People, Processes, & Tools
“Employee experience is at a pivotal moment,” declares analyst Josh Bersin. That moment has been building steadily since 2023.
AI started by simplifying everyday tasks and easing the administrative load on HR and IT. Employees could check benefits, track leave, or get policy answers without waiting.
From there, tools became smarter. HR teams used AI to identify skills gaps, route cases, and surface insights. Employees began working alongside AI daily, evolving into what some now call superworkers.
Now, in 2025, the shift goes deeper. AI is moving from assistant to active partner. Agentic AI is emerging. Systems that not only respond, but anticipate, adapt, and act with people, marking a new phase in HR technology.
It raises new questions about trust, ethics, and the human role in increasingly intelligent systems.
This blog explores how we got here. It looks back at the key human resources technology trends of 2023 and 2024 that shaped today’s reality, and looks ahead to what’s coming next.
Chapters
- 2023: Foundations that shifted the HR technology landscape
- 2024: A culture-driven turning point for HR tech
- 2025 HR Tech: The rise of agentic and the people-first stack
- 2026 and beyond: Adaptive, invisible, human-aware HR innovations
- Human Resources Technology Trends: What's fading or being rethought?
- What HR innovations means for you?
- The role of HR as tech ambassadors
- Reframing the ROI of HR innovations and trends
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2023: Foundations That Shifted the HR Technology Landscape
To understand where HR tech is heading, it helps to look at what set the stage.
2023 marked a turning point. Automation took hold: HR began to see and feel the benefits of using AI to free themselves from the administrative burden and make space for more human-centered work.
As HR shifted from administrative support to a more strategic, employee-centered role, many organizations began exploring the differences between people operations vs HR, with People Ops emphasizing experience design, agility, and continuous improvement.
Organizations were repairing culture with a renewed focus on belonging, hybrid connection, and trust. And systems started getting smarter as well as faster.
That year brought early momentum across key themes: AI-supported recruiting, conversational interfaces, and tools that supported DEI in both language and practice.
Tech adoption focused on experience, inclusion, and giving people the clarity and confidence they needed to thrive at work:
1. AI in recruiting and process automation
By 2023, AI was shifting from an experimental workplace technology to an essential tool across core HR workflows.
According to SHRM, organizations began using AI in recruiting, identifying skills gaps across their workforce, and optimizing everyday HR tasks.
Recruitment saw some of the earliest momentum. Intelligent platforms helped surface stronger candidate matches, reduced time-to-fill, and supported hiring teams in spotting skills gaps across departments.
Meanwhile, process automation quietly transformed daily operations. It began with simple admin tasks like basic case handling, a capability that has since steadily evolved in intelligence and impact.
These early shifts gave HR teams more time for work that required empathy, creativity, and connection, laying the foundation for more human-centered experiences across the employee lifecycle.
2. Conversational HR goes mainstream
In their HR Tech 2023 blog, HRData.Net discusses how Amazon stood out for their implementation of AI-driven chatbots for employee queries.
At the time, its virtual assistant was fielding 50,000 employee questions every week: answering policy queries, guiding employees through tasks, and helping with open support tickets without needing a live agent.
This marked a broader shift, where virtual assistants were capable of handling everyday interactions at scale.
From this point, employees could get answers quickly and clearly, and HR teams got time back to focus on more meaningful work.
3. DEI tech and language auditing
HR technology was beginning to embed bias-reduction tools that could directly address DEI: an essential factor in building a company culture where people belong.
Systems started to implement smart language and content suggestions to make communications more accessible, personal, and relevant, as well as use recruitment technology that resulted in fairer, more inclusive hiring and review processes.
4. Platform consolidation
Organizations moved away from managing fragmented HR tools and workplace services, open to the idea of unified employee experience platforms that consolidated key services like Pay, Time Off, Benefits, and more.
Forbes noted that companies juggle more than the cost of more applications, there’s relentless training requirements, then the issue of user experience.
“Logging in and out of multiple systems daily is a productivity killer, and double data entry is even worse.”
The inefficiencies involved with toggling between several platforms drove a wave of consolidation. Single platforms offering end-to-end experiences with integrated workflows, unified data, and fewer login distractions began to soar.
These platforms provided more reliable employee support across onboarding, performance, development, and daily work life, all through one cohesive, connected point of entry.
5. Beginning of people-first design thinking
While all this was going on, a major rethink was subtly bubbling in the background, maybe without even realizing it, HR tech was moving from process-first efficiency to people-first support.
Inspired by systemic models like Josh Bersin’s, design thinking was focusing on how employees experience support, laying the groundwork for today’s experience-led platforms, where knowledge, transitions, and everyday tasks are connected in one clear flow.
2024: A Culture-Driven Turning Point for HR Tech
In 2024, HR technology reached a point of true maturity.
The experimental phase was largely behind us, replaced by a deeper focus on trust, ethical implementation, and intelligent systems that support people rather than only automate tasks. Innovation became less about novelty and more about impact.
AI evolved into a reliable partner across the employee experience. Governance models and ethical frameworks took shape, bringing clarity and confidence to its use.
Organizations moved toward modular platforms that allowed for adaptability and personalization rather than relying on rigid, one-size-fits-all systems.
At the same time, a people-first mindset gained momentum. Skills ontologies and talent intelligence tools supported internal mobility with greater precision.
Manager-facing AI tools helped leaders make faster, better-informed decisions. Digital wellbeing became a priority, with systems that could identify burnout risk and prompt timely interventions.
Generative AI was not something that was widely feared, mistrusted, or difficult to understand; it became part of the everyday fabric of work.
These trends reflected more than just technological progress. They marked a cultural turning point.
HR tech was becoming more relational, more adaptive, and more human:
1. The rise of AI governance and ethics
Gartner listed AI trust, risk, and security management as its top HR technology trend for 2024, reflecting a growing pressure to implement AI-driven tools responsibly.
HR leaders started to take a closer look at how AI systems were trained, monitored, and used, especially in areas involving sensitive employee data.
From performance reviews to internal mobility recommendations, employees wanted reassurance that AI-driven services were fair, unbiased, and secure.
2. Composable and modular HR platforms
Organizations had grown frustrated with rigid, unscalable systems that didn’t allow HR to do more with less, they wanted a better return on investment, greater efficiency, and certainly more employee satisfaction.
Slow, expensive implementations and limited flexibility that organizations had faced with traditional systems often forced teams to adapt their processes to workplace software, rather than the other way around.
Composable platforms offered a better path forward.
HR teams could now build tailored employee support ecosystems, choosing best-fit tools and integrating them through open architecture. These became solutions that could be shaped to exactly how people worked.
3. Hyper-personalized employee experiences
Personalization, driven by AI, enabled deeper, more meaningful experiences. For robust HR service delivery suites, it could recommend learning content, tailor benefits, and adapt communication delivery based on individual roles, behaviors, and needs.
This aligned with the rise of adaptable employee portals. Instead of a generic interface for everyone, employees could access a unified entry point that reflected their specific context: whether they worked in a warehouse or office, or they were full-time or temporary.
Employee journeys also became more dynamic.
Tasks, content, and messages could be tailored to role, region, or stage of the employee lifecycle, ensuring the experience felt relevant from their first to their final day.
4. Digital wellbeing and burnout prevention tools
In 2024, Forbes reported that 80% of Americans said they felt stressed at work, with many citing a lack of balance and constant digital demands as key drivers. As such, digital burnout and digital fatigue remained a major concern.
In response to these rising concerns, organizations embedded wellbeing into everyday workflows.
AI-powered Assistants emerged as flexible tools to support employees complete quick wellbeing check-ins, review daily habits, and help identify dips in energy levels.
Others offered gentle prompts, like suggesting mindful exercises to perform during screen breaks, or recommending a chat with human HR when extra support was needed.
These tools didn’t, and still don’t, replace mental health professionals. Digital wellbeing services made self-care more accessible and normalized proactive support. It was a subtle but important step that helped people feel seen and supported during their day.
5. Sustainable HR tech
Gartner’s Strategic Tech Trends for 2024 report placed sustainable technology in the top 3 trends for the year.
Sustainability was quickly becoming a core design principle, meaning systems were being built to support environmental, social, and governance goals: reducing waste, cutting energy consumption, and improving accessibility for all employees.
From greener cloud infrastructure to inclusive design standards, HR platforms began contributing to sustainability targets as well as operational efficiency expectations.
6. GenAI goes mainstream
In their Predictions 2024 report, Forrester expected that 60% of generative AI skeptics would end up using, and appreciating, the technology.
What once felt futuristic was becoming familiar and practical, with HR systems using it to summarize communications, draft policy overviews, score content, and curate instant answers to routine requests.
HR leaders found that generative AI in fact boosted creativity, productivity, clarity, and confidence across everyday employee workplace interactions.
7. Early Agentic AI thinking emerges
The foundations for agentic AI took shape.
Where systems were simply once responding, the early signs of agentic AI were emerging from robust, intuitive, and forward thinking people-first HR service delivery suites. They were learning when to act, how to assist, and when to involve a human.
This thinking was rooted in many of the trends emerging from the year’s shifts: smarter assistants, co-pilot functionality, and AI tools that supported real, helpful employee outcomes.
These trends signaled a new era in HR technology, rooted in connection, intelligence, and care.
Tools were evolving, but so was the mindset behind them.
HR service delivery vendors, and HR teams like yours, began to thoughtfully design with people at the center of every decision, building systems that responded to real needs, adapt to real lives, and create lasting impact across the employee experience.
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2025 HR Tech: The Rise of Agentic AI and the People-First Stack
Today’s employees are brand advocates. Some of them choose to work for organizations that reflect their values, and, in return, they expect the support they need to do their best work.
But at scale, it is impossible to support everyone manually, in every moment that matters. It’s in that realization where intelligent, people-first automation has become critical.
Agentic AI Comes into Focus
This year, Agentic AI evolved into a cornerstone of HR. It is the most talked about and important emerging trend, still evolving but already reshaping how support is delivered at scale.
These systems act on behalf of employees, resolving issues, guiding decisions, and knowing when to escalate to human HR.
- Completing routine tasks instantly, like checking pay, updating details, or requesting time off
- Flagging friction, such as drop-off during onboarding or missed tasks during a role change
- Routing sensitive cases to the right HR representative with thoughtful prioritization based on sentiment
Although Agentic AI is often associated with speed and automation, its real value lies in building trust and clarity throughout the employee experience.
As the defining trend of 2025, it is only just getting started.
Experience Layers and Journey Intelligence
In 2025, experience layers came into focus as organizations were driven to surface the right support at the right time, based on real employee context.
Intelligent layers use highly-aware AI Assistants to support every type of employee need: from wellbeing bots that prompt mindful habits to smart proofreaders that reflect your brand’s tone and wider organizational communication needs.
These tools curate, adapt, and learn, enabling moment-based design.
Content and workflows align with what the employee is trying to achieve in real time. Journeys feel guided and each interaction is shaped by role, region, intent, and behavior.
For example, someone offboarding after five years to relocate internationally might receive a carefully sequenced set of tasks and messages.
These could include reminders for final pay, exit interviews, relocation guidance, and knowledge handover—each delivered in the right language and at the right time.
Employee-Curated Stacks and Shadow HR Tech
Employees have an innate way of finding ways to be productive when they want to stay efficient: they’ll bookmark tabs, save links, and download apps, relying on third-party services to fill the gaps left by official but underwhelming systems.
This rise in workarounds is referred to as shadow HR tech, but it signals a greater expectation from HR going forward: you are the architect of your employee experience, and the guardian of usability.
Each unofficial tool points to a missed opportunity or friction point in your current experience. When employees seek out alternate solutions, they’re showing you where your current system isn’t working.
Now, you must respond with tools that feel intuitive, flexible, and aligned with how people already work.
Ethics, Privacy, and Prediction Tension
As AI becomes more powerful, the ethical stakes grow too. Systems now influence decisions in real time, making transparency and explainability essential.
EY highlighted the need for stronger oversight. When AI guides action round wellbeing or mobility, employees must understand how and why those decisions were made.
Now, ethics must be embedded from the start to ensure fairness, build trust, protect people’s rights, and keep you as far away from a lawsuit as possible.
2026 & Beyond: Adaptive, Invisible, Human-Aware HR Innovations
New ideas in HR technology are already taking shape: some, in their early stages, are just emerging, and others are on the horizon.
These HR tech innovations point to a future where systems effortlessly adapt in real time, respect how people think and work, and quietly enhance the employee experience without getting in the way.
What comes next could redefine how we build trust, design for inclusion, and support people at scale:
Personalized Autonomy at Scale
AI is already present across the employee experience, but the next step is deeper personalization that responds to individual preferences, working rhythms, and energy patterns.
As discussed in a recent article from The Guardian, progressive organizations are beginning to move away from tracking hours and toward understanding how energy flows throughout the workday.
Tools are emerging that identify early signs of burnout, surface useful prompts, and guide people based on how they work best.
AI systems will start to adjust in real time, offering different kinds of support depending on what someone needs.
For one person, that could mean early structure and clarity. For another, it might involve timely nudges that bring back a sense of creativity or direction when energy drops.
These systems will respond to patterns in behavior, learning when and how to engage based on what helps each individual feel focused and supported. When this happens across the organization, autonomy becomes part of the everyday experience. Support feels personal without requiring people to adjust settings or request help.
The result? A more human-aware workforce automation system that helps each employee manage their own energy, flow, and focus with greater ease.
Neurodiversity-Aware and Cognitive-Inclusive Design
Sage reveals the top ways progressive HR and People leaders are preparing for the future of work in their publication “HR in 2030: Expert perspectives on the future of HR”.
They pose a future where the definition of diversity, equity and inclusion is broadened to include considerations like diversity of personality, emotional intelligence, wider experiences, more appetite for risk, the ability to adapt, as well as thinking differently.
Future-focused organizations will be drawn to platforms and vendors who recognize and support both cognitive and behavioral diversity; introverts vs. extroverts, risk-takers vs. consensus-seekers, etc.
In theory, UX might adapt to attention span, sensory needs, and decision styles. Tools like surveys, nudges, or feedback mechanisms need to adapt to how people think and communicate, not just who they are demographically.
Intent-Based Workflows
Traditional workflows followed a fixed path, regardless of context.
Intent-based workflows take a different approach, starting with the purpose behind an action. They adapt based on what the employee is trying to achieve to create support that feels more timely, relevant, and easier to navigate.
As organizations move away from rigid, task-based design and toward systems that can respond to signals in real time, employees gain more meaningful experiences.
This shift is driven by the need for more low-friction experiences, especially in the moments that matter, like onboarding, returning from long leave, role switches, or even resolving sensitive issues.
Robust, intelligent employee journey tools are already making this shift possible. These systems detect intent and sentiment and shape journeys dynamically. They adapt content and tasks based on role, region, and timing.
And, advanced case management platforms are evolving in parallel, adjusting workflows based on complexity, urgency, or emotional tone without requiring manual triage.
We discussed our already powerful AI-native case management system in our Applaud blog post from February.
As intent-based design matures, these systems will become better at reading context across multiple inputs, including conversational cues, allowing them to better guide employees with greater accuracy and care.
Ultimately, this creates a support system that listens, learns, and leads employees forward with clarity and confidence.
Ethics As A Service
When Gartner identified AI trust, risk and security management as a top technology trend for 2024, it underscored the critical need for HR leaders to address fairness, reliability, and governance of AI systems.
Today, organizations are actively implementing frameworks and controls to ensure AI-powered HR tools operate transparently and ethically.
Looking further ahead, to 2026 and beyond, ethics as a service is emerging as a transformative innovation on the horizon.
This model envisions third-party, independent providers offering continuous ethics validation, auditing, and scoring for AI systems across their entire lifecycle.
Ethics as a service will move AI governance from an internal, manual process to an automated, expert-driven service.
By embedding ethics monitoring and reporting directly into AI operations, HR teams like yours will gain stronger assurances that their AI tools respect employee rights and regulatory demands.
Zero UI and Ambient HR Tech
Interfaces are disappearing.
As AI-enhanced human resources systems thrive and become more intelligent, they stop demanding attention and start acting in the background.
And this isn’t the first time the notion of this has circulated. Back in 2021, Josh Bersin said “One trend is what I call the ‘disappearing HR system - we just chat with it…and never really login and see it.”
As agentic AI continues to progress and we see it evolve over time, this might be closer to reality than we think.
Imagine a HR experience where there are no apps to open, no portals to even sign into, and no dashboards to navigate.
You could speak a request aloud while walking between meetings, and your agentic AI system interprets the intent, pulls context from your calendar, your recent performance, and even your tone of voice, then takes action quietly in the background.
In this future, agentic AI blends with the rhythm of work: it’s no longer a screen but a supportive environment, a conversation, a moment. The system aligns itself with your context and intent. That’s where we could be heading, and it's exciting.
🔍 A Living Interface: The Story Behind Every Employee
"As a Senior Technical Communications Specialist focused on video production, I want to see HR technology evolve to surface insights on the work we do in real time.
For me, that means After Effects project data that updates intelligently so peers and managers can see what’s been started, what's in progress, and where things are heading. Not to track output, but to connect the dots across roles and contributions.
I imagine a single point of entry that unites all the systems we work on and brings people closer.
Powered by agentic AI, this space would reflect what you were working on and how it fits into the bigger picture, as well as anticipate your needs, offer proactive support, and surface insights at the right moment.
In a remote-first environment like ours, this level of visibility and intelligent assistance helps us understand each other and stay connected to company success, with the right support, whenever and wherever it is needed."
Human Resources Technology Trends: What’s Fading or Being Rethought?
Some trends and tools have faded: they’re no longer fit for the way people work today.
These legacy systems or outdated ideas, even if unintentional, added friction, created confusion, or missed the mark on what employees needed or deserved from their HR tech:
1. The traditional HR portal
Employees need a single place to access support, start tasks, and get answers that help them stay productive.
Traditional portals set out to meet that need, but often became static pages filled with links and outdated documents. They did not guide action and frequently created more friction than clarity.
In our article Best Practices for Launching Your HR Self-Service Portal, we explored how employee expectations have shifted.
People are used to seamless, personalised experiences in the tools they use every day. When HR systems fall short of that standard, the experience suffers.
Modern portals must be designed with the employee in mind. They bring services together, adapt to context, and help people get what they need without delay.
When HR owns the experience, it stays relevant and continues to improve.
2. Hard-coded suites that can’t flex
Hard-coded platforms lock teams into workflows that can’t scale. As your organization’s needs shift, systems must adapt without starting from scratch.
No-code, people-first product suites with pluggable tools and a vendor-agnostic approach support new cases and help HR stay responsive to change over time.
3. Automation without augmentation
Automation, as powerful as it can be, doesn’t mean much without intelligent augmentation.
AI-driven tools like HR helper assistants and adaptable employee journey support systems help employees complete steps, make decisions, and find what they need, when they need it.
These tools guide employees through onboarding, offboarding, and life events with the right context at the right time.
4. One-size-fits-all communications and workflows
Pre-configured, scripted messages often miss the nuance of each employee’s situation.
Early chatbots followed rigid scripts. They only worked when questions matched predefined options. The moment an employee asked something unexpected, the system failed to help and often made things worse.
Today, employees expect interactions that reflect their role, location, and situation. As supported by Firstup, personalized employee communication is key to fostering engagement and ensuring employees feel valued and connected.
Context-aware content, adaptive workflows, and intelligent tools like AI Assistants provide support that feels relevant and easy to follow. This reduces noise, builds trust, and helps people move forward with clarity.
5. Efficiency-first implementations
Systems that once prioritized speed over people are becoming obsolete. Today, we’re more in tune with what employees want, what they deserve, and what they’re dealing with.
In our blog, Improving Employee Engagement & Retention: Remote & Hybrid Team Strategies, we highlight how employees are balancing demanding roles while caring for relatives, raising children, or managing health conditions.
When we take this into account alongside ethical and cultural considerations, it becomes clear that speed alone will not drive engagement, build trust, or instill confidence.
Systems must reflect how people think and work. Tools need to support flexibility and autonomy.
Knowledge should be easy to find. Support should feel timely. Human assistance, delivered through intelligent case management, should respond to complexity and provide the right help at the right time.
What HR Innovation Means for You
The evolution of HR technology is calling for a shift in mindset. Now is the time to review the tools, systems, and experiences your employees rely on.
Begin by checking whether your current stack allows for flexibility, modularity, and intelligent responses to change.
Use AI to improve how people work, not just what gets done. Focus on creating experiences that help employees feel understood and supported.
Build with real users in mind, and involve them in shaping new systems. Design for clarity and consistency. Let your technology reflect your values and working culture.
Every decision you make about your tech stack should bring you closer to a workplace that works for your people. That means choosing tools that listen, guide, and grow alongside them.
The Role of HR as Tech Ambassadors
HR teams like yours can no longer passively use technology.
With no-code platforms like Applaud leading the way in HR tech, IT takes a backseat in HR change and innovation. As HR, you’re now the owner, the strategist, and the voice for ethics and experience.
The most successful HR teams act as product leaders. They shape the roadmap, define the outcomes, and set the standards for what good workplace technology looks like.
You’re also responsible for building trust, guiding how data is used, ensuring transparency, and keeping the employee voice present throughout every step of the design process.
Treat every employee service like a product you’re putting to market:
- Measure what matters with robust analytics and reporting features
- Test with real and direct employee feedback through surveys and sentiment analysis.
- Continuously refine your offerings, including content for your knowledge base, AI Assistant prompts, and HR case service level agreements.
In this era of HR technology, HR leads with both the right tools and the best intentions.
Reframing The ROI of HR Innovations and Trends
In The Business Case for Employee Self-Service, we introduced a new way to think about the value of HR technology. Instead of focusing solely on return on investment, it is critical to first consider a return on integrity.
This means recognizing employees as whole individuals and creating spaces where they can be themselves, stay productive, and avoid unnecessary friction.
HR technology should affirm employee worth and reflect the values your organization holds dear.
The most effective systems integrate smoothly into daily workflows, meeting business needs while creating better, more supportive experiences for employees.
But without thoughtful design, even well-intentioned innovation can create overload. According to Gartner, 73% of HR leaders report that their employees are experiencing change fatigue.
This signals a growing disconnect between fast-paced transformation and what people actually need to feel supported at work.
AI and automation can absolutely improve efficiency and scale, but only if they remain grounded in empathy and real-world insight.
Tech that respects people’s time and cognitive load builds trust. It signals care. It reinforces that behind every process is a person who deserves clarity, consistency, and respect.
When we prioritize integrity in HR tech, we lay the foundation for tools that do more than automate. We build systems that strengthen culture, deepen connection, and support performance without sacrificing humanity.
Work HR Tech That Works Because It Cares: The Applaud Way
At Applaud, we build HR technology that simplifies work, strengthens connection, and feels intuitive from the start.
Our HR service delivery suite continues to evolve based on the ideas and challenges shared by our customers and the wider HR tech community.
We stay ahead by listening closely and designing with intention. Every feature we develop reflects a people-first mindset and a clear understanding of how employees think, act, and move through their day.
Our suite is purpose-built to support HR teams and employees across every stage of the journey:
- Employee Portal: A unified home for key services, actions, and content, designed to reduce navigation and bring clarity to the experience.
- AI Assistant: Context-aware, instant support that helps employees find answers, start tasks, and resolve routine issues without delay.
- Case Management: Intelligent routing, prioritization, categorization, and real-time triage that adapts to complexity and urgency from case sentiment.
- Journeys: Thoughtful, in-flow guidance across key transitions like onboarding, internal moves, and offboarding
- Knowledge Management: Smart content surfacing and in-the-moment answers that adapt to role, region, and context
- Creator Platform: No-code build functionality that gives ownership to HR, allowing for continuous on-the-go refinement and evolution without delays.
We believe the best systems adapt to context, surface the right support at the right time, and step back when they are not needed. This is how we help create experiences that build clarity, trust, and momentum across the employee lifecycle.
HR technology should make change easy to navigate: it should recognize employees for who they are, inside and outside the workplace, and give them everything they need to stay and feel satisfied at your organization.
Ready to see how Applaud can transform your HR experience? Let’s talk.
About the Author 
Scott Oakes is a Senior Technical Communications Specialist with a background in advertising, communication, creative writing, and video production. He plays a key role in shaping Applaud's YouTube channel, combining creativity and clarity to make technical how-to videos more engaging, ensuring that complex concepts are easy to understand.