The countdown is over, the fireworks have faded and we are now officially halfway through the 2020s. That may seem a difficult fact for HR professionals to grasp given how the decade began amid the disruption caused by COVID-19.

Entering 2024, members of the profession were well-accustomed to change and, while 2025 likely has myriad changes in store, the new year also presents HR departments with an opportunity to home in on something that may have eluded them these last few years — namely, the chance to shape their roles for the long term.

“Most companies we talk to feel like they’re on the other side of putting out the fires of the day,” said Brad Bell, professor in strategic human resources at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. “That’s allowing companies to lay out a long-range plan about what they want HR to look like in their organizations.”

The field is host to a number of exciting developments, particularly of the technological sort, which in turn create space for HR to grow, according to Jesse Meschuk, principal at compensation consulting firm Exequity and former HR executive at Activision Blizzard. “My message would be [to] stay engaged and take advantage of these new developments to invest in yourself in 2025 and find ways to grow your own skills,” he said.

1. AI’s next act reshapes talent acquisition, productivity

At the forefront of HR’s priorities this year is artificial intelligence. Most companies, by some accounts, took steps to invest in AI in 2024, but the technology is now the “primary focus,” this year, Bell said.

The first wave of adoption saw companies using AI for what Meschuk called “first-tier employee services” — those that involve chatbots for self-service questions related to HR, accounting and similar functions. The next step, he said, is to incorporate AI directly into areas such as talent acquisition, employee engagement, training and sentiment analysis.

In hiring, for example, AI will increasingly affect the way recruiters and applicants alike participate in the job search. “You’re not really going to be doing the search yourself,” Meschuk said. “You’re going to be served job opportunities as a candidate or, as a company, served candidates.”

He pointed to big names like LinkedIn that have launched AI assistants as a sign of this trend. The Microsoft subsidiary announced last October that it had debuted an AI agent, Hiring Assistant, that sources candidates and asks screening questions. Meschuk said he is already seeing applicant tracking systems roll out similar products.

The reality for many organizations, though, is that AI adoption is still in its early stages, according to Megan Smith, head of HR at SAP North America. Smith said HR departments will be charged with creating a strong backbone for implementation in the form of governance models, templates and other tools so that the workplace is prepared.

Employees, she added, will be given more self-service options through conversational AI, while HR departments will use it for tasks ranging from generating interview questions to managing pay cycles. “It’s this precipice of opportunity to empower and multiply the benefits that a lot of these HR practices can have to be more efficient and [have] better value,” Smith said.

At the same time, those who spoke to HR Dive noted the potential risks of overreliance on AI. It’s a useful hiring tool “but it is not the panacea,” said Meschuk. “If you have diversity goals and you’re trying to increase representation and broaden out to different experiences and skill sets, that is still a lens you should be applying regardless of the tools you’re using.”

HR teams should, for example, continue outreach programs for underrepresented candidate groups and communities, he added; “You shouldn’t shut those down just because you have an AI tool to help you.”

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