Rise of the Humans: Creating a People-First Strategy to Leverage GenAI 2.0
Microsoft UK’s former chief envisioning officer lays out a human-centered approach for CHROs to integrate the next phase of generative AI. The goal: Elevate human work rather than replace it.
If you really want to scare someone about the kind of future our increasing reliance on technology will bring, you don’t need to paint dystopian sci-fi pictures of an unending battle between humans and machines, robot uprisings, or AI Armageddon. You simply need to utter these six little words that strike fear into the hearts of even the most digitally engaged person: “unexpected item in the bagging area.” Even typing it here sends shivers down my spine.
I find it amusing that a tool once hailed as a revolution in customer service is now being quietly phased out by the same retailers that heralded its introduction. Far from the utopian retail experience we were promised, these machines are, at best, awkward and obtuse. At their worst, they’re maddeningly frustrating, leaving you running out of the store teary-eyed after spending 10 exasperating minutes playing bagging area Hokey Pokey.
I won’t be sad to see self-checkouts go. But before they do, we need to recognize that they offer a crucial lesson we’re going to need as we navigate a future filled with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and other transformational technologies. The self-checkout isn’t just a flawed piece of technology, it’s a symptom of a broader issue—technology being implemented to replace human experience rather than elevate it.
Unlike my self-checkout example, GenAI is a human-centered technology, and this is where HR’s role becomes crucial. The real impact of AI isn’t in the tools themselves, but in how we empower our workforce to leverage them for greater value. HR must lead this transformation by focusing on reskilling, fostering adaptability, and integrating GenAI in ways that elevate rather than replace human work. By doing so, HR can ensure that AI enhances the employee experience and strengthens their organization’s core values.
Unlocking GenAI’s Power: The Prime Opportunities
In all of the client work I do, it is becoming increasingly obvious to me that GenAI offers businesses immense value across four key areas—productivity, insight, innovation, and quality. With each of these areas, GenAI brings a dramatic shift in both the skills and mindset required to properly take advantage of them. Let’s briefly look at each of these opportunities in detail before exploring the changes they will drive in the work our people do and the skills they will require to do it.
Productivity
Many in my industry believe that, thanks to GenAI, we will soon be able to automate up to 70% of the work we currently do. However, these productivity benefits will come with a price, which will center on what we choose to do with the time that is saved. I call this the opportunity cost of automation, and I remain convinced it will be one of the key measures by which any organization’s future success will be judged. More on this later.
Insight and Discovery
Imagine if your employees could talk to the company’s data to discover how to deliver more value in their roles. What if you could ask your own questions of the data to gain insight into how to grow the business? GenAI makes this possible today. And when you start to do this, you’ll realize it’s like having your own personal spotlight to illuminate the needle hidden in any haystack.
Innovation
GenAI enables nontechnical people to create solutions that will solve the business problems that they are uniquely placed to see. They can simply describe what they want to do—either by text or voice—and the AI can create solutions, analyze data, develop applications, or even generate code to solve business problems.
Quality
Curiously, one of the least mentioned benefits that will come from a business empowered by GenAI is how the technology can improve work quality. We are quick to think about all the ways this technology can replace human effort, but what sits alongside this is all the ways it can elevate and enhance human effort.
Navigating the Transformation: 4 Key Challenges
The real challenge we’re going to face is not just adapting our businesses to these opportunities, but also doing it quickly enough to support every aspect of our operations, particularly our people. We are simply not prepared for the pace of this transformation, and HR teams need to drive the initiatives that will build resilience, adaptability, and readiness within our workforce.
The four key areas of opportunity outlined here will require equivalent significant shifts in how we operate. And it’s essential for HR to take the lead in ensuring our people are equipped with the skills, mindset, and environment needed to adapt, helping them thrive in this transformed work environment.
To better understand these shifts, let’s dive into the challenges (and resulting opportunities) they present and explore how HR can take the lead in guiding the workforce through this transformation.
1. Taking the Robot Out of the Human
The current AI narrative too often slips into a dystopian story of humans versus machines, in which robots steal our jobs and algorithms take over the world. The truth is that the opportunity isn’t to replace humans with robots but to take the robots out of the human—removing repetitive, monotonous tasks so we can focus on adding real value.
The people who will help us transition to this new world are those who can quickly identify tasks better suited to machines and let the machines take over. This mindset shift must be ongoing. We need to constantly ask, “What am I doing today that I shouldn’t be doing tomorrow?”
The employees who thrive in this new environment are not bound by rigid processes or fixed skills. They are agile, resilient, and eager to learn. HR leaders have a crucial role in cultivating adaptability, resilience, and continuous learning, which are key qualities workforces will need to thrive in a future shaped by AI.
2. From a Knowledge Economy to a Wisdom Economy
Perhaps the biggest shift we’ve seen in organizations this past decade is the transition from a knowledge economy to a wisdom economy. It’s no longer just about knowing facts, it’s about making sense of information, applying perspective, and using judgment to create value. With the right skills, GenAI empowers people to learn new things quickly and apply them effectively, driving success in ways that were previously out of reach.
This balance between knowledge and wisdom will be an ongoing challenge for HR to lead, highlighting a “chicken or egg” dilemma: We need talent with enough knowledge to know what is right or wrong, but not so much that they are unable to adapt to new ways of solving problems with these new tools.
I worry that many businesses are going to struggle to create a pipeline of talent when algorithms handle much of the foundational work. Who provides mentorship at junior levels when AI takes over these tasks? It will fall to HR to determine how to cultivate future talent as traditional pathways for skill development evolve.
Many businesses are going to struggle to create a pipeline of talent when algorithms handle much of the foundational work. Who provides mentorship at junior levels when AI takes over these tasks? It will fall to HR to determine how to cultivate future talent as traditional pathways for skill development evolve.”
3. Big Data’s Big Secrets
An overused phrase in business says that data is the fuel of the future. As tired as this cliche may be, it remains important because it highlights that the data we use to train our algorithms is just as crucial as the algorithms themselves.
However, the problem is that data is generated by human beings (or at least specified by humans). And, as humans, we all suffer from conscious and unconscious biases that shape how we interpret and interact with the world around us. These biases inevitably find their way into the data, polluting the answers provided by the algorithms.
To fully realize the potential of these technologies, we must identify, eradicate, and prevent the propagation of bias in our algorithmic tools and the data that powers them. HR has a vital role to play here—not only in ensuring that diverse teams are in place to minimize bias, but also in leading proactive initiatives that foster an inclusive culture and establish practices that mitigate bias throughout the organization.
4. Accountability for Every Outcome
In a world empowered by GenAI, it is crucial that we resist the temptation to accept the algorithm’s first answer as final. Instead, we need to apply due diligence, critical thinking, and even human intuition before deciding how to use that answer to determine the best course of action.
To illustrate this, do an image search for the word “Frankenstein.” You’ll be greeted with dozens of images of Frankenstein’s monster, not Dr. Frankenstein himself. Using a probabilistic determination based on flawed data, the algorithm gives an answer it thinks is correct, but human wisdom is required to reveal the inaccuracy.
Now, imagine the same scenario with your customer data, budget forecasts, or employee engagement scores. The responsibility is the same: What steps will you take to ensure accountability and confidence in the answer before acting on it?
For HR leaders, this approach to accountability is going to be critical. GenAI offers immense potential, but we’ll need to cultivate a culture where people don’t become overreliant on automated outputs.
Case Study 1: Using Saved Hours to Deliver Human Value
It’s amazing to have access to a technology that can automate so many complex tasks, but the true benefit of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) may actually be found in how employees choose to spend the time that they save.
There are many examples of how automation can create meaningful change. One of my favorites comes from the health care industry. During my time at Microsoft, we worked with a hospital in the U.K. where an oncologist used machine learning—specifically, machine vision—to analyze MRI scans for brain tumors. A process that normally took around five hours per patient was reduced to just 30 minutes, and it was completed with greater accuracy than the human-powered equivalent.
However, the genius of this story lies not in the increased efficiency or accuracy of the technology, but in how the oncologist chose to use her saved time. Instead of processing more patients, she invested that time in delivering more value—spending additional time with her patients and offering support during a difficult moment.
This, to me, is the key lesson of GenAI: Our success will be defined not by how much we automate, but by how we choose to use the time saved to create greater value.
How HR Can Best Leverage GenAI 2.0
The opportunities presented by the second iteration of GenAI are not just immense—they are inescapable. Rather than addressing each change in isolation, success requires us to understand the broader transformation necessary for achieving the organization’s goals and creating real value.
The shifts we’ve discussed make it imperative that HR executives lead this evolution by focusing on three foundational areas, which are crucial to fully leveraging the opportunities GenAI brings:
Transform Workflows by Embracing Saved Time
It’s incredible to have access to a technology that can automate complex tasks, such as writing your job descriptions, screening candidates, and suggesting strategic responses to employee engagement surveys. But the real opportunity lies not in the automation, but in what you choose to do with the time saved. [See example in Case Study 1 above.]
For HR leaders, the key takeaway from examples like these is the importance of focusing on how automation can enhance, rather than replace, the human aspects of work. HR leaders must guide employees to use these newfound efficiencies to improve the quality of their interactions, support, and overall contributions to the organization.
Think Outside-In: Focus on Outcomes, Not Process
For decades, organizations have focused on efficiency as the key to managing costs and driving growth. But in doing so, they’ve often prioritized process over outcomes, valuing speed and cost reduction at the expense of real effectiveness. This fixation on efficiency has left us stuck in outdated ways of working—ways that may no longer make sense in the GenAI age.
The real opportunity now lies in effectiveness. Think outside-in, starting with the outcomes you want to achieve and working backward. For HR leaders, that means reimagining how to design work itself, focusing on what truly drives employee engagement, productivity, and growth. By shifting the focus from “How quickly and cheaply can we do it?” to “What is worth doing?” we can escape the legacy of processes designed for a different time.
Swedish furniture titan Ikea offers a compelling example of prioritizing “what is worth doing” over mere cost and speed. When Ikea automated its call centers, it faced the choice of whether to release those employees or find new roles for them within the organization. They chose the latter, retraining thousands of former call center staff as in-store design advisors. By redeploying those employees to help customers plan and personalize their spaces, Ikea not only retained valuable workers but enhanced its in-store experience.
This decision reflects an outcome-centered mindset, showing that with AI, success isn’t about cutting corners. Instead, it’s about elevating human contributions to create more meaningful value for both customers and the business.
Create a Culture That Celebrates Change and Resilience
Throughout my 30 years of helping organizations prepare for the future of work enabled by new technologies, I’ve never faced more uncertainty than right now about the direction we might take. In the past, we would identify our strategic direction, define the tools to deliver it, and likely stay on the same path for years. Today, while we still need to set a strategic direction, rapid technological advancements can force a change in course within months, if not days—and then change again just as quickly.
To navigate this ever-shifting landscape, we must ensure the entire organization moves forward together. The organizations that thrive will be those that create a culture embracing behavioral change, equipping employees with the mental agility and psychological safety needed to be resilient and adaptable every day. I’ve seen this type of shift to resiliency successfully play out in several organizations, including during my time at Microsoft. [See example in Case Study 2.]
Case Study 2: How Microsoft Inspired a Growth Mindset
The pace of change—in business and technology—is faster than ever. Organizations will set themselves up for success by embracing that change and encouraging their employees to change along with it. I’ve seen this happen firsthand. I was there at Microsoft when Satya Nadella stepped in as CEO, and the transformation he led was profound.
At that time, Microsoft was at a crossroads, shifting away from the Steve Ballmer sales-first approach, when we were increasingly struggling to compete with the likes of “newcomers” like Google, to Nadella’s ambitious vision for the cloud and artificial intelligence. But what really struck me was how HR led the change that unified all of us under a shared purpose.
Through the growth mindset initiative, HR encouraged every employee to embrace challenges as learning opportunities, fostering a culture of resilience and openness that broke away from the rigid ways of the past.
This initiative didn’t just align us with Nadella’s vision, it gave us the adaptability and shared focus we needed to succeed. It was this cultural shift, championed by HR, that laid the foundation for Microsoft’s resurgence and relevance in a rapidly evolving tech landscape.
HR as the Navigators of Transformation
Whether HR leaders are reskilling the workforce, fostering adaptability, or promoting accountability and inclusivity, they are at the forefront of GenAI’s transformation of the workplace. The recurring theme is clear: We must use technology to elevate human capability rather than replace it. GenAI provides an unprecedented opportunity to enhance the human experience in the workplace, enabling our people to focus on creativity, empathy, and complex problem-solving while leaving repetitive tasks to technology.
This concept is what I call the “Rise of the Humans,” and I firmly believe this is the only path that will lead us to our collective success.
In the future, I’m striving for us to not be held hostage by “unexpected items in the bagging area,” because there will be no technological constraints that detract from the true value of human experiences. If we’ve done our job, technology will be woven seamlessly into our lives, elevating the human experience rather than replacing it with clunky, maddeningly unintuitive processes.
HR’s role will be to ensure that technology becomes a tool for empowerment, not a barrier. This involves driving reskilling initiatives, creating a culture that values continuous learning, and ensuring that people remain accountable for their actions even as AI takes on more tasks. By fostering an environment in which people are encouraged to grow and thrive alongside AI, HR can help create an organization where human potential is maximized, not marginalized. HR must be the cornerstone of ensuring that their organization’s most crucial resource—its people—is empowered to adapt, grow, and continue delivering success in an ever-changing world.
Dave Coplin has worked with or for the world’s largest technology companies for over 30 years. Formerly Microsoft UK’s chief envisioning officer, he now provides strategic advice to individuals and organizations on the adoption of transformational technology.
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