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Chief HR officers from tech giants IBM and Cisco have urged HR professionals to explore how artificial intelligence could overhaul operations, improve efficiency, and enhance the employee experience.
In two separate articles published last week, the people leaders offered reflections from their company’s exploration of AI in the workplace, from the “natural tensions” of AI ethics to the “ripe for immediate change” arena of talent acquisition and hiring.
The calls-to-action come as employers attempt to manage the impact of AI’s increasingly prominent role in the workplace, which has prompted concerns including covert worker usage and fears of job replacement.
‘Eliminate, simplify, automate’ – IBM CHRO on AI journey
In a blog post on IBM’s website, SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer Nickle LaMoreaux reflected on IBM’s approach to “infusing AI into HR,” describing the firm as an “AI-first enterprise.”
The journey, which began in 2017, has offered IBM plenty of opportunities for exploration and learning.
“By using AI, we can unlock new levels of productivity, efficiency and employee experiences—all things employees are expecting in the workplace,” she wrote, caveating that there have been a number of mistakes and challenges along the way.
“This kind of transformation requires careful planning, strategic execution and a willingness to change,” LaMoreaux explained. “That willingness isn’t only about accepting new technology; teams must simultaneously address company culture, service delivery and internal processes, or the technology will be a nonstarter.”
The CHRO shared an in-depth example of AskHR, IBM's HR question and answer chatbot, which has gradually transitioned from a dust-gathering tool to a driver of engagement and satisfaction.
After an initial rollout saw IBM’s NPS plummet to -35 in 2018, by 2024, AskHR had driven an NPS of +74. Last year, it handled over 11.5 million interactions, with managers able to "do HR transactions 75% faster than before.”
The AI-enabled tool now powers a one-stop shop for employee conversations on everything from onboarding and careers to L&D and promotions.
Turning workforce data into early warnings for high-cost employees
Many employers only learn about high-cost claims after the fact, relying on annual health plan reports that provide little opportunity for prevention. Yet when absenteeism, disability, and workers’ compensation are included, the top 5 percent of cases drive nearly 60 percent of total costs. Looking only at medical and pharmaceutical claims limits an employer’s ability to understand where risk is forming and how costs escalate over time.
By integrating medical, pharmaceutical, disability, absence, compensation, and broader human capital data, employers gain a more complete and predictive view of workforce risk. Workpartners’ Human Capital Risk Index (HUI) leverages this integrated data warehouse to flag emerging high- and moderate-risk cases early, enabling timely, HIPAA-compliant outreach and clinical prevention.
Through a holistic, person-centric care model, individuals receive high-touch support across health, work, and family dimensions—helping shorten or prevent periods of high risk and high cost. The result is earlier intervention, improved outcomes, and measurable reductions in utilization, lost time, and total cost.
What You’ll Learn
Why high-cost claims are often identified too late
How integrated data improves risk prediction
How our HUI flags emerging risk early
Why holistic, person-centric care matters
How early intervention reduces total cost
Offering advice for CHROs, IBM’s top HR exec advised employers to start small and scale; to "learn as you go"; to rely on employees as advocates; and to avoid letting FOMO drive decisions.
“Find a small pain point that wears on your workforce. Automate that, make it great and then scale,” LaMoreaux suggested. “HR has great ideas, but so do employees and managers. Give them a platform to submit their ideas, and then implement the best ones. When employees see their ideas in action, you will build advocates quickly.”
The executive also urged CHROs to consider their role in navigating workplace AI ethics, to improve the employee experience without overcomplicating it, and to invest in “mandatory” upskilling and reskilling.
“Are you thinking about how to redesign jobs for the higher value work your teams will be doing when AI replaces those routine tasks, particularly for your entry level positions?” LaMoreaux queried. “And what are your teams doing with the time they’re saving? Without clear direction, that time is wasted.”
Issuing a final call to action, the CHRO said: “Whether you’re ready to take this next step in adopting AI agents, or are still dipping your toes in with traditional AI, one thing is clear: you can’t wait to get started.”
‘Efficient, effective, equitable’ – Cisco CPO on AI journey
Not to be outdone, fellow legacy big tech giant Cisco is similarly exploring ways for traditional HR processes to be upended by new-age AI tools.
In a recent interview with Charter, Chief People Officer Kelly Jones spoke on the shift, reflecting on high-impact applications of AI across HR and the responsibilities held by HR teams.
According to Jones, routine employee assistance, talent acquisition, and learning and development are three ripe, low-hanging fruits for HR professionals to explore.
“AI is reshaping HR in powerful and sometimes surprising ways,” she wrote in a LinkedIn post following the interview. “With the help of AI, we can make the entire talent acquisition process more efficient, effective, and equitable.”
Like LaMoreaux, Cisco’s CPO emphasized the need for HR to drive the upskilling of workers. Jones further noted HR teams must determine jobs set to be reshaped by AI, examining the need for workforce planning and job redesign.
The executive called on her peers in HR to continue bringing the topics of fairness and trust to the surface in conversations about AI-enabled efficiency and productivity.
