At some organizations, HR has become the hub for AI innovation. But pressure to move fast and lean on AI to reduce inefficiencies has many approaching AI integration from the wrong vantage point.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that AI somehow eliminates complexity. It doesn’t,” says Joe DeSilva, executive vice president and chief of operations at ADP. “It changes how organizations have to manage it.”
Many are treating AI as a tech implementation, rather than the operational transformation it really is.
Because of that, they’re automating fragmented processes and then running into roadblocks with inconsistent outcomes.
“Others,” DeSilva says, “move quickly without bringing HR, operations, legal and compliance together early enough.”
See also: Why Cisco’s CPO says ‘integrated leadership’ is HR’s new superpower
AI integration is often getting tripped up from the start. Instead of focusing on where the organization could use AI, leadership needs to focus on a different question: “Where can AI create more value for the business?”
The companies asking that question are starting their transformation responsibly, with governance and operational discipline, DeSilva says.
Within HR, those seeing the greatest returns are leveraging AI to change how HR professionals spend their time. At ADP, service teams are the “human check that catches blind spots, provides context and helps clients navigate situations where judgment matters”—similar to the opportunity now facing HR, DeSilva says.
“For years, we’ve talked about HR becoming more strategic. AI can accelerate that shift by reducing routine administrative work and allowing HR leaders to focus on the workforce decisions that drive business performance,” DeSilva says. “That’s where the real opportunity lies.”
It’s an opportunity that HR is uniquely situated to meet, as the function sits where people, policy and business operations intersect. “AI works best when those pieces are aligned, he adds. “If they’re not, technology simply exposes the gaps faster.”
HR’s chance to be more ‘influential and impactful’
HR’s mandate to connect people, processes and governance—not just roll out new tech tools—is heightening its capacity for strategic leadership.
“AI gives HR an opportunity to make that role even more meaningful; not because it’s adopting new technology, but because it can spend more time helping the business make better workforce decisions,” DeSilva says.
That means HR professionals need a broader skill set in order to understand how technology influences the business, to analyze workforce data, to help leaders “balance innovation with governance, risk and organizational priorities.”
“The real opportunity,” DeSilva says, “isn’t to make HR more efficient. It’s to make HR more influential and impactful.”
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