Live from Zoho Day 2026 with Special Guest Holger Mueller

In this special episode, Pete is joined by Holger Mueller, VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, live from the annual Zoho Day 2026 analyst event and update in Austin, Texas! Drawing on decades of watching Zoho grow from early cloud pioneer to fully integrated “ecosystem,” Holger breaks down what makes Zoho’s horizontally and vertically integrated stack so distinctive, and why its people-first culture and homegrown talent strategy show up so clearly in its products and customer relationships. Pete and Holger dive into the noisy “SaaS is dead” narrative and cut through the hype around AI agents, cloud, and data. They unpack why back-end modernization and elasticity still matter, why all‑in‑one suites are back in vogue, and how integration gaps quietly sabotage ROI in HCM, payroll, and benefits. From orchestration and data lakes to edge computing and mobile‑only HR, they explore how frontline employees, real‑time payments, and smartphones at the “edge” are reshaping how work gets done Holger argues HR must lean into technology, get closer to IT and data governance, and use AI to turn static policies and PDFs into conversational, employee-friendly experiences, while protecting trust, security, and compliance. Connect with Holger: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holgermueller/ X: https://x.com/holgermu BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/holgerbsky.bsky.social Constellation Research: https://www.constellationr.com/ Connect with the show: LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/hr-payroll-2-0 X: @HRPayroll2_0 X: @PeteTiliakos X: @JulieFer_HR BlueSky: @hrpayroll2o.bsky.social YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HRPAYROLL2_0 WRKDefined Podcast Network: https://wrkdefined.com/podcast/hr-payroll-20 Thank you to our marquee sponsors for powering the HR & Payroll 2.0 podcast forward! G-P ‘Globalization Partners’: https://www.globalization-partners.com/ OneSource Virtual: https://hubs.ly/Q03YFNR90 Zoho: https://www.zoho.com/press.html Thank you to our ‘wizard behind the curtain’ and show producer Ryan Kielma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-kielma/