When Ali Bebo, the chief human resources officer, explores new ways to infuse artificial intelligence into the human resources department at education company
Pearson, she and Chief Technology Officer Dave Treat frequently ask themselves if it’s appropriate for technology to automate a workflow. And just as importantly, when they shouldn’t.
“What are the tasks that create a strong human connection?” asks Bebo. “We want to maintain those.”
One tool that the pair deployed is a chatbot called “Cara,” which can field employee questions like “how can I get promoted” or “what skills do I need for that new job I’m eying?” In the future, agentic AI could also help provide some employee coaching, though in both cases the technology isn’t intended to replace managers entirely. There are also certain tasks where AI won’t ever be deployed. Bebo vows the technology will not make any final hiring decisions, one clear line in the sand.
“That’s the other part of the partnership that Dave and I have,” says Bebo. “We are thinking about the human plus machine and then the whole view of: can, should, and shouldn’t automate.”
The partnership between the HR leaders and top technologists like the CTO and chief information officer has become much more critical as AI usage proliferates across the workplace. But there are signs that progress has slowed, with recent
research from analytics firm Gallup showing that the number of employees that use AI at least a few times a year has been relatively flat the past few quarters. Nearly half of all U.S. workers say they “never” use AI in their role. Leaders have reported substantially higher and more frequent use of AI tools compared to managers and individual contributors.
Treat says Pearson’s AI efforts focus on three areas: product, the engineering function, and AI across the enterprise for various internal teams. He’s promoted AI usage through broad licenses, including providing every employee a
Microsoft Copilot license, as well as targeted use cases like in customer service, where Pearson has leveraged Salesforce’s AI agents. Agentic AI now handles 63% of those cases.
“When we think about work, we want to think of the outcome backwards and think through what is that combination of automation and human together that will best achieve that outcome,” says Treat.
Intuit’s top technologist and people team leaders, Alex Balazs and Caryl Hilliard, respectively, have both worked at the financial technology company for more than a quarter of a century. Their paths first crossed in 2013 when they worked on TurboTax, but today, CTO Balazs says he spends roughly a third of his time working with Hilliard’s team.
Together, they collaborate on what skills are needed inside
Intuit to support the company’s technology roadmap and discuss when it is appropriate to allocate some resources to luring external talent, on top of the upskilling Intuit invests in. “We are competing for the talent that’s at the intersection between AI and software,” says Balazs, adding that while the market is competitive, it is not as intense as what large language model companies face.
Hilliard, Intuit’s chief people and places officer, says the company has placed a strong emphasis on hiring entry-level workers. “We think that they have knowledge and perspective that’s very different from the rest of the workforce,” says Hilliard.
Both agree this cohort requires a unique approach to onboarding that takes into account generational attributes. Gen Z workers hired to Balazs’ team have strong computer science fundamentals and know how to use AI coding tools. But they aren’t always as adept at working well with other people. Intuit runs a multi-week onboarding boot camp to get them up to speed and address those gaps.
After Chief People Officer Tanya Moore joined consulting firm West Monroe three years ago, she sought to rethink the “hire-to-retire” process, which is the HR framework mapping out an employee’s lifecycle. “We had a very large recruiting team and we were not using a ton of technology and automation,” says Moore.
West Monroe has pivoted and has invested in automation tools for scheduling and recruitment, now handling the work that’s equivalent to three full-time employees. Moore says that this automation hasn’t resulted in staffing reductions, but it has helped curtail additional hiring. One automation tool that’s been deployed across the business to make it easier for managers to input interview feedback is projected to save the business $1.5 million annually.
Moore worked closely with CIO Kevin Rooney to develop an internal chatbot that’s used by resource managers that build new project teams, typically around a half-dozen employees. Previously, a project manager delegated this request to the resource manager, who would spend a week sending emails and Microsoft Team messages across the company to build the group.
The chatbot can automate a lot of this process and asks clarifying questions about the exact skills needed for the project. Moore and Rooney say this tool can also remove bias, as project managers tend to repeatedly go back to their reliable network. But those team members may not always be the best suited for the project.
At Ralliant, a manufacturer of precision instruments and industrial sensors which spun off from
Fortive last summer, has created working group councils that include team members from the technology and people functions to identify new ways to embed AI into workflows. These groups are encouraged to stay in touch and share best practices.
Karen Bick, Ralliant’s chief people officer, says the company tracks productivity and AI’s ability to reduce workflow friction. Other key metrics include speed to market for new products, employee engagement, AI adoption, and whether new skills are being cultivated.
Chief Technology and Growth Officer Amir Kazmi, who joined Ralliant a year ago, promotes a “learn-by-doing” approach to AI all the way up to senior leadership. He wants everyone to experiment with AI. Humility, he says, is also essential.
“We’re still kind of still kind of earlier in the journey, especially with agentic capabilities, like many other companies,” says Kazmi.
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