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.

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