The human side of AI

AI is changing what the business demands of HR. HR leaders need to evolve how their function operates, equip employees with the skills to thrive, and help transform the workforce for the future. The following steps can help HR leaders guide their organizations with a thoughtful approach that enables speed, flexibility, and real value.

1. Reimagine HR as an AI-powered function.

First, HR leaders should redesign how their function operates. That starts by partnering with IT to integrate data, build a strong tech foundation, and adopt a product mindset to constantly design and improve experiences for people. On my team, for example, we envisioned a new HR operating model—an “AI Factory”—to deliver use cases with speed and good governance. And we’ve used ServiceNow’s AI Control Tower to track adoption, quality, and business impact in real time.

As HR leaders rethink how their teams operate together with AI agents, they should also imagine new HR roles, such as AI orchestration designer, AI ethics officer, and talent strategist. This step is about turning HR into a strategic engine rather than an administrative support center.

2. Enable AI in HR and across the organization.

Next, HR leaders can turn from their function toward the enterprise. HR should empower the workforce to succeed with AI. That means enabling the right learning at scale, designing reskilling pathways, and embedding AI into employee workflows.

Based on this philosophy, we launched ServiceNow University to help 3 million learners—including employees, customers, and partners—build the skills for an AI-driven world by 2027. And we’ve used AI to generate learning content faster, tailor it more effectively, and deliver it to people in the flow of work.

3. Transform the workforce.

Last, but certainly not least, HR leaders should redesign the work itself. With AI taking on more routine, repetitive tasks, they should ask: What can our people and teams do with the time and capacity we get back?

That question isn’t just tactical. It forces HR leaders to think bigger about how to define roles and value. AI agents will increasingly function like employees, forming an agentic workforce that requires thoughtful planning and oversight.

What organizations do with newfound capacity is a human decision. HR can help ensure the time gained through automation isn’t just absorbed back into busywork, but rather reinvested into action that drives business results: innovation, creativity, collaboration, and connection.

HR can also drive the culture change required to succeed. This means embedding agility and curiosity into the employee experience itself so that every person feels empowered alongside the technology. Some people may fear the unknown, especially whether AI will replace their jobs. Organizations that engage, reskill, and invest in employees send a powerful message: You have a role in the future we’re building. 

Even the best AI tools can’t create purpose or trust. People do. As AI reshapes the landscape of work, HR should be the steward of a company’s culture and the champion of its people. And HR leaders can help ensure that innovation doesn’t come at the cost of humanity, but in service of it.

When my role evolved this year from chief people officer to include chief AI enablement officer, the move reflected a shift in mindset: AI maturity is much more than investing in the right tech tools. It’s about investing in people—rethinking how we all work, learn, and grow—as AI becomes part of the workforce.

AI should serve people, not replace them. And HR leaders are uniquely equipped to steer their companies through this transformation with clarity, expertise, and care.

Be agile. Keep people at the center. And build a future where technology and talent are not just aligned—but unstoppable together.