AI is reshaping the way HR operates by taking over repetitive tasks and empowering HR professionals to prioritize strategy and employee engagement. Ansgar Ruhnau, Senior Director HR at UiPath, shares his company’s journey to AI-powered automation, illustrating how the technology unlocks potential.
Technology is transforming traditional work environments into more efficient and adaptive modern workplaces. From recruiting to onboarding, performance management and employee engagement, AI-powered business automation is streamlining HR processes. Research by McKinsey shows that 56% of “hire-to-retire” HR tasks can be automated. Over the last few years, our People team at UiPath has automated a variety of tasks which saved us thousands of hours of repetitive work. This has allowed our team to focus on more strategic, value-adding tasks.
Significant potential for AI-powered automation in talent acquisition
Talent acquisition in HR, involving tasks such as sourcing candidates, screening resumes and scheduling interviews, can be time-consuming and resource intensive. Teams are tasked with posting job openings on several websites, screening resumes and identifying relevant qualifications—all before the interview and hiring cycle even start. AI-powered automation can streamline many of these processes to reach the end goal of identifying relevant candidates. Automation software can also help with the tedious task of scheduling interviews and accelerate the hiring process to allow companies to fill vacancies fast, while also making the application process more enjoyable for prospective employees.
AI agents can nudge employees and answer standard queries
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Once contracts are signed, the recruitment process enters the next phase: introducing new hires to the organization. A successful and seamless onboarding process is the foundation on which to build meaningful employee experiences. Automating onboarding processes enables a smooth and consistent experience for all employees. AI can provide new hires with personalized learning paths, schedule training sessions and track their progress, supporting them in quickly adapting to their new roles. For example, the HR team can train a chatbot to answer employees’ basic questions 24/7, allowing team members to take on more complex questions and cases.
Strategic work for HR teams revolves around building employee engagement, nurturing career development and ensuring that each role has the right expertise. Expertise is either acquired when a new employee joins the company or developed by existing employees through upskilling and reskilling on the job. With the help of AI-powered automation software, the HR team can build surveys to capture insights into the business’ and employees’ current and future training needs. This enables HR leaders to be proactive and make data-driven decisions instead of simply reacting to employees’ training needs. Eventually, all this builds towards creating a thriving work culture where employees are empowered to perform at their best.
When it comes to the benefits for the HR team itself, the administrative tasks of the role can consume most of a workday. Take payroll as an example: a repetitive but essential task that could be automated to free up teams for higher value work.
Building trust in AI-powered automation requires change management
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Implementing AI-powered automation in HR Departments offers numerous benefits but a recent UiPath study has shown that there are some doubts about safety and reliability of AI and automation. Among 9,047 respondents, less than half (48%) said they trust the outputs they receive from generative AI tools. Similarly, only four out of ten (44%) respondents believe that generative AI has the context needed from their business data to support processes and drive value. However, this number increases to 85% when employees use both process automation and Generative AI (GenAI) together.
There remains a lack of understanding on the benefits of AI—and a need for education. Only 45% of respondents in our study were offered training or guidelines on how to use GenAI. Although highly promising and very much in demand, AI tools should not be implemented without a clear strategy. Companies need to consider setting up a center of excellence, assembling professionals who manage and are familiar with automation and AI tools.
Change management is another important aspect to consider when implementing business process automation. Employees may feel resistant when transitioning to AI-powered processes. In order to help address these concerns, it is crucial to develop effective change management strategies. This requires clear and transparent communication while also providing training and support. Engaging employees in the process and asking for feedback can help build trust and acceptance.
Chatbots can answer employee queries and transform HR work
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One of the most exciting aspects of implementing automation is seeing how it unfolds and positively affects our daily work lives. To enable our People team at UiPath to concentrate on more strategic initiatives, we recently introduced an AI-powered chatbot assistant. This tool harnesses both the efficiency of automation and the innovative capabilities of GenAI.
Capable of addressing a wide range of employee inquiries—from onboarding and absence reporting to requesting employee certificates—this chatbot provides real-time responses by tapping into the extensive information available in our internal guidelines and policies. Additionally, the AI-powered assistant streamlines the process of creating Help Center tickets for employees. This not only helps employees focus more effectively on their primary tasks but also ensures they receive quicker support from the People team.
The HR department as catalyst for AI-driven transformation
An MIT study predicts that more than 80% of jobs could be done more efficiently with current Artificial Intelligence capabilities. Similarly, around 19% of jobs could be automated to an extent of at least 50%. At the same time, it has also been found that human work is not going away but is enhanced by interfacing with AI. More repetitive tasks are automated by workers using specialized Artificial Intelligence tools, giving them more time to focus on non-repetitive value adding tasks. At the same time, it requires skills to utilize the new technology. Workers with the skills to use the new technology will outperform workers that do not. So will companies.
There is a unique opportunity for HR leaders to serve as a catalyst for the AI-driven transformation in their company. The technology for AI-driven transformation is available at our fingertips with low-code and no-code solutions. HR is best positioned to train the workforce on these new tools and showcase the application of Automation and AI in processes that are relevant to the whole workforce. There has never been a more exciting time to be In HR. Let’s shape the new work revolution driven by automation and AI!
Ansgar Ruhnau is Senior Director HR at UiPath and has more than 15 years of HR leadership experience. Before joining UiPath, he led the People function for EMEA North at Google Cloud. Prior to Google, Ansgar worked at SAP in various HR leadership roles in Spain, Germany and the Netherlands.
