The Urgency Of Reimagining HR

This article by Mahe Bayireddi, co-founder and CEO of Phenom, was originally published on Inc.com.

When I was a young boy, I worked in my dad’s pharmacy in India. I enjoyed seeing the surprised look on customers’ faces when I handed them their prescriptions. My father used to boast: “My kid will give jobs to thousands of people one day.”

In a sense he was right. I built a purpose-driven company that brings people together to help a billion people find the right work. A company won’t last long if the goal is fame and riches. There has to be passion and purpose. Those are the two things that will determine whether an enterprise has long-term sustainability.

Labels in organizations matter. Sales. Marketing. Finance. They all describe exactly what the function oversees. But the same can’t be said for human resources. For decades, it has remained responsible for reward and punishment, with little concern about how people were actually treated.

What is its purpose now in the age of artificial intelligence (AI)? It’s to put the emphasis back on “human” by pairing people productivity with the right technology to amplify the value of human work, reduce costs, and spur efficiency.

People + Technology

Current HR practices are inadequate for evaluating and implementing technologies. Employers are still using hiring platforms built decades ago for compliance and transactional dealings. Legacy platforms that don’t use AI fail to keep pace with the modern speed of business, which slows hiring and development decisions. That could be the difference between meeting next quarter’s numbers or not.

AI tools, on the other hand, are conduits for communication, judgment, creativity, and decision-making, but their value can only be unlocked when the foundational platform they sit on is backed by an AI infrastructure built specifically for HR. Transactional systems were never intended to elevate human work. They can perform parlor tricks but not the higher value work of amplifying workers to hire, develop, and retain more efficiently.

This ought to catch the attention of every C-suite member. Make the wrong platform decision and wave the overarching business strategy goodbye. It is imperative that HR shift from role-based systems to capability-driven talent systems that unlock growth and mobility. C-suite leaders need to envision the future of their people organizations in light of technological transformations.

AI Is The New Leadership Test

It used to be that business executives were graded on their ability to make the numbers. The next era of leadership will be defined by the ability to orchestrate intelligence, not just manage people. Most executives still rely on pre-AI instincts that create drag. They should be focused instead on removing bottlenecks, reducing reliance on committees, and building systems for speed, clarity, and modern expectations. Those who master AI leadership will define the next decade of organizational excellence and position their companies for success.

It was also a given that disruption came from well-funded incumbents. It now comes from small teams or individuals using agentic AI to build products, services, and insights at a speed large organizations can’t track. Leaders should learn how to spot these “invisible competitors” by mapping blind spots, analyzing untapped customer benefits, and identifying where their own barriers are weakest.

The goal is simple. Build the internal intelligence muscle to recognize early signals and adapt faster than disruptors that cannot yet be seen.

3 Emerging HR Leadership Roles

In a reimagined function, the following roles will be critical to HR’s new status.

1. Chief work and workforce architect is for companies competing on innovation, capability, adaptability, and talent quality. It is most appropriate for tech, life sciences, and consulting companies.
2. Chief human and AI workforce officer is for companies where operations rely on blended human, automated, and AI labor. The role is also best suited for banking and call center companies.
3. Chief productivity officer is responsible for strategically assessing technology’s impact on operations and is a singular role in charge of both people and technology. It is suitable for companies competing on efficiency, scale, and operational throughput (healthcare, retail, financial services, manufacturing, and logistics).

The Risk Of Not Transforming HR

Continued siloed and fragmented decision-making is the biggest threat to organizations that refuse to change. The enterprises will continue underperforming by a magnitude that will only increase over time. Leaders, as one example, who can’t get their talent acquisition teams to automate the laborious job interview scheduling are essentially allowing the employees to steal from the company with their lack of efficiency.

Screening is another low-value task. Does it really make sense for recruiters to ask 100 candidates the same questions? No, and yet companies continue to be stuck in the old HR ways. Total rewards, sick leave, and payroll are important, yes, but they’re not the way of the future. AI-assisted human value work is.

Just like that young boy working in his dad’s pharmacy, HR will continue to give jobs to many people, but it will do so at scale and efficiency so high it will put the “human” back in human resources.