How CHROs Must Reinvent Themselves in the Age of AI 

The HR leaders who matter in the age of AI will be the ones who step well beyond the traditional boundaries of the discipline. 

In this Gamechanger Interview, Ajay Manissery Konchery, the CEO of Wisdom Tomorrow, recently appointed as the Co-Managing Director at Epic Group, a sustainable fashion and apparel manufacturing multinational company, joins Victor Filamor, Partner at Stanton Chase Greater China, to set out what CHROs need to do to reposition themselves for AI. 

How is AI Changing the Role of HR?

AI is changing what the C-suite expects from HR faster than most HR leaders are adapting. The Stanton Chase survey found that 56% of executives see an AI literacy gap at the top of the house, and that the CHRO owns AI outcomes in only 2% of organizations, even though AI succeeds or fails on human factors. Ajay’s read is that HR has to move from running people processes to shaping how people and AI work together, which is a broader remit than the discipline has carried before. 

 Will AI Replace HR Leaders?

Ajay’s answer is that AI will not replace HR, but it will replace the version of HR that stops at classical talent management. The survey showed only 5% of leadership teams feel they have no capability gaps for AI, and just 31% believe their successors are better prepared, so the risk for HR leaders is being left out of the conversation rather than being automated out of it. The way to stay in the room is to reposition around the business and around AI. 

What Skills Do CHROs Need in the Age of AI?

Ajay names two moves that HR leaders should always have made, now with more urgency. The first is business fluency, reading the P&L with ease and understanding how the company makes money, because AI speeds up change and raises the cost of falling behind. The second is AI literacy, a working knowledge of the tools, models, and approaches on the market, whatever the department that will use them. Both call for curiosity and a willingness to step outside the boundaries of HR. 

 Why is HR Left Out of AI Strategy?

When companies treat AI as a technology opportunity, the people who set the strategy often do not include the CHRO, so the function is absent from the start. HR leaders also tend to view their role in narrow terms, asking how AI can improve efficiency in people processes rather than how it changes business models and skills. That narrow framing, together with the AI literacy gap the survey records, is how the people function ends up owning AI outcomes in only 2% of companies. 

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