Human-centered AI for HR: What it is + why it matters

What is human-centered AI for HR?

Human-centered AI for HR is an employee service (ES) solution that leverages technology to put people at the core of HR operations. It focuses on supporting HR professionals by automating tasks, providing data-driven insights for decision-making, and personalizing employee service. It’s not simply a drive for more efficiency—human-centered AI in the workplace prioritizes employee well-being.

In their commitment to delivering top-notch employee service, HR teams constantly balance efficiency with empathy. They juggle administrative tasks, employee requests, and workforce planning and face the uphill journey of improving efficiency by managing larger, more complex workforces with fewer resources.

Human-centered AI for HR combines intelligent automation with a people-first approach that bridges this gap and helps deliver fast, accurate employee service. In this guide, we’ll explore the key features and benefits of human-centered AI for HR and how to measure your return on investment (ROI) for AI in the workplace.

More in this guide:

• How human-centered AI benefits HR teams
• Top features of a human-centered AI solution for HR
• How to measure return on investment for an AI-powered HR tool
• Frequently asked questions
• Put your people first with AI-powered employee service

How human-centered AI benefits HR teams

While it also helps cut costs, AI does much more to boost HR representatives’ ability to support employees effectively. Here’s how AI in HR transforms employee service operations.

Hyper-personalizes employee service

AI-powered HR software can analyze individual employee data, preferences, and behavior patterns to deliver tailored experiences at scale. From customized benefits recommendations to personalized learning pathways, this level of attention can boost employee engagement by making employee service more effective and rewarding.

Instead of making employees feel like they’re just going through the motions during training or another HR initiative, AI helps personalize customer service to cater to unique, individualized needs.

Improves operational efficiency

HR representatives handle many functions that are prime candidates for automation, such as:

• Answering timely employee questions

• Scheduling interviews and follow-ups

• Processing leave requests

These are all examples of ways AI can reduce the time HR teams spend on repetitive tasks.

This automation doesn’t replace HR professionals—instead, it frees them up to focus on complex issues that require human judgment. Ultimately, this gives your people better strategic outcomes, higher employee satisfaction, and more meaningful, people-centric interactions.

Generates data-driven workforce planning insights

Human-centered AI systems can analyze large amounts of workforce data to identify patterns and trends that would be impossible to spot manually. Tools like Zendesk can even analyze 100 percent of employee interactions, historically and in real time, so no workforce management (WFM) insights escape unrecorded.

These insights help team leaders improve HR management and make more informed decisions about talent acquisition, development, and retention. AI empowers proactive rather than reactive HR management by predicting future workforce needs and highlighting potential issues before they become problems.

Streamlines onboarding and offboarding

AI-powered HR tools create consistent, personalized experiences for employees joining or leaving an organization. And it pays off big time for HR teams and businesses. Workrise, a leading vendor in the energy industry, uses Zendesk to automate 20 percent of its workflows, including onboarding. This unlocked a staggering $20K quarterly cost savings.

New hires receive targeted information and training based on their role, team, and previous experience, while departing employees benefit from automated processes that ensure all exit procedures are followed correctly. These streamlined processes improve efficiency while maintaining the human touch during critical transition periods.

Tailors employee learning opportunities 

AI that puts your people first can recommend personalized development opportunities for each employee by analyzing information like:

• Skill gaps

• Career goals

• Learning preferences

• Coaching sessions

This targeted approach ensures you use training resources effectively and your employees develop the skills most relevant to their current and future roles. In return, businesses see a more engaged workforce with the capabilities needed to drive organizational success.

Helps forecast HR trends 

Predictive analytics give HR teams the power to see trends forming at the outset. Then, they can act in real time to capitalize on positive trends or change course to correct negative ones. Reps can look out for emerging patterns in WFM metrics like:

• Satisfaction

• Sentiment

• Turnover risk

These insights allow HR teams to address potential issues before they impact the organization and capitalize on positive trends. This shifts employee service management from being reactive to proactive. That way, HR professionals can create more stable, productive work environments where employees feel valued and supported.

Tracks employee well-being

AI tools can continuously monitor employee well-being by analyzing metrics like sentiment and engagement through employee communications and feedback. These systems detect subtle signals that might indicate red flags before they become serious problems, such as:

• Burnout

• Dissatisfaction

• Work-life balance challenges

By providing HR teams with early warning indicators and actionable insights, AI leads to proactive interventions that support mental health and prevent employee turnover. It creates a sort of safety net that helps organizations maintain a healthy, productive workforce while demonstrating genuine care for employee welfare.

Automates payroll processing

Eliminate many of the error-prone manual calculations and data entry tasks that traditionally consume HR resources with AI for employee service. These intelligent systems, like Zendesk, can automatically calculate complex elements like overtime, bonuses, and tax withholdings while adapting to frequent regulatory changes across different jurisdictions.

Beyond basic automation, human-centered AI approaches to payroll enhance employee service by providing transparent and accessible information through intuitive portals for employee self-service. The added accuracy, efficiency, and transparency transform payroll from an administrative burden to a trust-building opportunity.

Top features of a human-centered AI solution for HR

When evaluating human-centered AI solutions for HR, some key features distinguish truly effective platforms from basic automation tools. The best systems combine sophisticated technology with thoughtful design that’s easy to use and keeps human needs at the center.

AI agents and advanced automation

Advanced AI agents are intelligent bots that can handle complex queries and tasks without human intervention, from answering detailed policy questions to guiding employees through multi-step processes.

These intelligent systems can fully automate up to 80 percent of interactions, and they learn from each one, continuously improving their ability to provide accurate, helpful responses. They also enable 24/7 support so employees in other time zones can receive immediate service when needed.

Omnichannel agent workspace 

A unified workspace that integrates all communication channels—email, chat, phone, and self-service portals—enables HR teams to deliver consistent service regardless of how employees choose to connect. This omnichannel approach preserves context across interactions, eliminating the frustration of repeated explanations and creating a seamless experience for employees and HR professionals.

AI-powered self-service options

Intuitive, AI-driven self-service portals allow employees to find information and complete common tasks independently at any time. These systems use natural language understanding (NLU) to understand questions asked in everyday language and provide relevant, accurate responses. Self-service options improve satisfaction by making it easy for employees to help themselves while reducing the volume of routine requests handled by HR staff.

Ticketing system

Sophisticated ticketing systems ensure that complex issues are routed to the appropriate HR specialist and tracked through resolution. These systems use AI to categorize and prioritize requests, assign them based on expertise and workload, and monitor progress against service level agreements (SLAs).

With omnichannel routing, tickets from any channel are routed quickly to the most appropriate agent. And automated follow-ups and notifications help reassure management that nothing falls through the cracks. This also ramps up response efficiency, like when DuPage County in Illinois used Zendesk to help trim service desk resolution times by 95 percent.

Enterprise-level security

Any AI tool needs to protect the sensitive personal information HR departments handle. In addition to the efficiency boost mentioned above, Dupage County was also able to maintain security while replacing its old on-premises solution thanks to a modern Zendesk setup.

Enterprise-grade security features ensure employee data remains secure while still being accessible to employees. This includes tools like:

• End-to-end encryption

• Role-based access controls

• Compliance with global privacy regulations

This protection builds trust with employees and safeguards the organization from data breaches and compliance violations.

How to measure return on investment for an AI-powered HR tool

Implementing human-centered AI requires investment, though the tool you choose will impact the type of investment you make. For example, some tools are easier to use, more intuitive, and have a low time-to-value (TTV)—like Zendesk—to ensure your HR team sees fast improvements. Regardless, you should measure your ROI with a blend of quantitative metrics to measure employee performance management and qualitative employee feedback to capture the full value of your solution.

Establish baseline measurements before implementation, including time spent on administrative tasks, employee satisfaction scores, and response times for HR inquiries. After you deploy the tool, track improvements in these areas to quantify efficiency gains and service enhancements.

Make sure to monitor these key performance indicators (KPIs) to get the full scope of your AI solution’s value:

• Reduction in time-to-resolution for employee inquiries

• Percentage of inquiries resolved through self-service

• Employee satisfaction ratings for HR interactions

• HR team productivity (such as cases handled per staff member)

• Reduction in onboarding and offboarding processing time

• Employee retention rates and reasons for departure

Beyond operational metrics, assess the strategic impact of redeploying HR talent from administrative work to higher-value activities. Track new initiatives launched, improvements in talent management outcomes, and HR’s contribution to organizational goals—all made possible by the time saved through automation.

Frequently asked questions

Put your people first with AI-powered employee service

Human-centered AI for HR enables more meaningful interactions between HR professionals and employees. It automates tasks like employee onboarding and provides data-driven insights, freeing HR teams to focus on what they do best: supporting people through complex challenges, developing talent, and building organizational culture.

The most successful deployments maintain a careful balance between technological efficiency and human touch. The goal isn’t to remove people from HR but to enhance their capabilities and impact. Explore how Zendesk AI-powered employee service can help your organization achieve this balance, creating an HR function that’s more efficient and human-centered than ever before.