Joining KLAS was the biggest mistake of my career - Anonymous employee KLAS Research Employee Review

1.0
May 28, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you are looking for a front-row seat to a masterclass in executive delusion and corporate decline, you will find it here. Seriously, this is going to make an amazing case study for business students to study one day. Otherwise, the only pro is hoping you get caught in the next round of layoffs so you can take a severance check and run.

Cons

Joining KLAS is the single biggest regret of my career. A short time ago, I had the opportunity to join KLAS or a HIT vendor and I made the mistake of buying into KLAS' pitch about being "mission-driven". I regretted my decision almost immediately and it took me almost no time to realize that the whole "mission-driven" identity is a complete joke. The mission is dead. The president's tenure has been a masterclass in total incompetence. As a data company, KLAS should look at the actual numbers: we have had three rounds of layoffs in the last two years, and every single round gets bigger and more painful. On top of that, we just found out we are on track for a massive drop in sales and revenue year over year. This is going to be the biggest decline in the history of this company by a huge margin. Vendors are already jumping ship and those of us that work with those remaining know that many others don't plan on renewing their contracts in the future. So the decline is only going to get bigger. Instead of taking an OUNCE of accountability for this disaster, the president has the audacity to stand up at All Hands and ask insane rhetorical questions like "Just because KLAS has had 3 rounds of layoffs, is seeing revenue shrink rapidly, and is seeing employee satisfaction fall through the floor, does that mean that the leadership has failed? No!" He then tries to spin his obvious failure and incompetence as a leader into a good and necessary thing. It is pure gaslighting. I need to be very clear on these next points: No one believes a word that comes out of his mouth. Nobody sees him as honest, and nobody thinks he is competent. Nearly the entire company is laughing behind his back while he peddles this nonsense (because what else are we going to do?). At this point, we all know he's just trying to save face with the board and hold onto his job for a little longer. And its not just him, its the entire ELT who Steve hand-picked to be a cohort of "yes men". Because the ELT hacked away at the headcount, and specifically seemed to target many long-time employees who were shouldering a large amount of the workload and who were some of the most vocal advocates of the mission, we can no longer deliver on a huge number of our contracted obligations to our customers. We are actively failing our clients because we do not have the people left to do the work, but we're all being asked to do a lot more and we're DROWNING because of it. The answer to this? KLAS is actively cutting back on both the quality and quantity of our products, but still asking our customers (both vendors and providers) to pay for a premimum/botique experience. And the plan is to take this even further and make a completely cookie cutter, non-insightful, AI slop driven experience that is devoid of the industry expertise and relationships that KLAS has built its reputation on. Yes, you heard it right, the plan is for the enshittification of KLAS' products. To top it all off, more and more of the VP/middle management level leadership team has become incredibly toxic. Walls are thin in the office and I've overheard certain "leaders" (yes, thats in quotes for a reason sicne real leaders have integrity) in conference rooms and their office badmouth and belittle the people who were laid off months ago and have moved on with their lives/careers. It's pathetic behavior and a toxic coping mechanism from managers who know they are stuck running a failing company while the people they used to call friends moved on to much better things. Word is there are even more layoffs coming soon. I genuinely hope I am included. Give me my severance so I can get away from this disaster and put this mistake behind me.

Explore other reviews about KLAS Research

2.0
Jun 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The mission of the company is noble and needed. Coworkers are caring, bright, and hardworking individuals.

Cons

While the company mission is admirable, it is now consistently overshadowed by a drive for money over all, a lack of consistent messaging, and poor leadership. Tools are so far behind that leadership has placed huge bets on AI, which continues to disappoint and underwhelm. When once the company looked within for talent to train and promote, we now hire more from the outside, particularly for senior leadership, which has been disastrous for morale and culture. Layoffs have eroded trust not only because now there is too much work for everyone else to absorb (with poor tools all around), but also because our current leadership doesn’t understand the overall mission or individual and team responsibilities. Leadership messages are chaotic. Managers don’t know how to cover for senior leadership missteps, training is abysmal, and many are looking for employment elsewhere. We’ve already lost great talent, and more losses are looming.

4
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