AI sparks ‘a clear strategic evolution within HR’, research finds

New research has found that the use of AI and automation in HR is becoming widespread in business operations, as the transition from piloting the technologies to making them a firm part of daily operations commences.

Recruiter Robert Half found a high uptake in AI and automation technologies by HR leaders, revealing that 85 per cent of Australian HR departments are using AI and 82 per cent are using automation “in some capacity”.

In July 2025, the recruiter conducted a study on workplace trends, surveying 500 Australian hiring managers in professional services from a range of small, medium, and large, public and private organisations.

Its findings revealed that 15 per cent of organisations are not using AI at all and do not plan to do so, and 18 per cent have the same attitude towards automation.

Despite this proportion of non-adopters, one in four (27 per cent) HR departments have extensively or fully integrated AI into business operations, and 23 per cent extensively or fully adopted automation, it found.

Robert Half associate director Emma Sestic said: “There’s a clear strategic evolution within HR.”

Streamlining the hiring process

Based on its findings, 58 per cent of HR departments used AI to create and optimise job descriptions.

Sestic said: “Companies are rapidly pivoting to leverage these technologies for more analytical and forward-looking functions to empower HR to move beyond transactional processes and become a more data-driven, strategic partner to the business.”

It also found that 52 per cent used automation for résumé screening and 48 per cent used automation for candidate assessment.

Last month, speaker, author and media commentator, Tracy Sheen, told HR Leader that, in sensitive areas like recruitment or performance management, “prioritising fairness isn’t just good ethics, it’s good business”,

“While the immediate benefits of AI and automation are being realised in high-volume, efficiency-driven tasks, the true transformation lies in the future,” Sestic said.

Proactive capabilities

Further, 39 per cent of HR departments planned to use automation in learning development and 35 per cent planned to use it for compensation benchmarking, it found.

Sestic said: “What began as a push for efficiency is now evolving into a demand for more proactive capabilities.”

“The strong intent to use these tools for employee learning and development and workforce planning highlights HR’s growing role in anticipating talent needs and fostering a future-ready workforce, rather than primarily reacting to immediate demands.”

It also uncovered that 44 per cent of these organisations plan to implement AI in exit interviews and onboarding analytics, and 42 per cent plan to use it in compensation benchmarking.

“The increasing adoption of AI and automation is fundamentally reshaping the core competencies required within the department,” Sestic said.