Meet your company’s new HR reps: AI agents

As companies experiment with agentic systems, top execs at Salesforce and AI-powered HR players like Phenom debate just what AI is good at and the unanswered questions ahead.

[Images: Alex/Adobe Stock; Tuhin/Adobe Stock]

The tech industry has spent the past few years focused on AI as a productivity engine, rewriting code, optimizing search, and automating customer service at scale. Now a more delicate transformation is underway., with agentic AI is moving into human resources. A new wave of startups and enterprise platforms claims algorithms can screen candidates, predict attrition, and recommend career paths faster than managers. The pitch is simple. AI promises less administrative work and more consistent decision-making. As these systems take on more responsibility, they are beginning to redefine what the “human” in human resources means.

“Concerns are valid, because unlike other enterprise functions, HR directly affects people’s lives, careers, and identities, so the bar for trust and responsibility is much higher,” says Mahe Bayireddi, CEO of HR tech unicorn Phenom.

Several companies are building tools for AI-led workforce redesign, embedding intelligent agents into hiring, employee support, and internal mobility. And wrestling with how to do it without losing the “human” in human resources.

In this premium story, you’ll learn:

How leaders at four major AI-powered HR platforms are enabling agents without forgetting the human in the loop

Why the big opportunities in the tech are helping HR balance C-suite demands for speedy AI deployment

The key risks still being hashed out with the move from automation to autonomy

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Victor Dey is a tech analyst and writer covering AI, data science, startups, and cybersecurity. A former AI and tech editor at VentureBeat, his work has also appeared in New York Observer, Entrepreneur Magazine, HackerNoon, and more More

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