With AI embedding itself into daily work, HR leaders face a defining challenge: understand what's really changing, or risk being left behind
For most of the past decade, the dominant question in Australian HR circles was some version of: will artificial intelligence actually affect us? That question, increasingly, has an answer. Now, a harder one has taken its place: what do we do about it?
According to SHRM's 2026 CHRO Priorities and Perspectives report, 92% of chief human resources officers anticipate greater integration of artificial intelligence into workforce operations this year. The same report found that 84% of CHROs expect an increased demand for AI-specific skills among employees — a figure that points to the scale of the skills challenge now sitting in HR's lap. These are not figures from a future projection. They describe what is happening now, in organisations across Australia, in payroll teams and talent functions and operations divisions that were not, until recently, thinking of themselves as early adopters of anything.
David Guazzarotto, digital HR and technology advisory, Pacific leader at Mercer Workforce Solutions; and Sonia Lynch, HR director at Dayforce, will be speaking at a Zoom webinar on the topic above and more, hosted by sponsor Dayforce in collaboration with Mercer Workforce Solutions on July 15 at 11am AEST. To find out details and to register, click here.
Lynch, who leads the people function at Dayforce, has watched the conversation shift in real time. She pointed to a tension that sits at the centre of the current moment: business leaders are being asked to drive growth and productivity, while employees are searching for clarity about what their roles will look like in two or three years' time.
"AI transformation is accelerating, changing how work gets done across every function of the business," Lynch said. "The challenge for HR is no longer determining whether AI will impact work, but understanding where it will have the greatest effect and how organisations can prepare for it responsibly."
That reframing carries significant weight. If the challenge is no longer a question of if but of where and how, then HR functions that are still in observation mode are already running behind.
Lynch described how too many organisations are still treating AI as a technology initiative when the more urgent issue is workforce transformation.
"Many organisations are still focused on AI as a technology initiative, when the bigger challenge is workforce transformation," she said. "At the same time, concerns around job security, changing role expectations, and the pace of change are creating uncertainty across the workforce."
Redesigning work, not just adopting tools
The distinction between technology adoption and work redesign is key. Buying a platform or rolling out a tool is a procurement decision. Redesigning work is a people decision, and it belongs squarely in the HR function's domain.
Lynch described the approach that is separating high-performing organisations from those struggling to find their footing.
"The organisations seeing the greatest success are shifting the conversation from technology adoption to work redesign, rethinking how work is performed, which tasks can be automated or augmented, and where human capabilities such as creativity, judgment, collaboration, and problem-solving create the most value," she said.
This has practical implications for how HR teams structure their work this year. Lynch sees several areas she believes HR leaders should prioritise. The first is what she described as a work-first mindset: starting not with the technology but with the tasks themselves, understanding which can be automated, which can be augmented, and where human judgement remains genuinely irreplaceable.
Alongside that, she emphasises the importance of building psychological safety as AI becomes part of everyday workflows. Employees who feel uncertain about whether they are being watched, assessed, or gradually replaced are not employees who will engage openly with new tools. Trust, she argued, is not a soft consideration. It is a precondition for the whole exercise.
Lynch also pointed to what she sees as the most commonly misunderstood aspect of AI adoption at the organisational level.
"One of the biggest misconceptions about AI is that it's primarily a workforce reduction strategy," she said. "In reality, many organisations are discovering that the greatest opportunity lies in redesigning work so people can spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time on innovation, problem-solving, and creating value."
What HR leaders need to do next
There is a version of the AI conversation that HR professionals will recognise immediately, and which most have grown tired of: broad claims about disruption, sweeping predictions about jobs disappearing, and very little guidance on what to actually do on Monday morning.
The session will focus on which roles and skills are most likely to evolve as AI matures across the enterprise, where AI is augmenting work rather than replacing people outright, and how leading organisations are approaching workforce redesign and skills planning in practical terms. It will also address what frontline managers specifically need to understand, a group that Lynch argues is often overlooked in AI readiness conversations despite sitting at the point where strategy meets daily work.
Lynch described what she sees as the defining characteristic of organisations that will come out of this period with an advantage.
"The organisations that will gain the greatest advantage won't necessarily be those with the most advanced technology," she said. "They'll be the ones that successfully combine AI with human capability, create trust throughout the organisation, and build the skills needed for the future."
Australian HR leaders who have been waiting for the noise to settle before deciding what to do may be waiting a long time - the noise is not going to settle. The organisations coming out of this period with an advantage will not be the ones that waited for certainty before acting.
The webinar will take place virtually on on July 15 at 11am AEST. To find out more and to register, click here.
