AI is more than a tech solution, it’s a catalyst to reimagine work, says The Josh Bersin Company

AI has revolutionized the world of work.

While many organizations view AI as a tech solution that just automates tasks, high-performing companies, who are reaping the biggest rewards from AI, are instead seeing it as a catalyst to reimagine work.

That’s according to new research from HR analyst firm The Josh Bersin Company in collaboration with SAP.

AI is not a means to reduce headcount and cut cost. Instead, it’s a tool to create significant business value,” Kathi Enderes, SVP of Research at The Josh Bersin Company, exclusively tells UNLEASH.

It is not just about time savings – “the bigger impact lives in improving the employee experience, accomplishing better outcomes of HR actions, and creating more impactful work for every employee”.

The report noted that it is crucial to remember the focus of AI is not just to transform the lives of HR teams, there is a huge multiplier effect from AI when all employees are empowered by it.

To achieve this, according to The Josh Bersin Company, organizations need to align AI strategy with business goals and foster a mindset of continuous innovation.

That’s the theory, how do you turn it into action and reap the rewards?

The opportunities for AI in HR are unlimited, so where to start?

For The Josh Bersin Company, the opportunities for using AI in HR are unlimited.

This is good news, but also creates challenges as it can be hard to know where to start.

For the analyst firm, success comes when companies identify their key business problems first – whether that’s recruitment, internal mobility and skills or attrition – and then leverage AI to strategically solve those problems.

The report found that real life companies using SAP AI tools are seeing significant improvements in things like employee satisfaction and productivity, as well as reducing cost to hire and bias in hiring.

For instance, when employers use AI to do skills inference based on performance data, they see a 20% increase in employee satisfaction with mobility or growth, a 30% better match between skills and roles, and 25% higher employee performance.

Whereas when AI assists with job descriptions, there is a 90% time reduction between job description drafting and a 5% cost reduction around bad hires.

Enderes further calls on HR teams to make sure they are collaborating across organizations stakeholders, like IT, legal, marketing and finance, when implementing AI.

It’s imperative that HR teams work with those stakeholders to build a roadmap for AI in HR that puts ethical AI, change management and those business requirements top of mind.

Josh Bersin will be digging into this topic more at UNLEASH America 2025 – it’s not too late to buy a pass!