What We Saw at HR Tech 2025: A Discipline Poised for Strategic Transformation

“Be the Change” was the theme at this year’s HR Tech event in Las Vegas, where we got to see the latest HR technology offerings, talk to vendors in the space, and learn how industry leaders think the next major transformation in HR will create new kinds of value. Here’s what stood out to us about the emerging role of AI in HR, what HR needs to succeed with AI, and how today’s technology can give HR a seat at the leadership table as a strategic partner in value creation.

Key Takeaways

• AI offers HR leaders the potential to transform from support function oversight to strategic partner roles in their organizations.

• Most HR professionals recognize AI’s potential but want guidance for selecting and implementing AI solutions.

• Many AI products in the HR space can optimize individual tasks and processes, but realizing transformational value from AI requires a holistic approach and new thinking about HR systems and processes.

“From Counting Heads to Making Heads Count”

One of the overarching messages was the evolution of HR’s mission from focusing on operational tasks to providing strategic value. The results of that transformation will depend on how HR professionals choose to use AI and employee data to deliver insights. This change will also require a shift in the way HR leaders position themselves and the value they provide to the entire organization.

Alongside the push to adopt and leverage AI to create more value, we also saw an emphasis by speakers on maintaining and even increasing the human touch in HR operations. We heard so many analogies for HR professionals — meteorologist, farmer, gardener, doctor, chef — all underlining the role of HR in advising, nurturing, and setting the metaphorical table for talent to thrive. Taken together, the push to leverage AI and focus on people amounts to a shift “from counting heads to making heads count.”

AI in HR: "Agent Washing" versus True Agentic Capabilities

AI dominated the conversation at HR Tech this year, but not all AI is created equal. Many vendors marketed their solutions as agentic AI, yet in reality, many offered only basic AI features. This trend of “agent washing” highlights the difficulty HR leaders face in distinguishing between marketing hype and solutions that can truly deliver transformative value.

What’s the difference?

• Agent washing: Wrapping a user interface around a commercial model (e.g., GPT) and calling it “agentic.” These tools often provide incremental value but lack autonomy or deep integration.

• True agentic AI: Solutions that can automate multi-step tasks, operate with a degree of autonomy, and leverage proprietary or fine-tuned models to deliver differentiated outcomes.

To separate the wheat from the chaff, HR leaders should ask vendors pointed questions:

• “What specific tasks can your agent automate end-to-end?”

• “What model(s) power your solution? Do you own or fine-tune them?”

• “How does your product integrate with my existing HR tech stack?”

Without this due diligence, organizations risk adopting a patchwork of tactical AI tools that create technical debt and limit scalability. This is why a holistic AI strategy, not just opportunistic adoption, is critical. Otherwise, HR teams may default to whatever AI features their core platforms roll out, leaving significant value creation on the table.

Talent Intelligence as Transformational Opportunity

One of the most significant opportunities evident at HR Tech is talent intelligence; the ability to create a comprehensive, real-time view of an organization’s workforce, skills, and capabilities. As organizations navigate massive workforce transformations driven by automation, digitization, and evolving business models, the need for technology-enabled upskilling, reskilling, and agile talent strategies has never been greater. Talent intelligence is the foundation for meeting these challenges.

AI-powered talent intelligence platforms are redefining how HR delivers value. HR can move beyond static reporting to deliver predictive and prescriptive insights by aggregating and analyzing data from multiple sources—internal systems, labor market insights, and even external benchmarks. This means not just answering “What do we have?” but also “What will we need?” and “How do we close the gap?”

This is HR’s moment to claim a strategic leadership role.

With the right AI tools, HR can provide executives with forward-looking insights on workforce readiness, skills adjacencies, and talent pipeline health—far beyond traditional survey results. These capabilities enable HR to demonstrate measurable business impact, and influence strategic decisions.

Crucial Collaboration Between HR and IT

Choosing and implementing the AI tooling to deliver talent intelligence requires close collaboration between HR and IT teams. Input from IT partners can reduce HR’s uncertainty and risk in navigating technology choices. We were a bit surprised that we didn’t see more business relationship managers from IT organizations at HR Tech offering guidance.

HR events like HR Tech also give IT partners the opportunity to learn more about HR’s requirements for optimizing functions such as:

• Talent metrics

• Skills and learning

• Recruiting and interviews

• Employee engagement

• Surveys and culture

• Rewards and recognition

When IT teams understand HR processes, they can offer valuable guidance in choosing the right AI solutions to help achieve HR’s business goals.

Our Recommendations for HR Professionals

As experience designers and AI strategists, what were our takeaways from HR Tech?

First, HR leaders can earn a seat at the strategy table by delivering talent intelligence insights for decision making, and AI offers a way to accomplish this.

Next, HR needs to work with IT or technology experts, not just to find the right AI solutions but also to avoid the risk of creating something that is not sustainable over time. “Just picking something” may seem like the fastest way to get started, but it can lead to technical debt and security issues for the organization.

Finally, although many vendors with AI solutions for HR are focused on incremental tactical improvements like streamlining the recruiting process, the real value of AI in HR is transforming the organization through data leverage and maintaining a human touch with talent. This requires a holistic approach and a strategic partner who can help them make it happen.

Starting Your Strategic HR Transformation

Many internal IT teams are stretched thin dealing with security and compliance issues, and even those with the resources to partner with HR may not have the experience design background to fully optimize AI investments and rethink processes holistically. Outside strategic partners can provide valuable support to translate HR needs into strategies that can optimize HR processes while also building long-term value for the entire organization.

Ready to begin your HR evolution? Our experienced strategy and transformation experts are ready to help you. Contact us to learn more.