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Human resources departments are under growing pressure to rethink their operations as AI adoption accelerates across industries, according to thought leader Josh Bersin.
In a current blog post he described how after a week of discussions with companies in London, he believes that HR teams are facing urgent demands from CEOs and CFOs to automate workflows, cut headcount, and drive productivity through AI integration.
Bersin noted that while AI is often positioned as a growth technology, the underlying message from leadership teams is that productivity improvements frequently translate into downsizing.
He said that many organisations have built up inefficient structures over time, with loose hiring practices leading to inconsistent roles and bloated workforces.
"Almost every company we work with has too many people," he said, pointing to one example where a company of 100,000 employees had created over 60,000 distinct job titles. Such fragmentation, he argued, reflects a lack of disciplined workforce planning and obstructs true scalability.
Work design, not headcount, is the future priority
Bersin warned that deploying AI tools effectively requires companies to rethink work structures at a fundamental level, not just automate existing inefficiencies. Organisations need to examine workflows, identify common processes, and assess where AI can drive value before expecting any real productivity gains.
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Too often, he said, companies rely on automated platforms without properly using them to streamline operations, instead continuing to add human headcount. Bersin stressed the need to move away from viewing problems as "people" issues and instead focus on “plumbing" - the structural design of work processes.
HR teams, traditionally built around ratios like 1:100 employee support, must now become leaner and more technologically adept, he wrote. Bersin urged HR leaders to integrate AI agents into functions such as recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and employee training to remain viable as businesses move toward automation.
HR faces an identity crisis in the AI era
The future could see 50% to 75% of traditional HR tasks performed by AI, Bersin said. Early examples are already visible, including a large pharmaceutical firm managing 6,000 employees’ learning and development needs with just 10 staff members thanks to extensive AI automation.
Without proactive adoption of AI and rethinking their function, HR risks being marginalised or drastically reduced. Those who fail to modernise quickly may find themselves facing sharp headcount reductions, with AI transformation happening reactively rather than strategically.
Bersin concluded by emphasising that HR must shift from an administrative support role to a strategic business enabler if it is to thrive in the next era of work. “Focus on the plumbing first," he said, "then figure out how to apply AI."
