Answer extracted from the The Josh Bersin Company podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How has the business model for monetizing human capital research evolved over the past decade?
The Josh Bersin Company shifted from a traditional research membership model—selling access to reports, frameworks, and graphics similar to Gartner's approach—to role-based subscription models that deliver tailored videos, podcasts, and educational content. This evolution reflects a fundamental insight: consumers need research and resources tailored to their specific job function and industry, not a one-size-fits-all library.
From Library Access to Personalized Content Delivery
The original business model, launched alongside the company's founding in 1998, followed the industry standard of research membership: package all research into reports and frameworks, then sell access to the entire collection. This approach worked well for a broad audience, but it had a critical flaw.
The key insight was that relevance matters far more than volume. A C-level executive, a recruiter, an L&D specialist, and a technology vendor each need fundamentally different resources—yet a traditional membership forced them all to sift through the same massive library. As Josh Bersin explains in the episode, telling a small retailer how Walmart or Google manages performance is interesting academically, but it may not be actionable for their specific context.
Over the past decade, this realization drove a complete redesign of the business model. Rather than pushing all research through the same channel, the company now segments by role and delivers curated content formats—videos, podcasts, frameworks, and educational materials—that match how each audience actually works and learns.
Scaling Relevance Through Role-Based Subscriptions
The new subscription architecture reflects decades of research across nearly 1,800 case studies and 95 functional capability areas in human capital management. Instead of a single product, there are now differentiated offerings for executives, HR practitioners, recruiters, L&D leaders, and technology vendors.
Each segment receives content shaped for their job and their industry context. A vendor looking to understand HR benchmarks gets analysis tailored to their product category; an HR leader gets actionable insights from companies similar in size and geography. This model aligns revenue directly with value delivered, and it reflects a shift in how knowledge workers prefer to consume research—through curated, relevant narrative rather than exhaustive archives.
The underlying IP remains the same: the research foundation described in the podcast includes maturity models, benchmarks, assessments, and hundreds of case studies. What changed is the distribution layer—how that IP is packaged, personalized, and delivered to increase adoption and impact.
"We take the research, we produce it into reports and models and frameworks and graphics… we talk to vendor customers. We talk to the vendors themselves. We have pretty much the same examples and same process."
Josh Bersin — Founder and CEO, The Josh Bersin Company. Over nearly 30 years, Bersin has built a research practice studying human capital management across 95 functional capability areas, from talent management and pay equity to diversity and employee experience. His company now combines research, advisory services, education, and consulting to help organizations align people practices with business strategy.
One detail worth exploring further: the episode reveals how Galileo, the company's AI-powered research platform, now enables even more precise content personalization by indexing research across eight different dimensions—a capability the original membership model could never offer.
Key takeaways
- The traditional research membership model (reports + frameworks for all) proved less effective than role-based subscriptions that deliver tailored content to specific job functions.
- Relevance to industry, company size, and location drives adoption far more than comprehensive but generic best-practice libraries.
- Modern subscription models package the same research IP into multiple formats—videos, podcasts, educational materials—optimized for how different audiences prefer to learn and work.
- The shift reflects a deeper insight: HR professionals, vendors, and executives need curated guidance, not unlimited access to everything.
See also
What is the foundational approach to conducting human capital research across different company sizes and industries?
The research focuses on providing actionable solutions to problems specific to your industry, location, and company size rather than generic best practices. Nearly 1,800 case studies support this principle, ensuring that guidance remains relevant and applicable.
How does AI enable HR to shift from transactional to strategic value delivery?
By automating monotonous operational work, HR teams can free capacity to focus on higher-value activities that excite and develop their capability. This shift unlocks strategic impact that was previously buried under administrative load.
What foundational elements must precede successful AI implementation in HR transformation?
Before the AI frenzy began, focusing on fundamentals—data governance, process redesign, and knowledge management—provided essential groundwork. These elements remain critical to successful digital transformation.