HR leaders are at the forefront of a workplace shift driven by AI, says Charlene Li, the opening keynoter for next month’s HR Technology Conference and renowned expert on digital transformation and disruptive growth strategies.

Drawing on her three decades of experience, Li will discuss AI’s profound impact on HR, employee experience, workforce productivity and workplace culture. As the author of six bestsellers, including Open Leadership and The Disruption Mindset—and with her most recent book, Winning with Generative AI—Li has been a source for organizations as they navigate transformation, the pace of which, she says, continues to accelerate.

AI: How to build trust and value

Her Sept. 24 keynote at the HR Technology Conference will dig into a critical message: Generative AI is not just another technological trend—it is fueling a fundamental shift that will redefine how society works, leads and interacts in the workplace.

However, many organizations and their HR leaders have not fully embraced new AI-powered technologies. According to Li, this hesitation is largely due to a concern about whether AI can be trusted to handle HR tasks effectively and accurately.

She urges HR to address this distrust head-on by adopting a “realist-optimist” mindset toward the newest features of artificial intelligence, particularly gen AI.

Building trust in AI is essential, but it also requires a new kind of humility—one where leaders are willing to delegate significant responsibilities to a machine, according to Li. She says this shift is as much about leadership as it is about technology.

Li urges HR leaders to anchor their AI initiatives to strategic goals and values rather than getting lost in individual use cases. “This is how we create strategic advantages,” says Li. She reminds HR leaders that, while AI’s potential is vast, without a clear objective, there is a risk that HR will lose sight of the aims that matter most to an organization.

And the stakes are high. “Nothing has ever come close to this,” Li says, highlighting that AI’s impact on the workplace is unparalleled in terms of HR tech history. While social media altered power dynamics and collaboration software revolutionized communication, AI is poised to drive workplace change more than both of those advancements, according to Li.

Preparing for AI-driven transformation

Artificial intelligence will influence an organization’s culture, impacting how work gets done and how people interact, says Li. To capitalize on the tech’s strategic potential, she recommends prioritizing training of the top two levels of leadership. These leaders will be instrumental in guiding their lines of business and the organization through the AI transformation. This layered approach will ensure that AI is integrated in a way that opens new opportunities and potentially taps into new markets, according to Li.

For employees who feel overwhelmed by the idea of taking on additional tech development, HR leaders can help them consider the upside. Li says change fatigue can be prevented when employees experience AI’s benefits firsthand, leading to pivotal “AI aha moments.”

Li outlines several practical steps for HR leaders and their teams to begin an AI journey:

Create content

Start by leveraging artificial intelligence tools to generate content, whether for recruitment, employee engagement or learning and development.

Conduct research

Use AI to analyze data, identify trends and make informed decisions that align with your strategic goals.

Find a thought partner

Incorporate artificial intelligence into decision-making processes to enhance creativity and strategic thinking.

Li emphasizes the importance of creating a safe environment for AI experimentation. This involves buy-in from and development of the top levels of leadership, fostering a culture of continuous learning and sharing best practices across the organization as they emerge.

The keynoter encourages HR leaders to engage with generative AI and machine learning continuously. This is because the journey from knowing to doing—and ultimately to being capable—is where the true transformation lies. “There is no substitute for getting your hands dirty,” says Li.

Tickets are still available for HR Tech 2024. Register now and hear Charlene Li live.