People Analytics Spotlight: Marcela Mury

Meet Marcela Mury, from Brazil, a People Analytics leader at Vale with 7 years of experience turning data into strategic insight.

Marcela Mury is based in both Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil, and brings over seven years of experience in people analytics. At Vale, she serves as a people analytics strategist and business representative, working closely with HRBPs across multiple regions as well as with labour relations teams. She also leads the company’s Data & AI literacy program. Passionate about cultural exchange, Marcela enjoys exploring different languages and attending conferences on people analytics, talent intelligence, and the future of work. In her free time, you’ll find her outdoors—exercising or recharging with a refreshing swim in the sea.

Why are you passionate about People Analytics?

I found in People Analytics the perfect blend between my process-oriented, technical, and methodological way of working, shaped by my Engineering background, and my human, cultural, empathetic, and artistic way of seeing life. (I even took professional drama classes and studied the creative economy! I’m a big enthusiast of democratizing culture for everyone.)

Besides that, the global People Analytics community is a special bonus! The genuine spirit of sharing knowledge and experiences, growing together and strengthening our sense of community is absolutely inspiring. It constantly motivates me to keep looking for innovations and research in the field.

What is your biggest challenge?

The mission of advancing HR’s analytical maturity and upskilling HR Centers of Expertise, HRBPs, and organizational Leadership to effectively leverage People Data and AI solutions is a challenge that motivates me every day.

Driving adoption through stakeholder management, communication, and capability-building initiatives is now essential to unlocking the full value of our People Analytics solutions and services. It also plays a key role in enhancing the quality of people-centred decisions through data and actionable insights.

What is the next big thing for People Analytics?

Directly connecting the value and impact of People Analytics products and services to solving core business challenges, through people-centred, actionable insights and holistic, systemic value measurement.

This is achieved in close partnership with Finance, Operations, Security, IT, Employee Experience, and the broader ecosystem of clients, users, and partners of the People Analytics teams.

What PA use case made a lot of impact?

By investing time, functional and technical resources, and engaging in active listening and continuous improvement initiatives, we enhanced the data and automation solutions landscape for the Talent Acquisition teams.

As adoption of the data products increased, closely supported throughout the process, performance indicators improved, and data-driven actions led to measurable, positive impacts, particularly in reducing cycle time and enhancing both process quality and the candidate experience.

Interview by Patrick Coolen

Patrick Coolen is a true believer in making HR more evidence-based to improve decision-making. Over the past 15 years, he has established people analytics as a common practice within a large corporate organization. He has a proven track record in building various analytical services, ensuring their adoption within the organization, and enabling scarce analytical talents to grow in their roles. In addition to his specialism in people analytics, he was also part of the HR management team and is considered a seasoned and all-round HR executive. Patrick is an internationally recognized thought leader and a frequent speaker at HR and people analytics-related conferences. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. focusing on the adoption and institutionalization of people analytics.