The AI Transformation

The only constant is change says Jon Lester, Vice President – IBM HR Technology, Data & AI as he describes how AI is transforming the IBM workplace and HR service.

Working in IBM HR over the last five-plus years has changed, some might say beyond recognition. Since 2019 when the deployment of key cloud platforms was completed, HR has moved to ‘zero-touch operations’ with the advent of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) where skilled HR employees do not touch data – robots do. The advent of an AI-enabled digital assistant, AskHR, has reduced the flow of support work into the HR function by over 60%, giving HR professionals the time to think while also driving 75% productivity gains back to the end-users with every interaction. With the creation of AI programs providing intelligent advice to managers and leaders around skills scarcity, retention risk and next job matching, the role of the HR professional is significantly different and requires a new HR operating model, new roles and skills, and a 360-degree culture shift. The only constant in IBM HR is change itself.

In 2022, a new three-year vision was laid out for HR around the creation of a human and digital workforce based on the opportunity to create ‘orchestrated’ digital assistants who would work alongside HR domain experts and move their human counterparts to higher value work. Two years in and this human-digital workforce is a reality across key HR functions such as promotions, mergers and acquisitions, talent acquisition, learning, and travel management. And now, the HR world has pivoted again with the introduction of Generative AI (GenAI), requiring a major rethinking of the ways of working and the art of the possible. 

Rethink for GenAI

While Generative AI offers new opportunities to HR and will accelerate the pace of change even more rapidly, many of the lessons learned and sound principles adopted from the deployment of cloud platforms, automation, digital assistants and the human-digital workforce can be equally as relevant in a GenAI world. 

Positioning GenAI as a new and exciting technology enabler for transformation allows HR professionals to start this new chapter by focusing again on the simplification of experiences and processes, which will drive additional productivity gains for IBMers. HR domain experts are again key in reimagining a world where content is not curated but generated. Allowing IBM HR to experiment with GenAI over the last 12 months has been a fundamental principle in allowing occasional failure and rapid learning. This has aided the speed of understanding of where GenAI could and should be introduced to the workforce, where it should be adopted at a slower pace, and what foundations need to be built to enable future growth.

Key lessons learned

Throughout this transformational journey, there have been key lessons learned and a clear understanding of what comes next for HR professionals:

• The initial view that GenAI would replace humans in HR has shifted with the view that HR professionals who can work alongside GenAI will replace those who can’t.
• Transformation at this pace and scale would not be possible if IBM (including HR itself) did not adopt a continuous learning culture with the average time spent learning new skills increasing by almost three times between 2016 and 2023. 
• Educating and reskilling in GenAI across all HR roles is needed to understand and then accelerate the value it will bring to the day-to-day work of HR professionals. There is significant potential for GenAI to increase productivity across HR functions as well as move employees to higher value work.
• As HR embraced the opportunities that AI presented, it was obvious that real-time access to accurate and secure data was the key success criteria. As HR moves to a GenAI world, it is similarly being recognised that content is now the key dependency. HR process and policy documentation must be made GenAI-ready so that the speed of adoption and compliance are assured.

HR leads transformation

What is even more evident is that HR professionals will lead this next turn of the transformation wheel. While GenAI will accelerate the completion of ad hoc tasks, process automation and even program automation, it will not replace domain expertise. HR will reinvent how work gets done in the same way it did with RPA and digital assistants, and the value that HR will bring to the enterprise will continue to increase.

Ethics take a front seat

Critical to this next chapter of change will be the continued role HR has to play in the ethical considerations of AI and GenAI. In 2018, IBM created an AI Ethics Board and HR has both an AI Ethics focal and representation on the Board. IBM HR ensures that all its AI use cases are reviewed and approved by the Board, and that the key principles of Explainability, Fairness, Robustness, Transparency and Privacy are adhered to. The key workforce requirement of ‘Humans in the Loop’ where AI does not make decisions about employees is non-negotiable. HR also continues to partner closely with country and regional legal experts to ensure that it complies with the latest AI legislation in states across the US and with the recent EU AI Act.

The future for HR in a Generative AI world is exciting, but organisations must continue to be transparent with their expectations of what roles and skills they expect HR domain experts to acquire, and provide the time and personalised learning plans to support this change in an inclusive way. HR can continue to lead the way in driving productivity and higher value work not just internally but for all employees and managers across the enterprise.