AI utilization in HR is rampant. According to a recent report from isolved, nearly 70% of HR professionals are using AI in their work, most commonly for payroll and recruitment. At the same time, nearly two-thirds cite an ongoing “talent crisis,” with most pointing to the need for more modern hiring.

These stats highlight the reality that AI implementation across HR needs to be truly strategic, enabled by HR professionals who are equipped to derive meaningful insights from the tech, says Amy Mosher, isolved’s chief people officer.

Mosher is leading the people enablement efforts of the company’s AI implementation, work that she says must be built on a strong foundation of change management and a deep understanding of how AI can enable business success.

“You can better enable processes via automation, but that’s not the whole of what AI can do,” she says. “Utilizing AI will have a positive impact, but it depends on how it’s implemented.”

Here’s how isolved and Mosher are thinking about AI in HR:

HR Executive: What do you see as some of the biggest factors forcing many HR leaders into a talent crisis?

Mosher: You can’t not start with AI and its influence on talent selection. There isn’t a talent shortage problem; it’s an understanding qualifications issue—what it really takes to be right for a role. How do you define that in this new technological space? There are a lot of HR teams now who really still confused about it. A lot of employers dropped degree requirements, but haven’t actually figured out what experience, skill sets and values make a great candidate. They also haven’t figured out how to translate things like adaptability and curiosity into an AI model for sourcing, which many are trying to use now.

HR Executive: What are the skills HR leaders need to hone to navigate the influence of AI in HR?

Mosher: The biggest shift is moving from operational execution to strategic execution, using the availability of new technology to further that effort. For a lot of years, and sometimes still today, HR has been measured on speed: time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, efficiency measures. But this doesn’t predict success.

Via AI, we now have access to other opportunities to understand how our data translates to predictable behaviors. In our 2026 HR Trends Report, 70% of HR leaders said they’re using AI in some capacity—but using the tools isn’t the same as interpreting the data. HR professionals at various levels have to have skill sets around this, and that’s the biggest skill gap. It’s not just about understanding people anymore; it’s also about using people data for decision-making.

HR Executive: Where are you finding the most opportunity for AI to transform the HR function at isolved?

Mosher: We’ve been using AI for a number of years—for job descriptions, to help with performance evaluations, to create handbook content that’s compliant in different scenarios. We recently sat down and changed the way we’re looking at AI; we’re not just thinking about how AI is used, but how it better enables our work. That’s a totally different conversation.

We’re meeting regularly to talk about how AI is enabling our employee base and how we can work with our customers on their understanding of how to use AI. We’re implementing a full change management program, which a lot of companies are neglecting to do. HR needs to not just be a part of that, but leading that. We understand our people, where they’re coming from, their skill sets—and that gives us insight into where the utilization of the tech can support best practices, reduce friction from a change management perspective and make us more effective and efficient overall.

HR Executive: What is your biggest HR pain point today?

Mosher: I have to bring it back to AI. My biggest drain right now is leading teams through something they’ve never experienced before: creating a blueprint for AI success in a situation we’re still defining. It’s like painting a train as it goes down the tracks. So, from a change management perspective, that can be really tough. And HR teams can particularly feel the burn from that.

HR often can fall behind on tech transitions, so this can create a point of anxiety. Even though HR leaders and teams are becoming more tech-savvy, AI is only as good as your ability to navigate it—and to enable the rest of the organization to navigate it.

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