Is HR becoming a technologist’s profession? It might certainly seem so, given how much of the HR world is now focused on leveraging the latest innovations for an array of processes.

While this may be no different from other business departments, the excitement surrounding optimization via technology has never been higher on the agenda for HR leaders.

But at what point does the requirements of a HR leader or decision-maker begin to look like that of a technology expert? And what implications can that hold for mistakes to be made?

In a wide-ranging interview about the future of HR technology developments in the near future, Arun Serikar, Vice President of Digital HR at Schneider Electric, told UNLEASH that understanding the remit and objectives of HR technology is crucial.

“Everybody who comes in with a requirement absolutely has a good intention for an adequate version [of the technology], aiming to ensure the best outcome for the employee or the user,” he says.

“However, the lack of understanding in the complexity of the tools and how they fit into the broader tech echo system sometimes ends up backfiring, especially late in the game.”

These complexities, Serikar explains, could be specific regional idiosyncrasies or even requests for simplicity from users initially that lead to later complications.

The answer to this challenge will often lie in upskilling both the end users and HR professionals, to ensure a common understanding of how systems interact and work.

This avoids creating unexpected complexities or obstacles to the flow of data throughout the organization.

The key, he says, is to educate the business so that “the implication of what we’re trying to create here is going to be much broader than what you just see.”

“My consensus is to take more time during the design, rather than brainstorm why things are not working,” he adds.

“This is where I anticipate a substantial increase in investments (and prioritization), both from perspective of simplification and enhancing the overall user journey.”

AI can be at the forefront of reducing complexity

Arun Serikar, Vice President of Digital HR at Schneider Electric

There is no escaping the fact that artificial intelligence is top of mind for every HR leader this year and it’s a good bet that the trend will continue into 2025 as more tools come to market.

“AI is going to get more and more popular in the HR world, because it’s bringing a lot of sentiment around how we can put that human touch into the HR tools,” Serikar states.

It will also accelerate the need to simplify processes, he adds, with the right data and technology in place to “tie it all together.”

Simplification is certainly on the agenda for Schneider, which Serikar details will continue to invest in this arena in 2025 to head off a potential “garbage in, garbage out” scenario when it comes to data integrity to enhance AI use.

“That is where we are actually focusing at the moment to ensure the platform, the foundation, has been put in in a strong way, so that we can continue to accelerate our AI transformation .”

However, he also raises a potential roadblock for future adoption of AI tools – security of data, particularly proprietary data.

“I have a feeling that anything related to HR, especially when you’re taking GDPR in Europe and privacy laws in several other countries into consideration, that the security and the data cannot be taken lightly.”

Building for AI futures with policy and trust

With more experience of how AI tools and related data function, alongside regulatory initiatives such as the recently implemented European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act – the UN is also reportedly mulling its own resolution – HR leaders will gain the nous to refine policy on the use of AI.

Serikar says these policies need to be “incorporated into every response given” to ensure utmost security as well as accuracy of outputs.

We really need to make sure the knowledge articles and processes are fed in to this AI, that we really leverage company policy in making the data secure, so we can continue to learn from an AI standpoint and cater to our users – that could be the employees, it could be HR or a broader audience.”

Trust will become a crucial element here and Serikar advocates that consistency of responses from AI systems will be the key to building it. Setting the ground rules of what data is safe and acceptable to input into AI systems, particularly where it concerns personal HR data, will be “extremely important.”

The danger, he says, is in “putting this out there without knowing what the implications are”, something HR leaders will need to be consistently vigilant of when it comes to winning over skeptical employees.

“That’s really where the education piece comes in; how we implement this is going to be very important, as is the change management to ensure ground rules are set. That is going to be the key factor.”

Automation leads to simplicity, analytics to clarity

The use of AI and automation tools in the HR world is not new in and of itself, yet the pace of change is now increasing significantly.

Schneider, employing 150,000 individuals worldwide, incorporates a globally distributed workforce, with technology serving as a pivotal element to align and steer all employees towards a unified direction.

Considering the overall picture for such organizations, Serikar says there are “so many things that happen that may appear slow in the beginning when bringing all the information together in a presentable way.”

“Making the data readily available for the users to understand and interpret, is a necessity.”

Indeed, Serikar highlights automation as the most beneficial change to the HR world in the coming year – allowing HR leaders to move fully away from basic data journeys to more complex insights without the historic associated challenges.

Similarly to many other business divisions, HR is becoming increasingly data-led and requiring its own journey with analytics. For those seeking to be proactive, predictive analytics will become a vital instrument.

“My recommendation is to embrace calculated risks. Do not wait for perfection. Exercise sensitivity towards privacy laws and the immediate needs. However, when presenting to users, adopt a strategic approach,” Serikar states.

“The product maybe in a beta version, but it is crucial to be transparent about what is being delivered and what is on the horizon. I have observed that users are significantly more respective when tools are deployed with a solid roadmap even when in beta.

At the heart of all these factors lies the employee experience, which should be considered “even before you start building the tools.”

“I strongly, strongly believe that employees shouldn’t feel the complexity of the landscape you have behind the scenes. Make it simple for the employees, make it seamless for them.”