News
In Brief
- Communicators can now tailor content and experiences for specific audiences.
- Analytics teams gain near real-time engagement data for rapid insights.
- EHR and communications leaders can boost employee engagement and decision-making with streamlined workflows and integrations.
Firstup updated its platform today, with improvements to its personalization capabilities, data access and workplace integrations. The San Francisco-based company stated many of these features came as a result of customer feedback.
The goal of the new updates is to improve employee communication and engagement through more targeted messaging and providing faster access to analytics data. The release includes new audience targeting tools, knowledge management features and expanded integrations with Workday and Concur.
2025 Engagement Challenges
Today's release lands at a moment when employers are under increasing pressure to deliver clearer, more effective communication with fewer resources. At the HR Technology Conference 2025, vendors emphasized practical business value rather than technological novelty. The trend reflects a maturing market where customers demand tangible outcomes rather than technological promises.
Breakdowns in communication continue to be a major drag on productivity — costing U.S. companies an estimated $2 trillion annually — with recent research showing that 71% of employees don’t engage with internal messages. Organizations need systems that cut through overload, deliver information that matters and provide proof that their efforts are working.
Firstup’s latest update directly responds to these forces, giving communicators and HR leaders more precise targeting, faster insight into what’s working and tighter integrations that reduce friction across the employee experience.
What's Inside Firstup's Platform Update
The following features are included in today's launch to help internal comms and HR teams in their efforts:
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Audience Block Targeting | Allows tailoring content blocks within campaigns to different audiences. |
| Forced Delivery | Ensures urgent updates reach all employees regardless of preferences. |
| Journey Management | Offers new search and filter tools to track employee journey stages. |
| Direct Data Export | Provides near real-time access to engagement data through secure exports. |
| Knowledge Hub Enhancements | Improves admin controls for creating branded information spaces. |
Firstup's 2025 at a Glance
Firstup’s 2025 strategy has focused on deepening its workforce orchestration capabilities — using automation, AI and data to deliver highly personalized, multi-channel employee journeys at scale. At the same time, it has strengthened its ecosystem and insights layer through tighter HRIS integrations, improved analytics and a leadership shift aimed at accelerating enterprise adoption.
Bill Schuh came on as CEO in June, replacing founder and former CEO Nicole Alvino, who moved on to a role as Chairwoman of the Firstup Board. The company added three more executive leaders in October: Kristin Brennan as Chief Marketing Officer, Craig Steele as Chief Revenue Officer and Nathan Lowis as Managing Director for EMEA.
The company started the year with the launch of Workforce Orchestration, an AI-powered system that automates and personalizes employee journeys across channels, so workers receive timely, relevant information. Workforce Orchestration shifted communication from manual, campaign-based messaging to adaptive, data-driven experiences that react to employee behavior and context.
This AI-powered communications delivery led in part to the company's landing in the leader's quadrant of the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Intranet Packaged Solutions.
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