HR is at a critical moment of change, with multiple forces creating new obstacles, and an equal amount of opportunities. Forward-looking HR leaders will be instrumental in crafting the future of work by keeping people engaged, empowered, and ready to adapt quickly to new requirements.
Maria Valero
Editorial Strategist, HR
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If you're in HR, you know things are changing at a dizzying pace. Between market shifts, rising expectations, and the explosion of AI, it can feel like you're standing at a dead end, where you have to begin paving the path forward yourself. For forward-thinking HR leaders, that dead end is a wide-open opportunity.
The old way of leading people is over. Today, the purpose behind the HR function is evolving to become a champion for our people, empowering them to adapt, learn, and thrive no matter what comes next.
By embedding AI as a collaborative partner, HR can shift its focus. Today, the HR function tends to leverage AI as a tool for increased efficiency. AI isn't about letting agents take over; it's about using technology to elevate the very best of what makes us human. In the future, HR leaders can develop the best practices of an AI-enabled workforce. Let's explore how.
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AI isn't about letting agents take over; it's about using technology to elevate the very best of what makes us human.
Personalization used to send people running in the opposite direction. It signaled more time, testing, measuring, adjusting¡ essentially, it meant more work. But with AI, personalization is at HR¡¯s fingertips¡ªwhich means it unlocks a competitive advantage.
When organizations prioritize experiences that elevate their employees, they become a beacon for high-performing, talented individuals. Creating a workplace where employees feel seen, heard, and supported every step of the way is a value-generating experience for your workforce
You¡¯re probably thinking, ¡°OK this sounds great, but how can I anticipate the needs of every single employee and meet those needs in the moment?¡±
This is where AI becomes a copilot, effectively collaborating and learning what¡¯s best for your employees based on their real experiences at work. This can take many forms, but most notably, it can help to build personalized career paths that lead to growth for your employee and innovation for your business.
AI helped them "enhance and support human input, not replace" it, leading to "much better data quality" from a skills-based approach. This human-first collaboration is key to getting the most value from your talent. The right tools can also help create a better daily experience.
For Just Eat, a personal dashboard empowered employees to take action and start conversations with managers, which ultimately drove team engagement. This is how AI can act as a copilot, empowering people, freeing up their time for meaningful work and innovation.
AI can help build personalized career paths that lead to growth for your employees and innovation for your business.
Beyond creating a great experience, HR has the power to use AI to get rid of the day-to-day headaches that slow everyone down. By working cross-functionally to identify quick-win areas for automation, HR leaders can make mundane manual tasks a thing of the past.
This shift and brain power to focus on collaboration and high-value work that truly drives the business forward.
This is great news, considering that the pressure to find efficiencies with AI isn¡¯t going away any time soon¡ªa 2024 IDC survey found that to increase AI adoption.
How can this come to life?
Well, imagine a world where payroll is always accurate, with AI intelligently flagging any anomalies so you don't have to manually check every single entry. Or where employees can get instant, self-service answers to their questions, boosting resolution speed and reducing manual case resolutions.
A 2024 IDC survey found that 93% of decision-makers feel pressure to increase AI adoption.
When you automate repetitive workflows, you¡¯re not just saving time; you're removing blockers to innovation so that your employees can stay in their flow, rather than in their checklist of to-do items.
If you¡¯ve been feeling like it¡¯s not enough to fix today¡¯s problems, you¡¯re right. Successful HR leaders are thinking ahead of the current moment, actively molding the work experience of the future.
This means building a workforce primed not only to react to change, but also to drive it. It all starts with a skills-based approach that directly ties people strategy to the company¡¯s business goals.
In 2025, setting your organization up for success demands an accurate forecast of what skills you need to compete for relevancy later.
With the right tools, you can get this complete picture of your entire workforce¡¯s skills¡ªincluding contingent workers.
, the head of HR technology at Vanderlande explained how using AI has helped them manage large applicant pools and find top candidates for high-volume and hard-to-fill roles. With AI as a copilot, you can even run different scenarios to model your workforce in real time, so you¡¯re ready for whatever comes next.
HR leaders who are thinking ahead of the current moment are the ones actively molding the work experience of the future.
While everyone else is busy trying to keep pace, the stand-out organizations are discovering the best practices of tomorrow.
AI can transform how you hire, develop, and lead your people. But it¡¯s crucial to remember that technology is only as good as the data it¡¯s built on and the infrastructure that secures it.
A great AI strategy requires unified, trusted data and a commitment to keeping humans in the loop. In order to ensure that we¡¯re harnessing AI to its highest potential, with the lowest risk exposure possible, HR leaders need to form new relationships within the business.
What does this look like? HR leaders partnering cross functionally with IT leaders and their teams to oversee AI, ensuring it¡¯s operating ethically and unbiasedly. Another nonnegotiable: Including legal in the conversation to ensure compliance across global regulatory standards.
While AI is unifying our data to fuel business strategy, it¡¯s also uniting teams to collaborate in new ways that weren¡¯t mission-critical before¡ªbut certainly are now.
As the shared, "The responsible approach to Al... is aligned with our core values at Coveo¡ªhuman-first. We want to make sure that the risk is evaluated correctly and the security is in place".
This is the kind of partnership HR needs to thrive. By using AI as a copilot to elevate the human experience, optimize daily workflows, and build a future-ready workforce, you can drive innovation and create a competitive advantage for your entire business.
For modern HR leaders, the path forward is clear: AI is more than a tool for automation. It's a strategic copilot that, when integrated properly, can transform the HR function and drive real business outcomes.
Here are some key takeaways for forward-thinking HR leaders:
The copilot revolution is already here. The opportunity is to move beyond simply using AI to actively shaping the future of work through trial, error, and the discovery of best practices.
Powering your people in the age of AI requires a holistic approach to your integration journey. can help you get started.
Report
62% of leaders welcome AI, but only 55% of employees feel the same way. Closing this AI trust gap and ensuring that your organization is prepared for widespread AI implementation will prove decisive to your company's future success.