Quick Links
🔚 AI as the Enabler, Not the Endgame
⚖️ Alignment Is Everything
🧠 Creating Psychological Safety for Experimentation
🥤 HR Can’t Pour from an Empty Cup
👂 From Listening to Action
🧬 The Future Is Human
🧑💼 Key Takeaways for HR Leaders
In just two years, the conversation around AI in the workplace has moved from curiosity to critical capability. As Steve Frost, Founder and CEO of WorkBuzz, observes:
“A couple of years ago, AI was the data scientist in a lab. Now, any of us with a phone can use it, embrace it, and work more effectively.”
Yet while tools like ChatGPT reached 100 million users in a matter of weeks, HR’s adoption of AI is lagging behind. According to WorkBuzz’s Future of Work 2026 research, only 15% of HR professionals rank AI adoption among their top three priorities — and fewer than one in five organisations say AI already forms a key part of how work gets done.
This presents a paradox. HR understands AI’s potential, but fears around expertise, ethics and change are holding many teams back. As Frost puts it, “HR needs to be centre stage to really get maximum value from AI — not just as a user, but as the function that brings people on the journey.”
AI as the Enabler, Not the Endgame
The 2026 WorkBuzz research highlights an important tension. Productivity has climbed to become the third-highest HR priority, yet employee wellbeing — still the number one concern — is being eroded by overwork and constant change.
AI offers one way to resolve this tension. By automating data analysis, administration, and project management, AI can free HR to focus on the “human” side of human resources — the empathy, coaching and culture-building that can’t be automated.
For example, WorkBuzz’s People Science AI now analyses employee listening data in minutes, surfacing actionable insights that once took weeks to extract manually. This allows leaders to make faster, more informed decisions, while giving managers the confidence to own and act on feedback.
Alignment Is Everything
However, technology alone won’t fix the engagement crisis. The WorkBuzz report reveals that where HR and the executive leadership team (ELT) are aligned, engagement improves in 35% of organisations. Where that alignment breaks down, engagement improves in fewer than 10%.
This suggests that successful AI adoption isn’t just a technical challenge — it’s a leadership one. When HR and the ELT share confidence and clarity on priorities, it translates directly into stronger culture, wellbeing, and business performance.
Creating Psychological Safety for Experimentation
Steve emphasises that HR must model psychological safety if they want AI to flourish:
“You need to bring your people on the journey. Create psychological safety where they can experiment with tools, fail, and celebrate those learnings.”
This mindset is essential. WorkBuzz data shows that 69% of organisations are still only experimenting with AI. Without a safe space to test, learn and iterate, those experiments may never translate into impact.
The vaccine maker Moderna provides a case in point: it merged its leadership for technology and people — recognising that human and digital transformation must go hand in hand.
HR Can’t Pour from an Empty Cup
But before HR can lead this transformation, it must first address its own wellbeing crisis. Over half (53%) of HR professionals report feeling under constant strain, with workloads rising as team sizes shrink.
AI can help relieve that burden. When used responsibly, it can take the “heavy lifting” out of data and process work, giving HR time to focus on strategy and people — not firefighting.
From Listening to Action
The report also exposes a worrying trend: fewer organisations are listening to their employees regularly, and participation in surveys is dropping. One reason is trust — employees no longer believe action will follow feedback.
WorkBuzz’s ACT enable managers to act on employee feedback instantly, producing personalised action plans that demonstrate the organisation is listening and responding.
As Melisaan Foster, Chief Experience Officer at WorkBuzz, explains:
“It’s not that people don’t care — they just don’t have faith that action will be taken.”
The Future Is Human
AI may be the most transformative technology in decades, but its success will depend on how well we keep humanity at the centre of work. The organisations that thrive will be those that pair AI efficiency with human empathy — that use data to understand people, not replace them.
As Frost concludes:
“HR is the only function that touches every employee. It’s perfectly placed to redesign work for the future — if it steps up and takes centre stage.”
Key Takeaways for HR Leaders
-
Embrace AI as an ally: Start small — use AI to simplify feedback analysis, automate admin, or surface insights faster.
-
Lead with psychological safety: Encourage experimentation and learning without fear of failure.
-
Strengthen HR–ELT alignment: Shared priorities and communication build trust and drive engagement.
-
Protect HR wellbeing: Use technology to create space for strategic work and human connection.
-
Listen and act: Close the feedback loop so employees see tangible change.
The future of work isn’t just about smarter technology — it’s about smarter, more human leadership.
