HR professionals are facing a two-sided compliance crisis: On one hand, they’re managing a wave of new complexities in the compliance space—expanding regulations, AI integration, changing workforce expectations—and on the other are stymied by fragmented systems, broken processes, unclear ownership and documentation errors.

This is creating a “compliance infrastructure gap,” according to a new report from HRS solutions provider Mitratech. The firm found that HR professionals are “significantly more likely” than non-HR peers surveyed to say compliance is becoming harder to keep up with, meaning functions need to be aligned to avoid widening compliance exposure.

“Investment in systems, governance and documentation often depends on how executives perceive risk,” researchers say. “When those closest to compliance execution experience strain while others perceive stability, infrastructure investments may lag behind operational reality.”

See also: A first look at the White House AI Policy Framework

A growing compliance gap

Three-quarters of respondents report that their compliance needs have changed over the last year—with 54% saying they have increased. More than half say AI and automation decision-making will be their biggest emerging compliance need in the next 18 months.

“Regulatory updates, wage transparency obligations, data governance standards, expanded reporting requirements and AI oversight expectations require greater documentation and coordination,” researchers write.

Yet, budget and tech constraints are limiting. When less visible challenges like inconsistent documentation processes are layered in, it creates a level of “administrative strain” that is pulling HR away from its strategic talent mandates.

To mitigate that, the report urges HR leaders to be cognizant of several realities. First, risk isn’t always visible; it can build under the surface. This mean HR needs to be vigilant about infrastructure, building the ownership expectations, processes and systems to close gaps while managing complexity.

Talent remains HR’s top priority, but compliance expectations—particularly because of AI—are going to continue to increase. HR has to walk a fine line between leveraging AI for its capability-building potential and ensuring governance is mature enough to reduce risk.

“Preparedness will be defined by whether governance structures, documentation practices and system integration scale alongside expanding obligations,” researchers write. “Organizations that align infrastructure with complexity reduce hidden risk, sustain employee trust and enable HR leaders to focus on long-term workforce resilience.”

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