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

• Key Insight: Discover how HR can scale employee-led AI experiments into company-wide capabilities.
• What's at Stake: Talent gaps and strategic lag if roles aren't redesigned for AI-driven change.
• Forward Look: Expect AI to move from productivity wins toward innovation and new business models.
• Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

As AI continues to reshape the workplace, HR leaders should identify what's working well and come up with a plan to scale it. 
Job roles across the board are shifting in real time as organizations experiment with AI. Over the past year, 57% of respondents say the inclusion of AI-related skills or responsibilities has increased significantly or moderately, according to Avature's AI Impact Report 2026. The data examined how current and future trends are shaping organizational strategy. 

The pace is only expected to increase: 83% of respondents expect AI-related skills to feature more prominently in job descriptions in the next 12 months. 

"Professionals who are running HR organizations don't need to run naked off the cliff in order to compete with the other companies," says Dimitri Boylan, founder and CEO of Avature. "Do you need to be there? Absolutely. Can you do it in an organized way … that allows you to increase your knowledge over time of artificial intelligence? You can."

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Avature's report identified three ways that companies and HR professionals can start scaling AI in the workplace. Many organizations have employees who are already experimenting with AI to drive innovations, and leaders should identify these people and give them a platform to share what works and what doesn't. 

At IBM, for example, the multinational technology company is already building training plans that will scale through HR and beyond, Jon Lester, IBM's vice president of HR, technology, data and artificial intelligence, said in the report.  

"We are developing what we call an 'AI ways of working roadmap' for every single IBMer, starting with HR," Lester said, adding that employees will learn how to use AI in their day-to-day work so they can be more efficient. "It's a very personal thing, and we've got a whole 10-step process."

Additionally, businesses should invest in adaptability and not just reskilling. 

"Reskilling alone won't keep pace with change," the report states. "As roles evolve, organizations must also invest in adaptability — helping employees learn how to learn, experiment and pivot as new use cases emerge. Hackathons, internal AI communities and hands-on pilots all provide safe environments for exploration, building confidence and accelerating practical adoption."

The report also suggests that company leaders should redesign roles before the labor market forces their hand. By linking learning, skills and internal mobility data, AI can help HR leaders ensure that talent keeps pace with AI-driven change and remains future-ready.

Currently, most of AI's returns in the workforce are concentrated in day-to-day execution. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said AI was boosting productivity, 40% reported that the technology was improving user experiences and 36% said it supported better decision-making. 

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Only 27% of respondents said AI is driving innovation in their organizations today, and just 7% report that it is contributing to the creation of entirely new business models.  

But that balance is beginning to shift: Respondents increasingly expect AI's impact to extend beyond operational improvements and into innovation and growth. When looking ahead two to five years, 38% anticipate AI will drive innovation and 15% expect it to play a role in creating new business models.

"If all you get from AI is that individual users become more efficient, as a business, you probably don't end up on the right side of disruption, in the winner's circle," Boylan says.