In November 2022, ChatGPT became available to the public – a technological turning point that has permanently changed our working world. Artificial intelligence (AI) opens unimagined possibilities for HR that go far beyond what initially seemed conceivable.
In a very short time, GenAI has gone from hype to an essential tool for modern HR departments. This future technology helps to automate many monotonous and data-intensive processes that were previously processed manually. This ensures increased efficiency, lower costs and, above all, valuable freedom for what really matters – the people in the company.
76 percent of HR leaders believe that companies that don’t adopt AI solutions in HR in the next 1-2 years will lag behind those that do. This figure underlines the strategic relevance of AI for the future viability of HR organizations. According to Gartner, AI is already one of the top five HR priorities today.
But AI in HR means more than automation and efficiency. It’s about a fundamental realignment of HR work: away from routine administrative tasks and towards strategic people development, improved people experience and data-driven decisions that drive business growth. With this attitude, HR leaders are actively shaping the future of HR work.
The central question is: How can the change to AI-supported HR work succeed in practice, from talent acquisition to leaving the company? And how do we take people on the journey into the AI age and ensure their personal growth?
In many companies, AI has become part of the HR strategy. We at Deutsche Telekom and T-Systems are also consistently using the advantages of artificial intelligence. Shortly after the launch of ChatGPT, our HR teams began to systematically deal with AI scenarios in HR work and analyze best practice examples.
40 HR experts from T-Systems also contributed to the project and identified 75 specific AI use cases. They evaluated each use case according to its business contribution – the influence on employee satisfaction, process speed and possible cost reductions. After several tests, two use cases proved to be particularly effective and quickly implementable – they are based on chatbot technology.
Today, for example, we are successfully using “askT”. This is an HR service chatbot for our employees. Instead of searching for the right information on internal websites itself, askT provides answers to various HR questions around the clock in a matter of seconds: Which collective bargaining regulations apply to me? How do I apply for a sabbatical? How can I purchase employee shares? Such dialogue-oriented platforms enable employees to be accompanied throughout their entire people journey.
But that’s not all. We have continuously expanded askT. In the meantime, this AI tool also shines with the specialist knowledge from over 30 Telekom departments. However, it also offers our colleagues access to world knowledge and relieves them of various tasks in their everyday work: The assistant helps them to find new ideas and solutions, to create reports or summaries, to develop questions for a motivating introduction to workshops – askT offers our people all of this. And they gratefully accept the new possibilities: Since the launch, they have already had over 2.5 million conversations with askT.
However, the future in HR is not simply AI-supported. It is agent-based. These include, for example, intelligent skill gap analyses at the touch of a button: AI identifies competence gaps in the company and recognizes which skills are already available, which will be in demand in the future – and which need to be built up in a targeted manner. Which CHRO doesn’t dream of such insights when it comes to the strategic provision of suitable skills and training formats? This AI-supported workforce planning not only makes HR processes more efficient, but it also has a lasting impact on people engagement and helps the business grow.
Or let’s take the example of recruiting: Companies use AI to attract talent much faster, easier and more precisely. Almost the entire hiring process can be optimized by AI – from the creation of job descriptions to the intelligent analysis of applicant profiles that goes beyond simple keyword matching.
With the introduction of the “Eightfold” talent intelligence platform at Deutsche Telekom and T-Systems, artificial intelligence analyzes applicant data, makes qualified pre-selections, and significantly accelerates our internal processes. In the future, the AI platform will serve to offer our employees tailored development opportunities. To do this, the integrated AI takes the user’s personal profile and individual development wishes to recommend suitable training recommendations, job postings and networking opportunities worldwide. In this way, we support not only personal growth, but also internal mobility.
The key is to introduce all employees in all areas and functions to working with AI and to continuously promote their willingness to learn.
Zsuzsanna Friedl, Chief HR Officer at T-Systems
What we benefit from in all these applications is the great AI expertise in-house. At T-Systems alone, around 1,500 experts work in generative AI, quantum AI, predictive analytics and large-language models (LLM). For years, they have accompanied our customers’ transformation into AI-supported companies and ensure that they – for example in hospitals, public administration or human resources departments – always stay one step ahead of their competitors and pursue an effective LLM strategy – for example with our AI Foundation Services.
In this way, our experts optimize complex business processes through intelligent automation. They become faster, more efficient and more customer friendly. But what does this look like in concrete terms when it comes to business processes in the HR service environment? The Pega hyper automation platform, for example, enables significantly faster processing times, uniform HR processes and a noticeable reduction in the workload of HR service teams. Employees, in turn, benefit from faster order processing and significantly more transparency.
We ourselves have used this technology for our HRcules project and made a high number of service processes noticeably more efficient. However, the Pega platform is also used by several T-Systems customers: These include the public sector such as the German Free States of Saxony and Bavaria, but also companies in the private sector.
When it comes to assessing whether AI is more likely to offer opportunities or risks in your organization, I advocate taking advantage of the technology while responsibly keeping an eye on the risks. Let’s just look at the sensitive topic of job security: The change in the world of work due to new technologies such as AI can cause anxiety and uncertainty in many employees – and companies must take these concerns seriously.
Employees with good AI skills are much more positive about AI in the workplace. They believe that AI improves their work results. Employees with little AI knowledge, on the other hand, are more likely to be skeptical. This shows that competence is a decisive factor for acceptance.
It is therefore important how companies shape the change in the AI age. The transformation is best achieved by companies creating an environment in which experimentation and learning with AI is not only tolerated, but actively encouraged.
Provide sufficient resources so that AI can be used as effectively as possible by employees. Those who invest in skills in a timely manner can position themselves as pioneers.
Companies that want to successfully develop AI for themselves also need an inspiring learning culture. It is crucial to provide employees with a comprehensive learning ecosystem around AI. At T-Systems, for example, we offer our experts a Skillverse of advanced training courses – from AI Pioneer to a variety of innovative training formats. The key is to introduce all employees in all areas and functions to working with AI and to continuously promote their willingness to learn.
This requires a systematic approach. The successful integration of AI competencies can be divided into four central phases: The start-up phase is about creating an understanding of the goals and purpose of the AI initiative. This is followed by structured learning phases in which practical experience is gained, for example how to create prompts, before reaching the application phase and finally the further development phase.
Design a culture of curiosity by providing AI tools as an offer for people to explore and use the possibilities of AI in their own organization.
In this way, companies secure their future in the long term. This is because AI-versed specialists are already in high demand on the market today. Many companies are already investing massively in AI and upskilling their employees accordingly. In this way, AI can also close gaps when skilled workers are in short supply – for example, due to demographic change or the retirement of experienced experts.
Due to increasing automation and the advent of AI, the skills in companies will inevitably change. That’s why I strongly recommend creating enough space for an inspiring learning culture and continuous learning. This is the only way HR leaders can create an environment in which people are empowered and both personal and entrepreneurial growth is promoted.
Because the future does not belong to AI alone – it belongs to people who can use AI in a meaningful way and thus combine the best of both worlds: human creativity and empathy paired with the efficiency of intelligent technology.
