HR has long been more art than science, with decisions based on intuition and personal interaction rather than hard data. The rise of AI promises to make HR processes much more effective and precise, but it presents a dilemma: How do you implement such a powerful technology without making the workplace feel cold and impersonal?
As chief people officer at a company that lives and breathes AI, I knew my team had to answer this question and set an example for the organization. After speaking with numerous customers and other CPOs, I developed a simple formula that helps us determine how and where to apply AI without losing the human touch that’s so important to managing people.
See also: What’s the ROI of AI in HR?
Here’s my approach for getting this right: AI automates the repetitive work, augments our creative work and stays out of decisions requiring emotional intelligence or ethical judgment. Applying this formula consistently ensures we maximize our AI use without making our employees feel like data points rather than people.
This is what this looks like in practice.
What to automate, what to keep human
Full automation tends to be suitable for high-volume, process-driven tasks. In my team, for example, we’re rolling out a system that uses generative AI to create job descriptions, screen resumes and take notes during interviews.
Job descriptions are an interesting use case because they show how AI can make HR both more efficient and more scientific. The AI creates consistent data that we can analyze to spot year-over-year patterns in the skills we hire for, allowing us to make data-driven decisions based on trends rather than guesswork. The ability to analyze this information at scale is especially valuable in large companies.
For creative tasks, we use AI to augment processes rather than fully automate them. For example, we’re using AI to create first drafts of learning and development materials and synthesize information from employee surveys.
There is a category of tasks that are not yet suitable for AI: those that require empathy, judgment and ethical considerations. These include sensitive conversations about performance improvement or promotions. Such interactions involve complex interpersonal dynamics that AI is not adept at handling, and they can make or break leadership credibility depending on how they’re addressed.
Data-driven insights and connections
Employee information has traditionally been messy and inconsistent, making it hard to analyze at scale. Using AI to standardize our processes creates the foundation for better insights. When information—from vacation requests to hiring decisions—is captured in a consistent format, our leadership can spot patterns and trends that were once impossible to see, giving us a clearer picture of our workforce.
In this way, I’ve found that AI’s most powerful application is its ability to provide insight, not just increase efficiency. By analyzing employee surveys, productivity metrics and how often various workplace services are used, AI helps the organization to identify frustrations or issues before they become problems that impact performance and retention.
For instance, we recently used AI to process over 9,000 written comments submitted as part of our annual employee survey. These would have taken weeks to comb through manually, but our AI tools quickly identified themes around manager feedback, career development and cross-team collaboration. Our business leaders could then use this information to develop targeted responses to these issues.
This approach doesn’t replace human judgment with algorithms. Instead, it gives leaders better information to respond faster and be more proactive in supporting employees.
One of the unexpected use cases for AI has been strengthening our peer-to-peer mentorship programs. We’re using AI to analyze employee profiles and create better matches based on experience, skills and career goals. This has significantly increased the likelihood of creating lasting relationships that benefit both the mentor and the mentee.
Staying grounded in humanity
Looking ahead, AI applications in HR will enable a personalized experience for every employee—understanding each person’s individual needs well enough to customize onboarding and career development paths, and supporting them throughout their journey with the company. But this personalization only works if it’s intended to enhance human relationships, not replace them.
Eventually, I expect every employee will have access to AI-powered experts for people analytics, learning and career guidance. These tools will be most valuable when they help human managers and HR professionals make better decisions—not when they make every decision for us.
Ultimately, the companies that succeed will be those that use AI as a tool to amplify human capabilities rather than replace human judgment.
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