaders: Why do we lose talent? Where is the bottleneck—in the hiring manager, or in feedback loops?”

The impact is far from theoretical. “Today, I have five data engineers in my team, but we will double that.” Their work is reshaping how HR operates, making the function more proactive, evidence-driven, and aligned to business goals.

Nauwelaerts's affection for India is both personal and professional. “We do see India as being talented, which is for us, the place of innovation, the place where we find incredible talent to nurture our business growth,” he says. NTT Data’s faith in India is not new, but the depth of its commitment has only grown. Today, the company employs 40,000 people in India, with plans to expand further.

But for Nauwelaerts, it is not just about numbers. He points to a shift from “people-based” to “skills-based” business models. “We are moving much more into outcomes, rather than saying, ‘I will provide you five people or ten people.’ India is very well placed here to make sure that we have the skills we need—and that is the most important topic.”

The skills he refers to are both deep and broad. Indian teams at NTT Data are steeped in industry expertise—think insurance, financial services, and more—while also leading the company’s push into AI and innovation.

“We see business understanding together with technical capability. Now it is about ensuring that all of our customers worldwide see us at the right level, at the CXO level, where we are talking about digital transformation enabled by technology. We know the India team can deliver outcomes.”

This belief in Indian talent goes all the way to the top. Nauwelaerts ' own People and Culture leadership team includes Indians in global roles, a testament to the country’s growing influence in NTT Data’s leadership narrative.

NTT Data operates in 69 countries, with 143,000 employees outside Japan (and 200,000 globally when including Japan). For Nauwelaerts, building a leadership team that genuinely reflects the company’s global footprint is not a box-ticking exercise—it is a business imperative.

“My leadership team needs to represent our population,” he explains. “We have a very large population here in India, so I want to make sure they are duly represented. But I also look for empathy in talent—talent who understand what is happening around the world, who are more listeners than talkers.”

Nauwelaerts' philosophy is clear: leadership is not just for those with a fancy title. “At NTT Data, a leader can be anyone. Whether you are the receptionist or the CEO, everyone is a leader.”

For those in formal leadership positions, Nauwelaerts asks for three things: Inspire, Empower, and Care. “The team is not there to just get money and pay the bills. They want to contribute to something bigger, and connect their personal purpose to the company’s mission.”

Empowerment, he says, is about “taming the advice monster”—encouraging leaders to ask questions, listen, and coach, rather than simply direct. And caring means taking a genuine interest in people’s well-being and career aspirations. “You do not need to know everyone’s birthday, but you do need to ask, ‘How are people doing? Who have I not spoken to? Who is the silent voice in the room?”

This human approach is not just rhetoric. It is embedded in the company’s new culture and leadership expectations, which were co-created with input from 25,000 employees and more than 50 workshops worldwide. Every employee now has a structured “culture conversation” with their manager, designed to help them connect personally to the mission and values.

NTT Data is a serial acquirer, with a track record of integrating businesses worldwide. But for Nauwelaerts, people integration is the make-or-break factor in every deal. “The seller wants to know: what kind of company are you? Are you a company that genuinely cares about its people? That is very important.”

He shares a concrete example from India: the acquisition of Niveus in Bangalore. “They are one of the best partners to Google, with a strong employee value proposition. If we were to integrate them completely, we would overwhelm them. So it is about getting to know them, respecting where they are, and helping them nurture their entrepreneurial mindset.”

To that end, NTT Data creates boards of directors not mainly to control the numbers, but to support cultural integration. “We are very sensitive about how and when to integrate. Sometimes, the right approach is to give the acquired company time and to respect its identity.”

No conversation about talent and transformation in 2025 is complete without discussing artificial intelligence. Nauwelaerts is realistic and optimistic in equal measure. “We overestimate the impact in the next 12 months but underestimate it in the next 10 years. The way our kids are going to work will be completely different from how we did.”

He urges his team—and himself—to “unlearn to learn again.” For the first time, Nauwelaerts' CEO is also acting as Chief AI Officer, pushing HR to rethink how it supports the business. “This is an unbelievable opportunity to rethink the way we work. My question to myself is, ‘How fast can I unlearn to learn again?’”

NTT Data is already implementing AI in multiple areas, from candidate experience to operational support. “We have AI agents responding to employee questions and are looking to implement AI in performance and development.”

But he is clear that culture comes first. The company’s aspiration is to be “the place where people grow”—a philosophy inspired by Stanford's Mary Murphy's research on the growth mindset. “It is about creating an environment where people feel safe to reach out to anyone, including myself. Hierarchy and bureaucracy just slow us down.”

Nauwelaerts acknowledges that some employees fear job loss due to AI, but he sees more excitement than anxiety. “There is a consensus about the opportunity. The challenge is guiding people on how to use AI, giving specific examples rather than just saying ‘use AI.”

He sees AI as a force for redefining jobs, not simply reducing them. “There is drudgery in every job, including mine and the CEO’s. We are going to be more intentional about where we spend our time. New jobs will be created, especially in areas like data, technology, and skills inventories.”

With the war for talent as fierce as ever, what does Nauwelaerts look for in new hires—especially in the era of rapid technological change?

For him, the answer is less about degrees or even specific skills, and more about learning agility and mindset. “In every meeting, ask yourself: What did I learn today? You can learn from anyone—from a taxi driver talking about AI to a CEO discussing digital transformation.”

He is also candid about the challenges in the Indian market, where competition for ready talent is intense, and attrition is a constant reality. But he sees this as a global trend, with younger professionals increasingly drawn to entrepreneurship as an alternative to corporate life.

NTT Data’s response is to invest heavily in reskilling and upskilling. All 143,000 employees are being trained in AI, with certification tracks ranging from ‘yellow belt’ to ‘black belt’, and communities of practice to share learning. “AI is not just part of our strategy—it is our strategy. Our CEO spends 50 percent of his time on AI.”

As the lines between business and HR blur, Nauwelaerts is adamant that tomorrow’s HR leaders must possess real business acumen. “Having business acumen, including P&L management, is crucial. But equally important is the application of your knowledge. How do you coach business leaders with the information you have? Ultimately, my aspiration is to combine the business agenda and the people agenda into one single motion. One cannot go without the other.”

This drive for integration, agility, and impact is what Nauwelaerts believes will define NTT Data’s next chapter—and what makes this moment so exciting for talent and HR professionals everywhere.

Nauwelaerts’s approach to people and culture is as rigorous and data-driven as any technologist’s. But at its core, it is deeply human. Whether he is investing in data engineers for HR, ensuring Indian talent has a global platform, or guiding teams through the uncertainty of AI, his focus is always on inspiring, empowering, and caring for people.

In a world where technology is transforming work at an unprecedented pace, that may be the most compelling strategy of all.