Human capital management solutions provider, UKG, has appointed Prakash Kota as Chief Information Officer. His appointment substantiates the company’s commitment to further embed artificial intelligence, data-driven insights and employee-centric design into its technology strategy. Effective April 3, Kota now reports to UKG President and Chief Financial Officer Arlen Shenkman, aligning enterprise technology efforts with UKG’s ambitious business strategy and deep-rooted commitment to people.

“Prakash is a global technology visionary who is recognized by his peers as a leader and innovator,” said Shenkman. “He has an impressive history in leading complex initiatives focused on optimizing go-to-market strategies, processes and systems.”

With decades of experience leading transformational initiatives, Kota brings to UKG a substantial background in scaling global enterprise systems, spearheading digital transformation and championing AI-first enterprise strategies. His leadership will be instrumental in delivering technology experiences that empower both customers and employees at a time when intelligent, adaptive tools are becoming central to workforce management.

Prior to his new post at UKG, Kota served as Senior Vice President and CIO at Autodesk, the global design software giant. There, he orchestrated a multi-faceted enterprise strategy that enabled the company to scale efficiently, while delivering world-class digital experiences across global operations. At Autodesk, Kota led initiatives spanning enterprise data platforms, infrastructure and cloud engineering, as well as customer operations. His tenure was marked by innovation in cloud-first systems and data architecture that elevated operational agility and customer satisfaction.

“I am excited to join UKG at such a pivotal time in its growth journey,” said Kota. “Leveraging a data- and AI-first framework, we have a tremendous opportunity to create intelligent, seamless experiences for our employees and our 80,000 customers worldwide.”

Kota’s vision aligns closely with UKG’s mission of helping organizations become great places to work through people-centered HCM technology. With access to the world’s largest repository of people, work and culture data, UKG is uniquely positioned to generate actionable insights that connect employee experience with business outcomes. Kota’s AI-first mindset will amplify these capabilities and advance UKG’s leadership in intelligent workforce solutions.

“My focus will be on ensuring that UKG solutions foster trust, enhance collaboration and drive meaningful outcomes,” he added.

Kota’s arrival comes at a time when UKG continues to expand its reach across industries and geographies with more than 80,000 organizations relying on its HR, payroll, workforce management and culture cloud solutions.

Peter High is President of Metis Strategy, a business and IT advisory firm. He has written three bestselling books, including his latest Getting to Nimble. He also moderates the Technovation podcast series and speaks at conferences around the world. Follow him on Twitter @PeterAHigh.