AI in HR: The transformation HR has wanted for decades but at what cost?

Thirty-five years ago, I landed my first role as an HR and Training Manager, and I was thrilled. Finally, I thought, a seat at the strategic table. A chance to shape business decisions, influence culture, and drive real change.

That illusion shattered spectacularly at my very first board meeting.

The Finance Director presented workforce cost projections linked to sales. The Operations Director outlined productivity challenges. The Sales Director discussed talent pipeline risks that could impact profit. All strategic. All critical. All areas where HR expertise should have added genuine value.

When my turn came, I was asked about holiday entitlements, why Nelly was still off sick (and could I give her a call), and whether we could speed up reference checks. Admin. Process. Paperwork.

I wasn’t at the strategic table; I was servicing it.

That moment crystallised a frustration I’ve carried and fought against for more than three decades.

Despite endless conversations about strategic HR, business partnering, and transformation through technology, HR has too often been valued for keeping the wheels turning—not for determining where the vehicle should go.

We’ve been promised digital tools, frameworks, and restructures that would elevate HR to a more strategic role, but most of them simply automated the admin.

And then came artificial intelligence—a technology capable of delivering the transformation HR has been waiting for. The question is: will we use it wisely, or repeat the same mistakes with shinier tools?

The Long Road to Strategic HR: Why We’ve Been Waiting Decades for Change

And now, with artificial intelligence reshaping every facet of work, that opportunity has finally arrived.

How AI Is Finally Giving HR the Strategic Voice It Always Wanted

But here's that uncomfortable nugget of truth I've witnessed over the past year running my AI for HR training and consultancy business: most organisations are squandering it, or havent really woken up to the possibilities it brings.

The strategic transformation HR has long craved is here. But only if we implement AI properly.

For more years than I care to remember, HR professionals have voiced the same frustration: we're drowning in admin, starved of strategic influence, and trapped in the operational weeds when we should be doing all the things we can to help people thrive. We've wanted to be creative. We've wanted to be strategic business partners. We've wanted to lead transformational change. We’ve wanted to make our workplaces better places for people to thrive.

The State of AI Adoption in HR: What the Data Really Shows

The UK is emerging as a European frontrunner in AI adoption within HR, with 55% of organisations now investing in AI to support the workplace, well ahead of the European average of 38%. Investment in AI for HR has seen a significant year-on-year increase in the UK, rising from 35% in 2024 to 55% in 2025.

On the surface, this looks impressive. Dig deeper, and the picture becomes more complex. Research from Ernst & Young found that 90% of large businesses in the private sector have adopted AI into their recruitment process, whilst the British Chamber of Commerce recently reported that 48% of UK SMEs have no plans to implement AI into their recruitment process - revealing a stark divide between enterprise adoption and SME hesitancy.

Dig a little deeper and whilst enterprise adoption is strong, only about 25-35% of SMEs are actively using AI in any capacity, and many remain unsure or uncommitted to full scale adoption.

The divide is attributed to factors such as cost, lack of expertise, and uncertainty about return on investment, contributing to slower adoption among smaller businesses, despite increased awareness.

The Real Problem: We’re Automating Tasks, Not Transforming Strategy

But the real issue isn't adoption rates. It's how organisations are deploying AI. After 35 years working in HR and running my own AI training and consultancy business for the past year, I've witnessed a troubling pattern: organisations are buying tools without understanding them, implementing technology without governance frameworks, and expecting transformation without investing in proper training or change management.

We're automating tactical tasks whilst ignoring the strategic opportunity staring us in the face.

A growing body of HR research and expert commentary stresses that the long-term value of AI depends on understanding, oversight, and human-centric change approaches, not just tool acquisition or rapid implementation.

What Remains After AI Automates the Admin?

The fear is palpable: once AI handles CV screening, interview scheduling, payroll queries, and compliance tracking, what's left for HR is the "emotionally draining" work - conflict resolution, redundancies, performance conversations, wellbeing crises.

But this narrative misses the point entirely.

New research from MIT Sloan School of Management presents evidence that AI is more likely to complement, not replace, human workers, with findings showing an increase in the amount of human-intensive tasks and in the frequency with which workers performed these tasks between 2016 and 2024. Tasks that were newly added to labour market data in 2024 have higher levels of human-intensive capabilities than the tasks that previously existed, with examples including direct recruitment, placement, training and evaluation of project staff, and determining strategic goals.

The Strategic Capabilities That Will Define the Future of HR

What remains after automation isn't just emotionally demanding work. It's strategically valuable work:

• Strategic workforce planning that looks three to five years ahead, anticipating skills needs before market shifts hit

• Culture architecture - the deliberate design of psychological safety, innovation, and adaptability

• Ethical AI governance that protects employees whilst maximising productivity

• Creative problem-solving across talent attraction, retention, and development

• Innovation leadership in how work itself is structured and experienced

• Data-driven HR decision making deploying predictive analytics and real-time workforce insights to proactively address talent risks and identify emerging opportunities before issues arise.​

• Change management expertise leading successful adoption of new technologies and processes, supporting both managers and employees through transitions and ensuring continuous improvement.​

• Learning experience design - creating adaptive, personalised training programmes and professional development journeys that anticipate future skill gaps and promote lifelong learning.​

• Influence network mapping - using AI to identify and support internal culture champions and influencers beyond formal hierarchy to boost collaboration and engagement during organisational change.​

• Human-centred design thinking - embedding empathy, well-being, and inclusion in every stage of employee experience, using design thinking and feedback loops to optimize HR interventions.​

• Legal and compliance oversight - anticipating and responding to evolving employment legislation, data privacy demands, and ethical requirements as new technology reshapes work.​

• Sustainability and social impact strategy - aligning workforce planning with environmental and social responsibility goals, ensuring your organisation contributes positively to broader societal challenges

And the list goes on…..

These aren't admin tasks. They're the capabilities that differentiate high-performing organisations from the rest. They require creativity, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, and human judgement - precisely the skills HR has been clamouring to deploy for decades.

The opportunity is staggering. But only if we stop treating AI as a tactical tool to play around with and start treating it as a strategic catalyst.

The Reality Check: Where HR Is Falling Short with AI

Despite enthusiasm for AI, only 21% of surveyed HR professionals believe that HR leadership plays an active role in shaping their organisation's AI strategy. This is a damning indictment.

52% of survey respondents cite insufficient AI expertise within their function as the top challenge preventing HR from playing a role in AI strategy, whilst only 35% feel their teams are effective at reskilling or upskilling employees to meet emerging AI demands. Meanwhile, only 21% of European employees have received generative AI training, compared to 45% in the US.

McKinsey's 2025 HR Monitor Survey found that whilst 73% of HR departments conduct operational workforce planning, this drops to just 9% who are doing truly strategic workforce planning with a view over the next three to five years. Even amongst those with skills taxonomies and documented employee capabilities, just three in ten are integrating skills data into their strategic workforce planning.

This is the crux of the problem: HR is using AI, but not leading with it.

We're implementing chatbots for absence management whilst C-suite conversations about AI transformation happen without us. We're stuck in operational mode when we should be architecting the future of work.

Common AI Implementation Mistakes I See Every Week

In my consultancy work, I encounter the same missteps repeatedly:

1. Tool-First Thinking Organisations ask what tool should I be using or purchase AI recruitment platforms or performance management systems without first diagnosing what problems they're solving or what outcomes they're targeting. Technology becomes the strategy, rather than serving the strategy.

2. Governance Gaps AI governance is no longer optional - it's the adoption gatekeeper, with AI-driven cyberattacks increasing 442% in the second half of 2024 and regulations like the EU AI Act mandating transparency, detection tools, and disclosure. Yet many HR teams deploy AI without bias audits, explainability frameworks, or data privacy protocols. Many have not even considered a governance framework. The result? Lack of employee trust, potential discrimination, and reputational risk.

3. Training Theatre A single lunch-and-learn session on "AI basics" doesn't constitute meaningful upskilling. SD Worx research shows that 33.8% of employees feel they don't always receive sufficient training to handle new technologies in the workplace, whilst 21% of employees worry that AI will make a significant portion of their tasks redundant. Proper AI literacy requires sustained investment, practice, and cultural change - not tick-box exercises.

4. Change Management Neglect AI deployment is organisational transformation. It changes how people work, what skills matter, and where power resides. Without deliberate change management - communication, involvement, psychological safety, and support, resistance will undermine even the most sophisticated AI tools.

A Practical Roadmap: The 6D Framework for HR AI Success

After working with dozens of organisations, I've developed a structured approach that addresses these pitfalls head-on. The 6D Framework isn't about rushing to deploy AI - it's about thinking before acting, and ensuring every implementation creates sustainable value.

1. Diagnose

Conduct an AI readiness and effectiveness audit. Where are the bottlenecks? What tasks consume disproportionate time for minimal value? What capability gaps exist?

The audit must encompass Data Maturity, Technology Integration, and preliminary Regulatory Compliance.

Importantly, identify quick wins that build confidence and momentum. Start small, learn fast.

2. Design

Identify high-impact workflows where AI can genuinely transform outcomes - not just speed up existing processes. Think beyond efficiency gains. Could AI enable entirely new ways of spotting talent, predicting turnover risk, or personalising development pathways? More importantly, how does this link to organisational goals, not just people strategies.

3. Discover

Tool selection must be rigorous following an in-depth checklist that includes not only functionality but ethical due diligence as well as interoperational capabilities. But don't stop there - develop productivity prompts and use cases specific to your organisation's context.

Generic implementations deliver generic results.

4. Deliver

Implement one AI-powered HR process as a pilot. Test, refine, measure. Involve end-users throughout. Create feedback loops. Demonstrate tangible value before scaling. Define a balanced scorecard of Operational, Strategic, and Ethical KPIs for the pilot, and establish a clear Pilot Exit/Rollback Strategy.

Scattered approaches rarely work.

5. Debrief

Report, reflect, improve. What worked? What didn't? What have we learned about our people, our processes, and our readiness? Honest retrospectives are the foundation of iterative improvement.

What's working, what's hurting, what’s missing, what’s needed.

6. Deploy

With lessons integrated, roll out your final action plan through structured change management approaches. Present results transparently. Celebrate wins. Acknowledge challenges. Build organisational capability for the next wave of AI adoption.

This isn't a linear checklist and works with either large or smaller teams or across organisations - it's an iterative, adaptive methodology that treats AI implementation as a strategic programme, not a tactical project.

The Creativity Revolution: What HR Could Be Doing Instead

Here's where it gets exciting.

McKinsey research found that 91% of employees report using AI for work through internal or publicly available tools, whilst organisations lag behind in their strategic use of the technology.

I have said it before and will say it again - your employees are using AI, whether you want them to or not.

Without proper training, they risk giving away your competitive advantage, or could lead you into reputational damage.

Employees are already experimenting. HR needs to catch up - and lead.

Imagine if, freed from admin, HR could:

• Design work differently: Instead of standardised job descriptions, create fluid, skills-based roles that adapt as the organisation evolves. Use AI to map capability adjacencies and identify internal mobility opportunities invisible to the human eye.
  
  

• Predict and prevent culture decay: Rather than annual engagement surveys that deliver stale insights, deploy AI-powered sentiment analysis that flags psychological safety risks, collaboration breakdowns, or inclusion gaps in real time - then intervene proactively.
  
  

• Architect learning ecosystems: Move beyond off-the-shelf training. Use AI to personalise development pathways based on individual learning styles, career aspirations, organisational needs, and skills adjacencies. Make learning continuous, contextual, and compelling.
  
  

• Reimagine talent acquisition: Stop screening CVs. Start identifying potential. Use AI to surface candidates from non-traditional backgrounds, predict cultural contribution (not just "fit"), and eliminate unconscious bias from shortlisting.
  
  

• Model workforce scenarios: Only 9% of HR teams are doing strategic workforce planning with a view over the next three to five years. AI can simulate not only how your proposed new workforce plan works operationally but how automation, skills shifts, market changes, and demographic trends will reshape your workforce - enabling you to act, not react.
  
  

These aren't incremental improvements. They're fundamental reinventions of how HR creates value. They're creative, strategic, and deeply human. And they're only possible when we stop treating AI as a threat and start treating it as an enabler.

How HR Can Lead the AI Revolution - Not Just Follow It

A Harvard Business Review study found that 91% of respondents believe that having the right talent is critical for effective AI integration, yet 72% acknowledge that AI has exacerbated existing technical skills gaps.

HR professionals cannot afford to be passive.

Get to the table HR must demand a seat in AI strategy conversations. Frame your contribution in business terms: talent risk, capability gaps, productivity potential, change readiness, culture impact. Speak the language of the C-suite.

Invest in your own AI literacy You cannot lead what you don't understand. Enrol in AI bootcamps (I have a 2 day AI for HR Accelerator starting in January 2026). Experiment with tools. Build prompt libraries. Become proficient, not just aware.

Build cross-functional alliances Partner with IT, finance, legal, and operations. AI governance requires collaboration. Change management requires coalition. Strategic workforce planning requires integrated thinking.

Pilot relentlessly, scale carefully More than 80% of organisations aren't seeing a tangible impact on enterprise-wide profitability from their use of generative AI, because they're experimenting without discipline or structure or scaling without evidence. Test, measure, learn, iterate - then deploy with confidence.

Champion ethical AI HR owns culture. HR owns trust. HR must lead the conversation on fairness, transparency, accountability, and privacy in AI deployment. This isn't a compliance exercise, it's a competitive advantage.

Train your workforce in how to use AI ethically, incorporating governance but how to make the best use of it for their particular job roles. Not sure where to start with this? Get in touch.

The Fork in the Road: Admin Managers or Strategic Architects?

We're at an inflection point.

AI adoption is accelerating.

The organisations that thrive won't be the ones with the most AI tools. They'll be the ones where HR has seized this moment to transform its role - moving from administrative steward to strategic architect, from policy enforcer to culture designer, from reactive problem-solver to proactive innovator.

After 35 years in HR, I've never seen a moment of greater opportunity - or greater risk. AI won't replace HR. But HR professionals who embrace AI strategically, ethically, and creatively will replace those who don't.

It’s an exciting, and scary, time. For me, the whole reason I jumped into AI for HR was to combine my love of technology, with my HR experience and my love of learning and development to truly help my profession.

The future isn't about being left with emotionally draining work. I do not want that for you.

It's about finally having the space, tools, and permission to do the work HR has always been capable of: shaping organisations where people thrive, innovation flourishes, and strategic capability becomes a competitive advantage.

The choice is ours. Let's not waste it.

What's your experience with AI in HR? Are you leading the change, or still catching up?

Find out more about our next 2 day AI for HR Accelerator course