This week I attended the CIPD Conference in London, and one theme echoed throughout almost every session: AI is here and it’s changing everything.

From recruitment and onboarding to analytics and performance management, the message was clear. As HR professionals, we need to understand AI, embrace it, and evolve with it.

And I agree.
But I also believe something else, something quieter, less flashy, and perhaps even more important:

People still need to be seen.

AI can help us work faster, smarter, and with more insight. But it can’t hold space for someone who’s just been told they’re being made redundant. It can’t coach a manager who’s lost their confidence. It can’t sense the energy shift in a team that’s burnt out, even if the KPIs are up.

That takes people.
That takes presence.
That takes the Human Approach.

What AI can’t replace…

I’m not anti-tech, far from it. I’m fascinated by how we can use AI to improve our systems and free up time for meaningful work. But I’m also protective of the soul of our profession.

Because no matter how advanced the algorithms get, there are things that will always matter more:

• Empathy over efficiency
• Listening over logic
• Integrity over automation
• Context over prediction

As someone who’s worked in senior HR roles for over two decades, through crises, restructures, growth, and grief, I know this: when people are struggling, they don’t need a chatbot. They need a human being who listens without judgement and responds with compassion.

Leading with humanity — not fear

The future of HR will involve AI, no doubt. But the future I want to help shape is one where tech supports us, not replaces us.

Where AI can scan a thousand CVs, and we still pause to ask, “Who might we be missing?”
Where dashboards give us data, but we still check in and say, “Are you okay?”
Where we use innovation to enable more humanity, not less.

Because the truth is, people don’t remember policies.
They remember how you made them feel.

And that, no matter the tech, will always be our job.