This year’s winners in the annual Top HR Products competition show how HR technology is moving from experimentation to being a critical driver of business success. In what was one of the most competitive years ever, the standout products demonstrate the remarkable maturation of the HR tech field.
The annual Top HR Products competition, hosted by the HR Tech conference and HR Executive, spotlights the industry’s most impactful and forward-thinking solutions. Following last year’s competition, HR Tech Conference chair and H3 HR Advisors president Steve Boese observed that AI had reached a “tipping point,” embedded across nearly every conceivable HR tech process and product.
At that time, HR leaders were still contemplating how many of these innovations would effectively shape their business outcomes. In 2025, Boese says, he sees a shift in how organizations are using AI in their HR solutions.
‘Intentional and high-priority’ AI in HR tech
“We’ve quickly moved from cautious AI adoption to a more intentional and high-priority approach,” Boese notes, pointing out that most of the solutions reviewed this year feature AI in some form.
As AI functionality in HR tech continues to mature, it’s no longer a side feature but a core component in nearly every top solution. It’s becoming table stakes, with vendors now more than ever on the hook to deliver solutions for business problems, rather than offering AI for the sake of offering AI.
In other words, superficial features won’t cut it. “Artificial intelligence is now an essential element for HR tech providers in every area, and we’re seeing customers focus on high-value applications that drive real results,” Boese says.
Last year, generative AI was the star of HR tech. But in 2025, agentic AI—which can perform multi-step tasks and bridge gaps across different business functions—is now stealing the spotlight. Agentic AI may also generate more robust analytics, directly connecting HR programs to business outcomes.
“Many major HR tech companies announced agentic AI capabilities in 2025, and adoption has accelerated even among smaller providers,” says Boese. This shift signals that HR tech is staking its claim on enabling HR to drive business impact.
This year’s winning products reflect that evolution—the 2025 solutions show how HR is increasingly positioned as a central driver of organizational performance, according to Boese.
A range of HR tech solutions
Winners such as G-P Gia, an AI-powered global HR compliance advisor, and Harper, Wisq’s agentic AI platform for automating policy compliance and case management, showcase the rise of agentic AI in HR. These tools are now handling complex, multi-step processes that once demanded extensive human involvement.
Another standout trend this year is the rise of AI-powered coaching and financial wellbeing tools. Boese points to solutions like Degreed Maestro, which makes real-time, personalized coaching accessible at scale. Similarly, WTW Expert demonstrates how AI assistants are bringing specialized HR and compensation expertise to midsize businesses that previously couldn’t access such guidance.
Additionally, Chime Workplace is redefining financial wellbeing by integrating earned wage access, savings tools and credit-building support into employee retention and engagement strategies. These products show how HR tech is reaching deeper into the employee experience, addressing not just skills or performance, but also holistic needs like financial security, which is increasingly linked to engagement and retention.
Platform integration continues to expand
While integration isn’t the main trend this year, it’s a natural byproduct of the continued expansion of HR tech platforms. “The long-term trend is for platforms to take on more HR processes, often through acquisitions or organic development,” Boese explains. HR tech providers are pushing for customers to adopt more of their ecosystem, making native integration across various functions smoother and more powerful.
Comprehensive platforms like ADP Lyric HCM represent this evolution, offering next-generation global HR, payroll and workforce management in unified ecosystems. Meanwhile, innovative integrations like Visier Vee for Microsoft Copilot are bringing workforce analytics directly into the productivity tools employees already use daily.
As HR tech continues to advance, the Top Products judges have observed stronger connections between HR tools and the operational and financial functions of organizations. Innovative HR tech is positioning HR as a driver of organizational value, with the CHRO emerging as a key decision-maker in the C-suite.
Data-powered experiences
Leading platforms are now using AI to combine data from across the entire employee lifecycle—from skills and career goals to engagement feedback and even schedule preferences—to deliver highly tailored support. “The most innovative HR platforms today use data from across the employee lifecycle to offer support and development opportunities at scale,” Boese says.
Workday Wellness uses AI to recommend benefits and wellness programs based on individual usage patterns and sentiment data, helping to connect employees with programs that truly meet their personal needs.
The candidate experience is also becoming more personalized. Solutions like Plum Role Model are revolutionizing talent assessment by automatically converting job descriptions into behavioral and skills benchmarks for both hiring and development. Eightfold AI Recruiter takes this further with AI-native talent acquisition that provides deep recruiting insights. Tools like Paradox Immersive Job Preview use conversational AI to give candidates realistic job previews tailored to their specific interests and concerns.
Boese predicts that as we near the end of this year and move into 2026, HR professionals will place less emphasis on technical breakthroughs touted by HR tech vendors and more on evaluating and understanding how to integrate these tools effectively. “The big story moving forward will be how customers and HR leaders are adopting these powerful technologies to make meaningful improvements in their organizations,” Boese says.
If 2024 was about testing new ideas and 2025 was about turning those ideas into actionable tools, next year could be when HR leaders fully integrate these innovations into their day-to-day operations, creating measurable business transformation. Time will tell.
Here are the 2025 winners:
Immersive Job Previews by Paradox
Vee for Microsoft Copilot by Visier
Who else won? Look back at winners from years past.
The 2025 Top HR Products of the Year will be honored Sept. 15 in Las Vegas during the first-ever HR Icons Awards Evening at HR Tech 2025. Get your tickets here.
