This company's HR department is entirely AI-driven

• Key Insight: Learn how fully AI-driven HR enabled rapid scaling without traditional HR hires.
• What's at Stake: Compliance gaps or hiring delays can jeopardize scaling tech companies.
• Forward Look: Expect AI-human HR hybrids to expand compliance automation and benefits personalization.
• Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a standard workplace tool, but can it replace an entire HR team?

Forty-five percent of leaders are currently using AI for human resource and benefit management, according to research from workplace software company Engagedly, with another 39% planning to use it in the near future. However, AI software company Hyperbound took it one step further by partnering with AI HR platform DianaHR to create an entirely AI-driven HR department — and it's allowed them to scale faster than they ever thought possible. Within three years, the company has tripled its headcount. 

"We've always been a really lean team," says Mason Smith, chief of staff at Hyperbound. "Because of that, we've been focused on finding how we could maximize our output given that we're an AI-native company, which meant investing in the right kinds of tools that would leverage the work we could do with the people we had, and fill in for the rest."

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When deciding the best way to create an HR function that wasn't dependent on their existing staff, DianaHR stood out immediately, according to Smith. The platform offered Hyperbound the best of both worlds: AI workflows and automation the company was already comfortable working with, as well as direct access to a human team that could support them when handling more complex areas of HR. For example, as a California-based company, Hyperbound has certain state-specific rules and regulations it needs to abide by, like evolving compliance requirements and labor laws that change as the company grows. 

For an early-stage company like Hyperbound, having consistent, reliable support from the outset played a key role in enabling the company to recruit and retain talent as quickly and efficiently as it has.

"Speed is basically the name of the game when it comes to building technology companies," Smith says. "The foundation that they helped set up allowed us to move, hire and check all the compliance boxes quickly because they handled the infrastructure for us." 

Preserving the core of HR

Despite having such a heavy AI presence and an absence of traditional HR and benefit leaders, partnering with DianaHR didn't eliminate personalization or attention to detail. Hyperbound's onboarding process remains smooth and well-organized, from sending offer letters to guiding new hires through what to expect. 

Read more: From experimenting to strategy: How HR is scaling AI at work

DianaHR is also able to provide valuable data insights based on existing and incoming employees, which has helped Hyperbound build benefit offerings and workplace policies that fit their demographic's needs. As a result, the software company has also been able to expand their client and customer base as successfully as they have their headcount. 

Working closely with an AI HR platform helped Smith and his team create a more welcoming, streamlined experience than they would have been able to without it, he says. And while outsourcing this area of business isn't necessarily common just yet, it proves that AI will continue to evolve and find new ways to balance humans and technology to meet the needs of organizations of all sizes. 

"There's always room for disruption," Smith says. "Managing those people-related tasks is super important, but so is giving them the tools to maximize their time and effort at work, and that is where AI is going to continue to help assist this space."