On LinkedIn, I recently shared some general reflections about our human relationship with AI. Here, I would like to take a closer look at what this means specifically for Human Resources Management.
If we follow the three stages of digital transformation – Business Process Transformation, Business Model Transformation, and Business Domain Transformation – HR leaders face very concrete opportunities and challenges.
1. Business Process Transformation
Doing the same things more efficiently
In HR, this started years ago with high-volume processes such as applicant tracking or payroll. In the near future, most HR professionals will spend far less time on routine tasks. Manual data entry, copy-paste work across systems, and Excel juggling are rapidly disappearing. The automation of standard processes will free up valuable capacity for higher-level HR work.
2. Business Model Transformation
Changing the way services are delivered
Think of Netflix, which shifted from DVD rental to streaming – same purpose, but a fundamentally new way of delivery.
In HR, a comparable shift could mean feeding policies, guidelines, and expert advice into chatbots, allowing employees to get quick answers while HR can still monitor, intervene, and add human insights where needed.
Another field: AI-driven course creation. By providing text and slides, AI tools can automatically generate e-learning videos with realistic avatars as trainers.
If your team still spends weeks designing traditional PowerPoint-based courses – it is time to rethink whether that is the best use of HR resources.
3. Business Domain Transformation
Applying core competencies in new domains
A well-known example is Fujifilm. When the market for photographic film collapsed, they did not disappear like Kodak. Instead, they transferred their deep expertise in chemistry and imaging into new fields such as medical imaging, diagnostics, and even cosmetics. Today, photographic film is only a marginal part of their portfolio.
For HR, this is not about leaving the HR domain, but about rethinking our role. Our true core competence lies in managing the interface between business needs and human needs – including the tensions and contradictions.
This gives us the mandate to act as performance consultants, counselors, confidants, and knowledge managers. In other words: AI enables HR to finally move towards the role Dave Ulrich once described in Human Resource Champions: creating real competitive advantage for the business through people.
Question for you: Where do you see your HR function today – at process, model, or domain level of transformation?
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