Siemens Energy: Empowering HR operations with Technology 

How do you transform HR operations to meet the needs of a fast-changing, global business? For Siemens Energy, the answer lies in NEO+ - a bold initiative to simplify and digitize processes globally, ensure consistency, and build an AI-ready HR operations. With a clear focus on independence, scalability, and cost optimization, NEO+ sets the foundation for innovative solutions that empower employees and enable HR to focus on what truly matters.

One example of this vision in action is CoCo, Siemens Energy’s first AI-powered assistant for Compensation & Benefits. It reflects the core principles of NEO+ by delivering clear, consistent, and accessible support for employees. In this interview, David Voggeser from Mercer, along with Sebastian Wetzel and Rico Petzold from Siemens Energy, share how NEO+ is reshaping HR and how CoCo is helping to bring this transformation to life.

David, what is NEO+ and why was it launched?

David Voggeser: NEO+ is Siemens Energy’s HR transformation program, designed to make HR operations simpler, more consistent, and better equipped for a fast-changing business environment. By focusing on independence, scalability, and cost optimization, the program ensures HR administration can effectively support the company’s global operations.

The dimension of that initiative must be huge?

David Voggeser: Led by Marc Muntermann, Head of the Global Employment and Mobility at Siemens Energy, and supported by a dedicated team, NEO+ has become a key part of Siemens Energy’s broader HR operations strategy. By harmonizing processes, streamlining systems, and ensuring data consistency, Siemens Energy’s Comp&Ben team has created a solid foundation for scalable and impactful solutions. This approach enables the Comp&Ben organization to unlock the potential of AI and other innovative technologies.

Sebastian Wetzel: What sets us apart is the commitment to thorough groundwork. Many organizations fail because they overlook these critical foundational steps. Siemens Energy, however, has adopted a persistent and methodical approach, ensuring the structures and processes needed for sustainable change are in place.

Mercer emphasizes a “freedom within a frame” approach in transformation projects. How does this apply to NEO+?

David Voggeser: At Mercer, we believe in balancing global consistency with local flexibility. Our “freedom within a frame” approach creates a clear governance structure with standardized data models, policies, and processes. At the same time, it provides configurable boundaries for local markets to adapt to their specific legal or business needs.

Sebastian Wetzel: This philosophy has been crucial for the success of NEO+. In Siemens Energy’s Comp&Ben organization, for example, we reduced 80 different local merit processes to one global standard and streamlined 170 incentive systems into just five. These standards act as the frame, ensuring consistency and enabling automation, while still having the flexibility to cater for unique market conditions and legal requirements.

Rico Petzold: Without this foundation and a central governance, AI tools like our new Chatbot CoCo wouldn’t be able to deliver clear, consistent, and accurate answers.

Speaking of CoCo, how does it reflect the NEO+ strategy in action?

Sebastian Wetzel: CoCo is the perfect example of what we’re trying to achieve with NEO+. It’s Siemens Energy’s AI-powered assistant for Compensation & Benefits and is designed to provide instant, 24/7 support to employees and managers. Since its launch in September, after only one month, CoCo has already answered over 15,000 inquiries from more than 3,100 users. Many of these questions - about topics like the merit process or incentive plans - were resolved without HR involvement.

So it is all about Self Service?

Sebastian Wetzel: Yes and No. This is what we call “Tier 0” People Self-Service: empowering employees and managers to independently find the answers they need, while freeing up HR to focus on more strategic, human-centric work. And we are not only talking about timeliness, but also the quality of the responses substantially increases. There is a saying “If Siemens Energy knew what Siemens Energy knows”. And this holds true for Comp&Ben. We are very good in creating manifold policies, presentations, FAQ’s. Nobody knows all of them – except CoCo!

Rico Petzold:  CoCo is a direct result of what NEO+ stands for. Working on standardized processes, data quality, harmonized data structures, and a consistent data model laid the foundation for innovation at scale. With one global merit process and a streamlined incentive structure, AI tools like CoCo can provide reliable answers and real value across the organization. It shows that transformation doesn’t start with technology - it starts with harmonization, clean and trusted data, and the courage to rethink how we work. In short, it starts with NEO+.

What’s next for CoCo and NEO+?

David Voggeser: We’ll continue to build on the strong foundation that NEO+ has created. This means scaling proven solutions, enhancing data capabilities, and refining governance to ensure we remain adaptable as the business evolves.

Sebastian Wetzel: For CoCo, the next steps include expanding its knowledge base, voice recognition, and improving how it explains its answers to users. We’re also exploring additional use cases to make it even more valuable for employees and managers. We want the answers to be more personalized by leveraging additional information on the employee – always in line with our established access rights concept.

Rico Petzold: We’re focused on making CoCo even more modular and extensible, so it can support new processes and grow alongside the organization’s evolving needs. CoCo will also help managers by automatically flagging issues, such as potential gender pay gaps, or providing predictive insights like turnover risks.

It is a rather proactive approach…

Rico Petzold: Yes, we envision CoCo to be proactive and consult the employee during the process, not just reactive to questions. This empowers them to take actions right away, making AI an even more integral part of their decision-making processes.

Thanks so much for your insights!