In a context where companies are seeking to better understand, retain, and support their talent, Maxime Cariou, CEO of TOP, was recently invited to speak on the podcast “On n’a jamais fait comme ça” to share his insights on a timely topic: the role of artificial intelligence in predicting resignations.
This was an opportunity to revisit the AI HR solution developed by TOP, designed as a concrete and innovative response to turnover challenges. By relying on weak signals and predictive models, this technology enables companies to stop enduring departures and start anticipating them.
The podcast also allowed Maxime Cariou to reiterate TOP’s ambition: placing AI at the service of people, with a pragmatic, ethical approach always centered on real HR needs.
The Genesis of TOP: A Visionary Idea Turned into a Turnover Solution
From the very first minutes of the podcast, Maxime Cariou discusses a simple yet strategic observation: anticipating employee departures has become a critical challenge for businesses. Too often, resignations come as a surprise, destabilize teams, and are costly—both in human and financial terms. In response, AI in HR emerges as a modern and necessary solution.
TOP was born out of a strong desire: to place innovation at the heart of HR strategy. This initiative was led by Maxime Cariou, who wanted to foster an open company culture where employees’ ideas are encouraged and taken seriously. “I had implemented an innovation dynamic in my company where I invited my employees to propose ideas to develop innovation within the organization.” In this spirit, a manager proposed a bold idea: to use artificial intelligence to detect early warning signs of resignations.
An intuition that wasn’t unfounded. A study conducted by IBM had already demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of this approach. This signal reinforced the founding team’s conviction: it was time to act.
The idea quickly took shape. A first algorithm was developed, based on internal HR data, behavioral indicators, and underlying trends. Then came the acceleration phase: a rapid fundraising, formation of a dedicated tech team, and launch to market. The result? Less than four months after development began, the solution was commercialized with its first client.
TOP was no longer just an idea—it had become an operational solution, ready to transform how companies manage their talent.
A Predictive AI to Retain Talent: TOP’s Approach
In this podcast episode, our CEO shared the behind-the-scenes of our solution, explaining how it works, its added value, and the needs it addresses.
A Predictive and Proactive Solution for Retention
TOP is, above all, a solution designed to act before it’s too late. Its goal is to help companies identify employees most at risk of leaving the organization well before they make a decision.
Using predictive analysis based on internal and behavioral HR data, TOP detects the weak signals indicating a potential departure. But the tool doesn’t stop at highlighting a risk—it also suggests concrete actions to take, from simple managerial adjustments to creating full re-engagement rituals.
Each alert is contextualized through in-depth team-level analysis. HR and managers can then track clear KPIs, visualize workforce dynamics, and adjust their approach in a targeted manner. Far from being a control tool, TOP positions itself as a true HR co-pilot for prevention and support.
Technical Functioning and Data Approach
TOP relies on a technical architecture designed to adapt to existing HR environments. The solution connects directly to company HRIS systems, such as SAP SuccessFactors, to automatically retrieve relevant employee data: tenure, mobility, interview frequency, managerial feedback, and more.
Integration occurs via secure APIs, enabling smooth, continuous communication between TOP and existing HR tools. Once data is aggregated, TOP’s internal algorithms take over: they process, analyze, and translate signals into clear, actionable risk indicators.
This approach ensures rapid implementation without requiring an overhaul of the existing HR system. By simplifying data access and interpretation, TOP offers a concrete technological answer to retention challenges, while staying true to its promise: intelligence at the service of HR action.
Optimized HR Performance with TOP
Beyond the technology, TOP’s real strength lies in its concrete results. The solution boasts an 80% prediction rate, based on a deliberately limited amount of data: only 15 to 20 data points are needed to trigger a relevant alert. This analytical lightness makes the tool agile, quick to deploy, and immediately operational.
Several companies using TOP have seen turnover reduced by 10 to 30%, depending on the sector and managerial context. These figures show a real impact on the ground in terms of retention, social climate, and continuity of skills.
Industry, services, or retail: use cases are multiplying, showing that resignation prevention is not a luxury—but a true strategic lever, now accessible thanks to HR AI.
Transparent and Responsible Algorithms: A Condition for Success in HR AI
One of the key points addressed by Maxime Cariou during his talk was the ethical dimension of artificial intelligence applied to human resources. Because while TOP is a powerful tool, it can only be effective within a strict regulatory framework that respects employees’ fundamental rights.
First requirement: GDPR compliance. “We only process GDPR-compliant data.” From its inception, the solution was designed to protect personal data by limiting itself to only the information strictly necessary for prediction. Processing is pseudonymized, and data remains entirely under the client’s control.
Moreover, TOP aligns with the European AI Act, with particular attention paid to algorithm auditability. Regular checks are conducted to ensure the absence of discriminatory biases—especially concerning gender, age, or socio-professional category. “We detect resigning employees and work on clients’ historical data while covering GDPR and AI Act issues.”
Supporting internal stakeholders is also a cornerstone of the system. The role of the Works Council (CSE) is systematically included in deployments, with clear, transparent, and proactive communication. To ensure project security, TOP closely collaborates with a law firm specializing in social and tech law.
The algorithm developed by TOP is CE-certified—a recognition that validates its technical robustness and compliance with European safety and transparency requirements.
The Augmented Manager: A New Role Thanks to AI
At the heart of TOP’s solution lies a strong conviction: AI does not replace the manager—it empowers them. By providing key data, concrete recommendations, and accessible decision-making tools, TOP offers an augmented management approach—more proactive, more human, and more impactful.
Each manager has access to a dedicated interface designed to facilitate solution adoption. This interface centralizes alerts, offers personalized recommendations, and suggests management rituals tailored to detected situations. These proposals can be adjusted and enriched by the manager, depending on their management style, team context, or current HR priorities.
In practice, a manager might receive an alert signaling a high departure risk for a key employee. The tool could then recommend a series of corrective actions inspired by HR best practices—for example, scheduling an in-depth one-on-one meeting, reviewing salary positioning against the market, proposing a role evolution, or initiating support around purpose and engagement.
TOP leverages a smart fusion of large language models and predictive analytics to fine-tune its suggestions. This combination allows for the generation of targeted, contextualized, and actionable actions—at the crossroads of data, human insight, and managerial experience.
2025: Towards an AI-Augmented HR Culture
During his talk, Maxime Cariou shared a clear vision: artificial intelligence doesn’t just transform HR tools—it shapes a new culture of talent management. For HRDs and decision-makers, this implies a real skills upgrade and a reevaluation of how data is used.
First pillar of this transformation: mastering HR data. Understanding where the data comes from, how it’s structured, what biases may affect it—and most importantly, what it’s for. No matter how powerful, AI is only as good as the quality of the data it processes. Maxime stresses the importance of clear governance and close collaboration between HR, IT, and business teams to ensure analysis reliability.
Second key: continuous training for HR teams. The tech landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, with major advances every six months. Generative AI, predictive AI, and large language models (LLMs) are disrupting practices. To keep up, HRDs must embrace these changes, train themselves, test, and experiment. Innovation is no longer a luxury—it’s a strategic necessity.
Expanding to Global Markets
Internationally, Maxime also highlights the regulatory differences shaping market approaches. While the GDPR provides a solid European foundation, each country applies its own variations and requirements. This calls for nuanced adaptation, particularly for companies aiming to deploy HR AI on a global scale.
That’s exactly TOP’s goal, which is accelerating its international development. Already active in France, the solution is now targeting key markets like Canada, the U.S., Switzerland, and North Africa. This expansion is supported by high ethical standards, strong partnerships, and a clear intent to support HR in this global transition toward an augmented culture—where people and technology work hand-in-hand to anticipate, retain, and engage sustainably.
Outlook: The Future of HR AI According to Maxime Cariou, CEO of TOP
In his forward-looking vision, HR AI doesn’t replace professionals—it profoundly transforms their roles. Automation will take over a large portion of repetitive tasks: resume screening, personalized response generation, internal request handling, administrative tracking… HR professionals will gradually shift toward supervisory and strategic roles—capable of orchestrating AI-driven workflows, focusing on the employee experience, and intervening where human interaction remains irreplaceable.
In this intelligent environment, AIs “talk” to each other, cross-reference data, and suggest coherent real-time actions, with adaptability to each company context. It’s a profound shift in how we envision HR work—with greater anticipation, fluidity, and enhanced responsiveness to human issues.
Ready to Discover the New Era of HR AI with TOP?
A new version of TOP is coming very soon. This next release goes even further, integrating AI Agents specialized in every HR mission. The goal: to bring all key HR and managerial daily tasks together into a single interface. Real-time monitoring of resignation risks, employee engagement measurement, updated indicators, personalized recommendations, automated management routines… TOP becomes a comprehensive co-pilot for HRDs and managers. A solution that evolves in step with market expectations and real-world needs.
Artificial intelligence applied to human resources is no longer just a futuristic promise—it’s already a concrete, operational reality. Through solutions like TOP, HR AI demonstrates its ability to anticipate, analyze, and act—especially on such a critical issue as talent retention. But the challenge goes far beyond technology. What TOP reveals is a deep transformation of managerial culture, HR posture, and the role of data in human decisions. HR AI only makes sense if it’s rooted in an ethical, inclusive logic that serves the collective.
Through Maxime Cariou’s talk on the podcast “On n’a jamais fait comme ça”, HRDs, decision-makers, and HR professionals will find a clear vision, real-world feedback, and a genuine roadmap for integrating AI with impact and responsibility. A must-listen to rethink the future of HR… starting today.
👉 Listen to the full podcast episode by clicking here.
