The Business Case for AI in HR: With Insights and Tips on Getting Started

IBM’s HR function was one of the first to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) technology and this means it has a wealth of insights and learnings to share to help others get started. In this report, the IBM Smarter Workforce Institute summarizes those learnings, which were gathered by interviewing the senior human resource executives responsible for bringing AI to the HR function at IBM.

The executive interviews revealed AI is effective in HR because it helps:

• Solve business challenges
• Attract and develop new skills
• Improve employee experiences
• Provide analytical decision support
• Make more efficient use of HR budgets

IBM HR’s experience is that AI can be applied in almost any area of HR, including candidate attraction, hiring, learning, compensation, career management, and HR support. This report includes use cases across the employee journey. In each area, we describe some of the benefits IBM has seen since implementing AI. We also cover practical topics such as how to get started, the skills you will need, and important issues about fairness and the broader societal effects of AI on jobs.