How open are HR departments to AI adoption?

The adoption of artificial intelligence tools in the HR function remains uneven across the world, with North America falling behind when it comes to AI use in the field, according to a new report.

Findings from HireRight's 2026 Global Benchmark Report revealed strong disparities with how AI is being implemented in North America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions.

More than half of employers in North America (52%) said they are not using AI, either directly or through third-party tools, to support HR functions.

Only 17% of HR professionals there said they use AI for talent acquiisition, while others said they use it for training and development (16%) and HR administration and policy management (14%).

North America's HR lags on AI adoption

The findings show how North America is behind other regions in using AI tools in the HR function.

Only 28% of HR professionals in EMEA said they are not using AI, while a bigger 31% said they use it for training and development.

Around a quarter of the respondents in EMEA also said they use it for HR administration and policy management (27%), as well as workforce planning and analytics (25%).

AI adoption for the HR function emerged the strongest in APAC, according to the report, with the biggest use case being in training and development (43%).

More than a third of respondents there also noted that they use AI for talent acquisition, such as candidate selectionand resume screening (35%). They also use it for HR administration and policy management (35%), as well as workforce planning and analytics (33%).

"North America HR teams are least likely to be currently using AI, either directly or through third-party tools," the report read.

"Conversely, APAC is the region where AI seems to be the most widely accepted, being used across several important HR and business functions."

Candidates using AI in recruitment

The findings come in the wake of growing calls on HR professionals to also utilise AI as more job candidates apply the tool in the job search, leading to surging application volumes and even discrepancies in their applications.

HR professionals in the APAC region emerged as the most positive when it comes to candidates using AI to assist with their job applications or resumes, according to the report.

Nearly half of HR professionals (49%) there said they are "positive" about candidates using the technology, up from just 30% a year ago.

"Given the higher-than-average adoption rates of AI within HR from our APAC respondents, and their generally high levels of confidence in identifying when candidates are using AI, it is not surprising that this region had the most positive outlook," the report read. 

Only 41% said they were neutral or not sure about applicants' AI use in hiring, while just 10% said they are not receptive towards the practice.

Meanwhile, North American respondents were more likely to have a neutral or negative perspective on job applicants' AI use.

It found that 70% of employers were not sure how to feel about applicants engaging with the practice, while 22% were negative about it.

In EMEA, 49% said they were also not sure about job applicants using AI, while 19% are negative. Nearly a third (32%) said they are positive about the practice.

"As AI tools and technologies become more prevalent, more employers will need to choose their stance on if their company will, or won't, accept candidates using generative AI to support their applications," the report read.

"It will be interesting to see if or how this has changed in next year's survey."

It advised HR professionals, however, to have a strong background screening programme when they open their doors for candidates using AI in recruitment.

"While background checks may not be able to explicitly determine if a candidate used AI to exaggerate claims, it could detect if the information provided is not accurate, especially if the other areas embellished can be verified at source," the report read.