Orchestrating a better way to hire and grow talent

Providence is one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the United States, with over 119,000 caregivers serving communities across seven states through 51 hospitals and more than 1,100 care sites. Its mission: to provide compassionate care to all, especially the poor and vulnerable, depends entirely on the ability to attract, retain, and mobilize the right talent at the right time.

But in a highly regulated, labor-intensive environment operating under more than 100 labor agreements, talent acquisition had grown more complex than existing systems could support. With more than 35,000 position fills annually, nearly half of them internal transfers, the process was slow, error-prone, and difficult to navigate. Hiring managers, many of whom opened positions infrequently, struggled to stay compliant and efficient across a fragmented set of systems and processes.

Perhaps the clearest signal that something had to change: caregivers were reporting that it felt easier to leave Providence, go outside, and reapply as a new candidate than to transfer internally. Internal mobility, one of the most powerful retention tools in any organization, needed a rethink.

IBM and Providence have been partners since 2019 through an HR Transformation & Operations engagement, a relationship built not only on operational delivery but on a shared commitment to continuous transformation. When the need for a better internal transfer experience became clear, Providence turned to IBM® Consulting® to lead the transformation, including the design, delivery, and continuous improvements. IBM Consulting  assembled a multidisciplinary team with expertise in business transformation, human-centered design, AI, and enterprise applications.

Rather than beginning with a technology recommendation, the team began with a different question: what do hiring managers need? Through a rigorous human-centered design (HCD) process, the team engaged directly with end users, mapping friction points, understanding real workflows, and designing an experience that felt intuitive and consumer-grade, rather than yet another enterprise system to navigate.

The result was RITA, the Requisition and Internal Transfer Agent, an AI solution built on IBM watsonx Orchestrate® and integrated with Providence’s Oracle HCM and Oracle Recruiting Cloud. RITA helps orchestrate requisition creation, approval routing, job marketing content, internal candidate mobility, and real-time status updates through a single, unified experience.

Critically, no new technology platform was required. IBM Consulting elevated what Providence already had, connecting the AI orchestration capabilities of IBM watsonx Orchestrate with Oracle’s existing infrastructure to deliver a seamless experience at enterprise scale.

The results were immediate and measurable. With RITA deployed enterprise-wide, handling all requisition creation and all simple internal transfers across Providence’s seven-state system, hiring managers experienced a 90% reduction in admin time, with 70% greater accuracy. Caregivers can now complete an internal transfer an average of 12 days faster than before, and the cost per transfer has been reduced by 60%.

But the deeper impact went beyond the metrics. By designing with the end user at the center, IBM Consulting demonstrated that technology can deliver a consumer-grade experience even in one of the most complex regulatory and labor environments in healthcare. RITA didn’t just solve a process problem; it changed the way Providence thinks about what’s possible when human expertise and technology work together.

As the first solution of its kind within the organization, RITA sparked a broader conversation about an enterprise-wide AI Operating model. It prompted leadership to take a fresh look at the capabilities already embedded within their existing technology ecosystem, and to recognize the full potential of what they already had. Oracle’s platform, long the backbone of Providence’s HR operations, is now seen as a foundation for a more integrated, intuitive experience across all workflows and beyond HR.

Building on this momentum, IBM Consulting and Providence continue to extend RITA’s capabilities, exploring AI-driven candidate sourcing, intelligent matching, and predictive workforce analytics, with the bold aspiration of becoming the leading recruiting organization, not just in healthcare, but across any industry.

Providence is one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the United States, with over 120,000 caregivers serving communities across seven states through 51 hospitals and more than 1,100 care sites. Founded on the belief that all people deserve compassionate care, Providence serves patients with a focus on the poor and vulnerable, and is widely recognized as a technology-forward health system.

Oracle offers integrated suites of enterprise applications plus secure, autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. A global technology leader, Oracle helps organizations across industries optimize operations and accelerate innovation. Oracle HCM and Oracle Recruiting Cloud form the HR technology backbone for thousands of organizations worldwide, including Providence.