Yes, HR Organizations Will (Partially) Be Replaced by AI, And That’s GoodI adore the human resources profession. These folks are responsible for hiring, development, leadership development, and some of the most important issues in business. And despite the history of HR being considered a compliance function, the role is more important than ever. CHRO salaries, for example, have increased at 5-times the rate of CEO pay over the last twenty years, demonstrating how essential HR has become.
That said, we have to be honest that AI is going to disrupt our role. This week IBM formally announced that 94% of typical HR questions are now answered by its AI agent, and the role of HR Business Partner is all but eliminated except for very senior leaders. As a result the CEO plans to reduce HR headcount and shift that budget towards sales and engineering.
Let’s accept the fact that we are in a time of increasing acceleration. In other words, the capabilities of AI are growing much faster than our organizations” ability to adapt, so we have to lean forward and start redesigning our companies. In the case of HR, our Systemic HR model (which we launched two years ago) is now being fully automated by AI.
I know IBM’s story well, and I think it explains where all HR teams are going. Many years ago Diane Gherson (prior CHRO) started AI projects to automate recruitment, pay analysis, and performance management. She spoke at our conference eight years ago and shared how IBM’s pay tool (CogniPay was launched in 2018) uses AI to make pay recommendations based on skill. This type of tool, which was years ahead of the “skills-based” strategies we see today, essentially automated many of the performance and pay decisions left to managers.
Since then IBM has gone much further, and in my last conversation with Nickle Lamoureux (current CHRO) she told me the AI agent helps write performance reviews, creates development plans, and coaches managers and senior leaders on a myriad of performance based decisions. I totally believe this because I see Galileo doing these kinds of things for companies every day. (Check out the Mercury release.)
How does this impact the roles and jobs in HR? Well it definitely eliminates many.
In the case of L&D or HR business partners, I believe we could see a 20-30% or more reduction in HR headcount per employee. And that means these individuals may wind up managing the AI platforms, moving into roles as change consultants (which AI still can’t do), or move into areas like org design, learning architect, and data management.
I think this is all a good thing. While we all worry about AI taking our jobs, we have to remember that our real job is not to “do things” but to “add value” and bring complex problem solving skills to our companies. And in this journey to “crawl up the value curve,” we all have to learn to use AI, develop AI solutions, and think more systemically about how our companies go to market.
I recently interviewed a brilliant HR leader (podcast coming) at WPP who explained how he and his team rationalized their job architecture from 65,000 job titles to only 600 by using new AI tools from OpenAI and Reejig (a work intelligence vendor). As you’ll hear in his story, this effort was a combination of data management, business analysis, change management, and leadership. The results of this work, which are still ongoing, is the opportunity for WPP to dramatically change its go to market strategy, innovation, and growth.
That’s the kind of thing we want our HR teams to do.
And as these various agents hit the market (see my latest view of the market below), HR professionals are going to have to train them, implement them, and “manage them” for long term success. This means analyzing the cross-functional data they produce, extend them into better decision-making, and move our thinking from dated concepts like “time to hire” and “course completion rates” to meaningful measures like “time to revenue” or “time to productivity” or “time to customer service excellence.”
See where I’m going? In a time of increasing technology acceleration we have to “lean in” as hard as we can.
Stop thinking about how much money we save on headcount (which is a fleeting benefit, by the way) and focus on value creation. That’s the big benefit of AI: customer service quality, time to market, and innovation.
In many ways these “HR downsizing” stories are really stores of “HR crawling up the value curve,” which is really a good thing. And for HR professionals, it’s a time for personal reinvention.
AI Integration
2025年05月16日
AI Integration
首席人力官2030:从后勤专家到企业变革推手越来越多企业发现,首席人力官(CPO)正从纯粹的“后台运营”升级为“核心战略伙伴”。他们不仅要管理薪酬、福利与合规,更要在组织变革、领导力培养和AI应用等方面发挥关键作用。报告特别强调了领导力流动性和多元文化的重要性,在快速变化的商业环境中,这些因素为企业增强韧性和创造力提供有力支持。
想要在人才竞争中领先,就必须以开放思维和前瞻眼光重新审视人力资源战略,让CPO真正成为企业变革与创新的驱动者。
在企业环境瞬息万变的今天,传统的人力资源部门正经历从“后台运营”向“战略伙伴”转型的巨大变革。面对人工智能崛起、新一代员工价值观迭代以及全球经济政治形势的波动,首席人力官(Chief People Officer, CPO)的地位和职能正变得前所未有地关键。
报告指出,CPO需要在以下几个方面进一步进化:
1. 从业务支持到业务引领新时期的CPO不仅要确保员工薪资、劳动合规、人员福利等基础工作能够稳定运转,更要深度参与组织设计、领导力培养和战略性人才布局。在企业长期增长的目标指引下,CPO的“业务敏锐度”成为衡量其价值的关键指标,必须与CEO及其他高管组成紧密的“智囊团队”。
2. 动态用工与领导力梯队快速变化的外部环境需要更灵活的用工模式。报告提出“领导力流动性”概念,一方面培养管理者的多元能力与跨部门学习力,另一方面通过短期专家与项目型人才的配置,实现企业人力资源的动态调度。此外,打造深层次的继任计划与领导力储备库,将吸纳、培养、留用和晋升等人才环节打通,从而持续为企业输送新鲜血液。
3. AI驱动的人力资源升级随着AI、数据和数字化技术的普及,人力资源管理者需要更好地利用这些工具来进行人才评估、绩效管理和招聘筛选。报告强调,CPO应积极发挥带头作用,不仅要在HR内部尝试更多自动化与智能化应用,也要引导其他业务部门正确使用AI技术,将“重复性工作”交给自动化,将“创造性与战略性工作”留给人力团队,不断提升企业整体效率。
4. 包容与韧性的文化塑造在地缘政治和经济不确定性凸显的时代,企业需要一种更具弹性与凝聚力的文化。CPO应协助管理层在全公司范围内推动多元、健康、包容的工作氛围,强化员工心理支持和沟通渠道。通过惠及不同年龄、不同背景员工的个性化政策,帮助组织在“高速变化”与“人才多元化”之间找到平衡点,激发个人与组织的双向潜能。
5. 全新“工具包”助力未来从制定接班人计划到探索混合办公模式,从部署AI到建设全球化团队,CPO需要一套兼具系统思考和实践落地的“工具包”,才能在愈加复杂的商业环境中为企业提供持续的战略价值。
总结而言,CPO正脱离单纯的后勤管理角色,晋升为企业的“变革推手”和“战略护航者”。这一角色转变不仅关乎人力资源部门的精细化运营,更决定着企业能否在新的竞争时代中保持活力与创新力。
**内容来源:**本文基于 Heidrick & Struggles 的《Chief People Officer of 2030: Building a tool kit to get from here to there》报告撰写。