AI is rewriting work. HR could hold the pen

The AI era has made work more human, not less. And that makes this a defining moment for HR, writes Mei Koon.

One of the most interesting things I’ve observed as AI enters the workplace is how quickly it stops being a technology conversation and becomes a people one. AI has landed squarely in the middle of work, bringing uncertainty, expectation and a fair amount of discomfort with it. But what’s clear to me is this: AI isn’t dehumanising work. It’s shifting the centre of gravity back to people – their judgement, confidence and capacity to learn.

That shift doesn’t happen automatically. It has to be designed. And that’s what makes this moment so defining for HR.

From my experience as a CMO, the real transformation underway isn’t technological – it’s people transformation. AI may be the spark, but leadership, capability and culture determine whether it delivers value or anxiety. People leadership and technology leadership are not separate conversations. They’re converging fast, and HR sits right at the centre of that intersection, uniquely positioned to orchestrate how this plays out across the organisation.

One of the biggest barriers to progress is discomfort. AI forces leaders to say something we’re not always comfortable admitting to our teams: we don’t have all the answers yet. I’ve come to accept that this discomfort isn’t a failure of my leadership – it’s the starting point. I get it. Boards and executive rooms want answers, not “I don’t know”.

The mistake organisations make is waiting for certainty before they begin. What I have learnt is that inertia doesn’t come from AI itself; it comes from not engaging with it, not learning what it can and can’t do, and not understanding where the real risks actually lie.

If you have started piloting with AI, the next blind spot to watch out for is conflating AI adoption with impact. Tools get rolled out. Usage increases. But value doesn’t necessarily follow. Just because people are using AI doesn’t mean it’s making work better. Adoption is essential, but without direction, readiness and change management wrapped around it, impact stalls. In our experience at ELMO, being “AI-driven” isn’t one homogenous state; it’s a progression. It’s moving from curiosity, to fluency, then judgement and ultimately to confidence. Only then can practical and meaningful outcomes be achieved in everyday work.

So how do you progress from curiosity to judgement and impact? Start small. Start now. Build momentum through basic tasks, but framed within daily use cases, not sweeping transformation programs. Progress accelerates when teams are given psychological safety to test, build, break and rebuild without the pressure of immediate perfection or complexity.

I often describe this phase like building with Lego blocks. At the start, AI is just a pile of pieces. Full of potential, yes – but directionless. On their own, the blocks don’t mean much. It’s only through playing with them that possibilities emerge. You play around with vague concepts or a clear vision. It doesn’t quite look like what you expected. You pull them apart. You rebuild. Rinse and repeat. Over time, something coherent and aligned to your mind’s eye takes shape.

Just like Lego blocks, AI gives you the pieces. We decide what gets built.

That’s why learning matters so much. No one knows what the playbook will look like in six months, let alone three. The organisations that will thrive aren’t the ones locking people into rigid job descriptions, but the ones investing in learning as a meta skill across every level of the business. When fear is replaced with learning, confidence follows, and progress compounds.

The real unlock for leaders comes when AI moves beyond individual productivity wins and into workforce-wide foundations for every team. AI delivers its value when people are working from a common source of truth: shared knowledge, clear guardrails and agreed ways of working. Without that, experimentation stays fragmented, and impact remains elusive. With it, teams can move faster without sacrificing coherence or quality.

I believe this is where HR’s role becomes not heavier, but more powerful. Not as gatekeepers of technology, but as architects of capability, confidence and culture. HR is uniquely positioned to connect learning, governance and adoption. HR ensures AI becomes embedded into how work actually gets done.

At ELMO, our own people and culture team has already embarked on this journey. They’ve been the central orchestrator of workforce-wide AI training and enablement, piloting AI capabilities within HR services that serve all staff, developing recognition programs for winning use cases, supporting progressive skill-building and resourcing, and pushing for performance measures across teams. That work has been enabled by having one connected data/knowledge foundation across the employee lifecycle – where data, workflows and AI is designed to work within an organisational context. It ensures AI isn’t rolled out as a bolt-on or a vanity feature, but embedded into daily work with intent, governance and care.

From where I stand, the fear that AI represents the death knell for careers is only a risk to those who get left behind. Work isn’t disappearing – it’s being reshaped at the intersection of human judgement and AI augmentation. The real risk isn’t AI itself. It’s failing to build the conditions that allow people to learn how to work with it. It’s failing to help our people move from being “AI-driven” observers to “AI-fluent” operators.

The AI era has made work more human, not less. And that makes this a defining moment for HR – not because it has been handed sole responsibility, but because it has a unique opportunity to lead, deliberately and visibly, in shaping how people and technology evolve together. From a marketing perspective, I see this shift play out every day: brand, growth and customer experience are only as strong as the capability and confidence of the people behind them. When HR elevates workforce capability, every function – including marketing – moves faster and with greater coherence.

At ELMO, we’re focused on supporting that shift through a complete workforce AI platform – one that connects insight to action, embeds governance by design, and helps HR lead what’s next with confidence. AI may be rewriting work. HR has a rare opportunity to help hold the pen.

Mei Koon is the chief marketing officer at ELMO Software.