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In early 2023, Kate Parente, chief human resources officer of software company Pega, received a text message from a friend urging her to take a look at this new tool, ChatGPT. Like many people around the world, this was her first foray into the possibility of generating artificial intelligence.
Parente is no stranger to artificial intelligence—Pega is an AI-powered workflow automation platform founded in 1983—but she knew that AI-generated features like those in ChatGPT had new potential. At the same time, as an HR leader, she recognizes the tremendous opportunity to leverage next-generation AI capabilities in people practices, as well as HR’s responsibility in driving AI adoption.
Teams of People (and Teams of People) Employ Artificial Intelligence
Parent said that artificial intelligence in 2023 will not “appear out of thin air.” But she noted that before that, most platforms leveraged the technology to manage profiles or automate. For many users, it hums in the background, useful but unobtrusive.
However, generative functions can cause excitement and uncertainty. Parent said many people ask, “Can I trust this?” and are only willing to test the output if they have confidence in the input. Parent said this applies especially to human resources professionals, who are historically used to dealing with “nuanced” employee and employer information that should be protected.
The employee leader said Pega is lucky that artificial intelligence is part of the company’s DNA. She’s seen firsthand how Pega’s progress has benefited her team. When it comes time to test new generative AI capabilities, people teams step up and be the first testers for the entire workforce. “The people function is at the heart of productization,” she said, citing the unique level of collaboration she has with Pega chief product officer Kerim Akgonul.
This work supports the launch of an enterprise-grade assistant solution called Pega GenAI Knowledge Buddy for employees and customers. This artificial intelligence-driven tool is used for information retrieval by synthesizing specific answers from distributed knowledge bases.
“Organizations want to use artificial intelligence to improve experiences and increase efficiency, but many existing solutions are not suitable for the complex internal operations and complex needs of large organizations,” Akgonul said in a press release from Pega GenAI Knowledge Buddy.
Implement Knowledge Buddy in strategic areas such as product management, sales, and IT to provide knowledge management solutions driven by artificial intelligence for the entire enterprise. A version called People Buddy is specifically for HR teams.
Artificial intelligence assistants like Knowledge Buddy may become an expectation at work, rising as these tools become more common in daily life. Gartner predicted in a recent report that traditional search engine usage will decrease by 25% by 2026 as people turn to artificial intelligence chatbots and other virtual agents.
Employees also want new technology to be easy to use. According to a 2024 Valoir study, nearly 90% of employees say AI should be simple and intuitive, requiring no data science or AI expertise, making conversational tools an ideal starting point for AI.
A different view of productivity
Without immediate productivity gains, it’s hard to find evidence of artificial intelligence in the business world. A growing body of research supports a correlation between the two. In fact, Accenture’s model shows that 44% of U.S. work hours “are within the scope of automation or augmentation” due to the implementation of artificial intelligence.
But what happens to employees when machines handle those hours? Employees have mixed feelings. Nearly all employees in the Accenture study said they see value in using generative AI, but 60% believe the technology causes stress and burnout.
Parent said that when employees are told that artificial intelligence will make their daily jobs more productive, they “naturally tend to take it personally.” To balance the strict accounting of machine time and human time, she considers more than just the time saved during the transaction.
“Take it to the next level,” Parent suggests. Imagine being able to measure the time it takes for an idea to become a reality, rather than the time saved for a single employee when a task is automated. “This view of productivity changes the experience,” she said.
Parent also reminded business and HR leaders that generative AI frees employees from thinking constraints and instills curiosity as search and query platforms are designed to delve deeper into a topic.
For example, generative AI solutions such as Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity will suggest further questions or require users to convey relevant concepts more accurately. These tools suggest search topics, provide conversational style preferences, and prompt users to further develop their requests.
Artificial Intelligence Adoption and Hackathon Culture
As part of an organization that has made AI a core business, Parente thinks about AI differently than many business leaders. She said that while many employees are fearful and hesitant about adopting artificial intelligence, “you really can’t disrupt this thing.” But what about those who are worried that the technology itself will wreak havoc on their jobs or organizations?
Widespread adoption of artificial intelligence will require a shift in the mindset of leaders to enable people to adapt to low-risk environments. Sean Audet, director of corporate communications at Pega, said: “The final result is not so important, but more important is the use and trial” of generative artificial intelligence in Pega’s trial-and-error atmosphere.
The Pega team calls it a “hackathon culture,” where coming up with new ideas is a top priority. Ideation and creative hacking sessions are not just for some people, but they don’t happen once a year or even quarterly, but on a regular basis. It’s a way of working that “gets involved for everyone,” Parent said.
To understand a global perspective on the role of HR in AI adoption, Register now for the 2024 European HR Technology Conference & Expo. The event, taking place in Amsterdam on May 2-3, includes sessions on “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Future Skills to Double Business Impact and Preparing for an Artificial Intelligence Workforce.”
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