Autonomous HR: The next era with agentic AI

For HR leaders in Australia, the invitation is clear: embrace a new era of work where HR is liberated from repetitive tasks, and the function becomes a driver of business impact, writes Peyton Caffey.

The promise of a thriving human resources function has always been straightforward: design workplaces that allow people to flourish. Yet, as many of my colleagues in the profession will attest, they find themselves buried in paperwork, approvals, and manual co-ordination – not to mention the day-to-day spot fires that come with the territory. It results in much of my day being consumed by process and admin, leaving little time for the human interaction that is so important to building a flourishing organisation.

And the stats don’t lie about how businesses in the region are embracing technology to help. ServiceNow’s AI Maturity Index shows Australia has dropped to a score of 36/100 as only 10 per cent of Australian enterprises are feeling ready to reorganise or innovate their businesses with AI.

Put these statistics on a backdrop against factors like constrained budgets, talent scarcity, and rising expectations on HR to show return on investment, we must find a better way to lead our teams to our flourishing organisational moment.

And I am here to tell you that there is a solution. It’s an innovation that flips the script and is the next wave of artificial intelligence for HR professionals, the kind that doesn’t just assist, but helps execute too.

From automation to autonomous orchestration

The first wave of AI-infused HR technology focused on automating discrete tasks like chatbots answering FAQs, systems scheduling interviews, and workflows managing leave requests. But as the tech has evolved, and with the onset of ‘agentic’ AI, the game has changed again, allowing an agent to reason, act, and orchestrate. When built on a unified platform that connects AI, data, and workflows, agentic systems don’t just respond to a request, they initiate, co-ordinate across multiple functions, and execute end-to-end business processes. They move work across every corner of the business – HR, finance, IT, procurement, and workplace services – in the way people do, rather than being trapped in departmental silos.

In practical HR terms, this means routine work like onboarding, relocations, benefits updates, payroll queries, and policy clarifications no longer require a chain of hand-offs, clicks, screens, and manual follow-ups. Instead, an agent can initiate procurement of a laptop, arrange workspace access, update budget approvals, and schedule training automatically. By absorbing what could be seen as busywork, HR and managers are freed to do the highly strategic and human work, like coaching talent, designing culture, driving strategy, and creating value.

Taking HR out of the reactive box

Historically, HR has operated in a reactive service-delivery mode: employee asks, HR responds; a manager escalates, HR triages. It’s cycle after cycle of addressing tickets. What agentic AI enables is a shift to proactive orchestration of the employee life cycle. For example, instead of waiting for the leave request, the AI agent monitors shift gaps and suggests coverage options. Likewise, instead of payroll queries piling up, the system anticipates inconsistencies and triggers corrective action.

In the Australian context, this evolution is particularly relevant. Research from the Australian HR Institute shows Aussie HR practitioners recognise AI’s potential to boost productivity, yet many organisations say they lack the training, governance, and strategic frameworks to deploy it well. ServiceNow’s Maturity Index research also backs this up. Meanwhile, Australian public-service HR teams are also being encouraged to build capability, trust, and ethical frameworks to lead AI-enabled workforce transformation. Agentic AI is an inevitable next step for Australian organisations striving to reclaim HR from the backlog of routine tasks and reposition it as strategic.

HR must remain fundamentally human

Some leaders and employees alike might hear the term ‘autonomous AI’ and wonder what the future of an HR function looks like. Does it become impersonal or replace people? In my view, that is the wrong conclusion. In fact, the power of this new wave of tech sets departments like HR up to focus on the humanisation of organisations, like culture-shaping, while the agentic systems handle the heavy lifting of the day-to-day tasks most common to our profession.

But with this comes responsibility. Governance, transparency, and ethical oversight must be core to any organisation’s AI strategy. Just because the agentic systems act autonomously does not mean humans abdicate responsibility. In fact, HR is a key element in designing these systems, defining where human judgement is needed; managing the life cycle of digital workers; and ensuring fairness, trust, and clarity. And because we know it’s so important, we even developed a playbook for our HR and business leaders, guiding people in working, learning, growing, and leading in an AI-enabled world.

The path ahead for HR Leaders

For HR leaders in Australia, the invitation is clear: embrace a new era of work where HR is liberated from repetitive tasks, and the function becomes a driver of business impact. When agentic AI is deployed ethically and strategically, the result is more productivity and capacity returning to the business. The future of HR remains deeply human. The difference is that the team, the manager, and the HR partner will now do the work that cultivates thriving and flourishing workplaces.

Peyton Caffey is the human resources director in ANZ at ServiceNow.