If we define the things that make us uniquely human as our capacity for creativity, empathy, and emotional intelligence, does the modern way of working really allow its workforce to utilize their capabilities on that regard, or are we use people as temporary placeholders for tasks that machines are yet able to complete? I’ve arrived at my current opinion that AI won’t replace people in the workplace; it will make us more human.

Knowledge arbitrage has morphed HR into a standalone function and a profession. As AI is making knowledge and information more readily available, the closing of this arbitrage gap is what’s driving the sentiment that the function may not exist in the next few years.

Prior technology shifts used to be about function, whereas AI is fundamentally about communication. It’s the communication between humans and machines that yields a higher caliber output. This means that the design and adoption challenge here isn’t just functional; it’s conversational, emotional, and, in a way, playful.

Humans are biased (consciously or unconsciously), and bias is a part of our survival mechanism. However, when we started automating many of our HR processes with AI in the name of efficiency and productivity, we now get to see patterns emerge based on our historical decisions. Ethical AI isn’t about the technology. We are not debugging code here; we are effectively trying to debug culture.

In February 2024, I made a few life-changing decisions, one of which was to dive head-first into the world of AI and figure out what the next iteration of work technology would look like. After a year of doing this, I am starting to see patterns emerge on what makes customers buy, what makes HR and work tech companies successful, and changes in my investment mindset.

I had a digital "can I talk to a real person??" moment this week, and something tells me that I may not be the only one experiencing this in 2025. In our relentless pursuit of efficiency and productivity (Bye, 2024), we may have forgotten a bit about human connections. So, this week I'm digging into the need for more EI in the age of AI. I'd love to get your thoughts on this too!

To be honest (and at the risk of aging myself), even today, when someone says AI, Tom Cruise and The Minority Report come to mind. Over the years, sci-fi literature and the entertainment industry have finessed the man vs. machine archetype. With AI becoming a trending topic in the professional world, some illogical beliefs are now permeating the content that I hear and interact with.

Times are rough, and the budget is tight. Now more than ever, corporate functions like HR need to show everyone how scrappy we can be. What better way to showcase your ability to save the company a few dollars than by embarking on a collaborative journey with your IT partners, pooling your skills and resources to build an in-house solution instead of buying it from another SaaS vendor?

As many potential AI solution users are still waiting to see how the technology and market evolve, this might be a good time to look at the foundational setup around processes and business rules. Because AI or no AI, getting the basics right will allow any HR function the flexibility and agility to adapt to changing workforce needs and technological advancements.

We are 11 days into 2024, and I think it’s fair to say that the AI tech race in the HR technology and analytics space is heating up. I hear more and more conversations in HR around “We are going to do AI,” “We need to start on AI,” etc. Here’s the thing: modern civilization is pretty much embedded in AI at this stage. We are experiencing AI's commercialization and consumerization—the tech isn’t new.

We have always said AI is going to revolutionize the way we work. This sentence should no longer be in the future tense for HR teams globally. AI has changed and continues to change the world where we work and manage human resources. I realized over the past few months that this time, it’s different because AI is not a function-specific trend that’s unique to HR; it is changing how everyone works and accesses information.

This article is not a comprehensive guide to AI in HR. My goal is to simplify and condense my personal learning experience of artificial intelligence in HR into an article. I hope this article will help other HR practitioners interested in learning about AI expedite their journey.